I’ve been playing Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive), and I have written several ‘quick looks’ about it. Here’s the last one, which is part four. I have mentoined that my interest wanes with each play session (I can now play for two hours at a time rather than just one, but it’s still less than I can play, say, a FromSoft game).
By the way, people are talking about Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 in very lofty terms. not just Game of the Year, but also a game that starts its own genre. Which, ah, I’m willing to believe that I’m wrong about it, buut it just did not strike me as that kind of game. Even knowing that it’s a special game and much better than I perceive it to be myself. I don’t think it’s going to be a genre-setter, but as I said, I could be very wrong about it.
Before I go on with the topic of this post, I want to say that I met the best NPC in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and I will do whatever I need to do to protect him. It was much needed, too, as the storyline was lagging. Again, that’s partly my fault because of how much I’m dawdling and re-treading old environments.
But, it’s a bit draggy in parts. And a bit obscure. I know, I know, the name and all, and they are huge fans of FromSoft–who are masters of being obtuse. But there’s a difference between being obtuse with a purpose and being obtuse just to be obtuse, and I feel like this game is the latter. There are small cut-scenes called Maelle’s Nightmares, and if they’re going where I think they’re going, then I have to take back a lot of the credit I gave them for their narrative.
I also am a bit disappointed in the fourth party member. Her voice actor doesn’t quite hit the mark in my opinion, and this character is jarring. To be fair, the voice actor is probably doing the voice the way she was asked to do it. I read that the character is meant to be upbeat and positive, despite her tragic past (and, I’m assuming, the events that happened at the start of the game). I get it, but it just doesn’t fit.
In the beginning, there was some wry joking between Gustave and Lune, which fit their relationship. It walked a fine line between a needed lightening of the mood and ill-landing comic relief. Maelle is on the gloomier side and a bit too sarcastic for me, but she’s fine in general. This new character, though, she just does not mesh with the party (to me). I use her in the fighting because I love her style even if I don’t quite understand it yet, but–wait.
I’m not talking about Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 itself. I’ll probably do another post about it if I keep playing it, but I wanted to talk about this game in relation to Lies of P (Round8 Studio/NEOWIZ), which has a DLC coming out, by the way. I’ve included a trailer for it above. When I heard there was DLC (called Overture), I sighed heavily. I feel like I have to play it (if I can even access it. I can’t remember if I went into NG+ on my game, and I don’t know if the DLC is coming to Game Pass–where I played the game itself), but I don’t want to.
Again, I was an outlier when it came to that game. Everyone raved about it, and some people even said that it could pass for a FromSoft game (no. Just–no). I have written enough about that game, so I’m not going to rehash it here except to the extent to which it is relevant to this topic.
I do need to say I gave the game about a 6.5. I rate games based on how much I liked them. It’s completely subjective, barring things like bugs that really break things, etc. I mean, reviews are mostly subjective in general, even if people won’t admit it. Yes, you can say a game is good in general or bad in general, but when it comes down to a numeric value or a rating, it’s shades of gray.
Zoe from Eurogamer caught some flak for giving Lies of P a 6 or 6.5, but after playing the game, I agree with her. For me. Because it’s a one-trick pony. And, yes, it does that one-trick exceedingly well, but that wasn’t enough for me. I played the whole game because I’m stubborn. I was not going to let the game beat me, but it oh so nearly did.
The deflect of the game was pure torture for me. Not only did you ahev to parry three or four times to really get any positive results for it, I could never get the timing down on it. Like all these kinds of game, the window was different for each enemy type, which meant that I was fucked.
One thing that I wish soulslikes would not take from FromSoft is the opaqueness of the menus. From’s menu for Elden Ring was clearer than the ones in previous games (probably because they were trying to hit the mainstream with the game–and did. They’ve sold 30,000,000 copies), but still not great.
I’ve been thinking of Lies of P as I play Clair Obscur. Why? Because both are held in such high regard by most people, and I’m decidely less warm on both games, too. I’m not even a third through this game, I don’t think (at least I’m stil in Act 1. I don’t know if there’s an Act 3, but I just assume there is. Also, I haven’t run into Ben Starr yet, and I keep expecting it).
In general, I like this game much better than Lies of P. While I still can’t parry for shit, I am getting a bit better at the dodge. And, I can over-level to mitigate some of the damage, although I read that for the area I was just in, I should be level 15, and I was leevl 17. Meaning, I’m not as over-leveled as I would like to be.
The level design is even worse in this game than in the last. Neither are anywhere near the level design in a FromSoft game. I can’t emphasize enough how elegant the level design is in a From game. It’s a work of art, and I have not found that kind of elegant level-crafting in any other game. The level design in this game is probably the weakest point of the game overall.
I have not played a soulslike that I liked anywhere near as much as I like the From games. I think it’s fair to say that I like From games and not soulslikes in general. I put up with the difficulty in From games beacuse I so enjoy everything else. I have a feeling this is going to be tested with Nightreign. I’ll have more to say about that in a future post.