THIS REVIEW IS "FOR THOSE WHO COME AFTER"

CLAIR OBSCUR: EXPEDITION 33 is a masterpiece IMO (and the opinions of 1000's of other players).

It truly shows that the turn-based genre still has a strong fan base and is ready for new IPs. Many are saying this is what Final Fantasy could have been if they stuck to their roots and didn't try to please a new crowd by going action based. Expedition 33 is not a perfect game, but it sure is CLOSE TO PERFECT.

COMBAT:
As stated before it is turn-based RPG that adds button prompts to combat to keep the players on guard and engaged in the fight (not just picking a command and waiting for your next turn). When your party uses their skills, button prompts will appear and if you time them correctly you can maximize the damage output and even get certain buffs for your team or even debuff the enemy team. The enemies all have their own fighting styles, strengths and weaknesses so it is important to pay attention and figure out the best way to defeat your enemies. What makes this even more interesting is that you can become really good at parring/evading during the enemies attacks and can go through an entire fight without ever receiving any damage to your team (I have see other players fight strong optional bosses at a low level on the hardest difficulty and come out successful and victorious without ever being hit once). This makes the turn-based combat so much more fun and interesting. There is lots of customization for your teams abilities and perks, making you able to create different builds for your preferred play style.

STORY:
The story definitely takes a more dark and mature tone than most RPG's. It revolves around death, love and the will to SURVIVE (no power of friendship bull crap here). Literally the first 30 mins of the game will have your emotions all over the place and by the end of the first act you WILL KNOW PAIN. The writing, characters and story is so well done that it will constantly make you want more and want to see what happens next. The plot is very mysterious, as we never get to see how the world ended or where the villain came from and what their goals are...we literally start the game in the middle of all the chaos and as we play and learn more of the lore the mystery starts to unfold. Expedition 33 has a type of collectible in the form of journal entries from the past "expeditioners". Collecting these will give you some background story on what happened to the world or the person who wrote the journal entry (what their final moments were like or even information on the current location and its monsters). Finding these are fun and important to learning the history and sacrifice of the expeditioners.

The MUSIC:
The music is this game is top tier, I would even say that this entire soundtrack can compete with Nier Replicant and Nier Automata's soundtracks. When adventuring through the games different locations they all have their own soundtrack and even battle theme. This definitely keeps the fights more fresh and not so tedious (by hearing the same battle theme for the entire game). Each track brings out the emotion behind the locations you will explore, making you want to explore every corner in order to listen to such beautiful music.

GRAPHICS:
The game's graphics are gorgeous. The characters, monsters, locations and world are very detailed, colorful, and just a joy to look at. Every time I boot up the game I just stop to look around and be amazed. The game is so beautiful and every area you explore looks so different (from the yellow forest to the underwater reef, it never gets old exploring around). The game gives me Nier vibes for sure since they both have that post-apocalyptic world (a destroyed world that nature took over).

OVERALL:
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 may not be the game for everyone and that's OK, but regardless this game is a labor of love that was created by a small team of 30ish people who wanted to make a fun and beautiful story for RPG fans to enjoy. The game does have side quest you can do for some good rewards and loot, but the quest never feels forced on you or like filler content. The game has great pacing IMO, you never feel like it is dragging along or filled with bloat content. I (and 1000's of other players) highly recommend this game if your into turn-based rpg's with great combat, writing and characters, and a beautiful world to explore.

CLAIR OBSCUR: EXPEDITION 33 DEFINITELY DESERVES GAME OF THE YEAR!

THIS REVIEW IS "FOR THOSE WHO COME AFTER" CLAIR OBSCUR: EXPEDITION 33 is a masterpiece IMO (and the opinions of 1000's of other players). It truly shows that the turn-based genre still has a strong fan base and is ready for new IPs. Many are saying this is what Final Fantasy could have been if they stuck to their roots and didn't try to please a new crowd by going action based. Expedition 33 is not a perfect game, but it sure is CLOSE TO PERFECT. COMBAT: As stated before it is turn-based RPG that adds button prompts to combat to keep the players on guard and engaged in the fight (not just picking a command and waiting for your next turn). When your party uses their skills, button prompts will appear and if you time them correctly you can maximize the damage output and even get certain buffs for your team or even debuff the enemy team. The enemies all have their own fighting styles, strengths and weaknesses so it is important to pay attention and figure out the best way to defeat your enemies. What makes this even more interesting is that you can become really good at parring/evading during the enemies attacks and can go through an entire fight without ever receiving any damage to your team (I have see other players fight strong optional bosses at a low level on the hardest difficulty and come out successful and victorious without ever being hit once). This makes the turn-based combat so much more fun and interesting. There is lots of customization for your teams abilities and perks, making you able to create different builds for your preferred play style. STORY: The story definitely takes a more dark and mature tone than most RPG's. It revolves around death, love and the will to SURVIVE (no power of friendship bull crap here). Literally the first 30 mins of the game will have your emotions all over the place and by the end of the first act you WILL KNOW PAIN. The writing, characters and story is so well done that it will constantly make you want more and want to see what happens next. The plot is very mysterious, as we never get to see how the world ended or where the villain came from and what their goals are...we literally start the game in the middle of all the chaos and as we play and learn more of the lore the mystery starts to unfold. Expedition 33 has a type of collectible in the form of journal entries from the past "expeditioners". Collecting these will give you some background story on what happened to the world or the person who wrote the journal entry (what their final moments were like or even information on the current location and its monsters). Finding these are fun and important to learning the history and sacrifice of the expeditioners. The MUSIC: The music is this game is top tier, I would even say that this entire soundtrack can compete with Nier Replicant and Nier Automata's soundtracks. When adventuring through the games different locations they all have their own soundtrack and even battle theme. This definitely keeps the fights more fresh and not so tedious (by hearing the same battle theme for the entire game). Each track brings out the emotion behind the locations you will explore, making you want to explore every corner in order to listen to such beautiful music. GRAPHICS: The game's graphics are gorgeous. The characters, monsters, locations and world are very detailed, colorful, and just a joy to look at. Every time I boot up the game I just stop to look around and be amazed. The game is so beautiful and every area you explore looks so different (from the yellow forest to the underwater reef, it never gets old exploring around). The game gives me Nier vibes for sure since they both have that post-apocalyptic world (a destroyed world that nature took over). OVERALL: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 may not be the game for everyone and that's OK, but regardless this game is a labor of love that was created by a small team of 30ish people who wanted to make a fun and beautiful story for RPG fans to enjoy. The game does have side quest you can do for some good rewards and loot, but the quest never feels forced on you or like filler content. The game has great pacing IMO, you never feel like it is dragging along or filled with bloat content. I (and 1000's of other players) highly recommend this game if your into turn-based rpg's with great combat, writing and characters, and a beautiful world to explore. CLAIR OBSCUR: EXPEDITION 33 DEFINITELY DESERVES GAME OF THE YEAR!