Latest news with #Sandfall
Daily Maverick
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Maverick
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the surprise masterpiece no one saw coming
It'll likely be scooping several Game of the Year awards toward the end of 2025, and for good reason, as Expedition 33 shows that you can make waves in the industry without needing to cater to as broad an audience as possible. Tomorrow comes, and we continue. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 shouldn't be this good. On paper, a traditional turn-based RPG with souls-like influences fused into its design, a relatively short time-to-complete playtime, and a decadently French direction sounds like a recipe for chaos. Somehow, though, developer Sandfall Interactive has managed to combine all of its ideas into a harmonious experience with its debut effort. It says a lot when the end result is so good, so exquisite in its execution that it even manages to overshadow the likes of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, a game released a mere two days before its release. To put it simply, Expedition 33 is both a revelation and a love letter to a bygone era of gaming. Full of elegant art direction inspired by France's Belle Époque period, a rock-solid cast of characters to fall in love with, and gameplay that keeps your eyes glued to the screen, Expedition 33 pays homage to the past while forging its own path forward. Once a year, the Paintress wakes and paints upon her monolith in Expedition 33. Every year sees a new cursed number appear, leading to an event known as 'the gommage' in which everyone of that age turns to petals and fades away. Year by year, that number ticks down and more people are erased, while doomed expeditions set out to her continent in a futile attempt to stop her. Players are quickly introduced to Gustav in Expedition 33, who leads a party to stop her or at least pave the way forward for the next expedition, with members grimly reciting a mantra to remind them that they're fighting for tomorrow. Expedition 33's story could have easily wallowed in the nihilistic despair of its premise, but Sandfall Interactive makes certain to inject a sense of optimism and enthusiasm into its tale, introducing players to layered characters brought to life by a cast of acting heavyweights. Charlie Cox (Daredevil), Andy Serkis (Andor), and Ben Starr (Final Fantasy 16 and noted appreciator of Final Fantasy 8) bring their A-game to Expedition 33, while the rest of the game's small but talented cast is fleshed out by the likes of Jennifer English, Kirsty Rider, and Shala Nyx. Like the best turn-based RPGs, Expedition 33's story is one of twists and turns, heartbreak and triumph in a world that you can't get enough of. There's a painterly quality to everything; a rich canvas to explore and interesting characters to meet throughout the game, but it's also an adventure that feels fantastic to play. Applying the souls-like label to any game will most likely turn off a portion of the audience, but to its credit, Sandfall has managed to cleverly make these gameplay ideas complement the core RPG experience. Whereas other studios would haphazardly bolt these ideas onto their product to quickly cash in on the gaming zeitgeist, Expedition 33 is so in touch with these mechanics that you can't imagine it not having them after you've spent a few hours with the title. The genius here is that Expedition 33 is essentially two different games whenever you initiate combat. There's a heavy JRPG influence, as basic attacks and spellcasting are combined with broader ideas and unique character movesets. The mage Lune, for example, can stack up elemental stains that can be consumed to increase damage, while Maelle combines ballet with fencing arts to weave in and out of stances that offer various advantages. These moves also have a light smattering of quick-time events woven into them, keeping you more engaged with the action as it unfolds on the screen. But when it's the enemy's turn? That's when you need to lean forward on your seat and prepare to test your reflexes. From Software's Sekiro is the best example of what to expect here, as you'll need to dodge and parry attacks from the opposition. Getting the timing right allows you to avoid damage and even follow up with a counterattack, and as you venture further into the game, more interesting wrinkles on the combat present themselves to the player. The combination leads to thrilling enemy encounters, and even if you find yourself grossly outgunned, a few well-timed parries can turn the tide of battle and net you a hard-earned victory. Another layer to this system are Pictos, items that can be equipped to buff attacks. Spread across the game, Pictos allow for some incredible experimentation and buildcrafting. Expedition 33 players have come up with some jaw-dropping builds since the game was released, and while it has been significantly nerfed, there's still a build that can be used to turn Maelle into a walking extinction event. Take that, horrible robo-mime bastard who is a headache to face at first. There's more to the game than just a rip-roaring yarn of cancelling the apocalypse and outfitting your crew with stereotypically French outfits and baguettes, of course. Expedition 33 is a masterclass in keeping players engaged, as even the art of grinding out some extra XP feels worthwhile thanks to the head-turning gameplay. I could go on about its stellar soundtrack, French New Wave cinematic influences, and the nuanced approach to character development, not to mention the sheer grandeur of the boss battles that you'll experience. But that would do the game a disservice, because the best thing about Expedition 33 is that it's constantly surprising – offering a journey that you'll want to undertake without being too informed of what awaits you. DM Released on 24 April, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is out now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. It's also playable with Game Pass.
Forbes
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘Clair Obscur: Expedition 33' Patch Slams Maelle Build With 70% Nerf
Expedition 33 Sandfall Sometimes a build in a game is so broken that even a single player, PvE-only title is going to be forced to act. And now, a promised patch has gone live for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 that severely nerfs the game's best build, a Maelle one-shot that can instantly kill anything in the game, even its hardest boss. And it still may not be enough. In the patch notes, there are two separate nerfs to this build, centered around one sword and one skill that are key to its use: Medalum is the sword used in this build because it starts you in Virtuose stance, a 200% damage multiplier at baseline, and Stendhal is the one-shot skill you execute in conjunction with a zillion other buffs. Expedition 33 Sandfall The end result of this, at least in my own testing in a 1v1 versus Golgra is that this works out to a 70% nerf of the Maelle build's damage, the sword nerf combining with the Stendhal nerf. My results were: So that damage is 30% of what it was equating to a 70% nerf. But as I said, depending how this shakes out, it may not be enough. This is not my maxed build, as with other heroes and buffs I don't have fully active, I think my record is 67 million. The second phase of the hardest boss in the game has him with about 50-60 million health, so 30% of my 67 million would be 20 million, and with damage plummeting after the first hit, I'd have a relatively normal fight on my hands. But every other boss? I think nearly all of them would still fall to that 20 million. That said, this build has gone insane places with some variants. If you hit a 100 million that's 30 million in damage, so no one shot for that guy. But we have seen versions of this that reach 3-4 billion in damage with the right multipliers. I'm not sure if that's exactly a 30% nerf with those ultra-optimized builds, but to get that down to 50 million from 3 billion, you would need closer to an 85% nerf, not 70%. But I don't think the vast majority of players have what it takes to reach that high as you need an insane amount of buffs and Pictos to get there. This is warranted, even in a single player RPG. I can understand why Sandfall would not want players to somewhat easily skip the entire endgame with damage this high to be able to one-shot all enemies, even the final boss. And given how hard some of those bosses are, this is now going to be very hard if you can only partially chunk them, especially the final boss of the endgame. But a lot of other bosses and enemies? Yeah, you can still probably obliterate them, even with this nerf. Here's the build. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
Forbes
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘Clair Obscur: Expedition 33' Is Nerfing Its Most Game-Breaking Build
Expedition 33 Sandfall You do not often see heavy nerfs in single player, PvE only games, but sometimes things get a little too crazy, and something has to be done. That's currently happening with the beloved GOTY contender Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which has announced it will be addressing its problem child, Maelle. Sandfall has revealed that it will be nerfing an aspect of the most popular, strongest Maelle build that involves the high-damage move Stendhal and stacking a zillion buffs to rack up anywhere from 20 million to 3 billion damage in one hit, depending on how it's set up. With the hardest phase of the hardest boss of the game able to be one-shot with 50-60 million in damage, this erases the entire endgame's challenge if you choose to use it. I wrote up the build literally yesterday, but it's being nerfed tomorrow in a new series of hotfixes. I mean, yes, this is justified. We don't even know how strong this nerf is and cutting it down to 95% of what it was still could be overpowered. The goal, Sandfall says, is to make it in line with other big damage, single-hit skills, rather than be 1000% better than everything else. Players are still discovering more and more builds for all characters every day, and even perusing YouTube, you can see millions in damage from other characters from Sciel to Verso. But millions is not 50 million or 3 billion, and it's not clear if anything close to Maelle's nuke can be drafted in the game with other characters at this point. But I've played these games long enough to know that someone is probably going to figure other things out. Expedition 33 Sandfall Again, Maelle is no doubt still going to be strong. Even post-nerf Stendhal may still be overpowered. But you will be surprised how little even a few million damage can move at least some of the health bars really late in the game, and it seems you are going to have to actually…play. Well, I won't because I just beat everything with Maelle. I mean, it was just too tempting, I'm sorry. I'll start New Game+ and do it legally, I promise. So yes, you have one more day of this which may not be enough to fully craft the build depending on where you are, but this is entirely justified so I don't think players can be all that mad about it. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
Forbes
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘Clair Obscur: Expedition 33' Too Hard? Here's The Maelle Nuke Build
Expedition 33 Sandfall My current GOTY, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, has Acts and Epilogues that keep topping each other as you move through the story, ultimately culminating in endgame content that you really need to play, as it A) also has some key story things and B) is a lot of fun. That fun, however, can have its limits as some of these bosses can get absurd to fight whether it's their one-hit damage or their giant health bars. But if you don't want to spend two hours memorizing a fight and hacking them down, the game has helpfully supplied a one-shot build that will take you through 99% of the biggest bosses in the game with ease. (Not going to get into endgame spoilers in this piece, but there is one thing you need to know about the early story). Is it 'cheating'? Not technically but if you want to just find these story components or cool rewards, it's Maelle nuke time. This is not worth doing until after you can get past the 9999 damage cap at the end of the main story, fyi. But there is one key thing near the start of the game, so here's a very, very big warning: Expedition 33 Sandfall Medalum – This is the key to the entire thing. It's not impossible to do good damage without it, but you're crippling the entire concept. The reason being is that the sword starts you in Virtuose stance which is a massive damage increase for your first hit. The problem is you need to get this sword early or else it's going to be a giant pain later. In the Gestral village you will participate in a tournament where you pick a character and win with them alone. That character gets a unique weapon. That unique weapon for Maelle is Medalum. If you miss it, you can either reload a past save, if you have one, or you can beat the village chief, Golgra, with Maelle much later in the game. She is extremely hard, and I do not recommend this. (Ironically once you do get Medalum you can now one-shot farm Golgra for materials). Stendhal – This is your one shot move, an eight energy giant blast of Void damage that will combine all your buffs for the tens of millions of damage you will get. Stats – Give what Stendhal needs. I have 99 in Agility and Defense to increase A and S rank affinity. I have 72 in luck instead of Might for a 68% crit chance which is another 50% damage. That could easily be 100% if I did a few different main Pictos. Expedition 33 Sandfall Pictos – It doesn't super matter what your three main ones for stats are (I'd recommend any with crit or speed, but it's not mandatory), but the passives are important. You need essentially every damage buff you have that stack multiplicatively, many of which will apply to only your initial hit, hence the one-shotting. The current essentials list I have for my 50-70 million hits: Confident Fighter – 30% damage increase but can't be healed – 30% damage increase but can't be healed Glass Canon – Deal 25% more damage but take 25% more damage – Deal 25% more damage but take 25% more damage Immaculate – 30% damage increase until a hit is received. – 30% damage increase until a hit is received. First Offensive – 50% damage increase for first hit given and received – 50% damage increase for first hit given and received Full Strength – 25% increased damage on full health – 25% increased damage on full health Augmented First Strike – 50% increased damage on the first hit, once per battle – 50% increased damage on the first hit, once per battle Energizing Starts – You need enough of these to get up to the 8 power you need to do the move immediately. Sciel can help with this though. – You need enough of these to get up to the 8 power you need to do the move immediately. Sciel can help with this though. First Strike – Play first, so a faster monster won't hit you first I also have other things active that may be needed for different scenarios, multiple enemies for instance, Energy Master, Cheater and Second Chance. But if you keep playing after the big initial hit your damage is going to crash a good amount. Phantom Strike – This isn't part of the main one-shot build but if you are facing multiple enemies you can use this as your first move instead of Stendhal to do huge damage or even full wipes. Expedition 33 Sandfall Sciel is a good boost for this build as well. You can make her have First Strike as well and she can buff Maelle before she goes. All Set – This gives Shell, Powerful and Rush immediately, Powerful being a boost for Maelle. With Energizing skills this will also max her AP easily. – This gives Shell, Powerful and Rush immediately, Powerful being a boost for Maelle. With Energizing skills this will also max her AP easily. Intervention - If you need to keep going with your team with multiple enemies, this gives Maelle a turn immediately and AP to do her Stendhal if she doesn't have it. I know there are ways to push way beyond by 70 million, but that's enough to one-shot any boss in the game, including its hardest one, and everything else from these 150 million to 4 billion damage variants are just for fun, and often require a ton more Pictos points you may not have. This will take you far. All the way, in fact. Follow me on Twitter , YouTube , Bluesky and Instagram . Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy .
Forbes
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘Clair Obscur: Expedition 33' Has Sold Two Million Copies In 12 Days, Deserves More
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Sandfall Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has already made history as the highest user-scored game on Metacritic by a significant margin (9.7/10 with nothing else above a 9.3), but now it's starting to get sales that reflect its quality. Sandfall has announced that just 12 days after launch, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has sold 2 million copies, a wild success for a brand new IP made by a brand new, tiny developer. For context, EA reported 1.5 million players 'engaged with' Dragon Age: The Veilguard in its first fiscal quarter , which was half what they wanted, and that also included players using their EA Play subscriptions. Blown out of the water here. That was of course a much worse game than Expedition 33, which is already being called one of the best RPGs possibly ever, mentioned in conversation with the decades-long Final Fantasy series and again this is a first offering from the brand and studio. Totally insane. For me personally, not only do I agree with all the praise, I've personally forced at least three of my friends to buy the game and surprise, all of them like it. When word of mouth spreads this quickly, this is how you speed toward two million sales in under two weeks. Metacritic Metacritic With Grand Theft Auto 6 booted out of 2025, there is a much greater chance that Expedition 33 could win GOTY this year (not that GTA 6 would have been a guarantee, but still). However, in this third of the year alone we've also seen the stunning Split/Fiction and Blue Prince. Still, I don't think anything has seen this level of hype and public reception (Split Fiction has an 8.9 on Metacritic, Blue Prince has a 7.7). I genuinely believe we're looking at a generational game here, and honestly, I'm surprised the game press didn't score it even higher, albeit its 92 is tied with Blue Prince for the best game of 2025 so far. I'm wondering just how high Expedition 33 ride Esquie in terms of long-term sales, but at this point it's already a brilliant success and everything else is just icing. This is clearly the birth of a very important RPG franchise, and if you want to get in on the ground floor I would highly recommend picking this game up. I don't care if you don't like RPGs or turn-based games (I don't), it fixes that, and is a must-play. Follow me on Twitter , YouTube , Bluesky and Instagram . Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy .
