What can I say but this is one of those games that have a story that absolutely blew my mind. This is one of those games where you should just avoid spoilers as much as you can and just jump right in. The story is magnificient. The characters are actually fun. The music is awesome. And the fight itself, is absolutely fun and challenging.
Redefining Turn-Based RPG
Before I start, I should preface that Expedition 33 is a turn-based RPG. A turn-based RPG in 2025? How sacrilegious! But as for me, someone who enjoys turn-based RPG, Clair Obscur is a great game that heavily scratch my itch for turn-based RPG. But even as a turn-based RPG, it still felt like an action RPG. Why? First of all, the animation and turn taking between battles was so great that it did not feel like actions are being paused for me to choose my actions.
And secondly, Expedition 33 heavily uses the dodge / parry mechanic. Meaning, you can either dodge or parry your opponents and receive no damage, however strong the enemy is. All you need is to be good at timing. “Oh, then I can simply parry everything until the last boss and I don’t need to upgrade anything!” Yes, you certainly can, and there are some people who took on that challenge, but good luck. The animations when the enemy attacks are really, really good and they feel very immersive that it did not feel like I was taking turns each time. And they are devilishly clever at giving out misdirecting cues to make you f up your parries. And.. they did not feel like some cheap tricks when you fail.
The Story is Magnificent
So with that aside, how about the story? The story itself is, very, very awesome. I can put it among some of the great visual novel stories. The story is that good. I don’t know how I could review the story without accidentally spoiling, and this is one of the few that you definitely do NOT want any spoilers. If you’re itching for a damn good story, just stop reading now and play. But I can confirm that the story is… depressing.. to put it mildly.
This is one of those games that pulls of the introduction very, very well. And then, escalates the whole situation really, really well. And when you think you got it all, poof!
When one falls, we continue
This is one of those stories about sacrifices. “When One Falls, We Continue”. It is a message about how we, as humanity, are all standing on the shoulders of the ones before us, and are responsible so that the ones after us are able to continue further. This is a story of hard choices and self-sacrifices for the greater good.
Characters
The characters? They are fun! Yes, fun! And they all are actually very likeable. The voice acting is superb. Their personalities are great and very relateable. Maybe not enough to be waifu level.. well according to my taste anyways. But certainly Lune and even Sciel has some waifu potential.. yeah now that I think about it, I’m sure there are people who like Lune and Scielf as waifus.
This game manage to make you care for all of the characters, and not just from their physical traits. Each of them has a lot of personalities of their own that shines throughout the story. They make you care about the characters and make you love them and hope they can somehow pull it off.
Okay, but all in all, once you finish the game, it’s hard to forget them characters.
Awesome Music
The music is a masterpiece. It is surprising when you learn that they recruited the composer by randomly finding him on Soundcloud. This game’s music is the kind of music where you want to get a great headphone, play the music and leave it in your head all day long. It’s the kind of music that pulls your emotional strings, especially when they pair it really well with what’s happening in front of you.
And when you are fighting the boss and the vocals came up.. chef’s kiss. You just can’t stop but feel very hyped up for the fights.
And you can see how much love were put in this game. When you hear the song for the first time, it just felt… awesome. But after you have finished the game and take the time to listen again and actually dissect the lyrics, you start actually understand the meaning of the music and your mind goes .. “Ah! That’s it!“. There’s so much love put in the game and it definitely shows in every detail of the game.
Very.. uhh.. Frustrating Mini Games
The only negative I can talk about this game are the mini games. That hellish mini game where you have to climb to the top by walking on planks and floating platforms. I am pretty sure they purposely made it so that any time you reach that portion of the game, they purposely make the controls frustrating at that moment only so that you fall down to your death after climbing like 1 kilometer upwards.
That sucks please don’t do that again. So, if you ever play the game, when you reach the mini games part, just try it a couple times and if you also find it frustrating, just skip them if you suck at them like me.
Depressing Environment
This is definitely in your mile may vary territory, but I find the environment pretty depressing. I mean, yes, the story results in it being that way, but moving through a world of depression just feels.. I don’t know. Sad? There are bits where it brings you wonder when you go through some places, but I just find them just slightly a little bit bitter.
But, with that said, it comes with the story. And I’m sure there are other people that actually find these kind of environments fun and enchanting. Especially if you like those “natives” in the story.
Verdict
Yes, it’s a thumbs up for this game. Go play it bruh!
