Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - Final Fantasy/Persona inspired FRPG

[Foltest]

I am only like 6 hours in and so far, it is amazing, even if it took me a while to understand what is going ln.
It say something that I feel for a charchter even if I have only seen her for a few minutes.
Good writing and great acting.
I noitce that the teenager VA is the same one who did Shadowheart in BG3.

 

[Waffle Iron]

Well, the trade-off is that the window to dodge is way larger and more forgiving. So you can either learn the timing and be heavily rewarded, or choose to just survive fights but have them take longer.

There are some attacks that I just dodge because my brain can't figure out the correct timing to save itself.

Sure, but the value parry gives extra is so big it's insane. The extra time you spend fighting the enemy probably means you end up taking more hits than if you just parried. Between being able to spam your spells more and dealing counter damage you just murder them 10x faster.

 

[Oggdo Bogdo]

<info dump on game's development history>

I've always found development history like this really interesting, here's my autistic observations:

1. They originally used a traditional mana system, and it didn't seem like parrying or dodging was a thing.
2. The name of the male lead was changed at least once during development, being called Frey originally.
3. Maelle and Lune were pretty much set in stone early on with a few changes here and there (Maelle's hair color and Lune using a scythe, likely repurposed for Sciel)
4. No sign of Monoco so I presume he was added later.
5. Seeing the full concept art of the Hauler (the dead Axon in Old Lumiere in the full game) makes me think it was a major focus at some point in the game but it got cut when they started doing major rewrites of the setting.
6. "Biome Titans" were the work-in-progress name for Axons.
7. The original title We Lost (the name was repurposed for the Superboss theme) and the dialogue in the prototype implies a similar event to the Gommage, so a mass extinction event was always in mind for the plot.

It's probably not everything in there but I legitimately love seeing how games change through development, so thanks for scooping this stuff together.

 

[Fae Supremacist]

1. They originally used a traditional mana system, and it didn't seem like parrying or dodging was a thing.

According to the most trustworthy of sources (anon on 4chan who claimed to have attended GDC 2022) the demo of Project W they presented had the parry system implemented pretty much completely. Again, if anyone feels like digging through footage of GDC to find Sandfall's presentation, my knees would buckle at the sheer autism.

it got cut when they started doing major rewrites of the setting

Interestingly, the original script/notes for VAs from five years ago are still online, just access protected on Google, when Guillaume was looking for volunteer VAs on Reddit.

He's said in interviews that one of the writers initially auditioned as a VA, but made interesting suggestions for the story and she joined the team as a writer instead, which means these notes would be pre-rewrite.
Maybe someone can ask Guillaume to make them public again, it'd be cool lost media.

 

[Estate]

Sure, but the value parry gives extra is so big it's insane. The extra time you spend fighting the enemy probably means you end up taking more hits than if you just parried. Between being able to spam your spells more and dealing counter damage you just murder them 10x faster.

Let me offer a counter-point.
Enemies in late game have such weird and schizo combos, that you need to learn the parries. This is trial and error. This takes time.
With dodge, you can survive those combos better, and while the initial fight might be longer then doing it with parry, the overall time invested will be shorter (because you won't load the fight several times).
Ofc, this doesn't apply if you're some parry god even going in blind, in which case, go visit the Chromatic Abberation.

bros we are so back

Spoiler

View attachment 7331824

You don't need to spoil it, it's not story related, just some overworld nigger. Then again, other people might disagree.
Anyway, congratulations!
Nothing better then overcoming one of these difficult niggers, through trial and error and sweaty balls.

 

[Chapalapachapa]

102k on a wednesday. this game got legs

 

[King Of Braves]

Apparently the Medalum and the Stendhal skill for Maelle are both bugged, doing far more damage than intended. Fully kitted out damage builds abusing this are doing upwards of 3 billion damage in one hit.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

I really like the idea of the Gommage, having a count down on maximum age is absolutely brutal and it's a shame you only see from lore items how it went from a sense of adventure at the new world, to absolute hysterics, and by the game start it's just apathy and waiting for the end.

Keep hearing about lesbians and I guess it's foot girl and scythe girl. The second is at least bisexual. Wonder if it will actually appear or it's the usual coombrained morons.

 

[Rebel Wilson]

I really like the idea of the Gommage, having a count down on maximum age is absolutely brutal and it's a shame you only see from lore items how it went from a sense of adventure at the new world, to absolute hysterics, and by the game start it's just apathy and waiting for the end.

Keep hearing about lesbians and I guess it's foot girl and scythe girl. The second is at least bisexual. Wonder if it will actually appear or it's the usual coombrained morons.

Its coombrained.

Spoiler

They were childhood friends who lost it when Lune lost her parents and became obsessed with ending the gommage. Sciel literally talks about how much she loves and misses her husband in every social interaction. You can also sleep with them if you want to as Verso,

Synthetic retard didn't play past act 1 so never learned any of that. Just took what his tranny discord said about it at face value because he was too busy playing his lolicon pedo games.

 

[Estate]

Keep hearing about lesbians and I guess it's foot girl and scythe girl. The second is at least bisexual. Wonder if it will actually appear or it's the usual coombrained morons.

I've actually played the game, and there is no lesbian, faggot or tranny shit.
Stop listening to inbred cretins.

102k on a wednesday. this game got legs

It's well deserved. The game is simply great, maybe the greatest in the last couple of years.


Now, to post what I actually wanted.
Sciel got moves! So far, she's hitting the highest damage in my party.
Also, Flying Manor has some brutal fucking fights.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

I've actually played the game, and there is no lesbian, faggot or tranny shit.
Stop listening to inbred cretins.

It's basically double brainrot - The first is coombrain that every interaction between two women must mean they are carpet munchers (I call it the Korra principle). And the second, which is more aggravating, is the retarded right wingers that need that dopamine rush they got when Concord happened, and now they will swamp every big release to make it a controversy no matter how ridiculous the argument is.

 

[Chapalapachapa]

Got my first void weapon for sciele

 

[Talmanes]

Just finished Act II and need a quick sanity check

Spoiler

Up until now I really enjoyed the story and was intrigued from the start. I wanted to know more about the setting, what was this world like before the Paintress? How are other parts of the world effected by the events, are there even other humans left besides the population of Lumiere? What is the Paintress? How does she have this Power?

I got a bad feeling about the trajectory of the story after the introduction of Verso and the game not answering any questions you had up until this point. You get a character that was there form the beginning and participated in all the important events but you don't get anything meaningful from him? I thought they just tired to keep up the mystery but after defeating the Paintress it all feels so meaningless.

The game takes place inside a painting, nothing maters, no one besides the family members are real people? It's such a rug pull and I really don't care for it. Maelle = Alicia was forshadowed quit a bit but invalidating the whole setting with the twist felt wrong. I don't think the story can recover from this. My whole motivation from the start of the game to secure a future for the comming generations of Lumiere is gone.

The gameplay, music and visuals are still amazing but the story feels tainted beyond repair. I really hope I'm wrong but all this is a big dent in my motivation to pick up the game again.

Am I totaly of base here or did they really fuck up with this twist?

 

[Waffle Iron]

Enemies in late game have such weird and schizo combos, that you need to learn the parries. This is trial and error. This takes time.

Usually if I miss a dodge or parry it is because the enemy does another twirl or just holds back his attack weirdly to an extent the larger dodge window won't save me either. Once I know the pattern well enough for dodges I can also parry it.

Although I must admit I did get sick of the bonus bosses at some point since they're just completely broken. The devs knew that the player would become OP as fuck, so they had to introduce weird patterns and crazy stats to make it challenging.

Spoiler: nexons

Something entirely different. Why was sciele able to defeat the mask boss while lune was able to break the dancer boss?

Just finished Act II and need a quick sanity check

Spoiler

Up until now I really enjoyed the story and was intrigued from the start. I wanted to know more about the setting, what was this world like before the Paintress? How are other parts of the world effected by the events, are there even other humans left besides the population of Lumiere? What is the Paintress? How does she have this Power?

I got a bad feeling about the trajectory of the story after the introduction of Verso and the game not answering any questions you had up until this point. You get a character that was there form the beginning and participated in all the important events but you don't get anything meaningful from him? I thought they just tired to keep up the mystery but after defeating the Paintress it all feels so meaningless.

The game takes place inside a painting, nothing maters, no one besides the family members are real people? It's such a rug pull and I really don't care for it. Maelle = Alicia was forshadowed quit a bit but invalidating the whole setting with the twist felt wrong. I don't think the story can recover from this. My whole motivation from the start of the game to secure a future for the comming generations of Lumiere is gone.

The gameplay, music and visuals are still amazing but the story feels tainted beyond repair. I really hope I'm wrong but all this is a big dent in my motivation to pick up the game again.

Am I totaly of base here or did they really fuck up with this twist?

Spoiler

I didn't like the twist too much either. Has very strong "It was all a dream" energy. I would say you should stick with it. ACT3 isnt long if you just go straight for the final boss in lumiere and I think the family storyline is really good (note you do miss out on finishing a few character arcs by not doing the extra content. although at the other hand the game pretty much tells you they're irrelevant). Even if the painted world being an illusion left a bitter taste in my mouth.

 

[Dumpster dived waifu]

The game takes place inside a painting, nothing maters, no one besides the family members are real people?

From how I understood it, the world inside the painting is a real world, just a bottle world created by the original Verso when he painted his canvas. The residents may not be able to leave their world, but their lives are real and not something created for them

 

[Waffle Iron]

From how I understood it, the world inside the painting is a real world, just a bottle world created by the original Verso when he painted his canvas. The residents may not be able to leave their world, but their lives are real and not something created for them

A bottle world where the struggles of the people inside are meaningless. The entire story is about letting go which leads to the destruction of the painting. Whatever the generations of expeditions fought for was useless. Meanwhile if you want to keep the painting you end up with verso dying in maelle's arms begging to for release.

But I'm not exactly sure how they all fit together. Painting Renoir wants to kill every expedition so the paintress eventually expires and real renior wins. But the Verso wants to let an expedition win so they can kill the paintress which actually let's real-Renoir win faster (since the paintress no longer sustains the painting). And then real renoir is freed by the death of the paintress and he wants to delete the painting to let everyone go. And Verso, after helping maelle build an army by collecting chroma, decides that Renior is correct and the painting should die. I'm honestly a bit confused and it feels like people change sides just to be at the other side of the conflict.

 

[WeedFaggot024]

From how I understood it, the world inside the painting is a real world, just a bottle world created by the
original Verso when he painted his canvas. The residents may not be able to leave their world, but their lives are real and not something created for them

Game pretty much spells it out that its both

Spoiler

 

[SteelPlatedHeart]

I’m buying the game as soon as I get my next paycheck, and I’m really liking what I’m seeing, but I’m getting sick to death of seeing people praise the game and then go “see, this is what the gross anime fanservice JRPGs like should be!” crap

 

[Chapalapachapa]

im on

Spoiler

visage

. what in the fuck

 

[Endless Torment]

this is what the gross anime fanservice JRPGs like should be!”

Do we even get those anymore? I feel like quirky anime JRPGs with fan service kind of died off.