I started playing this via Xbox Game Pass, decided to buy the deluxe edition two hours later after the prologue captivated me, and then finished it after 110 hours with full 1,000 gamerscore. This is one of the finest games I've ever played, both in this generation and in my entire life. It is a reminder of what people who love games and gamers can make when free of corporate meddling while having a strong enough vision to manage themselves without losing sight of the goal. You can feel the immense love and passion that was put into this game as you play it. It's even more remarkable that the team was made primarily of people new to the games industry, showing just how much talent and drive they had while being led by a director with a clear enough vision to turn that new talent into something extraordinary. I already said the prologue captivated me, but the story never stops keeping you engaged after that. You'll want to learn more about this world, who these characters are, and what their motivations are at every step of this game. Nothing feels forced, nothing feels unrealistic. Every character is compelling, genuine, and worthy of your sympathy, even the antagonists. The gameplay isn't particularly unique, though maybe a bit uncommon. The director recounted a story where he explained his idea of a turn-based battle system with real-time parrying and countering to another developer, only for the developer to say it was like Paper Mario. Other reviewers have made similar comparisons to Paper Mario and Mario RPG. Not being unique in no way means the gameplay is lackluster though. It is incredibly polished and satisfying, and you'll never grow tired of it. Seeing the words "*character name* performs a Counter" or "Expedition 33 performs a Counter" will always be a celebrated moment whether you're at hour 1 or hour 100 of your playthrough. It's not uncommon for someone to play this, love it, and then wonder to themselves, "Wait, don't I hate turn-based games?" The last thing I'll highlight is the music. The soundtrack has eight hours of music from a composer who has never composed a commercial product in his life until now. Despite that, we now have one of the most memorable soundtracks of the generation with music that spans a wide range of genres and in a few songs, somehow manages to fuse these genres in unexpected but very pleasant ways. A certain boss theme has been stuck in my head for several months and is nowhere near leaving it. This is technically an indie game with a budget known to have been very lean (the exact cost is still a secret), but it feels like a AAA game with a renowned, experienced team in charge of it. In an era where we're jaded, maybe even disgusted by the games industry, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a breathtaking example of how great the industry can be with the right talent and mindset. It reminds us why we love games and brings us back to those days where we played something special in our formative years. Any AAA game studio trying to win back their audience should learn from Sandfall Interactive's example and invest in a few smaller experimental and independent projects. They might find they have some hidden talent just begging to be let loose on the world. The game isn't perfect. I have a few flaws I can easily point out. However, the immaculate presentation in this game makes you respect and appreciate the choices the developers made, even if you don't like them. I will leave potential players with this tip though: Don't overlevel in the last act. The structure and balancing kind of goes out the window in the last act, and you can easily unintentionally become too powerful. Don't fall into the temptation of doing the sidequests before the final boss. They're meant for post-game fun. Just finish the quests associated with each character at the beginning of the last act, and then go finish the final area and boss. This way, you'll still have a decent challenge and won't kill the final boss too quickly and miss the in-game battle dialogue.
