Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - Blending a JRPG with a Soulslike

[necklessone]

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a recently released roleplaying game from Sandfall Interactive, a new French developer made up of Ubisoft refugees. It's getting rave reviews from both the press and users. If you want to get a feel for the premise and tone of the game, I think the reveal trailer from last year captures the basics pretty well without spoiling anything you don't learn in the prologue.

To be perfectly honest, this is one of the best games I've played in years. The scenery, lighting, music, and performances all come together to sell the world. The story bounces from dark to whimsical and can pull off both.

Combat is turn based and your attacks have timed QTE-esque button presses for extra potency (can be automated in the settings). The enemy attacks are where it gets intense - dodging and parrying them is essential for success. You don't (usually) don't get popups here and it's all about reading enemy animations and learning the queues. It creates a tension that I don't normally see in JRPGs and I've seen the game over screen more than I care to admit.

If any of this intrigues you, the game is available on the major consoles, Steam, and GamePass. I saw there were a few of us playing via the megathread so I started this thread. I assume people here will be polite and use the spoiler tags for the first few pages. But if you're interested in the game, be wary of spoilers on the internet. This game is best experienced as fresh as possible.

 

[TheCathedral]

I'm definitely enjoying it so far. I haven't put much time into it yet (only just beat the first boss.) I haven't been able to get the timing on parry/Dodge right for some reason... I have no problem doing it with other party member but French Jon Snow just doesn't work as well for whatever reason.

 

[[Ars]Hellheart]

The scenery, lighting, music, and performances all come together to sell the world. The story bounces from dark to whimsical and can pull off both.

For me personally, I cannot overstate how powerful the soundtrack is for this game. There's such a heavy emphasis on orchestral music and almost haunting singing and it does so much for this game. It's just strong mood piece after strong mood piece, which lends to buildups and characterization in a way that reminds me of, oddly enough, Hollow Knight.

 

[Mortus]

It's impressive how after BG3 comes along and redefines the classic RPG game, this one comes along and seems to be doing the same with JRPGs. I've been having a blast with the game so far. I'm 6 hours in and have only just finished up at the Gestrel Village and picked up Sciel. I've been slow rolling the game, but so far have nothing bad to say about it. It's been a delight.

 

[breubreubreu]

I'm loving this game, and I'm quite happy that I played Metaphor ReFantazio earlier this year - it would really suffer in comparison to this one, both in story and mechanics.

Be VERY careful with what you google around ... I got spoiled about THE BIG THING in the end of act 1 by a simple google suggested search after writing "[something] expedition 33"

I haven't been able to get the timing on parry/Dodge right for some reason...

You start to get it over time, and some enemies also do feints. The dodges are more lenient, and the perfect dodges are on the same timing as the parry - so, if you start to get a lot of perfect dodges against a certain attack, you might be able to go for the parry and punish.

The game also has an abundance of items that allow for different play styles, including taking the damage to the face. Actually ... if I have to complain about something, it's the sheer amount of skill items (luminas and pictos) that you get. The game literally drowns you on those.

For me personally, I cannot overstate how powerful the soundtrack is for this game. There's such a heavy emphasis on orchestral music and almost haunting singing and it does so much for this game. It's just strong mood piece after strong mood piece, which lends to buildups and characterization in a way that reminds me of, oddly enough, Hollow Knight.

The soundtrack is great, and also eclectic - going from accordion tango to orchestral, passing by rock and electronic sometimes.

I'm 6 hours in and have only just finished up at the Gestrel Village and picked up Sciel.

That place ... they didn't borrow a few pages from Astérix, they borrowed whole volumes . Did you get the Gestral hairstyles?

 

[breubreubreu]

The amount of puns in French that this game has, too ... the "item goblin" enemy is named after a game played with metal balls called "pétanque" - and it hits you with these balls. And the sakapatates - the BIG enemies you find in a red forest - sound like "sac à patates", or potato bag.

And the Gestral language ... it keeps mixing up French, English and Occitan, at least. You can even hear a muffled "putain de merde!" from the sakapatates when you hit them

 

[Mortus]

Did you get the Gestral hairstyles?

Absolutely. But I'm glad I took it off for the following camp cutscene, because that would have been a bit awkward to have that solemn moment with Gustave looking like that.

 

[dettociao]

This game is insanely good. I just came to GESC to make a thread about it. I'll echo all the comments so far and emphasize how good the OST is. The story and combat are really gripping, too. I haven't had this much fun with a JRPG since FF7 the first time around on the og PlayStation.

I'm level 38, just

Spoiler

starting to go after the two Axons. The first guy went down kinda easy so maybe I'm power gaming, I can't quite tell. And I don't want to read any coverage for fear of spoilers. So good!

 

[lonely_astronaut]

I'm really liking it so far. That prologue is very strong and the game just gets more interesting as it goes. I'm finding the combat to be engaging and challenging but I'm going to have to read up on the stats and ability system, I'm confused about what I can and cannot do.

 

[necklessone]

I just hit the third act.

Holy shit.

 

[Mortus]

There are mild spoilers in this video, but it's a delight to see how everything came together for the music.


View: https://youtu.be/urizETxs3_8?si=03CL_kvF_c-07gpe

 

[Arbelac]

I'm just in Act 1, but this game is INTENSE.

Agreed on the music, it's amazingly well done. Even after only a couple hours in, I want the sheet music so I can play along.

 

[breubreubreu]

The OST is over 8h long in Spotify. Sure, some songs are instrument variations, but it's still a lot.

 

[necklessone]

I finished the game today at about 38.5 hours.

I’m still just blown away. How did they maintain that level of quality throughout? This game was something special.

 

[Mortus]

The ending to the Dualliste fight was pure cinema.

 

[breubreubreu]

The game does like to show cutscenes while keeping the combat UI in moments like that.

 

[breubreubreu]

I'm currently on a trip, and while the game runs well enough on the Steam Deck, the text is so small that it's unplayable.

 

[CUclimber]

Just marking this thread, after playing the first half hour or so this afternoon. It's been ages since I've really gotten into an RPG of any kind and I am loving this so far.

 

[necklessone]

Glad folks are enjoying the game. Really hope the financials work out for Sandfall - I want nothing more for them than the freedom to work on another game and let it cook as long as it takes.

I decided I wasn't done with this world and started up a New Game +. Things to know about NG+:

• When you start it, they delete your saves from the previous run.
• You get to keep all your pictos and weapons (with their current levels)
• Characters keep their Lumina points, learned lumina, and costumes
• Enemies are much harder
• Loot is better: pictos and weapons you find are 20 levels higher than the first run, chroma drops are larger, and you get higher tier weapon upgrade items

I ran through the plot with very few diversions on the first run, so it's nice to take a slower pace and visit all the option areas. It's also a treat to revisit some of the more mysterious early scenes knowing what I know.

PS - If you want real time affirmation of your Clair Obscur addition, have you considered visiting the Ars Discord?

 

[Arbelac]

The ending to the Dualliste fight was pure cinema.

I want a way to replay that one demand. I got through that last night.

This game is incredible.

 

[Chito]

I'm still in Act 1, with just a bit of time / day to play right now. But I'm savoring every moment. This is, so far, one of (if not the) best game I've ever played.

 

[SunRaven01]

I finished the game yesterday, but then immediately reloaded a save just before I went into the endgame, so I could go collect all the things I hadn't not collected yet, but without having to do it in the difficult NG+.

I cannot. put. this. game. down. 10/10 no notes.

 

[grommit!]

Washington Post account required to read this, but the lead-writer has an interesting background:

My interview with Expedition 33's team: This is lead writer Jennifer Svedburg-Yen's debut as a writer. She is a former private equity investor.

and astronaut trainee

 

[MachinistMark]

Installed this pretty much exclusively due to the praise in this thread. I'm not that far in (Just got Esquie to join the team), but holy hell is the praise in here warranted. I've automated the attacking QTEs because my brain can't handle remembering patterns for my team's attacks as well as the opponent's attacks, and that experience works so much better for me.

I would describe the prologue as one of the best I've seen in a game, full stop. I love how it does such a good job of explaining the story by showing it rather than describing it.

 

[necklessone]

I would describe the prologue as one of the best I've seen in a game, full stop. I love how it does such a good job of explaining the story by showing it rather than describing it.

Welcome aboard and enjoy the ride!

I've felt a little strange when spreading the praises of the game. How do you convince people "one of the best games I've ever played" isn't just hyperbole? I finished NG+ and all the achievements yesterday - I can't remember the last time I played a game where I felt the need to experience every single bit of content so it wouldn't end.

 

[breubreubreu]

Closed act 2 yesterday, and started theorycrafiting with some friends as soon as I finished it. Can't believe that they are pulling a Pathological on us.

There are so, so many details ...

• The white petals are associated to Aline's chroma, and the red petals to the REAL Renoir, and you get both during the gommage.
• Also, called that the Curator was the REAL Renoir as soon as the painting conflict reveal was made..
• Monoco and Noco are the family dogs, and can be found cuddling by the fireplace in the real manoir .
• The way Sciel and Lune react to the final gommage ... Sciel accepts it, and Lune seems confused.
• The monolith now having a huge "papa va t'en" - "papa, leave" instead of a number.

I've felt a little strange when spreading the praises of the game. How do you convince people "one of the best games I've ever played" isn't just hyperbole?

I'm doing that by saying that the writing manages to deal with heavy stuff in a mature way - as in, the real meaning of the word "mature", and not by being edgy or filled with cheap drama. And that just a couple of games I've played managed to do so in this level.

A friend pinged me on Steam, asking if the game is really that good just after Alicia wakes up in the real manoir. I couldn't stop praising the game to him by then.

 

[SunRaven01]

I'm trying very hard to not be that person who can't shut up about the game, but I can't shut up about the game. I'm working on my first NG+ now, and seeing everything through a new lens, which just makes it all that much more poignant.

 

[Chito]

I just finished Act 1 and goshdang. I haven't felt this way about a game I think since FF7 when I was in high school. I also love the soulslike aspects a lot.

 

[Mortus]

I'm about halfway through act 2 right now. After the latest cutscenes, I have even more questions and less answers than before. I can't wait to continue, but I can only play this game for maybe 2 hour blasts at best. I don't know why, but the game becomes exhausting after a while. Maybe it's the visual noise or me hyperfocusing for parries.

 

[Spip]

When can we expect the Ars Review ?

 

[breubreubreu]

Just hit the ending ... What a game ... Think that it reaches Nier: Automata levels, if not more.

Spoiler: Ending spoilers!

I chose to side with Maëlle because, while it's painful and I expected it to be cruel, the alternative is the destruction of a whole world that you tried to save this entire time. The real Verso is dead, and nobody can recreate this same world.

But, damn, I didn't expect this choice to be this cruel.

The ending choice also properly implements the "choose between loved one or saving the world" trope, which often falls a bit flat because if the world is destroyed, the loved one also dies. And this proper implementation makes it so much more impactful.

Quick tip for anyone playing and thinking about 100%'ing it: you can continue to play on the same file after credits roll, with no need to go into NG+. I didn't know that, and started to do the optional dungeons. Some are mainly story related and unlock new ||gradient attacks for Monoco, Lune and Maëlle||, others are mainly high difficulty challenges. I'd recommend leaving those for after rolling credits: I got only one left to do, and the ending area became a cakewalk.

Also, if you use a specific skin on most of the characters (one of them doesn't have it), you get a slight change on the final boss cutscenes .

 

[necklessone]

I did the story part of the ending in the low 60s after avoiding most of the optional content and feel like I hit a sweet spot for that section of the game to maintain its difficulty.

 

[breubreubreu]

I did that on low 90's ... I was passing turns to see the content

 

[breubreubreu]

I finished NG+ and all the achievements yesterday - I can't remember the last time I played a game where I felt the need to experience every single bit of content so it wouldn't end.

Speaking of which, any tips on how to deal with Simon's second phase? That guy is handing my ass, and his light speed attacks are giving me 3rd phase Genichiro PTSD ... .

I know someone who managed to deal with it with a gimmicky Monoco-only party, dumping almost all the lumicolor on him and equipping almost every lumina on him. But that's not an option now

 

[necklessone]

Spoiler: How I dealt with the hardest optional boss…

…cheese. I didn’t fight him until NG+ and had Verso loaded up with tons of Lumina to use a solo machine gun build.

There’s really not much middle ground between get really good at avoiding his insane attacks or using a build that can kill him before he gets to attack very often.

I’m pretty sure you can still set up some really strong Maelle builds without too much lumina, even after Stendahl was nerfed.

 

[breubreubreu]

Thanks, that's what I feared ...

 

[NervousEnergy]

Just got it, and the game tells me like 5 times that my life will suck if I don't play with a controller... but it looks like many play with KB/M with some compromise when asking Reddit. Anyone playing with KB/M, or should I just plug the XB controller in?

 

[necklessone]

Other than some entirely optional mini games, I can’t think of anywhere mouse and keyboard would be a significant hindrance.

 

[dettociao]

Just got it, and the game tells me like 5 times that my life will suck if I don't play with a controller... but it looks like many play with KB/M with some compromise when asking Reddit. Anyone playing with KB/M, or should I just plug the XB controller in?

You should plug in the controller. It's really not designed for KBM.

 

[grommit!]

I have the same question about KB/M, and the opposing responses are not encouraging.

(edit) seems there were a lot of problems with KB/M that were recently patched

• UI button prompts in Expedition Menu are now visible and fully able to be triggered with Keyboard
• Mouse buttons do not become unresponsive after first use
• With mouse cursor on screen, using 'WSAD' or directional arrows to navigate in UI or trigger any other functionality will no longer hide the cursor instead of doing the intended action
• Left Mouse-button click will no longer block the player from using Keyboard to navigate menus
• Mouse input is not lost after the first Jump counter attack if it is pressed only once