Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

I almost NEVER give a game a perfect score, but Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a true MASTERPIECE and has earned a 10/10 from me!

Review after 100% completion. Also why are you reading reviews instead buying it already......? A SUBLIME game in EVERY damn sense! You Sandfall deserve a place in the LOUVRE for developing a "gem". The combat combines well implemented QTE with engaging turn based action, offering something for everyone. Even the nerve racking GLORIOUS end-game bosses are extremly enjoyable (You even have options to buff EVERY boss/monster to your heart content). And if you are here for the awesome history instead a challenge just go and adjust the difficulty for a still meaningful but more forgiving fights, Clair Obscur offers something for everyone and it does it in the best way possible. Now the voice acting, soundtrack, art design....EVERYTHING is MAJESTIC! This is ART and a stark reminder about why videogames are the future of entertainment and history telling. Stop reading and buy Clair Obscur already.....Oh! The game message? "For those who come after" wich basically means making the world (in this case video game industry) a better place than it was before for EVERYONE.

[b]Let me introduce to you the GAME OF THE YEAR of 2025![/b] This game is so good, [b]they made a better version of Only Up![/b] so casually inside the game, which was infinitely more enjoyable than the original one! This game truly is a gem, with many nice details and such a deep and creative story. This game was truly a love project by the developer team, it's so easy to see when actually playing it.

[h2]Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 [/h2] Absolute cinema Even though I already knew people were excited about the game when I played it, I still underestimated it and was genuinely, pleasantly surprised when I finished it. At this point, I think it’s my top contender for Game of the Year. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3475040698 The mixed combat system, where turn-based gameplay is combined with real-time parries and dodges, really boosts immersion. It has become the game’s unique and recognizable style, and I’m sure other developers will start copying it. Narratively, the game is on another level. I thought I had figured out the main twist a few times, but I was wrong and far from the truth. It’s hard to talk about this without spoilers, but I think it perfectly shows how the "white-collar" types who inevitably show up in most studios and publishers as they grow and become successful end up ruining them. They think in numbers and safe decisions, but that has never been what creativity is about, which is what games are supposed to be. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3501690738 The music and art style deserve special praise. There aren't many characters, but each one feels alive and full of personality. Everything is crafted with care and creativity, despite the game's modest budget. It all comes together in a way that feels truly impressive. You don’t even need to mention the fact that many of the major decisions are made by investors or people who don’t even play the games they publish (hello Ubisoft). https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3504361687 For regular players, the smart move is to vote with your wallet. Don’t buy or support corporate, toothless games and then complain about the state of the industry. It’s better to give bold games a chance and support them with your money. That’s how we’ll get more masterpieces like Clair Obscur.

[h1][i]An unapologetically unique and interesting story plays out in a fantastical world.[/i][/h1] This game really surprised me. I went into it without investigating much about it so that I wouldn't really have any preconceived notions about it. I'm glad I did. This game pulls no punches in its presentation. It is beautiful and comes in right away with a very clear perspective and art direction. Right from the start, it is taking you by the hand for a journey. It is avant-garde yet it is still easy to consume and understand. That's the best way I can describe it. The gameplay reminds me of a lot of things. The art style also reminds me of a lot of things. Gameplay wise, parts of it really remind me of a Souls-like game. Other parts, in a certain way, remind me somehow of a rhythym game. Artistically it reminds me of gothic games like Alice: Mandess Returns and other American McGee works and Tim Burton. For me, this is my game of the year so far. Something really amazing would have to come out to replace it. It's refreshing to see a game that is so dead set on what they are trying to show you. This game delivers on that front 100%, in my opinion. It is very unique, which I always appreciate. I played it twice, and enjoyed it both times.

The best JRPG in 2025 for sure! Great music and story. I recommend playing it.

Winner of this year's: Game of the year Best game direction Best narrative Best score and music Best action game Best RPG Probably wouldn't have hit as hard if gaming industry remained in a decent state. Currently we're at a point where releasing $80-100 asset flips with no soul and barely exisiting performance is the norm. Expedition 33 shows there's still room for reasonable projects where passion comes first. Far lower pricing compared to vast majority of titles (even though it very much has every right to be priced at $60), never before seen story and innovation in turn based gameplay. Performance is debatable because Unreal Engine 5 is still Unreal Engine 5 at the end of the day, but compared to countless other titles that use this engine I don't have major complaints, mes amis.

Juegazo, mi GOTY. Que historia, que personajes, ya estoy siguiendo a los de SANDFALL para ver cual es su siguiente juego.

Absolute goddamned cinema. Expedition 33 is the GOTY of 2025, and I dont even idgaf what else comes out in the remainder of the year. This game is astonishingly good. It's beautiful, heartfelt, and I found it deeply affecting. I won't get spoilery in this review, but the way the game approaches the very nature of storytelling, and the many roles that art as a whole plays in our lives, was deeply interesting. This game got hella layers. I don't often go on reddit and the steam forums to read people's interpretations of game narratives, sadly not many games warrant that type of further investigation, but the way Expedition 33 was written and the larger lore surrounding it, made it a fascinating experience to go on a bit of a deep dive. The music, the writing, the worldbuilding, the performances, the art direction, holy shit all of it is really good stuff. A brand new, [b]wildly[/b] original IP to boot. I tend to complain about all the remakes, remasters, rehashes and reboots quite a lot, but I dont think even I realised how starved I was for something new and fresh until this came along. I do not buy games on or around release date, because the industry has well and truly fucked me a few too many times, but this is one of those rare instances where I'm really happy I did. Combat is pretty unique, and it took me almost 10 hours to really click with it. On the top layer you have all the tactical turnbased stuff which can get deliciously strategic, but it is [i]constantly[/i] underpinned with realtime mechanics. The parry windows in particular are punishing, and missing a parry can have pretty severe consequences based on how you built your characters. Enemy animations are purposefully designed to trip you up, but once you realize how crucially important the sound cues are it becomes more manageable. Your eyes will deceive you, but your ears wont. Mostly. The realtime mechanics often play out like a rhythm game almost. There is a definite and measured flow to it, and even as a person who generally hates souls-likes I found this combat system engrossing. And very, very satisfying when I pull off a huge counter. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3478038438 Options and synergies are plentiful, and respeccing your builds isn't too costly so I had a lot of fun trying all kinds of different strategies. Character building was really fun, in part because everyone has their own unique mechanic. My one gripe with the game's systems was the inability to downgrade weapons. The perks on them are often major and can massively impact your character builds, however upgrading them is costly and once you've committed a lot of resources into a particular weapon it becomes suboptimal to start using a different one, even if it has better or just different perks. What really stuck out to me the most about it all was how much I came to care about these characters. The writing and voice work are really top tier. Sandfall is a relatively small studio, but they've delivered a level of quality that puts massive AAAs to shame that are literally 10 times their size. Honestly, there are not a lot of games that manage to engage me emotionally as much as Expedition 33 did. I really loved how the dialogue just flows. Characters can interrupt eachother, or talk over eachother. RPGs really seem to struggle with stilted voice direction so I was pleasantly surprised with how polished that aspect of the game is. Combined with the outstanding facial animations and that intensely beautiful soundtrack Clair Obscure grabbed me tightly by the balls and didn't let go for a second. My fave character turned out to be Verso, bless his duplicitous little heart. You learn about him by observing him. You learn who he is by looking at his actions throughout the game and putting it together yourself. Actually this holds true for most of the characters, and even the world surrounding them. There's no exposition dumps. There's no narrator at the beginning, telling you the 100 year history of this world. Characters can straight up lie, and not in that bullshit 'press x to doubt' way - I mean [i]really[/i] lie, to others or to themselves. They can change their minds, or their motivations, and this is so rare to see in a video game. Whenever you do learn something new, it's always strongly reflected through the lens of one of the characters. The character work in this game is really something else. Learning about Esquie and Monoco's origins turned me into a puddle. Maelle is a two for one, very good deal. Lune? I love her. A woman of commitment and sheer fucking will. Fuck! They're all complicated, flawed, interesting characters and don't even get me started on the antagonists we'll be here until next week. The level of originality oozing from every square inch of this game really is commendable. The worldbuilding on display here is often breathtaking, and there is sooo much fine detail in it all if you slow down to take it in - as I frequently had to in order to appreciate the scenery. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3471344383 Talking of the bigger picture, one of the main reasons I enjoyed it so much is that the game isn't afraid to stew and simmer. It stretches out and revels in dramatic tension and doesn't feel the need to immediately pop that balloon. Maybe I'm just over-sensitive to this sort of thing because I just finished Dragon Age The Veilguard before jumping into Clair Obscure, and Bioware constantly, and I really mean constantly, seemed downright afraid to let narrative pressure build up. There was always some character quipping 'Oh, that looks really bad! omg!" and not once did they just let that tension build. Even during dramatic scenes, they had to jump in with some comic relief and break both any remaining immersion that may have been there, and worse, any sense of sincerity or vulnerability in the scene. That's not to say that Expedition 33 doesn't have moments of levity, but they always fit and feel appropriate, as opposed to the bullshit that Bioware was shoveling. I don't think there was a single joke in the game that didn't land. Overall though the game takes itself very seriously, and is committed to itself in a way that makes the audience commit to it as well. At least I sure felt that way. When a character faces almost certain death and starts making snide remarks about how expensive the drycleaning bill is gonna be afterwards, I mean thats fine sometimes, I get it, it can be fun. That style of writing has just become so tiringly overused. Expedition 33 has a moment right in the beginning with Gustav after landing on the continent where I think most other games would have done something similar. Gustav went in a different direction, which immediately set a certain tone for the game. As that scene played out, with The Veilguard still fresh in the back of my mind, I smiled to myself and hoped that the rest of the game will be just as good. And as I got deeper into it, it just kept getting better. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3477314766 It took me right around 50 hours to get close to 100% completion; I'm pretty sure the only things I haven't finished were some collectibles. A lot of games seem to think that the more time they take to get through, the better. Expedition 33 is such a perfect example of why that's usually wrong. I didn't get so deeply invested into this game because I spent 150+ hours playing it. I didn't fall in love with these characters because I collected 50 boar pelts across each region of the map or whatever the fuck. I didn't need to clear out a gazillion samey dungeons or tread through a hundred filler questlines to feel like I've experienced an epic journey. I have experienced an epic journey, because that is just how the game was written. I'm so excited to see what Sandfall comes out with next. I'll be there day one, and that puts them in very sparse company.

You've heard it all before. This game is perfection in ever way. From music, to visuals, to gameplay, fun factor, voice acting, story. Magical. Just a clear 10 across the board. One of those games that makes you not want to stop. We haven't had many games this impactful in a long time. In fact they happen once in a decade, this decade we got 2 of them in a row. On top of it being a 10, this game has done a lot outside of itself. It has mixed up the genre and made it a lot more exciting. No longer do you have to wait for every enemy to take a turn, you're in the action the whole time, even more so while defending. It's simply genius and has reinvigorated the genre, or perhaps produced a spin-off that will most certainly be copied. This game also hit the AAA industry hard, in a good way, it has flipped the script. Inexpensive, amazing, no microtransactions or other predatory practices, no need for any kind of messaging that isn't congruent with the world. It has achieved everything gamers have been asking, and AAA studios been denying is possible. All with the 33 developers that poured their hearts and souls into it, and filled up ours. Looking forward to what this studio does next, and to other studios learning an important lesson.

A French team has made by far the best JRPG of all time. I love Atlus, Falcom, Level-5 and AliceSoft, but man, they’ve never even come close to making a game as good as Expedition 33. I had lost all hope after playing Metaphor: ReFantazio and seeing how painfully bad that game was, but thankfully, Sandfall saved the day and made JRPGs great again.

This is what passion looks like! Game of the year winner , if not i care not for any other. Expedition 33 woke up in me what i thought was forever gone. Sandfall Interactive deserves the support from every gamer out there , what an amazing developer team. I hope all those massive triple A studios are watching 'cause this is how it's done. For Those Who Come After !

The game is insanely beautiful and runs very well, I haven't encountered frame rate drops or bugs so far. The combats are always satisfying and the exploration is rewarding. The voice acting and cutscenes are particularly good. Even if it's not your kind of game, you should give it a try. Basically, if you have a soul and like gaming, you'll enjoy this masterpiece.

[h1]Genre: Turn-Based Combat/Action-adventure[/h1] As many others, the reason I decided to play this game is cause I wanted to experience the amazing story that everyone was talking about. What kept me for playing until now was the fact that some people hated or didn't like the big reveal that happens at the end of the act 2. I belong to that group. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it either. I will try to be as vague as possible while talking about the story with some slight spoilers about beginning of the game. Game is divided into prologue, 3 acts and epilogue. Prologue is pretty short, it's just a tutorial with some great cutscenes. You are introduced to few characters, who will be the protagonists of this journey and with the main story concept (slight spoilers till the end of the paragraph, you find out about this in tutorial): each year Paintress reduces number on the Monolith by 1. Everyone who is that age dies, the ritual they call Gommage, and everyone older than that is already dead. New number is 33. Every year the citizens of Lumiere send new people on expedition to kill the Paintress and stop Gommage from happening again. Hence the Expedition 33 in the title of this game. Prologue is pretty powerful, but short. Act 1 along with prologue are best parts of the game. It introduces you to the world outside of Lumiere, to some new civilizations and creatures; there are ton of great cutscenes and you can talk with your squadmates in the camp. Through the journey your checkpoints are flags of previous expeditions, and a lot of them left journals to help with future expeditions, so in case your expedition doesn't make it you at least leave some helpful tips for the next one. Act 1 is very intriguing, there are some mysterious figures that appear, you don't learn much, tension is rising and it ends on the high note. Act 2 is the longest act; you meet new characters, you learn more about squadmates, but same as in the act 1, you still probably won't have idea what is really going on. You will have cryptical conversations with some mysterious character, but they probably won't tell you much. And then at the end of the act 2, you get this big reveal, and you can finally understand every conversation that happened before. This big reveal however may ruin the game for you. At first it ruined it for me too, but then I guess I just accepted it, and it wasn't so bad after all. I wasn't impressed by it, but it wasn't that bad. It's just okay, feels kinda forced, and a bit funny in some morbid way. Then comes act 3, which is short, and at that point I just didn't care anymore, I wanted to be done with it. It's the weakest act so far, and you don't learn much, because it's more like epilogue, and you already know most of it. You have a choice eventually and based on that there are 2 endings of the game which are true epilogue of the game, some interesting cutscenes, that improved my opinion about story a bit. In conclusion this game offers pretty intriguing story, with some high quality cutscenes, great babes and Robert Pattinson look alike (yes that is not him). Act 2 ending is controversial, but I will leave you to be judge of that. Even though the story is great, as my friend SS said it feels like a big teaser for the act 2 ending, and for most of the game you will not learn much. Maybe it would feel better replaying the game, cause you can understand dialogues better then. Now let's talk a bit about gameplay. Combat is actually pretty good, and I really enjoyed it. It's a turn-based game, where you need to parry or dodge. I relied on parrying and it feels really satisfying to repel few attacks in the row and then counter attack (if you don't fail sequence it will counter attack automatically). Some attacks can't be parried, so you need to jump, or some attacks just feel more natural to dodge. You can choose different weapons, acquire skills and equip pictos which are special tools that improve your stats. Even though combat is good, balance is abysmal. As a big souls fan, I am always annoyed when I have to choose difficulties, because most of the time, higher difficulty options just mean that enemies have more health and deal more damage. That's the case here. Normal is easy if you explore, and expert is annoying even if you explore, because even on normal a lot of bosses later on can one-two shot you. Bosses have a lot of health often, and tend to have 2 health bars, so fights can be pretty annoying, because you can die easily if you miss your parry/dodge. Souls games are hard, but they are fair. This game tends to feel unfair. You may wander into some side area, and boss will one shot your whole squad. Also that boss will have ton of health, so you need to come back later when you become stronger, if you don't forget where it was; spend a lot of time dying or just ignore it. As I said, balance is just awful, but the combat is pretty satisfying. Aside from turn-based combat, you can also explore world map, fight enemies on the world map or enter some portal to access new areas. Fast travel is only possible within one area, so if you want to travel to some other area, you will need to exit current area and walk to the other one, so that is little unconvenient. You do acquire some faster way of traveling later on from act 2, but I won't spoil you that. Game took me around 43 hours to finish, but I did explore a lot and played on expert mostly. It has a great optimization, I had no problems there. I didn't focus on achievements, but to get them all you will need to beat one side boss which has ton of health, like 100 times end boss. That doesn't sound fun at all, but good luck with that. [h1]Pros:[/h1] - High quality cutscenes - Satisfying combat - Amazing graphics, characters look great - Beautiful world [h1]Neutral:[/h1] - Story is intriguing, but conclusion to it is extremely weird [h1]Cons:[/h1] - Abysmal difficulty balance, one of the worst balances I have seen in games [h1]Verdict:[/h1] This game didn't meet my expectations, but I still think it's a good game. I don't think it's must play, or that it has some amazing story, but it does offer some new ideas and for most of the game I had great time with it after I got used to terrible balance. [i]Note: This explains how I rate games in my reviews. https://imgur.com/s7VB3Vj[/i] [h1]Personal rating: 7.5/10[/h1]

I play games to be all Wheeeee, not Whooo. But from the very beginning, this game makes you go Whooo all the time through its storytelling. Perhaps that is the intention, as Wheeeee from experiencing one of the most artistically crafted games balances out that Whooo. In any case, the conundrum of this WheeWhooWheeWhoo situation is something I strongly recommend for everyone to go through and find out themselves.

Expedition 33 piqued my interest from the moment they showed the first trailer; the reason it caught my eye was mainly the real-time interactive mechanics implemented into the turn-based combat - QTEs when you're doing your attacks to get extra power out of them, and the dodge/parry when you're being attacked. If you don’t like the idea of a turn based game, you should absolutely still try this because it doesn’t feel like it’s turn-based when you play it. A lot of turn based games would have you sit like a moron whenever the enemy has their turn, but not this one. It's highly interactive, you're never sat there watching like a moron when an enemy is swinging or shooting at you. Some people on twitter and such have compared it to Souls/Sekiro because of the dodging and parrying, but I’d say that’s a stretch. While the enemies have rhythmic combos like Sekiro, that's about where the similarities end. It's possible to beat each individual fight without taking a single point of damage, but you won't. The way it does compare to Souls/Sekiro is in the npc/enemy designs, they’re all so creative, you could easily see some of these appearing in their games. Even beyond the enemy designs, the levels and environments you traverse will regularly make you stop and stare like you’re seeing the gates of heaven opening up before you - it’s impossible to describe it in any other way. Visually the game is stunning - in every aspect. When you're watching trailers for new games, something you see all the time is the devs slowly walking around panning the camera to show off the environment they've made - but you rarely ever do that when you're actually playing any game. Expedition 33 is the exception - I found myself slowly walking or stopping multiple times in basically every level, mouth agape like as if I was catching flies. I've never seen any other game or other piece of media or art that blows you away in the way this game's environments did. Every frame feels like a piece of art or a painting; you’ll need a new keycap for your f12 key by the time you’re done. Build variety and the way you play each character is as deep as you’d ever want, each character is extremely flexible and can either be a DPS monster, support, tank or an amalgamation of any combination of those 3. Character builds are as deep as diving into the depths of the Mariana Trench from the peak of Mount Everest. They all have their own unique gimmicks which you’ll use to maximise their damage or utility. There are 4 components to each build, the character itself (each has a unique gimmick), the character's weapon (used to amplify or modify a character's gimmick), Pictos (Stat boosts & abilities), and Lumina (More stat boosts & abilities). As you progress the number of Luminas and Pictos does become overwhelming with how many you get, but this still lends itself to the flexibility of builds. There are side levels and even some silly minigames. The side levels still feel like complete packages in the sense that the characters will discuss things about the place and add to the world's lore. The minigames are all fantastic too - just the right amount of challenge while not being obnoxiously hard - except one. Level 3 of the volleyball game can suck me. Music can make or break an atmosphere or moment, and the OST in this game elevates every moment into the clouds and beyond - it always matches the vibe perfectly and just sounds so amazing. I would put this up there with the other best soundtracks I've heard, comfortably next to Nier Replicant and Nier Automata. If you've played those games you know that's high praise. Expedition 33 deserves to be next to those two in the video game music halls of fame. Whether it's amplifying an emotional moment, creating a nice backtrack for exploring or providing a nice rhythm for a fight it always tickles your ear in just the right way. The dialogue is beautifully written throughout - it's rare you get a cast of adult characters that aren't overly quippy or act like teenagers, they all have their own depths and complexities without being painfully rubbed in your face. Even minor interactions between characters are written amazingly and something that surprised me is how often the characters actually made me laugh. One flaw you will notice is that the lipsync is often not good, as if they're animated to sync up with french actors while speaking English. It does stick out like a sore thumb at times, but for important cutscenes it's perfectly fine and won't take away from emotional scenes or anything like that. The voice acting itself is brilliant which keeps you feeling involved. Now the story - (no spoilers) holy shit did it blow me away. The intro of this game is the most grabbed I've ever been by an intro. You're given a premise of "the big bad" which is the Paintress. All we know at the beginning is that she paints a number on a distant monolith. This number drops by 1 every year, and everyone who's age is written on the monolith is gommaged. This time around the number is 33. Also every year, the people send out an Expedition of volunteers who's aim is to kill the Paintress - with no clue as to how far it really is, or what exists beyond the ocean at all. There were several times along the journey where I thought "I see what's really going on, X is the reason for Y and this thing is this way because of blah blah, I'm so smart" but no, I was wrong basically every time. It goes into directions I guarantee you would not predict. But when the world shows it's true face, it all makes so much sense. Easily Expedition 33 gets into my personal top games list - it's a 10.

The music and atmosphere in this game really stayed with me. It felt like I was inside a dream, and sometimes I just stopped to listen and take it all in. This is Game of the Year without a doubt.

What an incredible journey! I was sceptical at first, but in my opinion, the game deserves all the praise it gets. Clair Obscure Expedition 33 has everything, from likable characters, a strong story with great depth, enjoyable gameplay, great visuals and some of the best musical pieces i've heard in a long time (maybe ever) in a videogame. Even the start into the game feels so natural and despite it being a very fantastical world you know very little of, the exposition eases you into the game very naturally and explains things on the go, without too much exposition directly to the player. There's a depth to everything, without it being overwhelming. The gameplay is pretty great too with it's turn-based combat with a twist. You can (and should) parry or dodge the attacks of the enemies - turning the tide of combat in your favor and either dodging damage or delivering a powerful counter-attack when parrying properly. Together with the myriad of combinations of weapons, stats, Pictos (abilities and stat bonuses you can apply to characters) you got a lot of potential for all sorts of builds. The world is also fantastic visually. It's creative, beautiful and you have lots of different places to discover. As for the characters and story, i won't spoil anything. But i say as much: The voice acting and motion capture is excellent for each and every character. They all have their own personality, depth and everyone has their own relatable motivations. The story starts out relatively straightforward, but comes up with twists and turns quite early on and delivers on a powerful message. And the music. My god, the music is magnificent. From slow and quiet renditions, to powerful mixes of classic and rock that fuels boss battles, it has everything and it fits so well with the world, the themes and the characters. I'm actually llistening to "un vie à t'aimer" a lot, cause it had such an impact. All in all, it's a fantastic game and one of those rare gems that don't just exist for the sake of it. It's beautiful art, realized in a videogame format. 10/10 For those who come after

The existence of this game in 2025 is a blessing that gives hope again, that people can make actual good games without any insane pricing if given enough time, love and little to no higher ups b*llshit, which destroys the lies of the AAA saying that "games cost too much to make now so we must sell them for +90 dollars". No shareholder to please, no greedy CEO to cover his insane wage. Just a studio who knows what they're doing and cares about the quality of their game. Turns out all you had to do for making a good game without an insane pricetag was to remove the parasites from the process chain. Clair Obscur Expedition 33 is a big reminder of what video games' standards should be. The game itself is not perfect, it has some flaws, but it is so good you can easily forget about those flaws. The gameplay is fun, the writing isn't a soulless crap, the soundtracks are (mostly) amazing and it's also looking very good. [b]Easily GOTY 2025 so far[/b].

Lead Writer had zero experience with writing games Composer had never written a game soundtrack before One of the greatest games of all time. My Personal GOTY for 2025. Absolutely incredible story and experience.

Art/10 - Parrying everthing makes the combats so much fun and dynamically. - Story is well written and I was hooked from the start. - A long the Journey with the Expedition. I did my own Journal with many Screenshots from the Journey. ... And now I am sad because I finished the game with all Achievements.

"I first played my turn-based RPG when I was in class 7..." My first turn-based RPG was *Pokémon* on a GBA emulator—played on a dusty old PC, catching 'mons right after riding my cycle home from school. Then there was *Dragon Quest* on a SNES emulator, accompanied by musical pixelated bravery and upbeat MIDI songs. These early RPGs were all books on the shelf of my lifelong love for strategic combat, forming parties, and developing that satisfying metronome of planning and payoff. *Expadation 33* is not just a game—it's a homage to turn-based RPGs and adventures I grew up with. From the moment the title splashed on screen, I felt the familiar vibrations of loading screens and save files titled "NewGame1," but with polish that invigorates the genre instead of shackling it. Combat is layered, yet approachable. The intentional tempo is almost meditative, where every move used is deliberate. The animations are tidy, and the enemies—designed with unusual, almost otherworldly finesse—look like they walked out of dream where old-school SNES graphics met177_PS2 ones. 10/10 Game.

This game is absolute Cinema. Packed with pure joy and sadness. Awesome soundtracks and the characters are just perfect. The visuals are top notch no RTX bs included just pure eye candy. 10/10 Goty contender hands down. Even if you don't like turn based games, PLEASE give it a try you won't regret it.

Good, but not the masterpiece the majority of reviews claim it to be. The collective consciousness of the gaming community acts like this is some miraculous 10/10 game—the next big thing among all the big things. My main complaints about the game: Gameplay: The parry system felt amazing during the first 5–10 hours, especially once I got the hang of it with enemies around me. It was honestly what got me hooked—beating the Mime enemy in Lumière felt incredibly rewarding. However, there’s a huge issue: on any difficulty, if you master parrying, the RPG elements become practically irrelevant. You don't even need to pay attention to what you're doing—just parry at the right moment, and you're good to go. It ends up feeling more like a rhythm game disguised as an RPG, where the core RPG mechanics barely matter if you're playing "correctly." In short: good, but flawed gameplay. Map & Exploration: The overworld sucks, in my opinion. There's a reason most modern games have moved away from overworlds unless they’re chasing ‘90s JRPG nostalgia. Areas are marked with danger levels, but individual enemies aren't, which makes it hard to tell if you're even supposed to be in a given area. It shouldn’t take a AAA team to add a basic quality-of-life feature like enemy level indicators. After getting the swimming ability with Esquie, I tried diverging from the main quest to explore—only to quickly lose interest. The exploration just isn’t rewarding. The lack of minimaps is also extremely frustrating, especially in some of the more complex, large-scale areas. Exploration in many of these interior zones felt like a chore. I can’t help but think corners were cut due to the limited team size, yet everyone still talks like this game is flawless. Some map layouts even reminded me of Final Fantasy XIII, and we all remember how that was mocked as "Corridor Fantasy" for its uninspired design. (Obviously, not all maps are like this, but many are.) Overall: map and exploration were the weakest parts of the game for me. Story & Characters: The initial worldbuilding was strong and drew me in. But I never found the characters charming or memorable. Act 1 spoier: [spoiler]When Gustave died in the end of Act 1, I had just learned his name 1–2 hours prior, so the moment didn’t land emotionally. [/spoiler] After Act 2, the big "reveal" about the universe’s nature left me disappointed. It felt generic and forgettable. I doubt I’ll even remember most of the characters' names a few months from now. Graphics: I have mixed feelings here. For the most part, the visuals are cohesive and have a distinct identity. But occasionally, it all feels like just another Megascan UE5 tech demo. It scales well across systems, but shots from an RTX 4090 look wildly different from what you get on something like a Steam Deck—especially with character models. It’s visually appealing, sure, but sometimes it just feels like a typical Unreal Engine project. I can’t quite put my finger on what’s wrong, but something feels off. OST: Honestly, the only things that stood out to me as truly excellent were the soundtrack and the graphics. That said, is it just me, or does the music borrow cues from Silent Hill 2 – Promise and Final Fantasy X – To Zanarkand? Once I noticed it, I couldn’t unhear it. Even the OST, while beautiful, started to feel like an imitation. :( The music also can be annoying at times, especially when it plays overly dramatic opera in the background while I'm just wandering around the overworld. I know I’ll probably get flamed for this, but I’m just being honest. I played it, I liked it—but it’s more of a 7 or 8 out of 10 game for me. Not this untouchable 10/10 gem that many are making it out to be.

The best French JRPG out there. And one of the greatest JRPGs in general. Very mature in theme. In my opinion of course.

1) Most screenshottable game 2) Great story, music, art, characters, vibes, EVERYTHING 3) Surpassed Sekiro in terms of best combat for me, the parrying was just too good 4) Made me realize I'm capable of winning fights against bosses without taking any damage, then later on made me realize that challenge runs are not for me (boss fights were taking more than 10 minutes in NG+, solo, expert mode, but I guess that was to be expected) 5) The only game I've ever played near release time (in a week), otherwise I'm a patient gamer I still have a lot to see in the game, I'll make an attempt to do it 100% 2-3 years later when I've forgotten a lot about it. This game was really special, the OST, especially in Flying Waters, gives me that dreamy like feeling I am always looking for in games(and rarely find it) Favorite boss fight - Sirene

I’ve never played a JRPG before, and at first, the game felt a bit too campy. But I got hooked really fast - it’s really, really good. The acting is solid, the world-building is great, and the progression system is AMAZING. Don’t spoil anything for yourself, don’t look up builds - just go in blind. Trust me, it’s worth it.

EDIT: After 50 hours, I finished the game finally. This game is something special. I play quite a bit of single player story rich games and this one is really good. Not only is the story special, the whole world of this game is something special. The game play is super fun, they made the game challenging enough to fail a couple of times but not soo challenging that I end up spending hours on a single boss unless I'm clearly under levelled for the area. Man what a game. I love this game. You've got to play to the end of the game :) It's worth playing this game through. Maybe I'll do a second run in 6 months ~ 1 year or so time when I'm ready to play it again and do another review at like 100 hours. And I'll probs do a review when I've completed all achievements. At 33 Hours: About to finish the game. Thought I would do a review at 33 hours haha xD Highly recommend playing the game :) Super story rich, the world is HUUGEE and very engaging combat system. They say it's turn based combat but there's so many timing based events during the fight. Love all the creatures and characters in the game <3 There's so much I haven't yet explored so I'll probably be spending some time exploring on a second run :) I might do another review after I finished the game or done more stuff in the game.

Simply my new top 1 ouf of all games that I've played in my life. Previus - Gothic - had this top place since 2001... Controversially - game isn't perfect (I don't belive there is any 10/10 game out there), but was super strong on delivering amazing experiance that will last forever in my head. Narrative is true master piece, gameplay is solid and expand turn base combat with some QTE mechanics, visuals are amazing. I have multiple soungs from Expedition OST added to my "best game music" ever - what to say, I belive this is MUST play in 2025 and I keep fingers crossed for multiple GOTY awards later this year.

Review of Goty 2025 If you have not finished the game yet or if you are thinking of starting, I recommend that you close the review by looking only at the Rank sections Story Moving on vs Escapism / Grief vs Acceptance, some of the best themes that can be chosen for any piece are definitely in this game. The themes are not only there, but they are so well woven into the story and through the characters that by the time we get to the finale, we only have to watch the long screen on the decision screen. Probably the most difficult narrative choice I've ever made. When you empathize with both characters, you feel that if you were in their shoes, you would make exactly the same decisions they would make for the fate of the canvas. When you look at it as a 3rd party, things get even scarier. This time you are deciding not on these two characters, but on the characters in your party, even on the people of a whole country. You can't leave satisfied with either ending (not because they couldn't do it, but because it was a design choice) It's sad that some people have such a negative attitude towards the plot twist at the end of Act 2. When I first saw the plot twist, I was not used to such a sudden and completely different story chain, but after giving it some time and realizing how unique and well reflected the drama I was in, how well the story and characters were written and how well the foreshadowing was placed, I was once again amazed.It's sad to see that some people are so against innovation, but it's good to see that the majority of players like it Combat One of the best combat systems I have ever experienced. Excellent main mechanics and gameplay, as well as an incredible variety of enemies/bosses for the length of the game, fully in line with the game's mechanics and theme, and sadly shitty camera problems. I don't know how they did the basic function, but sometimes the camera goes to places where it shouldn't be and the character can't see the limb he's going to attack, not only that, but sometimes the camera goes so far backwards that you can't see the animation of a human-sized enemy. Other than that, we have a great battle system that is close to perfect.Expedition 33 has adapted the “knowledge is power” philosophy to combat and difficulty, which is exactly what an RPG game should use as a building block, and it's great. Every time you acquire new knowledge, every time you acquire a new item, you become so powerful that the only obstacle is actually you, just like in Elden Ring, or rather, just like any game that calls itself an RPG should be. You can make one-shot builds in a way that is worthy of a real RPG, but playing with these builds will completely reduce your enjoyment of the game imo. I played my entire game with the Parry+Counterattack buildi and it's hard to describe how much I enjoyed every battle. Specifically, apart from the Simon boss (a boss that should have been nerfed anyway), there is no difficulty that feels impossible. You can die in every battle with a few mistakes, but even when you die, just like in the souls games, your enemies perceive your animation more easily and the battle becomes more and more fun. If I talk about the parry system, it's definitely the most satisfying system I've ever seen and I have to admit that it's definitely much better than Sekiro's parries.I also have to say that in terms of build / gameplay diversity, it is definitely somewhere in the top Open World / Exploration After Elden Ring, I thought that no world could give me such a sense of discovery (I finished my Elden Ring+dlc randomizer run just before Expedition), but playing a game like this right afterwards is really a great chance. When the game first dropped us into the open world, I couldn't get used to the system and the camera, and even though I enjoyed it to a point, I thought that the map would get a little bigger and that the game would focus entirely on the story in Act 2 and 3, but I was wrong. We have a huge map. Tons of different maps that you can visit and see, notes where you can see what the expeditions that have passed through that region have experienced, new enemies / bosses,challanges,mini games, pictos, items that will hide your upgrades and many more. The only thing I can say is that if 33 people made such a project, we need to crucify a whole sector, this is an unbelievable success. Overall Thoughts We've probably left the game of the year behind us. I predict Expedition 33 will sweep most categories in Game Addwards. I'll be really sad if Ben Starr doesn't win the best performance award this year (he was definitely the best in 2023). Not only Ben Starr but the whole voice cast was excellent and I hope we can see them in Sandfall's other works Characters Ranked 1. Renoir 2. Verso 3. Maelle 4. Gustave 5. Lune 6. Sciel 7. Esquie 8. Monaco 9. Paintress 10. Sophie 11. Simon 12. Clea Peaks Ranked 1. A Life to Love 2. A Life to Paint 3. It's Okay Verso, It's Over 4. Don't Leave Me Again 5. I Don't Want This Life 6. The Final Fight 7. Gommage 8. The Real Word (Reveal) 9. You Lied 10. Ending Sequence of Act II 11. The Letter 12. Gustave's Conclusion 13. Born of Maelle 14. You Need to Go Home 15. I Said Enough 16. I Love Them Too 17. Renoir's Introduction 18. Renoir's Monologue at the camp 19. Send Me to My Family 20. Homecoming 21. Tomorrow Comes 22. The Curator Revealed 23. Family is Complicated Osts Ranked 1. Une vie a t'aimer 2. Alicia - Violin 3. We Lost 4. Lost Voice 5. Clair-Obscur 6. Alicia 7. Dechire la Toile 8. Lampmaster 9. Gustave 10. Lumiere 11. In Lumiere's Name 12. Lettre À Maelle 13. Aux Lendemains non Ecrits 14. Verso Bosses Ranked 1. Simon (With two simple adjustments, it could easily be the best boss. The first is to significantly reduce the boss's ‘Speed’ stat (even if your entire party has 99 Agility, the boss will attack 4x2 times per turn in the second phase, which makes the boss extremely annoying and completely unfair). Even if you want to increase your Speed stat, you have to equip useless pictograms with the most unnecessary features and completely change your playstyle, or you have to farm endlessly, and if you haven't followed those stupid guides on YouTube to build a one-shot build, this is an even bigger ordeal. Secondly, the camera and boss colour/arena colour mismatch made me feel like I was looking at an ant from an apartment building for a significant part of the battle. In some places, Simon goes to such unrelated parts of the arena that it's impossible to see the character and read the animations. I'm curious to see what will happen when people who are crying over Consort Radahn see this boss and try to play parry focused .I hope that the Sandfall team will balance this boss so that I can see Simon at the top of the list of my favorite bosses (still top 20 though.) 2. Dualliste (Top 20) 3. Clea 4. Paintress 5. Renoir (Act III) 6. Renoir (Act II) 7. Sirene 8. Grosse Tete 9. Painted Love 10. Alicia 11. Sprong 12. Lampmaster Acts Ranked Act 2 >== Act 3 >= Act 1 #3-5 Game #6 Protagonist (Maelle) #2 Deuteragonist (Verso) #2 Tritagonist (Gustave) #2-3 Antagonist (Renoir) #2 Opening #3-5 Story #2-3 Emotions #2 Dialogues #3-4 Peak (A Life to Love) #3 Plot Twist #3 Ending #1-2 Pacing #1-3 Art Direction #2 Direction #4 Cinematography #2 Soundtracks #4 Combat #19/20 Boss (haven't ranked them yet) #4-6 Overall Bosses

I was first drawn to the game after listening to "Lumiere" track on youtube, I thought "why not give it a chance?" Honestly? That was the best possible choice i could make. I fell in love with the game instantly, everything about it is perfect: graphics, sountrack, story, everything. The leveling up can be a bit boring after level 90, but you can complete the game around level 50, if you don't care about secondary objectives and stuff. Highly recommend playing the game in expert difficulty, as it adds a bit more challenge to the gameplay, you are forced to parry most of the attacks, or at least dodge them. Game is 10/10, a must play. Even if you don't like turn-based games, give it a try.

This is a genuine once in a lifetime moment for video games. You're either here or you'll miss it. For fans of RPGS... THIS is what we imagined we were playing when we used to dream about where video games could go, back before this creative space became a machine. An experience made for YOU. I have no words besides beautiful for this game. It's everything I want in an RPG. Nothing can describe the awe I felt many times over. Fighting the Paintress was the best thing I've ever seen in a video game.

This game was pretty amazing, it grabbed my attention to the point 100%'ed it. Great music Great voice actors Great game-play Though the story did lack a bit and a few minor issues related to QoL such as wishing there was a option to fast travel between islands. I enjoyed my time navigating around the game, building relationships with characters, Amazingly detailed environment, characters, cut scenes and bosses. I would 100% recommend anyone to give this game a try!

The hype is real, all the praise is well deserved and even still after all the praise my expectations were blown away. Expedition 33 is one of the best games of all time, maybe even potentially my favourite i just have a lot of nostalgia for games like Mass Effect 2 and Witcher 3. Every single aspect of this game is top tier. Some of the best writing i have experienced in any form of media. It's very layered and it's the type of story you can have long discussions about after you beat it. The voiceacting and the facial capture performances is in my opinion the best of all time in this medium. Every performance is perfect and the characters are so well written that it becomes so easy to get emotionally attached to them. Expedition 33 not only has one of the best stories of all time but it also easily without question has the best turn based combat system ever created. This is what they should have done with modern Final Fantasy instead of completely ignoring turn based altogether. The way the combat blends turn based with real time parrying and dodging is masterfully done. The parrying and countering feels so satisfying, the enemy variety makes sure to keep you on your toes with all their different movesets and beautiful seamless animations. The amount of customization available to you with the different builds you can do with the pictos system and the skill trees mixed with the variety of weapons and all their passive bonuses really lets you form your party how you want. It felt addicting and rewarding levelling up the party. When i say every aspect is top tier i really mean it, the musical score is one of the best of all time and it complements the story and the gameplay perfectly. Graphically it's one of the best looking games of all time, it's visually stunning with it's use of colour and just the art design in general of the whole world they've created. The level variety with all the different vistas and biomes made me constantly stop and just admire the beauty of the game. It's all just outstanding overall. What makes Expedition 33 even more remarkable is that it came from an indie studio — and it’s not even a full-priced release. Despite that, it puts the entire AAA industry to shame. In a time where games often struggle to deliver on even one or two core pillars, Expedition 33 delivers on all of them with a level of mastery that's genuinely rare. It's not just a great game — it's a landmark achievement in storytelling, gameplay, and presentation. 10/10 (Masterpiece)

I didn't expect Clair Obscur to hit me like this. I was drawn in by the art direction. The combat was tight and challenging but it was the atmosphere and storytelling that truly caught me off-guard. It's an experience. One that lingers long after the credits roll. Massive Kudos to Sandfall Interactive - you didn't just make a great game, you have created something genuinely powerful.

This may very well be one of the best games ever created. It might not fully innovate, but it brings takes every aspect it brings to the table and perfects it. A must play for literally everyone, even non-gamers!

This truly is art, I cannot put it into words how special this game is. PLEASE PLAY IT!!

Since 100%ing the game and starting a New Game+ run, I've decided to go back and write a full review, as a game of this caliber surely deserves more than just a joke review. This is without a doubt my Game of the Year choice, and one of the best RPGs I have ever played. Everything from the combat, the story, the environment, the characters, and [b]especially[/b] the music, proves [i]Clair Obscur: Expedition 33[/i] is nothing short of a masterpiece. As an avid fan of turn-based party JRPGs, a game like [i]Expedition 33[/i] immediately piqued my interest, upon first seeing the reveal trailer for it during the Game Awards. Although I love JRPG series like [i]Persona[/i], or [i]Final Fantasy[/i], the setting of [i]Expedition 33[/i] seemed like a breath of fresh air from the traditional high school/futuristic-medieval fantasy backdrops that are prevalent in both the series' mentioned and beyond. Along with the uniquely themed world, the music is a perfect pairing, an amazing classical orchestral soundtrack, that incorporates many other genres such as rock, opera, electric guitar, and more to create an unforgettable musical backdrop. Lorien Testard, the composer, who the developers found on [b]effing Soundcloud[/b] deserves all the praise for one of the best soundtracks to a game I have ever heard. And that's not an award given lightly. The JRPG genre specifically is host to no shortage of fantastic soundtracks that will undoubtedly leave an impression on players, and [i]Expedition 33[/i]'s stands up there with the rest of them. The range of emotion portrayed through sound elevates and compliments both the story and the gameplay in such a way that makes the music memorable both for how good it is, but also the moments they are tied to whether it be a certain enemy, or point in the story. Of course this is nothing new the RPG genre, but nonetheless it executes it flawlessly. Another thing [i]Expedition 33[/i] executes flawlessly is the core gameplay, turn-based combat, with added realtime elements. I will admit although I was instantly sold on the game's world, the quick time events after attacking left me skeptical. These elements have already been present in some turn-based games in the past, like [i]Paper Mario[/i] or [i]Yakuza: Like a Dragon[/i], but it is far from the norm, and I'd typically expect a dodge and parry system to be in something more akin to [i]Dark Souls[/i]. Yet it feels perfectly at home in [i]E33[/i] and makes the battles feel much more engaging than a standard turn-based combat system. Whether or not it will become more widely adopted among games will be interesting to see, because although it is very fun, it can seem sort of tedious at times, given the combat does rely very heavily on it to stave off damage and properly use skills, and could majorly bog down a game if not done properly. Besides timed inputs on skills, [i]E33[/i] also offers another realtime combat option by way of Free Aiming, allowing the player to sacrifice some of their Action Points typically used for skills, to shoot the enemy, very similar to [i]Persona 5[/i]'s Gun ability. At first it seemed Free Aiming might just be a throwaway system, but with the right build, it can quite literally replace turn-based combat entirely. The build variety of [i]E33[/i] is surprisingly in-depth, offering the player tons of different ways to build their characters, both as a team or solo, and allows you to create builds revolved around practically any combat system you want. Through battle, exploration, or other quests, players can earn and equip Pictos, character buffs that not only provide an increase to your main stats (Health, Defense, Speed, etc.), but also provide passive buffs that widely vary in effect. Through winning multiple battles with the Pictos equipped, players can unlock the passive buffs separately, called Luminas, that they can then equip in addition to their Pictos, to allow the player to fine tune their characters to their playstyle. And it can get pretty insane by late game, when you can pretty much one shot every single enemy. The amount of different Luminas that buff damage with different drawbacks or in different situations that you can stack can have you end up doing multiple times the normal amount, and makes you feel godly, like a JRPG should. On top of that, each playable character has their own unique battle system. Gustave, the first playable character we are introduced to, has a robotic arm that charges up as you do damage, enabling the player to do a special move releasing all its energy when fully charged. Another playable character, Maelle, has a stance system, in which her skills put her in one of many sword stances upon use, each providing different buffs depending on the stance she is in, such as Virtouse stance dealing far more damage, or Defensive stance dealing less damage but causing her to take less damage. These systems offer a ton of synergy between characters in a team setting, and in addition to Pictos and Lumina, make any one character a viable option to use on their own. There really is so much depth to the combat of [i]E33[/i] that allows you to become so overpowered that it can trivialize the very combat itself, it's so ironically hilarious and only really comes about when you are at the end of the game that it feels right, and in line with the progression of the story. And my god, the [b]story[/b]. What starts as a group of expeditioners setting out on a foolhardy quest to vanquish the goddess responsible for killing everyone at a certain age every year, by the end becomes a gripping tale of dedication, perseverance, family, love, loss, and grief, that is bound to summon the waterworks more than once. The story features a major twist by the third act that really sets the game apart from its peers, and it will remain one of the most interesting twists out all the RPGs I have played, and is really best experienced blind, so no story details here. The characters are all given their time to shine and are paired with outstanding performances by their voice actors, including both the legendary Gollum actor himself, Andy Serkis, and [i]Daredevil[/i]'s Charlie Cox. The facial animations are top notch, thanks to motion capturing, and the cutscenes feel very alive and help sell the already wonderful vocal performances, regardless of the tone. The cutscenes never overstay their welcome, with quality high enough to be its own movie. Which ironically, although not animated, [url=https://www.imdb.com/news/ni65100479/]is apparently happening[/url]. Although video game film adaptations are often of dubious quality, I will gladly take a chance on this one as the story is so fascinating that I would love more. All in all, [i]Clair Obscur: Expedition 33[/i] gets a well-earned 10/10, with a clearly passionately crafted story, and plenty of side content to keep you playing afterwards, from [spoiler]a badass secret superboss who literally hits the Artorias pose[/spoiler], to New Game+, and even some costumes requiring multiple replays to collect every single one of them (I haven't mentioned the costume system, but each playable character has a ton of outfits and hairstyles to collect and choose from, which although not gameplay impacting, is really awesome), the robustness of the character building system that allows for endless experimenting of different builds, the game has more than enough replayability, and all for $49.99USD, rejecting the $70 norm, with some games even stretching to $80 for base editions, [i]E33[/i] is the slap to the face that the gaming industry desperately needs right now, and a true testament to the power of passionate devs. Four words are all you need to sum it up, [b]Game. Of. The. Year.[/b] [u]ORIGINAL REVIEW:[/u] inb4 it wins GOTY and all the turn-based haters lose their minds like they did with Baldur's Gate 3

The Final Fantasy we all wanted and needed. One of the best games I've played in 10+ years. From the visuals and soundtrack down to the game play and all round enjoy-ability, I truly loved every minute.

Yep, this is GOTY for sure... ---{ Graphics }--- ☑ You forget what reality is ☐ Beautiful ☐ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☑ Eargasm ☐ Very good ☐ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Audience }--- ☐ Kids ☐ Teens ☑ Adults ☐ Grandma ---{ Difficulty }--- ☐ Just press 'W' ☐ Easy ☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master ☐ Significant brain usage ☑ Difficult ☐ Dark Souls ---{ Grind }--- ☐ Nothing to grind ☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks ☑ Isn't necessary to progress ☐ Average grind level ☐ Too much grind ☐ You'll need a second life for grinding ---{ Story }--- ☐ No Story ☐ Some lore ☐ Average ☐ Good ☐ Lovely ☑ It'll replace your life ---{ Game Time }--- ☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee ☐ Short ☑ Average ☐ Long ☐ To infinity and beyond ---{ Price }--- ☐ It's free! ☑ Worth the price ☐ If it's on sale ☐ If u have some spare money left ☐ Not recommended ☐ You could also just burn your money ---{ Bugs }--- ☑ Never heard of ☐ Minor bugs ☐ Can get annoying ☐ ARK: Survival Evolved ☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs ---{ ? / 10 }--- ☐ 1 ☐ 2 ☐ 3 ☐ 4 ☐ 5 ☐ 6 ☐ 7 ☐ 8 ☐ 9 ☑ 10

This game would be impressive even if it came from a team of experienced gamedevs, but the fact that this is Sandfall's first game is absolutely mind-boggling. And it doesn't seem like they're swimming in very experienced gamedevs either? Not sure about that, but what they managed to pull off is very impressive. Some hubbub has arisen around the topic that the team isn't really just around 30 people, but apparently it is. They did indeed also use contractors for various work, but the core game team is very small compared to most studios. The credits, as a final arbiter, were impressively short compared to other titles. So I'm gonna entertain that idea. Hearing this all stemmed from Guillaume Broche's main idea is very believable. This is obviously driven by such a singular vision. But that vision could've been squandered had the rest of the effort not aligned as well. And the fact that it did, so well, is incredibly impressive. Luck probably also played a role, but all the rest is due to their impressive team. This is a very unique title in that, it seems to excel in almost everything it does. From combat, to general gameplay, to visuals and story and music. All range from good to great and even exceptional. I'll start with the visuals which have been consistently so impressive and visually striking. Such wonderful art direction, with so much contrast. And a painterly look and feel. Gorgeous stuff. And the creatures, so imaginative. Just beautiful to behold. Moving on, I was shocked at how fun and engaging the combat system is, with the introduction of timed dodges and parries. Also infuriating sometimes, depending on the difficulty you play at, but overall very enjoyable. It certainly makes turn based way more involved than usually. I think I played for a mixture of Hard and Normal difficulties. I did encounter some issues with that, in that I had thought I had chosen Hard from the start. But at some point in the playthrough I stumbled back on those settings and saw it set to Normal. So I don't know. But on Hard it was plenty challenging, especially in a couple of the optional end-game encounters. And one in particular, where even setting of it was also most impressive. That fight, against Simon, I could not complete on my own. On Hard it was more difficult than anything souls/borne/ring had managed to come up with. So much so that I suspect it was made more-so as a little joke. On top of that, the character building system, especially the active and passive pictos, is so engaging. So much fun was had, min-maxing and planning builds. And then testing them out. Can't remember the last game where I would constantly and repeatedly spend tens of minutes switching around abilities. I also deliberately only focused on 3 of all 5 characters, basically leaving the rest completely on the bench. Since each character also has its own combat mechanic, 3 were enough for me to try and get a handle on. But it's also impressive how diverse each one is. I also liked how they gradually introduce movement in the open world, first by land, then sea, then air. Loved exploring it all. On the story department, it again win aces. A great journey, with a couple quite hard-hitting twits and turns. And peppered throughout, but especially culminating in some solid study of issues of the human condition. Not particularly truly unique, once you strip out all the flair and flavor (since these issues have been studied since mankind has had trauma and the time to reflect on this), but still a beautiful metaphor for it all. And it might seem like "it's only about that issue?" at first glance, but the more you dissect it, it becomes slightly more than that. But even if I'm just reading more into it than it is, it's still solid. Simply put, art. And god knows we don't have a lot of these, in gaming, that leave you introspective and not just consuming stuff. I also loved some of the characters, especially Maelle. Truly wonderful stuff. And her voice actress was something else. Seems I need to pay more attention to Shadowheart in BG3 then. She didn't really grab me there, though I did only play in Act 1 of that. Finally, I'm going to end on music. Impressively, this could be the thing that tops it all off. I don't think I remember a game where I was this constantly impressed by the music. Just great pieces one after the other. And also very diverse, in all sorts of weird other genres. Not just the classical pieces. But those do indeed touch in ways not many do. I've even had particular songs becoming ear-worms for myself, and I could not not hear them outside the game. It was strange. And somehow, a huge soundtrack, at over 8h and 150+ songs? Truly impressive. I understand there is some differing opinion on the ending(s)? I really didn't feel any issue. Liked the one I chose, and I'm hearing it's the one most people, who are even complaining, are complaining about. I also suspect out of the many that aren't complaining? Anyway, I was thinking of starting a NG+1 for the other ending that I hear is more classically cathartic, but I probably want to sit on this some more. Beautiful game! Highly recommended! Somehow it still managed to impress, even after all the glowing reviews I had constantly heard about, that i also tried to not get myself overhyped about. I think I'll give it a 10/10, since I cannot think of anything I did not like about it. Congrats to the dev team!

Game of the Year right here. The music, the graphics, the story: everything is amazing, especially for a small developer team.

The best JRPG since FFX. I can't recommend this enough, every single aspect of this game is incredible and will leave a lifelong lasting impression upon you. It's one of those games you wish you could erase memory of and start over fresh. This world and it's story has so many layers, it's combat so much depth, and it's music so much soul. This is what most developers wish they could create, even when they don't know it. And these guys came out of nowhere. Absolute bravo.

I wasn't sure if a review was necessary since the game already has a positive response from the gaming community. But for the sake of the gaming studio that created this masterpiece, I'll do it. I had the game on gamepass and I tried it there because I wasn't sure if I would like it. My test took 49 hours! After 49 hours of testing, I decided to buy it on steam and transferred my save file here. I have almost 100 hours in it. I didn't regret giving my money to this studio at all. I will make a second play through because I miss a few achievements (no they don’t transfer). In recent years, the games that come out are similar to each other or are not attractive. This game is the exception! It's a game that the gaming community really needed! I played an immersive game, a game of emotions that touched me a lot. The story is excellent from the first minute. I am deaf and I usually play video games without my hearing aids on. For this particular game, I wore them and together with my headset I enjoyed its excellent music and dialogues. Worth every audio minute! The battle system is interactive with action buttons. Personally I found it excellent because I'm generally bored with turn based battle systems - I just press buttons and want the battle to end. The NPCs especially "Mon Ami" (I don't want to spoil anything) are awesome! Bravo to the imagination and creativity of the studio! I don't want to say anything else about the characters, you'll discover them on your own! The only thing I didn't like, but that's my own choice, is that if you overpower your characters, the game becomes incredibly easy and you don't enjoy the last difficult battles. That's why I recommend you not to overpower your characters so that you have a nice balance in your battles. I heard that with the last patch you can adjust the difficulty to your liking. But I recommend that you do a reallocation in your build and enjoy it the way you want. Ok that’s enough for now as the other reviewers have covered us a lot already. Here comes the review graph: ---{ Graphics }--- ☑ You forget what reality is ☐ Beautiful ☐ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☐ Eargasm ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Difficulty }--- ☐ Just press 'W' ☐ Easy ☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master ☑ Significant brain usage ☐ Difficult ☐ Dark Souls ---{ Grind }--- ☐ Nothing to grind ☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks ☑ Isn't necessary to progress ☐ Average grind level ☐ Too much grind ☐ You'll need a second life for grinding ---{ Story }--- ☐ No Story ☐ Some lore ☐ Average ☐ Good ☐ Lovely ☑ It'll replace your life ---{ Game Time }--- ☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee ☐ Short ☐ Average ☑ Long ☐ To infinity and beyond ---{ Price }--- ☑ Worth the full price ☐ If it's on sale ☐ If u have some spare money left ☐ Not recommended ☐ You could also just burn your money ---{ ? / 10 }--- ☐ 1 ☐ 2 ☐ 3 ☐ 4 ☐ 5 ☐ 6 ☐ 7 ☐ 8 ☐ 9 ☑ 10 ---{ Author }--- ☑ https://vojtastruhar.github.io/steam-review-template

Now it's one of my top 5 favorite game Art/Graphic look insanely amazing 10/10 Combat is fun and unique 10/10 Story + soundtrack = 10/10 con: unlucky it has some missable achievement -0.5 Overall, great game 9.5/10

It is greater than the sum of its parts. I agree with all the praise for this game so I will keep it short. The characters speak like actual people, it is overflowing in creativity, and it has the best music since nier automata. Please buy this game, if you have the money buy it twice, we need to see what Sandfall will do next.

A game made with love and passion. I've spent 66.5 hours in the game to get the ending. Stunningly beautiful world and music that just melts in your heart as you enjoy the game. Detailed and vibrant world in every possible way. Even during tense fights, the music is just right. The dialog and story is alive and well. Imagine a game with character and dialog that is fitting for human beings to enjoy. The developers didn't hold back and their creativity just shows from crazy quirky characters to funny bosses. Each area I've visited until now have been filled with details and hidden stuff to gather or side bosses to kill. Thank you for this masterpiece. I send my respect and love to the whole development team. This game has ruined gaming for me forever, nothing will be as satisfying as this game.

Best game I've played in years. Combat, storytelling, world building, music, just everything. 10/10.

I've yet to bother writing a single game review for Steam thus far, but this game relayed to me such an enthusiastically enjoyable experience I feel obligated to do so. Similarly, it'll be the first game I've 100% in over 12 years, why? Because this game whole heatedly captures the exact feeling I used to have playing video games as a young teen. As a diehard RPG fan since 1991, this game nails everything perfectly. Best in genre cinematic visuals, beautiful environmental design that rival's From software's best efforts, lovable characters whom you bond immediately, rewarding and engrossing exploration (maybe the best ever in open world for an RPG), and what I deem to easily be the best soundtrack in video game history. I waited awhile after finishing the main story to write this review due to not wishing recency bias to cloud my judgment. Nonetheless, weeks later my love for the game persists and simply put, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is my all-time favorite game.

I rarely fully finish games but I got all the achievements just because I was having so much fun. Great story and fantastic gameplay. This game will stick in my mind for years. FOR THOSE WHO COME AFTER!!!