4/5 ★ – Dani_fr's review of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

I was really hyped for this game so maybe that made my disappointment hit harder. It was marketed as a turn-based RPG in the vein of Persona which I adore, but as I played I discovered it leans heavily into Souls-like mechanics. There are multiple systems for parrying and dodging, each tied to a different button. Although I completed all of Act 1 on normal difficulty, I then spent over two hours stuck on the final boss before finally switching to easy. I always feel frustrated when I have to play a game on easy. On top of that I often felt lost. There is no in-game map and the environments all look very similar so it was hard to know where to go or what I had already explored. Despite these issues the story is one of the game’s strongest points. Its original narrative is full of genuine surprises and plot twists that caught me off guard. The tone is darker and more melancholic than I usually prefer yet the writing is strong enough to earn that mood. The characters’ backstories are presented more at a surface level than deeply explored but even so you still manage to grow attached to them. It is clearly a passionate, well crafted project from a small studio. It just did not click with me but fans of narrative-driven RPGs and those who enjoy more challenging combat might find it very rewarding.