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Forbes
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Ten Things I Wish I Knew When I Started ‘Clair Obscur: Expedition 33'
Expedition 33 This may be the latest I've written one of these advice articles about a new game, but with how word of mouth is slowly spreading about GOTY frontrunner Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, I figured this may still be relevant enough to its increasing slate of new players. I've put close to 80 hours in now and beaten the entire endgame, and I have some advice to share. Here are ten things I wish I knew when I started Clair Obscur: Expedition 33: 1. Dodge Is Training Mode, But Still Acceptable Long Term – There are two forms of live-action defense in Expedition 33, dodging and parrying, the latter requires much tighter timing than the former, but allows for powerful counter-hits. If you're not used to this style of combat, I highly recommend only focusing on dodging for a while, as it will make you far less frustrated, especially as enemy movesets become more and more complicated. I will also say you can play the entire game doing almost nothing but dodging, and while you'll lose counterattack damage you will…be alive. This is what I did and it was fine. 2. Use Sound Cues, Not Just Visuals In Combat – This took a while to learn, but sure, you can dodge or parry when a swing or spell is about to hit you, but I'd argue it's almost more important to get used to the sound cues the game will give you, reflecting the moments where you can time things properly sometimes based on that alone, helping you with the rhythm of a moveset. Expedition 33 FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder 3. Build A Support Character – It can be easy to want to make everyone have max DPS to try and do as much damage to bosses and teams as possible. But while that can work, I would suggest investing in at least one character that serves mainly as support. The best options for this, I'd argue, are Sciel, Verso or Monoco, funneling buffs into either each other, if one has a DPS build. But I mainly used them to buff Lune and Maelle (even after Maelle's giant nuke move got nerfed). 4. You Can Come Back To Almost Everywhere – I know there's always some amount of stress when it comes to a game like this that you think you need to explore every inch of every location lest you be unable to return. You can in fact return almost everywhere later (not a version of Lumiere as you unfortunately miss a thing or two), and while I do not discourage exploring when you make a first run, know that you may run into puzzle or enemy walls you need to do later. And you can. 5. Weapon Upgrades Are Key – While upgrading your moves is important, and getting the right Pictos set up is as well, I think that too often weapons themselves are neglected, as everything scales off that damage, and even just a handful of upgrades can jump your damage anywhere from 20-50% within tiers, it's not just for unlocking new perks. There will be places you can farm weapon materials later on if you want, so I would not hesitate to invest heavily in a current favorite. Expedition 33 6. Pictos And Stats – You need to pay attention to which Pictos you put in your main set and which you simply use as passives. When they are active, they will give you health, defense, speed or crit bonuses that are mandatory for boosting your characters besides normal stat points. I would say defense especially is overlooked in this regard, and if you're struggling I'd pick ones to boost that, definitely early in the game. 7. Passive All Pictos/Luminas – There is essentially no reason to ever not passive a Pictos you get as you might use it for a build later. The way I would do this is just throw any random three on three different characters, so nine at a time, and win four very easy fights at some early zone you return to. Get the full set. 8. When You Pass The Damage Cap – You may be wondering when you can start doing more than 9999 damage, as eventually you will hit this cap and it will start being annoying as it hard limits fights. The answer to this without spoilers is essentially after the second-to-last boss where you will then get a Pictos (that you can easily make passive) that takes you past that cap. 9. When You Hit The Damage Cap – However, there's an additional piece of advice here when you are stuck on the damage cap. At that point, you want to be using as many multi-hit moves as you can to do more damage per attack. As in, a single attack that hits the 9999 cap is much worse than a five hit attack that can do 5000 damage for a total of 25000, working within the damage cap. Very key for some of the later bosses. Expedition 33 10. Finish Story Before Fully Exploring – The end gets sort of weird as you will return to the main map and be tasked with fighting a 'final boss,' but it makes it seem like you should do all your exploring then before head to that fight. While you may want to power up a bit before that (at this point you will be past the damage cap), I recommend doing that fight as soon as you can both for story reasons at that finale, but also as it directly leads into other story stuff in the endgame you'll want to see. There's just no real reason to wait. Bonus: Maelle Tournament - Pretty early on you will be thrust into a tournament for a story beat that will ask you to pick one character to play. Pick Maelle. You will win her best sword in the game, and even if it was recently nerfed in a patch, it is…still probably her best sword. You can get it later on but it is much, much harder then. Enjoy. I cannot wait for you to experience this whole game. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
Forbes
18-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
New ‘Escape From Tarkov' Roadmap Shows Full Release Coming This Year
Tarkov will launch this year. A new roadmap has been released for Escape From Tarkov, which reveals the upcoming patch schedule and confirms that the full 1.0 official release of Escape From Tarkov is still coming this year. The new roadmap was revealed on the TarkovTV live stream earlier today, and revealed that there will be at least four major patches in the coming months, and seemingly before the next wipe, then Tarkov will launch into 1.0 in 2025. There was no specific release date given, but it is seemingly official confirmation that Tarkov is on track to launch this year. Of course, release dates have been teased before, with late 2024 being the first date teased many years ago. That has obviously come and gone, and it looks like late 2025 is now going to be the main release window for Tarkov. The somewhat worrying part of this roadmap is that there doesn't appear to be any kind of wipe within it. The roadmap details patches until August, which is usually the latest we would expect a summer wipe, but the patch title is listed as 0.16.9, suggesting that it will not include a wipe. This question was asked by a fan, however no concrete answer was given by the devs, and it seemed they did not know the answer. Given this is usually a very straightforward question they tend to answer, my gut is saying there will be no wipe before launch. The stream ended with a very brief look at the upcoming Terminal map, showing a few of the locations we have seen in screenshots but in video form. And we got our first look at what cut scenes will look like in Tarkov and on the Terminal map, with a couple of screenshots being shown of NPCs. FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder Outside of the launch speculation, we got a lot of news about upcoming optimisations, including improvements to almost every map. There is also an expansion of Interchange listed for the August patch, which better include some reworked extraction points, otherwise I may never play that awful map again. A big audio rework is promised, yet again, and should arrive with the June patch. We've obviously seen countless audio reworks come and go with mixed results, but the short clip we saw of this in action did look impressive. There's also some teased new weapons, updated animations for AK weapons, and a lot of the usual changes you would expect to see with Tarkov patches, along with more than a few very cool quality of life improvements that should remove some of the smaller annoying issues Tarkov still has. There isn't the massive amount of new content we are used to, but we know almost all of that is being saved for the launch patch, so it should not come as too much of a surprise that these are more focused on optimisation and improvements before the release. While no concrete info was given, it was also announced that Escape From Tarkov: Arena will be coming to Steam sometime soon, following its recent launch on the Epic Games Store. Nikita also confirmed that the main Tarkov game will eventually come to Steam, but don't expect that to happen anytime soon. During the TarkovTV live stream, a number of promo codes were also released, which will give you some free in game items if you redeem them in game. You'll need to activate these codes in the Tarkov launcher, and when they have been activated you will get the items delivered to you using the in game mail system. However, you'll need to be quick as these promo codes tend to only last for a few hours.
Forbes
02-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Games Countries Play: Tariffs, Threats And Tail Risks
As a market participant today, it is clear to most that the dominant driver of market performance, at least in the short term, is likely to be how the global game of tariffs and threats plays out. What is not clear is (1) What type of game it is (2) How much information participants have about each other's objectives (3) How much clarity each player has about the other players' actions and strategies (4) How many rounds of the game will be played, and (5) Are the players going to be time-consistent. In short, the list of things we know is much shorter than the list of things we don't know. In game theory, there are two types of canonical games. Simultaneous games are games where each player takes an action only maximizing their own payoff while acting at the same time. Sequential games are games where each player takes turns. circa 1956: A hen, a dog and a rabbit playing cards. (Photo by Evans/) The simplest and most familiar simultaneous game is the 'Prisoner's Dilemma'. Given the choices of the US to impose tariffs or not and the rest of the world (RoW) to retaliate by increasing or not increasing tariffs, traditional trade theory would recommend that both parties should, at least in the short term, leave the status quo as is to maximize short term gains; i.e. do nothing. But the Nash equilibrium solution to this game says that both parties will choose the solution where the US imposes tariffs and the RoW retaliates, reducing the gains to both. A race to the bottom, in other words, could happen, even if it is not the most profitable strategy collectively. As the payoffs change, this game may evolve into the classic game of chicken. Again, with two drivers heading on a collision course towards each other, the optimal game-theory solutions in this game are for one to swerve and the other not to swerve (the 'pure' strategies), along with a 'mixed' strategy where one swerves and the other does not. The strategy of both swerving in opposite directions, which would result in the least loss, is unfortunately not an equilibrium solution. Randomization of responses can be optimal. And randomness creates uncertainty. Pre-commitment that cannot be negotiated, i.e. one driver disabling their steering mechanism, can make things more predictable. But also more dangerous potentially. The players do not have to act at the same time, since most tariff games are sequential, and one can observe, even if imperfectly, how the other is acting or reacting. Some of these games have perfect information; i.e. each player knows what game the other player is playing. Most of them have imperfect information; i.e. one or more players does not know what game the other player is playing. Sometimes one player might have an advantage that they do not reveal until the other player uses a strategy that allows them to use this advantage. It might pay to hide all your cards. Again, having less information than more is volatility creating. FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder Using the technique of backward induction and assuming rationality of both sides (which one might argue is a lot to assume under current circumstances, but unfortunately we have to make this assumption to make any quantitative predictions), in many cases the optimal solution (known as the 'subgame perfect equilibrium', a mouthful indeed) can be found. To make things more complex, sometimes as the game evolves, participants can change their mind; i.e. being time-inconsistent, including making 180-degree pivots, making a previously optimal solution no longer optimal. When faced with the choice of letting a new entrant into a market, an incumbent might threaten a price war detrimental to both, but when faced with the entrant's decision to enter despite the threats, change to accommodating the new entrant. The initial threat, in this example may be seen as not credible and non-implementable in practice. Today's geopolitical and market environment shows characteristics of all these types of games and their nuances. While no one has the crystal ball to forecast what will happen in the future, but we can expect the following: Faced with these facts, investors are likely to find that they cannot rely on the traditional tools of diversification and mean-reversion which bets on stable relationships to build robust portfolios in such environments. While the market is still hoping that the current environment, like all others recently will nicely revert back into a traditional equilibrium, there is the tail risk that it does not. Once the collective sentiment changes, these opportunities, both on the left and the right side, might not exist anymore.
Forbes
27-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Two Point Museum Offers A Satisfying Balance Of Relaxation And Control
Gallery of Paleontology and Comparative Anatomy, Muséum national d'histoire naturelle Two Point Studios is back with another fun management sim—this time, you get to build and maintain a series of museums filled with dinosaurs, ghosts, and alien artifacts. The game strikes a satisfying balance between relaxation and micro-management. Two Point Studios is known for their humorous and fun management games in which players can build and run institutions like hospitals and college campuses. In their latest installment, players get to build, design, and manage a series of museums. You have to keep employees, reviewers, and guests happy while balancing your budget. The game is filled with Two Point's signature goofy humor: the cheeky voice on the PA system frequently takes jabs at museum guests ('Bored guests are reminded that not everything has to be a party, okay?"). Your exhibits (whether ghosts or carnivorous plants) will occasionally threaten your guests. But the game's real achievement is that it provides players with a high level of complexity and control without becoming overwhelming or stressful. Not many management sims are able to walk this fine line so well. I was surprised by how long the game stayed enjoyable and fresh: because the game keeps unlocking new locations and museum themes, it's easy to put in dozens of hours without feeling bored or maxing out. In many management sims, I tend to gravitate toward the first few hours of play, leading me to restart my farm, theme park, or medieval village over and over again. But, in Two Point Museum, I actually enjoyed the game the longer it went on. FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder While some elements of gameplay run the risk of becoming overwhelming--e.g., you need to increase your security setup to keep pace with the thieves that are constantly trying to steal exhibits--the game is exceptionally well-balanced. I never felt like I couldn't keep up with the increasing difficulty, and the ability to pause and slow down gameplay gave me the chance to make fixes and tweaks within my museum before disaster could strike. I was impressed by Two Point's ability to provide me with a lot of details to manage (e.g., museum design, staff salaries, tour routes, exhibit upgrades) while also keeping gameplay calm. A lot of this boils down to the fact that the choices and decisions you make have fair and predictable outcomes—I never felt burned by random bad luck or bad RNG. People play video games for a lot of different reasons; video games provide a creative outlet, a chance to connect with others, and moving stories that resonate with our personal experiences. Management sims, like Planet Coaster, RimWorld, and Two Point Museum, offer players a sense of control—the freedom to make decisions that have reliable outcomes. If you take care of your employees, they won't quit. If you provide your guests with bathrooms, they won't pee on the floor. If only real life was so simple. Two Point Museum, perhaps more so than the studio's previous titles, excels at creating choices that feel both meaningful and fair. In game design, meaningful choices are choices that feels weighty. Sometimes this means pulling on the player's heart strings, but not always. Spending skill points in a difficult game can feel meaningful, because these hard-earned points will greatly impact your experience. Fair choices are choices that logically connect with what happens next. In Two Point, if you hire experts, your exhibits will be better maintained. If you don't water your plants, they will die. Research on childhood wellbeing has shown that the sense of agency and control that video games provide can be good for mental health. For kids, as well as for adults, it's important to have a safe environment to experiment with making decisions. Especially given that many of us lack, or feel that we lack, control in the real world. While video game decisions can lead to predictable outcomes, real-world choices and outcomes aren't always fair. It can feel good when the choices we make have logical outcomes. For many reviewers and players (myself included), this sense of agency and control make Two Point Museum an entertaining, relaxing, and much needed, escape.
