One descriptor that usually causes me to avoid games is “western game in the mould of JRPGs.” They’re almost never good and typically miss the mark. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has kind of obliterated that notion for me. I got to take a look at a fairly lengthy chunk of the game ahead of its April release, but after playing it, I can easily say that I’m now very much looking forward to said April release. If you want to see an example of a JRPG-styled western game done right, it’s hard to think up a better example than what I’ve seen of this one.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 tells the story of the titular expedition, which has been sent to a land to take down a dangerous person known as The Paintress. The preview begins after the game’s intro, so it glosses over a lot of the build-up in order to get to the action faster. Yadda yadda yadda, everything goes horribly wrong after making landfall and the survivors are separated. You initially take control of Gustave, a bearded man surprisingly voiced by Charlie Cox from Daredevil, as he tries to stay alive while tracking down any of the expedition’s survivors.
The game’s cutscenes are brutal, look great, and are terrifically acted by every cast member that I heard. The dialogue is also appropriately sharp. Area progression is handled much like JRPGs from the 2000s – you walk along a linear path, picking things up and fighting enemies along the way. The game runs well and looks even better thanks to the strong art direction. After a fair amount of moving forward, I eventually came to a world map that allows you to move back and forth between areas. You can swap between which party member you want to play as at any time, plus they can all run to get around faster.
The real star of the show is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33‘s combat, though. If you’ve played recent Persona games (or Metaphor even,) proceedings will look very familiar. You’ve got default attacks, shots, skills, and can use items. Only, the game uses an AP (action point) system, meaning that each skill uses a certain amount of banked AP, (and each character starts a battle with four.) Each basic attack that lands grants one more AP and taking a free shot (which you actually have to aim freely and that does a lot of damage if it hits an enemy weak point) costs a single AP point.
However, this is one of those turn-based RPGs that likes to give you a bit more control. It goes further in that direction than most are interested in. Using skills will often see a boost to damage by pressing a button when prompted (yes, yes, quick time events.) More impressive is the fact that characters have three different defensive options – dodging, parrying, and jumping. Dodging grants a generous window to completely avoid enemy attacks, but perfect dodging gives you some AP. Parrying has the same window as a perfect dodge, but allows you to return the hit with a strong counter attack.
Jumping is only used to dodge specific attacks and will also grant a counter attack. It’s a highly compelling combat system and I’m eager to play the full game and experience more of it. Each party member in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has their own skills they can learn, plus you’ll be able to allocate attribute points, as well as strengthen their weapons in your camp on the world map. Between the presentation, story, and gameplay, I’m already pretty much sold on this game, so anyone who’s fond of these types of games would do well to be at least a little excited.
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