Recent reviews by Duck

There's so much to say about this game, yet I don't want to write too much because I feel that everyone should go into this game as blind as possible. For me, though, Expedition 33 is such a strong game that it defines my game ratings. It almost feels as if I should bump some of my current 5/5s down half a star... half sarcasm here. But it is undoubtedly a game I won't be forgetting any time soon, in terms of character, story and gameplay. I think Expedition 33 is the type of game that you can easily recommend to anyone.

The gameplay is turn-based, but also kind of not. It's like a mix of Sekiro and Mario & Luigi in the shell of a standard turn-based JRPG - the inspirations of Final Fantasy X can easily be seen. Despite your party members and the enemy taking turns, you are actively playing both on offense and defense. Dodging and parrying are important in the normal difficulty, and an absolute necessity in the hardest. So it's integral to learn attack patterns and adapt, as well as make a proper build for a character and plan for synergies. In terms of character archetypes, this game allows so much freedom. You can make anyone a dps or support, or half and half. Not only do character skills lend to this; collectable passives ("pictos") and weapons do as well. And there are a lot of them. In fact, there's so many that I wish the game let me filter pictos better, or at let me make presets for characters. Of course, this also means it's easy to break the game. Especially after a certain point of the game, it's possible to spit out so much damage that it trivializes the final boss. That's mostly if you do the optional content first though. Optional content is unlocked throughout the game, but doesn't really scale well with the main story. I happened to do all of them before entering the final stretch, and I think I was probably double the level I should have been when going in (and I had some of the more overpowered equipment).

The main story itself is around 20-25 hours. Optional content almost doubles that playtime, which should tell you how much there is. While the main story is relatively short for a JRPG, the story is strong enough where the "quick" runtime didn't ruin the flow or pacing. I felt that the game actually respected my time as a player. It might be surprising to some that you don't need 90 hours to have likable characters and an engrossing story with emotional impact! I'd normally talk more about the story, but again, I think everyone should go into this one as blind as possible.

100%ing this game wasn't too difficult or annoying. The optional insane superboss was a ton of fun, but also impossible for me lol. I must have spent at least two hours trying out different combinations to no avail. I left to go and level up some more... and then continued to get destroyed. I had to cheese it in the end with a luck/nuke build to completely skip a phase, but it was still satisfying to beat.

I could go on and on about how this game feels like a fresh breath of air, especially with regards to the music, the cinematics or the mostly-adult cast. But this is all better to experience for yourself. It may not be for everyone, but I still think everyone should give Expedition 33 a chance. It's still insane to me how the main team was only made up of ~30 people, and even more so that they sold it for $50. Expedition 33 is probably my favorite JRPG to date (accounting for the game as a whole), and definitely at least one of my favorite games ever.

i fear this game is peak...
watching your friends die has never been more funny

yeah you want this game