Topic: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

@HarmanSmith no problem. Working out your team is a lot of fun. It can be trial and error but when it clicks, it feels great. But then you may have to change it up due to strengths and weaknesses.

I'll be fiddling with my builds tonight for sure.

Is it me or is stone wave cliffs a difficulty spike? Those damn swordsman cultists are a pain to deal with in packs.

@xeofate awesome thank you. Do you remember what the skill was for maelle?

@NintendoByNature Oh yeah, I remember them! Like @xeofate said, those skills are very helpful to deal with those damned cultists.

BTW, tonight I'm installing the game on my Rog Ally. Does anyone have tried the game on a handheld? How does it fare?

@HarmanSmith @xeofate good to know. I'll take a look tonight and try to make some adjustments. I have not Harman.

Also, tiny gripe. I feel like any enemy who stacks Shields should easily be wiped out if you manage to land a parry. Maybe even do a tad bit of damage too. I don't think that's the case from what I can tell.

Just finished ACT I and shut er down for the night. I just can't believe what happened there. Like, I don't believe it's true and something is up. Looking forward to seeing where this goes now.

On a side note, I spent a couple hours on Lampmaster between dying and grinding. I just barely skimmed by with 1 character left and 1 hit from death( not including my reserve character if all 3 die). That was seriously tough and I'm wondering if I was severely under leveled. I refused to lower the difficulty on it since i kept getting closer and closer.

Well, I'll see what ACT II brings.

I gave it a try the other day and have to confess to being disappointed. I’d hoped ‘turn based combat’ meant something like Xcom, BG3 or at least Midnight Suns, but it’s the you-hit-them-they-hit-you type, which I find boring.

@Old_Man_Harper that stinks. Sorry you're not into it. It's not a strategy rpg like xcom or midnight suns. It's more like paper mario with button prompts for parrying and extra damage and turn based combat. It's the most I've been engaged with a turn based game in a while. Sea of Stars was the last.

@NintendoByNature I’ll still play through it but it did kill my hype a bit. However, that’s the fault of my own assumptions, not the game.

@xeofate absolutely, although I died a good 8-10 times 🤣. Mostly on phase 2 though. Act II just tossed a new parrying mechanic at me so now I need to get used to a new button to time just right 🤦‍♂️.

Also, I figured out why I was having so much trouble with the cultists. I was never able to parry their three strike combos. I'd nail the first 2 parries, but failed the 3rd every time. Turns out it's best to jump at the 3rd strike, and counter attack. Another major DOH! moment for me. Took me that entire section to figure it out right at the end.

@xeofate @NintendoByNature Now it is fully installed on the Rog Ally, but I haven't tried it yet! I hope it plays well and with a decent performance, with the parrying and all that.

I've just defeated Visages and Mask Keeper- it was a cool and fun fight! Even though I was haing trouble with Mask Keeper until I remembered I had the "Break the Rules" ability. Now, I'm going for Sirene.

I'm seriously loving this game.

It was a busy weekend so I didn't really get to dig into Act II other than the very beginning in the new area. Unfortunately, I'm getting absolutely annihilated by the first battle of standard enemies. The new mechanic of dodging/parrying they ask of you is throwing me off. Do I dodge, jump, parry, or the other parry... that's my dilemma each battle now. I'll dive back in tonight though.

@HarmanSmith good work. Keep at it.
@xeofate I actually don't know how that works with sciel either. Sometimes I can build up a few of her points and unleash a powerful attack. That's how I made quick work of lampmaster when I finally beat him. 9999 hit damage at times, but then other times, it's much lower.

I'm really trying not to lower the difficulty but the game is starting to get increasingly hard.

Okay, physical hasn’t come in yet lol. I’m just going to play it on GP instead, resubbed, my backlog has been healthily tackled the last couple months. Also recovering from a nasty virus the lady and I were inflicted with, in better shape now.

Before starting the game, any recommendations? UI settings, general comments?… or just dive in?

@Enriesto I would say "go with the flow"! I think part of the charm is how the game is paced - when you think you have seen "all" the game has to offer, it throws something new at you - a new skill, a new attack, new mechanics...

But, I would also say, keep these things in mind: even if the game has many "standard" mechanics borrowed from other JRPG's, be patient with the dodge/parry/QTE mechanics - I know many people can be put off by those. I think I'm "good" at dodging/parrying/rhythm mechanics in general (that's why I loved Hi-Fi Rush), but even then, sometimes some bosses can be hard as hell. But man, to land a counterattack after a successful parry is great.

And, if the game is giving you trouble, you can change the difficulty settings any time - I understand (as per another comment on this site) that there are no extra rewards (in-game or as an achievement/trophy) to beat the game on the harder difficulty.

I hope these words are of help.

And share (if you like) what you think about it when you play this one. Enjoy the game!

@xeofate well, I think I'm kinda doing that. Somewhat at least. Maybe not the twilight part of it, but foretelling then moon or sun maybe. I can't remember.

I’m pretty deep in the end game in Clair Obscur. I’ve finished all Nevron quests, found all of the lost gestrals, maxed out all relationships with my party members, and have all combat oriented trophies. My goal now is to attempt to finish the Endless Towrr, and reach level 99.

@xeofate I’m enjoying it a ton! I think I’ll be going for the platinum trophy (I’m playing on PS5). I’m 65 hours in. I’m glad you’re having a great experience with the game — it’s special, for sure.

Just beat the Dueliste by using my last character left and only a smidge of health left. I got really lucky. Im almost wondering if I should lower the difficulty if it's going to get exponentially harder from here on out.

@NintendoByNature I'm playing on the easiest setting and difficulty does get higher at some points - but I think you can go on without worrying about that, because your party will be leveled up when you get to those points, and later in the game, it will be more about exploiting weaknesses/equipping the right Pictos/getting to attack with each character most powerful condition (like Maelle's Virtuous Stance and so on).