Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

100% support this developer and GOG's approach to game preservation. I normally wait and buy on GOG before steam when games I want are available, in this case I double-dipped for the reasons stated. Superb game not to be missed (or be TRULY owned).

Beautiful graphics and story, great turn based combat system with action elements, and decent (if confusing) character building. It's also learned things from games like slay the spire, funnily enough, in how the skills interact with each other and apply stacked debuffs etc. Unfortunately I had already bought the game on Steam. If I had realized they were planning to release on GOG I would 100% have gotten it here instead :).

Absolutely marvelous game. The main storyline can be completed in around 30 hours, the next 30 hours for additional content, and the last 30 hours for you know who.

One of the best soundtracks, beautiful environments, tight gameplay, and an *amazing* story. Truely, just a lot of fun. Watch a video to see if the combat is a turn off and if it's not then do yourself a favor and play this game.

I admit it, I do not own a GOG version and I will not buy this game again for its full price. I have it on Steam and I spent with the game several nice dozens hours. I will eventually buy it on GOG - my favorite place actually - but maybe like for 50% off. Clair Obscur is an unique game when it comes to its dreamy atmosphere and an unique battle system. However being unique does not automatically equal being good, let alone perfect. Clair Obscur is a cinematic game - it relies on cutscenes - however it tries to be sad in every bloody cutscene, in every bloody moment so awfully hard, that sooner or later it will get on your nerves. Yeah, the world ain't a happy place, but why the characters have to act as if the game was a soap opera? Everybody cries, everybody looks sad, everybody has a gloomy look. IMHO it's just too much for its own good. Yeah, Clair Obscur tries hard to be as emotional as it can get whenever it is possible, but it overdoes it. The battle system, cursed yet interesting. IMHO if it is something turn based, it should rely on statistics, or vice versa, if it is action based, players' reflexes should be the main key to success. Clair Obscur wants to mix both worlds together while maintaining both worlds equally important. There had been turn based games when players' input mattered to some degree but it always was just to make the system a bit evolved, or to spice combat up. If you failed, it did not mean the end of the world. One example for all - The Legend of Dragoon. However, if you fail in an action segment in Clair Obscur, it often means death, or a significant damage to tell that real-time actions in a turn-based system aren't just an add-on. If only the action based parts did not have such a significant impact, I would have liked the combat much better. Basically, the atmosphere and the combat are two things I wanted to comment on, because these are two key elements of the game. Otherwise, the game is pretty linear, it has not that much interesting level design, it contains optional superbosses, several awful minigames that feel totally out of the place (really, if your game is not a platformer, why is one of the minigames based on platforming?!) and several not that interesting (and frankly, pretty short) sidequests. But to end on a positive note, the music here is absolutely phenomenal. Easily, one of the best soundtracks ever made for a video game! 83%