I’ve put about 15 hours into Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and my conclusion thus far is that developer Sandfall Interactive could be cooking. The French RPG is clearly impressed by the Japanese greats like Ultimate Fantasy and Persona, however its Paper Mario-style timing parts and wealth of unique mechanics maintain its grind partaking and decidedly fashionable. My time with the sport hasn’t been with out frustrations, however I’m writing these impressions wishing I may very well be taking part in the sport as an alternative. That’s gotta rely for one thing.
Clair Obscur follows a bunch of younger expeditioners journeying from their dwelling seeking the Paintress, a god-like being who paints a quantity on a monolith seen from many of the world. Because the quantity ticks down with every subsequent portray, the human life expectancy dwindles with it, for folks disappear into mud after they attain the designated age. In a years-long effort to cease the Paintress from shortening human life, folks of their remaining yr kind expeditions devoted to reaching and killing her. The titular thirty third expedition has many world-weary characters amongst its ranks, together with the swordsman and gunslinger Gustave, the mage Lune, and the rapier-wielding Maelle, and so they set off bravely on their daunting journey. Quickly, nevertheless, they cross paths with a mysterious man who has in some way aged past the 33 on the Paintress’ monolith, who then slaughters many of the group, besides a small crew.
Regardless of heavy losses, protocol is to maintain transferring ahead, and that’s as a result of the expeditions don’t search out the Paintress as a result of they imagine they are often those to cease her; they do it to put the groundwork for individuals who, they hope, ultimately can. Gustave, the de facto chief of the group, usually says “for individuals who come after” when doing his signature assaults in battle or writing in his journal about their journey. As I journey by way of totally different areas throughout the sport’s sizable world, I maintain discovering previous paperwork from the expeditions that got here earlier than. Being a part of an expedition isn’t an act of self-preservation; it’s believed to be a suicide mission to make approach for the following one. Clair Obscur is bleak, melodramatic, and filled with dramatic intestine punches that make the workforce’s efforts really feel futile. There’s not a lot motive to hope. However, the expedition persists.
Clair Obscur’s core premise has drawn me in, however the sport pulls from so many alternative genres that I’m nonetheless determining the character of its world. Typically it appears to be like like a steampunk setting filled with ramshackle technological developments; elsewhere, like in an underwater space that the expedition can in some way stroll round and breathe in, the magic bubbles to the floor. This eclectic strategy manifests not simply on this planet, but additionally within the creatures who inhabit it, and even in a surprisingly numerous soundtrack that attracts from genres starting from orchestral to Skrillex-esque dubstep. And as you cross the gap between dwelling and the Paintress, you’ll discover inhuman creatures, beings who had been lengthy believed to be fairy tales by humanity, and what appear to be the remnants of long-lost societies..
Whereas the world is fascinating sufficient that I usually get distracted from my expedition’s acknowledged objective by my need to discover and be taught extra about its historical past, sadly the sport has additionally pressured me to do some meandering I’d somewhat not have engaged in. One of many largest issues undermining my travels has been the dearth of a mini-map in dungeons, cities, and different bespoke locales. I’m traditionally a directionally challenged particular person. I’ve to have a GPS open to navigate my very own metropolis simply to reassure myself I’m going the correct approach. So transferring by way of darkish caves or villages I’ve by no means been to earlier than with none type of navigational instruments has been annoying at finest, momentum-killing at worst. Final yr, 1000xResist patched in a map after sufficient folks complained about how exhausting it was to get across the journey sport’s hub. I hope Clair Obscur follows swimsuit as a result of I’ve been hugging partitions simply to verify I’m not working in circles.
Additionally getting in the way in which have been the assorted monsters I’ve confronted on my journey. Its sense of melodrama is one apparent approach wherein Clair Obscur attracts from Ultimate Fantasy, however it’s the turn-based programs that I’ve been lacking from the collection for many years. At a look, Clair Obscur’s battles appear to be your normal turn-based RPG fights filled with elemental affinities and standing results, however what helps it stand out is how every get together member has their very own distinct mechanics that create actually fascinating alternatives for get together synergy.
For instance, Maelle has totally different stances that decide her harm output or consumption. However you don’t merely swap between them freely; they’re decided by what skill you employ within the earlier flip. There are stances that prioritize assault or protection, however there’s a 3rd one known as Virtuose Stance that doubles her harm output for her subsequent assault. Maelle swaps between these three relying on which assault she makes use of and if they’ll chain along with different standing results and skills. One assault shifts her into Virtuose Stance if she’s aiming at an enemy troubled with a burn standing, however after she unleashes one assault in that stance, she’ll default to her “stanceless” mode. Usually, it might take a few turns of setup to get her again into that superpowered stance to deal that type of harm once more, however I unlocked an assault that, if used whereas in Virtuose Stance, maintains it for the following flip, letting me skewer an enemy as soon as once more the following time it was Maelle’s flip.
The extra I discovered how finest to wield every character’s unique expertise, the extra I acquired into Clair Obscur’s groove. Gustave has a robust skill known as Overcharge, wherein he makes use of his prosthetic arm to unleash a robust electrical blast on an enemy, however it has to cost all through a number of turns. By means of equipping him with totally different Pictos, which give characters far-reaching passive skills that transcend easy stat buffs and debuffs, I used to be in a position to let him acquire fees just by avoiding enemy assaults. So if I had been combating a robust boss that will periodically unleash a barrage of assaults towards my workforce, I might simply unleash my very own devastating Overcharge in a flip or two.
I maintain being stunned at how sturdy the customization choices are and the way they allow you to feed into these sorts of methods. Everybody’s equipment is constructed to tactically bounce off each other’s, and there’s a whole lot of room to experiment. Flip-based RPGs can simply drive you into easy patterns of attacking elemental weaknesses or simply grinding till the numbers go up sufficient to overpower any foe you face. Clair Obscur has so many programs that permit for creativity, all with out ever getting too overwhelming. There are nonetheless some characters I’m attempting to wrap my head round, together with the scythe-wielding Sciel whose mechanics are a bit extra sophisticated, however the extra I play, the extra I uncover how nicely these programs fall into place and feed into one another.
The important thing aspect that strings all of those collectively are the timing-based strikes paying homage to these in one thing like Paper Mario. Each assault in Clair Obscur might be dodged or parried, however you need to do that manually for every incoming strike. Dodges have a barely bigger timing window, however parries might be adopted up with a robust counterattack. Nonetheless, most enemies will unleash combos on the workforce, and you need to parry each hit to counter, so there’s a threat vs. reward side at play. And when enemies do land successful, it hurts. Clair Obscur’s defensive strikes aren’t only a cool factor you are able to do if you happen to’re feeling spicy; they’re integral to surviving in battle.
I actually love this idea on paper as a result of it might make even essentially the most tedious, grindy encounter partaking, however in apply, after 15 hours with the sport, I nonetheless discover there to be a scarcity of consistency on the cues for when to dodge. Actually, there isn’t any one-size-fits-all strategy to each enemy as their combos are all totally different, they transfer in distinct methods, and generally they’ll use an assault that may solely be prevented with a particular methodology. Which is nice for retaining you in your toes, however there are a number of factors at which the dodge window is so exact, and likewise so poorly telegraphed, that it may be as irritating as it’s rewarding. To not be a kind of sore losers who declares “it’s not me, it’s the sport,” however I grew up on character motion video games and combating video games and wish to suppose I’m a reasonably rhythmically inclined participant. I understand how to dodge and parry, I’m a sicko for that shit, however Clair Obscur’s integration of those methods lacks readability.
That being stated, I’m getting higher at it as I am going alongside. Clair Obscur isn’t essentially difficult within the conventional sense, however it may be punishing once you miss a dodge and end up on the improper finish of a workforce wipe. However all of its programs nonetheless coalesce into one thing that’s actually rewarding to experiment with, and I’m excited to maintain going. Now, if you happen to’ll excuse me, I’m gonna submit this draft and play some extra so I can get a extra complete evaluation out the door.
