Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

[rusty_shackleford]

No, it is important. Half of the outsourcing on this game is done by studios, owned by people who sits in government committee and vote which game will have French government financial support, this is corruption.

I'm glad government money actually went to a game people liked this time rather than more propagandaslop then

[Faceless_Sentinel]

No, it is important. Half of the outsourcing on this game is done by studios, owned by people who sits in government committee and vote which game will have French government financial support, this is corruption.

I'm glad government money actually went to a game people liked this time rather than more propagandaslop then

Negroes roaming around near french in France of The Beautiful Era is very natural and not a propaganda in any way or form. Got you. Don't even get me started on unfortunate woman creating a world and evil man destroying it, very questionable messages. I would say this game is propaganda, the one that usuals here don't like and call woke.

[rusty_shackleford]

No, it is important. Half of the outsourcing on this game is done by studios, owned by people who sits in government committee and vote which game will have French government financial support, this is corruption.

I'm glad government money actually went to a game people liked this time rather than more propagandaslop then

Negroes roaming around near french in France of The Beautiful Era is very natural and not a propaganda in any way or form. Got you. Don't even get me started on unfortunate woman creating a world and evil man destroying it, very questionable messages. I would say this game is propaganda, the one that usuals here don't like and call woke.

I'm just glad everyone had a good time

[Valter]

No, it is important. Half of the outsourcing on this game is done by studios, owned by people who sits in government committee and vote which game will have French government financial support, this is corruption.

I'm glad government money actually went to a game people liked this time rather than more propagandaslop then

Don't even get me started on unfortunate woman creating a world and evil man destroying it

I don't appreciate negroes in belle epoque France either but you're just talking out of your *** with this one.

[Marcus]

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL:

Indie Game Awards Disqualifies Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Due To Gen AI Usage

The Indie Game Awards took place on December 18, and, as many could assume, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 took home the awards for Game of the Year and Debut Game. However, things have changed and The Indie Game Awards are making a big decision to strip the Clair Obscur and developer Sandfall Interactive of their awards over the use of gen AI in the game.

In an announcement made on Saturday afternoon, Six One Indie, the creators of the show, said that it’s removal comes after the discovery after voting was done, and the show was recorded.

“The Indie Game Awards have a hard stance on the use of gen AI throughout the nomination process and during the ceremony itself,” the statement reads. “When it was submitted for consideration, representatives of Sandfall Interactive agreed that no gen AI was used in the development of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

“In light of Sandfall Interactive confirming the use of gen AI on the day of the Indie Game Awards 2025 premiere, this does disqualify Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 from its nomination.”

Six One Indie ended by thanking the community for being patient and providing feedback on the situation.

“The organizational team behind the ceremony is a small crew with big ambitions, and The Indie Game Awards can only grow with your help and support,” they said. “We already can’t wait for the 2026 ceremony!”

With Clair Obscur’s disqualification, the awards will now go to the runner ups. That means the award for Debut Game goes to Sorry We’re Closed while Game of the Year now goes to Blue Prince.

https://insider-gaming.com/indie-game-a ... 33-gen-ai/

[Magick]

lol wtf, wouldn't indie games benefit the most from AI use? Letting them compete with devs who have massive funding and teams?

[rusty_shackleford]

I want them to provide a coherent definition of "gen AI" that doesn't automatically exclude roguelikes

Apparently replacing multiple designer jobs with algorithms is good, but replacing artists with algorithms is not-good

[rusty_shackleford]

even funnier

They rescinded an award for a game because it's … tangentially??? related to Palmer Luckey, a known Trump-supporting right winger

Initially discovered through itch.io’s Game Boy Competition 2023 and later played on cart, Gortyn Code was selected as an Indie Vanguard due to their impressive work in GB Studio and for crafting such an amazing throwback for the modern day. The physical cart of Chantey is being produced and sold by ModRetro, and it is the sole marketplace where it can be purchased. The IGAs nomination committee were unfortunately made aware of ModRetro’s vile nature the day after the 2025 premiere with the news of their horrid and disgusting handheld console. As the company strictly goes against the values of the IGAs, and due to the ties with ModRetro, the Indie Vanguard recognition has also been retracted.

[methoxetamine]

This is the panel of those awards btw

[rusty_shackleford]

It rules that AI is chud-coded like nuclear power

[Tinky Winky]

This is the panel of those awards btw

Miggers are now going to defend a game they didn''t play and likely never will because of culture war 'n ****.
Culture war was a mistake.

[rusty_shackleford]

Miggers

the what

[Tinky Winky]

Miggers

the what

*It's a Kiwifarms slang for "MAGA ******"

[rusty_shackleford]

Miggers

the what

*It's a Kiwifarms slang for "MAGA ******"

please don't use foid slang on my forum

[geftsu]

I'm ready to catch all the rotten tomatoes you have to throw at me, but E33 was exactly the game for me. It toppled Deus Ex 2000 as my favorite game of all time after 25 years, I don't care what anyone else has to say about it.

However, just to be objective, the game has terrible optimization (especially Stone Wave Cliffs, that location makes even my RTX 5080 choke), some animations are really goofy (crouching, jumping in particular), game is relatively short, etc. Budget constraints are clearly visible if you think about them, but they do their best to hide the jank. So it's not a perfect game that is well-made in every aspect, but it's great at what matters (at least to me).

[methoxetamine]

I'm ready to catch all the rotten tomatoes you have to throw at me, but E33 was exactly the game for me. It toppled Deus Ex 2000 as my favorite game of all time after 25 years, I don't care what anyone else has to say about it.

However, just to be objective, the game has terrible optimization (especially Stone Wave Cliffs, that location makes even my RTX 5080 choke), some animations are really goofy (crouching, jumping in particular), game is relatively short, etc. Budget constraints are clearly visible if you think about them, but they do their best to hide the jank. So it's not a perfect game that is well-made in every aspect, but it's great at what matters (at least to me).

Based, I got your back.

[rusty_shackleford]

the story sucks

well I guess by jrpgslop standards it's great

[methoxetamine]

the story sucks

well I guess by jrpgslop standards it's great

Counterpoint: you suck

[Valter]

I'm ready to catch all the rotten tomatoes you have to throw at me, but E33 was exactly the game for me. It toppled Deus Ex 2000 as my favorite game of all time after 25 years, I don't care what anyone else has to say about it.

However, just to be objective, the game has terrible optimization (especially Stone Wave Cliffs, that location makes even my RTX 5080 choke), some animations are really goofy (crouching, jumping in particular), game is relatively short, etc. Budget constraints are clearly visible if you think about them, but they do their best to hide the jank. So it's not a perfect game that is well-made in every aspect, but it's great at what matters (at least to me).

Nah there's several here who liked it as well. It's definitely got some special sauce since I replayed it immediately after my first clear, and I hadn't done that in a long time.

It's not a perfect game, and two common critiques around here are that the story before the plot twist is rendered completely irrelevant and that react prompts in a turn-based game are ********.
To the first critique, I'd say it's understandable. While I disagree that it invalidates all that happened before, it definitely sidelines the older characters in favor of the newer ones.
To the second one, I'd say skill issue.

[rusty_shackleford]

nah you can't just get rid of my dude

[DemoGraph]

the story sucks

well I guess by jrpgslop standards it's great

Counterpoint: you suck

Let's move discussion from personal insults to neutral facts: Trump sucks. And since he's the best, he did it better than anyone. The only reason Hillary went for president was husband's **** envy.

OTOH E33 was a typical jRPG with a plot better than most jRPGs. I'll never play E33, because classic FF7 with difficulty mod is still unparalleled in this regard for me (though I never played tactical jRPGs).
But it's plot, while faulty, made me stop and think even though I've accessed it via LP. This is more than I can say about the absolute majority of RPGs, j or not.

[geftsu]

It's not a perfect game, and two common critiques around here are that the story before the plot twist is rendered completely irrelevant

It's only rendered irrelevant for people who completely fail at philosophy. Whether people of Lumiere or we as people of Earth live in a simulation or not is irrelevant to whether our experiences and relationships are real and to whether our lives have value. By the same token, assuming God exists, just because he created humanity doesn't grant him the moral right to arbitrarily kill people. Same as parents don't have the moral right to murder their children, because they misbehave or because their existence is inconvenient to them in some way.

This is actually what kind of kills the moral dilemma of the endings for me, because it's not really a moral dilemma and Maelle's ending is the correct one.

As for react prompts, skill issue.

[rusty_shackleford]

It's only rendered irrelevant for people who completely fail at philosophy. Whether people of Lumiere or we as people of Earth live in a simulation or not is irrelevant to whether our experiences and relationships are real and to whether our lives have value. By the same token, assuming God exists, just because he created humanity doesn't grant him the moral right to arbitrarily kill people. Same as parents don't have the moral right to murder their children, because they misbehave or because their existence is inconvenient to them in some way.

This is actually what kind of kills the moral dilemma of the endings for me, because it's not really a moral dilemma and Maelle's ending is the correct one.

The story sucks because they kill my guy off and I ragequit over it, should be sending them an invoice for wasting my time

[Cipher]

The plot sucks because its a "muh escapism bad" in a medium designed for escapism. It's exactly the same problem with Spec Ops the Line. They wanted to do "war is bad and YOU are bad because you committed war crimes and enjoyed it, gamer chud!" But the game doesn't really give you any options to not commit the war crimes to progress. Meaning, the writers one to preach players are bad for wanting to have "fun" in the horrible tragedy that is war while at the same time getting the money of the same people they are castigating by selling a product that gamifies the horrible tragedy that is war.

Spoilers for E33

► Show Spoiler

Yes, I know you can 'choose' to let Maelle stay in the fantasy but that's framed as the bad ending. Also, it is completely stupid that the dad just gives up at the end of the boss fight after everything he has done to try to free his wife and daughter from remaining in la la land by denying the reality of their family tragedy.

In the same way as Spec Ops the Line, the game gives you a lot of "post game" content to do, and now a free DLC, to keep grinding away at it, keep "escaping" into the videogame instead of doing something productive with your life, while also decrying escapism as bad. And sure, you can make the argument that its not about "escapism = bad" but that "running away from reality is bad" but if that was the case then the father giving up at the end is even worse. If we want to assume the theme or "message" is "running away from reality to escape from IRL tragedy is really bad" then the father was actually the HERO of the story all along and he LOSES because of the player's actions, exactly like Spec Ops the Line. You are forced to defeat the actual hero of the story while playing as the bad guys. There's no choice to side with Renoir, you must defeat him and force him to give up and let his wife and daughter remain in the delusion. And, if that's the case, then Verso should have never helped Maelle at all and should have sided with his father from the get go. For some reason, he goes against his father all the way until the very end and then just does a 180 and challenges Maelle to a final boss fight to determine the ending.

If that was what Verso wanted, then shouldn't he be helping his father and not Maelle? WTF is this writing? Oh sure, he thought his father's methods where "too harsh" and wanted a "happy medium" up until he "realizes" that Papa knew best all along once he saw how deep Maelle was into the rabbit hole, conveniently right after you defeat Renoir and have him give up? What a ******* idiot. And people were "moved" by this soap opera nonsense? I guess we have the industry we deserve if this is considered good writing by the "modern audience".

Needless to say, I disagree with Rusty claiming above that by JRPG standards this story is decent. Its just as soapy, juvenile and overly dramatic as any run of the mill JRPG. But at least (good) JRPGs are honest about it instead of being pretentious. Want a JRPG with a good story? Play Live a Live, it has a remake on the Switch that is really good. Sure, the translation got some woke garbage sprinkled in it compared to the original Japanese script but nothing too egregious like switching races or genders, just a few on the nose comments here and there IIRC.

And of course, the story is no Robert E. Howard's Conan, but its a good story that is honest and (gasp) actually has some choice on how the ending plays out while presenting a varied cast of characters from different time periods, each with their own gameplay gimmick. Doesn't really overstay its welcome and has a banger of a soundtrack.

But, I guess because Live A Live was a remake from Squeenix instead of a "small indie game solely made out of dreams and passion" it doesn't deserve the attention of the modern gaming audience.

[rusty_shackleford]

Actually, the real meaning of the story is

► Show Spoiler

ShadowCUTE's voice actress sounds C U T E. Nobody cares about anything else.

[Lich]

simpy

[traxtan]

Actually, the real meaning of the story is

► Show Spoiler

ShadowCUTE's voice actress sounds C U T E. Nobody cares about anything else.

Isn't she a lesbian

[rusty_shackleford]

Actually, the real meaning of the story is

► Show Spoiler

ShadowCUTE's voice actress sounds C U T E. Nobody cares about anything else.

Isn't she a lesbian

Lesbians aren't real

[rusty_shackleford]

simpy

C U T E voices are my one real weakness

[geftsu]

Needless to say, I disagree with Rusty claiming above that by JRPG standards this story is decent. Its just as soapy, juvenile and overly dramatic as any run of the mill JRPG. But at least (good) JRPGs are honest about it instead of being pretentious.

I have a lot of things I could say because I disagree with a lot of things said in that post, but I honestly can't be bothered. I'm too ******* lazy and I already had too many conversations about this game online and IRL at length so I'm sick of repeating myself. And I know I won't change anyone's mind, nor care to.

For the record, your opinion is still dogshit, but your opinion about Spec Ops: The Line is based and correct.