Clair Obscur Expedition 33

[KSUowls]

I know a few people have expressed interest here, and the release date is almost here.


Release date 4/24/2025
Price - $49.99 Standard (PC, Xbox, PS5); also on Gamepass

A single player turn based RPG where combat looks like an evolution of old school JRPG titles as opposed to the more button masher versions of what we have seen from a lot of titles (including Final Fantasy) in recent years. I call it an evolution though because it does seem to have some kind of hybrid format where you need to correctly time an input after selecting an action.

The voice cast is basically A-list with Andy Serkis, Jennifer English and others. Graphics look pretty solid, using Unreal Engine 5

No full reviews out yet, but previews so far have been pretty positive.


Trailer

[KSUowls]

Reviews are rolling in and they are stellar across the board. Metacritic has it as above 90 right now

First with some of the big commercial ones:
IGN 9/10


Gamespot 9/10
https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/cla.../1900-6418358/


Then some of the big content creators:
Fextralife 9.5/10


Luke Stephens "a Masterpiece"

[LowerWolf]

I was going to wait for a sale, but I just pre-ordered after watching parts of those reviews.

[KSUowls]

Early impressions after about 4 hours.

If Final Fantasy had stayed true to its roots instead of moving into a new genre, then this game is what it would have looked like.

I completely agree with the very high metacritic score.

Combat: A++
Classic JRPG style turn based combat with basic attacks, skills/magic, and items, but there is a twist. Many of your attacks will spawn what I will call a mini QTE. You are given a short window to press a button to make the attacks more effective. In addition to that, there is a dodge and parry system (with very tight timing windows). You learn very quickly how important it is to mitigate incoming damage with these, and I can see them being entirely necessary at higher difficulties. It adds an element of 'skill' to the combat aside from just the strategy required in a turn based rpg. It's a fantastic system combining the strategic side of classics in the genre while offering a bit more twitch based skill that blends genres.

Story: A (Tentative)
I'm still early on in the story, but prologue pulls you in very quickly. If you've seen the trailer then you should know the overarching theme, and the prologue does a really good job at making you care. I do find the main character a little bland, but the other characters so far more than make up for it.

Customization: A
There seems to be a good bit of customization allowed. Each time you level you get two different types of points. One set of points you can apply to your base stats like vitality and attack power. The other lets you unlock new skills in this game's version of a skill-tree. There seems to be a lot of different ways that you spec a character which is a great thing imo. The physical items that you can equip seems boil down to just your weapon, which will have certain bonuses and gain levels (like extra crit chance on burning enemies). Each bonus costs a certain amount of Lumina and you can only equip so much Lumina at a time. For instance, a character may have 6 points of available Lumina and the 'extra crit chance' may costs 3 points. So, then you would only have 3 more points for other bonuses.

Exploration: B
The game is very linear so far. There isn't much of an open world to explore, which kind of makes sense based on the narrative. I wouldn't be surprised if it opens up more later on, like many other RPGs, but the early hours will have you mostly following a set path.

Voice Acting: A+
I'm not at all surprised given some of the names in the cast, but I've been very happy with every character and NPC that I've come across.

Graphics & Art: A
Character models and environments look great. Character faces are expressive, and you can tell that it wasn't an afterthought. The overall aesthetic really fits the narrative. There is a grainy-ness to it that fits.

Music: A
IMO a great RPG needs a great score, and so far this one fits the bill.

[ChaseB]

Hell yeah, love to see it KSU.

[LowerWolf]

Have it downloaded; starting it tomorrow night.

[KSUowls]

I didn't plan it this way, but I had today off from work which was quite the boon because this game consumed my entire day.

Exploration definitely opened up a bit after the first few hours. Nothing that is going to set a new standard there, but there are a lot of side hallways and things you can do to explore. I'm around a dozen hours in, and probably half of that has been spent trying to find explore every nook and fighting battles along the way.

Combat in this game is so rewarding. It's definitely a challenge unless you are over leveled. There is a lot of incentive to create combinations of attacks among your party that synergize well together. The dodge/parry system is so rewarding. It's very challenging to get the timing right consistently, but it always feels good when you do.

A very strong game of the year contender.

[LowerWolf]

Two hours is typically my breaking point for a game where I need to stop and do something else for a little bit.

I didn't start until midnight last night, but played until 4 a.m. And I only stopped then because I needed to get up this morning to get some stuff done. Easily could have played several more hours otherwise. Haven't had a game suck me in like this since Bioshock Infinite.

Thanks again for mentioning this game, KSU. It's fantastic.