by bigstrat2003 on 5/2/25, 2:35 PM
Clair Obscur is really good. The storytelling and writing have been fantastic, the graphics look great (and the art direction is beautiful), the music is good, and even the voice acting is good. It's also fun to play (though some fights are too hard like I mentioned in another comment). Honestly, I hope that it wakes up the devs at Square Enix because this is what Final Fantasy should have been for the last 25 years instead of the hot mess they have made of it.
by flkiwi on 5/2/25, 3:29 PM
Having just started (and slogged through the interminable intro piece that is tonally completely unrelated to the main game), I'm keeping an open mind, but it feels like this is scratching a very particular itch for a very particular group of gamers who have been largely ignored for a decade or more. It's not bad at all and I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes, but the turn-based approach feels _very_ old (in both good and bad ways), and the dialogue system..
"We leave tomorrow." click A
"Huh" click A
"We must drink tonight" click A
"You're a bad influence" click A
"Huh" click A
Someone will probably tell me this is the convention in the Final Fantasy style and that's FINE, and this would go a long way to explaining the reaction. It feels like a well above average game that is a GREAT game to a subset of gamers because they haven't had a game like this in so long.
by TimorousBestie on 5/2/25, 2:36 PM
It’s so refreshing playing a game that isn’t the N+1 installment in some archaic franchise. I hope the studio survives and makes something else novel and interesting.
Of particular note is the care taken in facial animations. There’s still some uncanny valley (UE5 still sucks at human faces) but they’ve done a lot to make the characters emote believably during in-engine cutscenes.
I wish the out-of-engine FMVs weren’t so heavily compressed, but c’est la vie.
My advice: play this in performance mode. Parrying is significantly harder at 30Hz.
by tyleo on 5/2/25, 2:12 PM
I thought I’d post this because there are a lot of gamers here. This game went entirely under my radar but apparently it’s great.
I don’t know what it’s about but I intend to play it and wanted to share with others.
by stuff4ben on 5/2/25, 3:34 PM
I've never been a fan of JRPGs, preferring things like BG3, Mass Effect, Dragon Age (not the new one), and Skyrim. But after 800 hours in BG3, I think it's time to try something else and this looks like it might be that.
by AIPedant on 5/2/25, 3:16 PM
This is not very meaningful unless you filter the plethora of 0s and 1s out of games that clearly don't deserve then (e.g. Baldur's Gate 3 - I didn't like BG3 very much either, but even for the crankiest gamers it is not honest to give it below 6/10).
There is some interesting sociology about why Clair Obscur hasn't been dogpiled by bad-faith reviews, but I don't think it says much about the quality of the game. In particular I am sure the score will go down once it wins some awards and bored losers get mad about it.
by Cortex5936 on 5/2/25, 4:01 PM
What is the argument of letting people vote without verifying if they played the game ? I get it since its the usual approach to movies, but when you are used to reviews through stores like Steam, it sounds a bit off (granted, people can buy a game on steam, leave a review and refund it but that's still less of a problem than letting everyone review).
If there is an argument, would that still hold for Steam ? Can anyone review a Steam game even if they didn't play it ?
I might have missed a lot so don't be too harsh
by aeze on 5/2/25, 2:57 PM
I’ve been playing it for the past few days and I’ve been really enjoying it.
I normally get bored of JRPGs quickly but the game systems, music, artwork and story have all been stellar.
by ReDeiPirati on 5/2/25, 2:55 PM
Just finished FF VII Rebirth, which I'm considering exactly what a FF should be, with the exclusion of the last chapter's narrative that I didn't like. That said, next one is Clair Obscur, very looking forward to play it!
by switch007 on 5/2/25, 3:29 PM
Released a week ago? Aren't IMDB ratings high in the first few weeks/months too, because of screenings/film festivals/devout followers etc?
Talk about hyperbole
by Aeolun on 5/2/25, 3:57 PM
I went for Oblivion Remastered instead, but this was the other contender.
by t0bia_s on 5/3/25, 7:29 AM
Hopefully they will release DRM free version on GoG as well.
by the__alchemist on 5/2/25, 3:02 PM
Does anyone else find the vibe to be... off-putting? From the trailers, videos etc, something about this doesn't gel with what I go for, but I can't put my finger on it. Maybe it's an uncanny valley feel between abstract and realistic, or may be it's just different from the games I play, and fiction I'm exposed to.
Edit: After watching more videos, I think it is, indeed, the mix of cartoon/early-video-game-era flashy animations on the screen (Or maybe think Batman comic books?), with a story-driven narrative, and characters that also toe the line between cartoon and realistic style.