@Shigurui I didn't start noticing the audio cues until I started facing certain enemies but once I began hearing them, I agree, it does become quite clear.
@Kairuuu - It is quite obvious, I noticed it very early on but couldn't pinpoint it so I just adjusted the music audio and never had an issue since. I do play with headphones so maybe that's how I caught it early.
@Shigurui@Kairuuu I just watched the video and yes, you are both correct. It's hard though to figure that out on your own. I remember trying to listen intensely at the start of my playthrough and I just couldn't hear anything, so I stopped trying to listen for a cue. I've watched plenty of other people play the game and none of them has figured out that there's an audio cue.
Not to mention that it can still get quite tricky to nail the timing as there are many other sounds going on as well as the enemies having unpredictable attacks and you can't react fast enough after hearing the audio cue. Which is why memorisation of enemy attack patterns becomes even more important later on in the game.
But yeah, seeing as how there is a clear audio cue, then there's even less of a reason to complain about the parry/dodge system.
@LtSarge - As above, adjusting the music audio helps a lot. Another thing to note is the pitch/tone of the cue sound can differ depending on the enemy. I tend to let them smack me about a bit to find the cue then restart the fight when a new enemy appears.
I noticed the audio cue on some moves, but on others I couldn't hear it at all, so it never really helped me. If you play it on PC, install the parry window mod I used, I'd hate for the parry to stop people experiencing such a special story.
@Pizzamorg@Kairuuu I agree with your takes on the ending. I made the same choice even though the game maybe put that one like a kind of "bad ending" but I felt it was the right one for me. And I can relate to that choice, having lost my mom recently
@Jimmer-jammer That place is good until you reach around level 85. From that point onward, if you’re wanting to get to level 99, I’d recommend Renoir’s Draft. It’ll be challenging as hell, but you can level up so quickly and get good material.
[...]
Anyway, the combat does make me a little bit nervous as I'm not a fan of Souls stamina/parry style combat. If they weren't so challenging it wouldn't be as much of an issue. Either way, hopefully I enjoy it when I get to it but it wouldn't surprise me at all if I don't. [...]
I can put your mind at ease there, the combat here is quite different from the Souls formula. It is turn-based and you get plenty of time to figure out what kind of attack is best suited for any given enemy and also plan ahead to the next character's attack. For example, if character b has a skill that does extra damage to an enemy on fire, you can choose to use an attack by character a that may not be that character's strongest attack, but cost less and inflicts the "on fire" status effect and winding up with a stronger attack in total. It is quite elegant and tactical and once you execute the attack, there is a real-time event that will boost the attack if you hit the window. Likewise when the enemy attacks, if you hit the RTE you take less damage or block it entirely. I found that one a bit finicky and may end up frustrating, but overall I didn't mind it too much.
The entire system reminded me a lot of the combat in the brilliant X360 jrpg "Lost Odyssey", if you ever played that.
So, I don't know if this type of combat is something you enjoy, but it is at least very different from the stamina/parry thing. Hope that helps
I had to mod Expedition 33 to make it enjoyable for me. I think they have done some work on the parry and difficulty tuning since, but I played it right at launch. It is why I kinda want something to beat Expedition 33 for my GOTY, because it feels weird to have my number one spot be taken by a game I actively disliked playing 😂 But man, the story, the characters, the world, the mythology just... man.
Listen, I love the game gave a 10/10 score and everything, it will more then likely win GOTY. My biggest grievance is they way some people are acting like this is the greatest game ever made, which I have to disagree with. I think people need to start giving flowers to the games that inspired E33, those being FFX and Lost Odyssey, It's an amazing game with a god tier OST just think it's getting over glazed slightly.
@Oram77 I honestly kinda feel like this happens any time a JRPG isn't pure turn based. Like the dislike for pure turn based combat is so strong, people have to act like any alternative is the greatest thing ever made. From the FF7 Remake to Legends Arceus, I feel like we get at least one big one a year at this point. I feel like had Expedition 33 not had the real time parry dodge system, a huge population of the online vocal glazers wouldn't have even given this a chance.
It is so funny to me too, because the actual JRPG audience have made it pretty clear this isn't what the want, from the Digimon sales, to all the praise online for the Atelier series returning back to turn based again after its jaunt with different mechanics in the last one, to even the struggling sales of FF16.
Its like this weird need to appeal to an audience that isnt actually your audience, at the expense of your actual audience.
And I have kinda just taken "most innovative JRPG ever" to mean it doesn't have turn based combat and that is it.
@Elfuggingjefe I’d also add that you don’t need to worry about the parry system as you can go the whole game without using it if you want.
When an enemy attacks, you can simply dodge it. But you can get a perfect dodge as well which is the timing you need to parry so you can just dodge attacks until you think you’ve got the timing down. If you successfully parry all the moves in an enemy’s attack, you trigger a counterattack which often does serious damage so it’s normally worth it.
Dropping the difficulty down makes the parry window incredibly generous too and I did this in the post-game as I just wanted to blitz through the final content.
Just started playing this on Saturday. Usually struggle with the timing of parries in games, but I'm pretty consistently getting them here.
Good Lord the combat in this game is fun. I'm definitely seeing the potential for this game to be my GOTY. Really hits that JRPG sweet spot in a way you almost never see from Western developers.
@Ralizah it is a remarkable game I think, and well deserving of GOTY (assuming it wins, which I imagine is very probable!)
Its such a fascinating project, honoring its obvious influences and wearing them overtly 'on the sleeve'.... but it also brings such a new fresh approach to combat. Almost like Sekiro and Persona were put in a blender! The story is cool as well, VA work really solid, and the overall world-building is very strong IMO. Just a cracking game, good length as well - not too short but doesn't overstay its welcome.
Admittedly I've not played many new/2025 releases this year, but I can't see anything taking this from my current #1 this year
@CJD87 It feels like it draws equally from PS2-era Final Fantasy (world map design, the scenery, heavy use of FMVs, party dynamics, etc.), Paper Mario (heavy incorporation of timed elements in turn based combat, and Pictos are extremely reminiscent of the badge systems from the older ones), and Dark Souls (dark fantasy setting, and how its exploration progression and health recovery item systems are handled), with a bit of Atlus stylism thrown in for good measure (the battle UI). It's like if turn of the century Square Enix was a Western studio, but with that same beautiful Japanese style of game design.
I'm still early on, but I'm really enjoying what I've experienced of it so far. My only issues relate to the UE5 technical problems that seem to plague every game that utilizes it.
The parry system works well but can be completely ignored if you don’t feel up to it. Very much worth working on it though for the counter attacks you can pull off.
And the combat is great with each character having such a unique skillset. It meant that I mixed it up quite a bit with my party, rather than just relying on the same people.
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Topic: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 -OT-
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