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

[namelesstacotruck]

Started this recently, just finished Act 1 last night.

I've looked at some build recommendations that seem to suggest going all-in on two stats per character, but I'm not sure if those are from old patches, as I know that some stuff like virtuoso stance got toned way down. Is hyper-focusing on stat allocation still the order of the day?

Dont do this. The maxxing out is a thing in Act 3. You can spread your stats however you want Act 1 and 2.

I appreciate they let you go broken as fuck with your builds in Act 3 and added true fuck you bosses with no story content to challenge broke ass builds.

 

[Endless Torment]

I've been on a chromatic binge purely because of circumstance really. I wanted to explore and there's a fucker behind every corner.

Spoiler

On another note, I finally offed that goddamn giant frozen faggot. My god. I got TPK'd before I could kill it again. That just sent me into a rage, so I used some Lumina on Verso to get a few nifty extra abilities to send that bitch to hell. Unfortunately, Monoco wasn't in my team so I don't know if it was supposed to drop a skill or not. I'm not going to fucking do that shit again though. Fuck that. My fucking god. Even the bouncing goddamn exploding head that does nothing more than waste your time and patience is better than this piece of shit.
View attachment 8299648

Any Eveque gives you the skill

 

[God of Nothing]

Something I just noticed that I found absolutely hilarious is all the non-violent nevrons are white.
and also, this might be unintentional (i have to hear the french dub to be sure)l, but monoco seems to talk in verso's gritty accent because he taught him to speak normally

 

[King Of Braves]

Something I just noticed that I found absolutely hilarious is all the non-violent nevrons are white.

Because they're not "finished" so they haven't been imbued with a purpose or duty, which is why most of their quests involve completing them in some fashion.

 

[God of Nothing]

>yet another small/thin/normal enemy with two swords
Oh great, time to waste several revives and potentially half an hour memorizing another fast fast slooooooooooooooow fast sloooooow faggot.

Still having fun, but this is one of those things that grates me to no end in modern parry/roll slop combat. I if I can fucking walk out of an enemy's range before his windup, I should be able to clock that retard out of his combo with ease. It's one of the reasons why I can't pickup Elden Ring, besides its ridiculous decision to have endless fucking combos for every boss and allow them to cancel their never ending fast ones if you decide to intelligently walk away instead of rolling through

 

[Rockzo]

Something I just noticed that I found absolutely hilarious is all the non-violent nevrons are white.

There's an achievement for not killing any of them. The last one will also give you 100 Colors of Lumina. You can then go back and murder them if you want but there's really no need too.

 

[God of Nothing]

So

Spoiler

The Curator is Renois, right? The real one? Verso and him are paintings, which is why they're immortal right? I suppose I'll figure that out for myself in a short bit. Maelle is a painter or the sister of the real Verso and daughter of the real Renois? That's what that whole those who know not that they are not shit comes from? Not really hard to guess.

I still have no idea why no one asks why Gustave looks so goddamn similar to the old man.

There's an achievement for not killing any of them. The last one will also give you 100 Colors of Lumina. You can then go back and murder them if you want but there's really no need too.

I thought about it but concluded that would be a really shitty thing to do.

 

[Scarlett Johansson]

Story was so out there. I couldn't handle it. Comparisons to Xenoblade 3 are expected.

 

[Estate]

So

Spoiler

The Curator is Renois, right? The real one? Verso and him are paintings, which is why they're immortal right? I suppose I'll figure that out for myself in a short bit. Maelle is a painter or the sister of the real Verso and daughter of the real Renois? That's what that whole those who know not that they are not shit comes from? Not really hard to guess.

I still have no idea why no one asks why Gustave looks so goddamn similar to the old man.

Don't read unless you're in Act 3.


Renois, Aline, Maelle, Cleo are something called Painters. The world the game is in, it's called a Painting, something like a pocket universe. This Painting in particular is the one young Verso made and is imbued with a piece of his soul.
Painters have the ability to use Chroma, some magic substance, to wield god-like powers inside the Painting. They can create sentient beings, shape the land, make whatever things they wish.
Renois is married to Aline and they have 3 children, Maelle, Cleo and Verso. In the "real world" Verso died in some conflict with another faction. Because of grief, his mother, Aline aka Paintress, went inside the Painting and made a "fake" family. The Renois we see on the beach and the Verso we play as, they are made by Aline.
The real Renois is indeed the Curator and he's also inside the Painting, trying to get his wife out and he's doing this by erasing everything, also known as Gommage.

This game tackles many philosophical questions and most people, especially in this thread, focus only on the escapism part. I personally do not reduce this game to something as simple as "escapism yey or ney?". I focus on the meaning of existence.
During your journey and from various Journal pieces and talks with random NPCs, we learn that the beings inside the Painting are sentient and by all accounts are real, as anyone else. Later on, when we learn that they exist in a pocket universe, and were created by "higher beings" aka Painters, the game asks the question: "Do these creatures deserve to live or not? Are you willing to condemn an entire world, just because the creators are assholes and can't deal with their personal shit?"

 

[Gimmick Account]

Because they're not "finished"

ie they aren't coloureds

 

[God of Nothing]

Story was so out there. I couldn't handle it. Comparisons to Xenoblade 3 are expected.

i beat the paintress

Don't read unless you're in Act 3.

congrats to anyone who managed to guess that mindfuck correctly

Spoiler

I actually felt so goddamn relieved when I beat the bitch with Lune when she had two turns of life until Cursed offed her while Verso and Maelle were down. Them planting the 33 flag on the monolith felt like an actual Herculean accomplishment after everything and finding the aftermath of dozens of Expeditions. Props to the devs incorporating environmental storytelling into the gameplay besides the filler of audio logs, which were at least done in a way that makes sense because they were all about making it as far as they can while leaving a path for others to follow.

 

[Terror Sandwich]

If you're submerged in anime slop all the time you don't realize how off-putting this stuff is to a Western person, even one who isn't new to anime.

As an anime fan, It's so rare to find an anime, or JRPG, that doesn't fall back into the cringe and off-putting troupes that so many "anti-anime" people dislike.
I've seen so many twitter retards say that E33 only got this high praise because it didn't have an anime art-style, and that games like Xenoblade 3 were just as good, but didn't get the recognition they deserved because of their looks.
And all I can think of is that anime fans are actually braindead to a certain degree. They've been numbed to the cringe after consuming it for so long and they don't even notice it anymore.

Even many anime/manga, and anime games, that try to be mature end up falling to the old troupes. Berserk is a big example, even if you ignore the sexual violence which you could argue is a part of the genre, it still end up having some loli-pedo shit, and some off-putting pervy jokes with side characters.

Expedition 33, on the other hand, was able to do many good things you see in JRPG, while avoiding all the aspects that give normal people the ick.

 

[Mister Fister]

As an anime fan, It's so rare to find an anime, or JRPG, that doesn't fall back into the cringe and off-putting troupes that so many "anti-anime" people dislike.
I've seen so many twitter retards say that E33 only got this high praise because it didn't have an anime art-style, and that games like Xenoblade 3 were just as good, but didn't get the recognition they deserved because of their looks.
And all I can think of is that anime fans are actually braindead to a certain degree. They've been numbed to the cringe after consuming it for so long and they don't even notice it anymore.

Even many anime/manga, and anime games, that try to be mature end up falling to the old troupes. Berserk is a big example, even if you ignore the sexual violence which you could argue is a part of the genre, it still end up having some loli-pedo shit, and some off-putting pervy jokes with side characters.

Expedition 33, on the other hand, was able to do many good things you see in JRPG, while avoiding all the aspects that give normal people the ick.

Here is what the average person is thinking during the typical anime dialogue.

 

[God of Nothing]

Here is what the average person is thinking during the typical anime dialogue.

>when you put a real American in a JRPG world

 

[Niggs Monaghan]

Here is what the average person is thinking during the typical anime dialogue.

Holy shit I need to play this game

 

[PetiteFeet]

I have a problem that I'd like some pro-Clair Obscur Expedition 33 opinions on.
I rarely suffer from FOMO when it comes to games, but something about the way people talk and praise E33 is giving me FOMO. The problem is, I think the game looks like generic modern crap with awful modern Final Fantasy gameplay from all of the screenshots, and I watched a video that showed off a shitty-looking platforming puzzle in some water. The price point is holding me back, even with the current discount on steam for 20% off.
Yet every single voice I hear about it is praising it to high heavens, even if I ignore game shills.
Have I judged the game unfairly simply because of alleged niggers in a french setting, visually dull screenshots that make me think its goy slop? Is this some hidden gem that I must play NOW NOW NOW ?
Or is my gut feeling correct - Sweet Baby Inc/"sensitivity consultant" slop that pretends to be indie, astroturfed by every single streamer?

 

[God of Nothing]

I have a problem that I'd like some pro-Clair Obscur Expedition 33 opinions on.
I rarely suffer from FOMO when it comes to games, but something about the way people talk and praise E33 is giving me FOMO. The problem is, I think the game looks like generic modern crap with awful modern Final Fantasy gameplay from all of the screenshots, and I watched a video that showed off a shitty-looking platforming puzzle in some water. The price point is holding me back, even with the current discount on steam for 20% off.
Yet every single voice I hear about it is praising it to high heavens, even if I ignore game shills.
Have I judged the game unfairly simply because of alleged niggers in a french setting, visually dull screenshots that make me think its goy slop? Is this some hidden gem that I must play NOW NOW NOW ?
Or is my gut feeling correct - Sweet Baby Inc/"sensitivity consultant" slop that pretends to be indie, astroturfed by every single streamer?

I initially had the same opinion. Then I heard the news. And then I went on /v/ and on this thread. Turn-based combat that actually incorporates your reaction time/skill is usually a retarded time but the parry/dodge mechanic interested me.

It tries a bit too hard in the beginning of the first act to try and get an emotional reaction from you, but it hits really hard later when you've actually had time to learn about and "bond" with the characters. Solid writing. Higher than what we normally get these days.

Aforementioned parry slop annoying ass fucking enemy aside, the picto mechanic allows an insane degree of customizability I don't think I've ever seen in any type of RPG. I am not exaggerating. From bonus AP gain, break/stun gain, bonus attacks, debuff/buffs on conditions, special conditions, trade-off buff/debuffs, and buffing buffs/debuffs even for every individual party member. This isn't even taking into account the different bonuses weapons provide, which are all different for each party member. It's fucking ridiculous, honestly. I don't know why that isn't talked about more.

 

[4090 Chad]

The problem is, I think the game looks like generic modern crap with awful modern Final Fantasy gameplay from all of the screenshots

It’s not. Before this game I never really played many true turned based JRPGs outside of Golden Sun on gameboy. The gameplay was fantastic and the story was also well done and unique, especially for the genre.

Or is my gut feeling correct - Sweet Baby Inc/"sensitivity consultant" slop that pretends to be indie, astroturfed by every single streamer?

Your gut is wrong. I am pretty sensitive to gay woke shit in games, and at the absolute worst, there are slight “girlboss” moments, but not nearly enough to be annoying or deal breaking. The characters are all written and acted very well.

 

[Thomas Talus]

I have no intention of trying to figure out a build for him, but Monoco's dialogue with Verso is peak. Whoever was doing the direction for the voice actors deserves all the money.

Your gut is wrong. I am pretty sensitive to gay woke shit in games, and at the absolute worst, there are slight “girlboss” moments

There are a couple of very minor things that could be references to homosexuality (journal from a previous expedition talking about an emotionally close relationship between two women, a male NPC in the prologue holding a picture of a dude and looking sad), but are ambiguous enough that they don't demand anything of you.

 

[God of Nothing]

Your gut is wrong. I am pretty sensitive to gay woke shit in games, and at the absolute worst, there are slight “girlboss” moments, but not nearly enough to be annoying or deal breaking. The characters are all written and acted very well.

It's there for all of five seconds before flying out the window with Lune admitting she has no idea what she's doing, Sciel being "champion" of literally the weakest creatures in the setting, and Maelle being that one stupid teenage girl you know who thinks she knows more than she does but has no idea and can't do shit on her own.

There are a couple of very minor things that could be references to homosexuality (journal from a previous expedition talking about an emotionally close relationship between two women, a male NPC in the prologue holding a picture of a dude and looking sad), but are ambiguous enough that they don't demand anything of you.

When was this in development? I know it's a bit ridiculous to think the election changed things drastically, but there's so little obvious signs of pozzing. You wouldn't fucking expect it from a French game too.

I have no intention of trying to figure out a build for him, but Monoco's dialogue with Verso is peak. Whoever was doing the direction for the voice actors deserves all the money.

Oh, he's easy. Just have him around as a buff on death and revive guy while you kill a few enemies to collect his transformations. For some reason, he always ends up being the first to die in my party when I have him on, so I slapped him with those pictos.