Topic: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

@HarmanSmith ok good to know. I do grind a bit right before a boss battle, so that's been helpful.

I am two skills away from obtaining all skills for Monaco, but they are locked away in a high danger area. Therefore, I’m doing a bit of grinding to reach level 80, and then I’ll tackle the more difficult section. It shouldn’t take too long to get to that level since there are a few good XP farming locations. I’m also trying to make my way through the Endless Tower, and as the name suggests, it feels endless. It’s quite difficult too. My plan was to have the game wrapped up 100% by Friday, but I highly doubt that will happen. It will probably take me another full week to do all that I want to do, mainly due to time constraints.

I’m about to beat the game. The only thing I have left to do, optionally that is, is beat Simon. Holy moly, is this guy difficult. I know there are online resources to show how you can one shot him, but if you’re playing organically, good luck. I’ve fought this guy numerous times and cannot beat him, although I think I know how to do it now (I was contemplating it while I’m at work lol). He’s not super difficult, but it’s his third phase that really demolishes me, although I think I can skip that phase entirely with the right build.

That's my first turned based combat game (since Pokémon if that counts) and I'm absolutely amazed by it. Story and music are so captivating, combat is so engaging and it looks just incredible. Really did not think I would get into this one...but boy was I wrong.

I was traveling for work the passed few days and played it on the ROG Ally in the meantime...really smooth experience with cloud save and the performance was flawless on medium settings with balanced upscaling

Just hit a brick wall trying to take down one of the axons, Visages/Mask Keeper. Im just going to try the other one for now and hope by then, I can come back and be a little more powered up. My whole team is at level 38.

@NintendoByNature did you go and find the optional bosses for this area? I failed to do this and struggled through this boss.

@ZeD yes, and I took them down quite easily. Which is why I'm disappointed I'm getting wiped with the main boss fight. I could always just grind in those 3 areas instead of leaving the island. I may just do that.

The toughest part about the main boss fight is when he gets 2 different masks going back to back with attacks. And each attack being anywhere from 3 to 6 hits each. It's kinda borderline unfair.

@NintendoByNature That's one of the tough ones. I don't remember how i beat it, but I think that timing dodging and parrying helped a lot (and, btw, dodging and parrying will help you from that point onward). And having the "Break the Rules" ability with Maelle will help a lot too.

I wrapped up the story with 26 hours of gameplay. Man, what a fantastic game! One of the best I've played in recent years.

For those who have beaten the game, what did you choose?

@HarmanSmith awesome stuff. I think I'm 20hrs in, maybe a smidge more. Like I said I haven't done either axon yet. Approximately how much longer would you say I have? I will be doing a little bit of grinding though here.

@NintendoByNature I think you still have some hours to go - after the two Axons (I did Visages first, so the second Axon seemed a little "easier", btw), comes the endgame where much of the story unravels and some tough enemies(and bosses) will show up. Maybe I did all of that in maybe 8 hours or so, without grinding very much. I think I beat the game at level 45. Maybe at a higher level the final bosses wouldn't have been as punishing, but either way, I think getting a hang of parrying and dodging will be very useful, because you'll find many enemies/bosses with combo attacks and, without the right equipment/abilities/pictos/luminas, they can take you in one single turn!

@HarmanSmith ok sounds good. Im really trying to avoid lowering the difficulty. I should be at mid 40s by the games end if I'm at level 38 now.

Have had zero time look up and even read about this game. Lol 😆.

@NintendoByNature this felt like the first real boss that tested your dodge and parry skills. I failed to go after the optional bosses so I had to do it will all masks.
It has a weakness to Fire and Dark. Use them to your advantage.
I was using burn from Lune so I could change stance in Maelle's next turn, then Sciel (or could be Luna) has a dark power move (or what every they are called where the meter at the bottom fills up). This gives you one extra move and if you stack them, you can easily do 9,999 3 times in a row.

@ZeD ok thanks. Ill be diving back in tonight. A little bit of grinding and then attempting to take him on again.

I finally got the platinum trophy this morning before work! My most difficult challenge was defeating Simon, but after respecting my Lumines/Pictos, I managed to defeat him with relative easy, though there was still strategy involved. But man, was he difficult for a while. I almost gave up on getting the trophy because I couldn’t figure out how to beat him.

@Kraven Congrats! @xeofate Glad you've been enjoying it! It is a very special game, indeed.

First axon in visages down. Grinded a bit to get my entire party to 42. Thankfully, I was firing on all cylinders and didn't have to bring in any of my remaining party members to finish him off.

@NintendoByNature Cool! I think (at least that happened to me) you'll find the second axon a little less difficult than Visages, especially at that level.

@HarmanSmith that's what I'm hoping for. Im going to try and power through the game this weekend.

I arrived at Gestral Village, so my opinion is based on a small portion of the game. Things I like so far: the character design and the deep and flexible mechanics. Things I'm not liking as much: the colour palette, how obscure and poorly explained the mechanics and user interface are, the lack of maps (I know this has been discussed a lot), how "safe" the script is, almost uninspired, although well written, except for the word "fu**" being repeated every 5 minutes.