Video Gamers Podcast - Final French-asy? Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – Deep Dive | Gaming Podcast

Episode Date: May 5, 2025

Gaming Hosts Josh, Ryan, and John are taking a deep dive into one of the most talked-about titles: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. With its striking art style, deep story, and interesting spin on combat mechanics, this is one of the most unique gaming experiences in a long time. Does it live up to expectations? And more importantly—will this be the game that finally converts Ryan to the glory of turn-based combat? Tune in for our honest breakdown of why Expedition 33, and decide of yourself: Oui or Non! Your weekly hit of gaming insights, hot takes, and all the video games that matter—from the Video Gamers Podcast. Thanks to our MYTHIC Supporters: Redletter, Disratory, Ol’ Jake, and Gaius Connect with the show: Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/videogamerspod Join our Gaming Community: https://discord.gg/Dsx2rgEEbz Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/videogamerspod/  Follow us on X: https://twitter.com/VideoGamersPod  Subscribe to us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VideoGamersPod?sub_confirmation=1   Visit us on the web: https://videogamerspod.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello fellow Expeditioners and welcome to the Video Gamers Podcast. Expedition 33 looked glorious from the first trailer up until its launch. Just after Oblivion Remastered Shadow Dropped on us. Hype levels were astronomical and it seems like there was no way a game can live up to that level of excitement. Well on today's episode, we're breaking down our time with Expedition 33 and we're finally ready to give our thoughts on it. But first, some introductions are in order.

I am your host Josh and joining me, he's got a fear of missing out on epic games crafted with passion and love that happen to have amazing combat, incredible stories, beautiful worlds and interesting characters. It's John. Hey, what's up, Expeditioners? Happy to be here. Check out my sweet shirt. Ooh, ah, 40, I like it.

Ha ha ha ha ha. And joining us, he told us he's got a fear of mimes and that's why he couldn't keep playing, it's Ryan. Oh, come on. You know what? I tell you what, hold on one sec. Let me see if you like this. Where'd he go?

Uh oh, Ryan has stood up. He is left. If he comes back with no clothes on, we're gonna have to start charging for this on Only Fans. He's stood. Yes! Ah! Ha ha ha ha ha!

Bonjour, amine! It is Ryan! Oh my God! Oh my God! Okay, listen, listen. For the... Oh, I can't look at Ryan! I am here for the show, thanks to Amazon!

Listeners, if you have never done the visual part of this show, if you've never watched us on video, this is the one to do it. Oh my gosh. That is the best thing I've ever seen, dude. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Okay, all right.

I'm just gonna- Hold on. I'm just gonna re- We can go ahead and end the show here. I was so excited I knocked out my headphones. All right. Oh my goodness. Okay. I know. I said this, but listen, we have video on Spotify. I don't know if you've listened on Spotify or not, but you need to go this here. You need to go and, and, and watch the video on this. We're also on YouTube if you want to watch it there. But oh my goodness, Ryan. I am ready for the episode, my friends. I just say I am boosting this in France so hard.

Oh my gosh. I'm giving everyone your personal address. I'm doing the whole rest of the episode this way too. I just hope you know. Ryan's got the mustache going, he's got the full, now you had to kill a mime to get that Ryan. I did. So maybe my intro for you was not very accurate. Wow. Oh my. Remember, we have video now, you gotta come see this cause it's somewhat ridiculous.

If there was ever a time to tune into the video, this is the one, this is the one. Oh my gosh Oh, that is great. Also vaguely racist Hey, you type in French costume on Amazon. This is what comes up bro one pack next day in the morning This is okay. Okay. I just have to where since we're completely off base here the other day Greg makes Greg makes a reel since we're completely off base here. The other day, Greg makes a reel, you know, that's a little bit about Expedition 33.

And he DMs me and he's like, Josh, I got an idea. Do you have a baguette laying around? And I'm like, do people have baguettes just laying around all the time? And he was like, well, I figured I'd ask. Like, I can Photoshop one on you, but I just wanted to see if you had a baguette.

This is what this game is doing to us, man. Oh my God. on you but I just wanted to see if you had a baguette this is what this game is doing to us man oh my god I can't tell you how excited I was to do this I'm not gonna lie that's the best surprise I have ever seen Ryan oh my goodness Ace and Greg knew about this too by the way yeah I swore him to secrecy so John just so you know Ryan DMs me right before recording and he's like hey can you introduce me second and I'm like dude that's gonna throw off the whole we don't introduce you second and And I'm like, dude, that's gonna throw off the whole, we don't introduce you second. And then he's like, trust me, just do it. And I'm like, all right, man. Well done, well done, guys.

Oh, man. All right, well, welcome into the Video Gamers podcast, people. This is what we do, man. We have fun. We love talking video games and we love being stupid and I can't look at Ryan's face while recording. Okay, okay. I can do this. I'm a professional. Okay. Get it together, man. Let's say the weird thing is that that is not very inaccurate from what many Frenchmen

Dressed like for my observation in Paris like not non ironically to oh man All right, get to the show Okay, I'm just gonna not look at Ryan while I'm talking here. All right, so we are covering expedition 33 today We have been playing it. I we have been playing it a lot. Our, our community is a buzz with expedition 33 chatter. Social media is a buzz with it. I mean, if anybody has been listening to this show for, you know, anytime over the last six months, you have heard us or, you know, me and John, uh, hype this game.

Ryan has been cautiously optimistic. Uh, admittedly, this is not his type of game. So we're all very curious to hear Ryan's take on this as well. So we're going to get into that. We do have one tiny bit of housekeeping to do, and that is a huge thank you to a new supporter of the show. Juan Massari signed up for rare status. Juan, thank you so much.

Yeah. Listen, you know, this podcast exists because of the support of our listeners. We would not be here if it wasn't for that support. So if you love this show and you think that this podcast should continue to happen and continue to do really dumb things like Ryan has done today. You know, come support that. You can head over.

There's a link in the episode description. You can just click that. You can sign up for as little as five bucks a month to help this podcast keep going. So Juan, thank you once again. Guys. Juan. Yeah. Let's, let's, let's get the guys.

We got to get into this because we have so much to cover with expedition 33 I want to start with the pre-release hype on this because you know, there's a lot of people that have gone Josh I don't know that I've ever heard you hype up a game quite this much John you were so excited for this game that you went let before you join the podcast, you went legendary and said, I am making Ryan play Expedition 33. This was before we knew very much about this game at all. And so John, you have been extremely excited for this game as well. Ryan, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not picking on you because to your credit, you have said, listen, I do not like turn-based combat at all. And I worry that this game is going to have turn-based

combat and it's going to ruin it for me. And so like, where was your hype level? Like legitimately now that we're in the episode and we're going to be talking about this, like where were you at with this? For sure. It was, I always just have that anxious fear with any sort of turn-based combat because everything I've ever tried, I just, no matter how good it is, no matter how critically acclaimed

and all the people that love it, I never seem to vibe with it or get that love for it that people find. I feel turn-based combat a lot of times just breaks up the flow of a game. I love I'm so big on story. I love action RPGs and the story, and it just continues to flow when you can just get into like a fluid battle. I feel that takes away from it, but I was very excited with what I saw.

I loved the trailers, the gameplay, the graphics looked amazing, the story looked compelling, so I did have more hype than I ever would have for like any other turn-based combat if that makes any sense. Fair. And John, you are you I mean I feel like you're a fan of this genre in particular. I mean you you've played persona recently you played metaphor refund Tazio You're a huge fan of Final Fantasy and I feel like this game was just a perfect blend of like that Kind of you know neat art style of the Final Fantasy series some of the turn-based combat and the story of the persona series So like where was your height meter at for this game?

My height meter was about as high as it's ever been for a game in recent memory. There is a particular chord that it was striking with me like peak turn-based combat for me was sort of in the era of Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy XII. I really loved XII. XII is an underrated game. And this sort of checked a lot of the same boxes. It was like this dynamic turn-based RPG, but what really kind of caught me from the trailers was with a lot of RPGs and a lot of games in general, you have to worry about whether the acting and the story component is going to be up to par, and there's like, especially in the

Final Fantasy series, there's a lot of really weird like, anime tropes that, you know, it's overexposition and the plot lines are really diluted, and this really seemed to be laser focused on the storytelling component with a what looked like a really creative turn based combat system So it was my my hype level was about as high as I can remember for a game in a very very long time maybe ever I I and this is this is gonna give people like a very clear view on how excited I was for this game Cyberpunk 2077 is the most hyped I have ever been in my entire

extended life for a video game. Um, I mean, I requested days off of work and then it kept getting delayed and I had to keep pushing those. Expedition 33, my, like, as we got closer to release, my hype level was. Almost I'll say almost equal to Cyberpunk 2077. Like it was legitimately that high. Now the reason that I say that is that's an unhealthy level of hype.

Like legitimately, I mean, like I'm just gonna be fair. At least for me, it's fun to be excited about something. But when your hype level gets to a certain point, you kind of go, there's no way this game can live up to these like expectations, man. It's not fair to the game at that point. Cyberpunk was a kick in the old berries because it didn't live up to the expectation. You know, I mean, it failed miserably at release and it was like, that was

crushing disappointment and it's like, you've been down this road. Don't do it again, man. Don't get so hyped up over a game, at least, because it's like there's no way that a game can live up to that. And so as much as like my brain would go, yeah, that makes sense. You know, my gamer brain was like, no, no. So I just I kind of wanted to set the stage a little bit for this because, you know, that's where we kind of were at with going into Expedition

33 before we even started playing it. And so it's like it's one of those things where, you know, because that's where we kind of were at with going into Expedition 33 before we even started playing it. And so it's like, it's one of those things where, obviously we're gonna talk about it. Does it live up to that level of hype? Was there disappointment involved? That kind of thing. So one thing I wanna be very clear,

cause we're gonna start getting into some of the details of the game and the combat and the world and the music and all of the stuff that is Expedition 33. We are going to do our best to avoid any kind of story spoilers. This game has an incredible story that really needs to be experienced and we don't want to spoil that for people. We actually had a long conversation about this before we started recording because it's like listen sometimes we do spoil games and we talk about that later on and we'll say, hey, spoiler warning.

This is the kind of game where if you are on the fence about playing it, you'll make that decision after this episode, but if you choose to play it we do not want to spoil that. And I know there's people that will listen to the spoilers and go, well, I'll play it anyway. No, this game needs to be experienced kind of blindly. So we're going to we're going to not spoil things. We will talk about combat.

We will talk about monsters and some skills and things like that. So there will be very minimal spoilers, but nothing that will ruin the experience or the gameplay or the story or something like that. So if you want to go in completely blind, you shouldn't be listening to this episode, you know, because we're going to talk about the game. But don't worry, we're not going to spoil things for you. All right, guys, I kind of want to just say what we think, man. Like I want to build up like the, the gameplay and the, the story and the music and all that stuff. But I know that there are people that want to know what we think about this game. I would

love to take a stab at this if you don't mind me asking and it kind of kind of bounces right off what we were just talking about with like hype meter and I'm good this this is a little story so I'm gonna keep it as brief as possible. Sarah and I last year late last year went to New York for our first time mainly most of our vacations that we take are centered around food. It's like, we're going to New York because we wanted to get that New York cheesecake,

we wanted to get the New York pizza, which by the way, disappointing. And we wanted to visit this famous deli called Katz Deli. Oh yeah! Yes! Katz's Deli. Which is, it is a, basically just a big giant pastrami sandwich. It's a pastrami omelette. Get that $35 pastrami.

Oh, but you get like three pounds of it. With the line out the door and stuff. So I've been honestly salivating over this sandwich for, I don't know, 10 years or something, the first time I saw it on YouTube. And Sarah and I were getting closer we were disappointed after disappointed after there's good food but it just doesn't live out to the hype you know I mean like you have this picture of what it is in your head and then you get there and you go

oh it's just food you know it's this is just another meal so by the time we got to Katz's deli I was like gosh man you know I've literally been thinking about this sandwich for like 10 years. How could it possibly, how could it possibly match what I've got in my head? And I took that first bite and I will almost cried because it was so good. It's so good. Expedition 33 has surpassed my expectations in every single quantifiable way. I am obsessed. I'm actually pissed to be talking to you guys right now because I want to be playing the game.

My wife and I were just celebrating our ninth wedding anniversary and the whole time I was sitting there thinking about what that I'd rather be planning. I expect expedition 33. And I'm like, how can I, how can I get access to it? Just like scratching my face, like a crack head, like trying to figure out how to get a little fix. I love it. Love it, love it, love it, love it. We're just doing this now

because I know there's people that said, hey, what are your thoughts? But then I might play the game based on that. So we're gonna just do this kind of in backwards order. Whereas Cyberpunk 2077 was a huge let down and it really disappointed me and again that's partly my fault for my hype level. Expedition 33 for the people that know this show and know me and the amount of hype I had for this, Expedition 33 has literally exceeded my expectations for it. I cannot think of a game that has captivated me like this game has

that is better in every aspect that I like than I thought. Like the story, we knew the story was going to be good, but it was kind of like the the the Pinterest and all this stuff and like these people are disappearing and they're going on this expedition and can it really work? Oh, maybe doesn't, oh, baby, does it work? The combat turn based combat, but with quick time, like, you know, action elements to block and parry. Oh my goodness. The combat in this game is freaking spectacular.

The builds. Okay. So it's like, well, you know, what about the RPG elements and there's different party characters and their builds and the build crafting goes so far beyond what I thought that this game could put in front of somebody. It's bananas, dude. The music, don't worry. We're going to be talking about the music in this game.

But like, we just got done talking about some of the best music soundtracks in a game, dude. Expedition 33 will forever belong in that conversation now for games that have incredible soundtracks. The graphics in this game are incredible. The world is incredible. I am going to come out and say it right now.

This game exceeded every expectation that I possibly could have hoped for. It is one of the best games I have played in years, dude. Like years. And I don't say that lightly. People know I do get hyped, but then I'll be like, nah, man, this game wasn't quite what I thought it was gonna be.

I cannot tell you how good Expedition 33 is. And the thing I love is there are people that are in our community that were like, dude, you're freaking hype levels that you guys had for this game and talking about it all the time. I finally picked it up. And we have people that have literally said, dude, this this might be my favorite game ever, like ever.

And it is like it is that caliber of game. So we're going to get into why. But Ryan, the people are here for you, man. I mean, John and I have not hidden our thoughts on this game. I, you know, it's one of those things that people that are in our discord server, they know because we've been obvious about it, but everybody in the world has been like, yeah, what? I want to hear what Ryan thinks about it. Can I predict? Can I, can I make a prediction? Go ahead, lay it on me. Because if I get it right, then you're

going to just sound really dumb if you echo what I say. Lay it on me. Lay it on me. All right, so my prediction is, Ryan is going to say, I can see why this game's incredible. I can see why people love it. I can see how beautiful it is, and the music's great, and the characters are neat.

But man, the turn-based combat really just kind of throws it off for me. So it's, you know, I appreciate it for what it is, but it's not for me. So if I nailed it, now you look silly, Ryan. And if I didn't, well, then people are going to be excited. So I, Ryan, well, you didn't nail it. Oh, you didn't nail it. Okay. But you were close. All right. All Okay, but you were close all right, but you were close so I I Okay, it's really hard to take now. He's like. I don't want to say what Josh just said

Don't don't listen. Dude. This is this is all real right here. This is how excited I got about this game No, dude, you can kind of pull it off So I, it did, I will say this game did exceed my expectations. Having said that, my expectations weren't very high. I was excited. I did think it looked good and I was ready for something to, you know, blow my socks off as far as a turn-based combat would go. Um, it just, I think the world building was beautiful.

Absolutely insane. The, the music, like you said, Josh was, was next level. Um, the story, it draws you in, you get kind of absorbed in it and want to be part of it. Oh man, that turn-based combat, no matter what little extra little junk you do. And I've, I said it before. Yeah. How dare you? Oh, cool.

It's turn-based, but now I can parry whoop-de-doo or I can jump. Oh wow. I can jump now. It just, to me, it just breaks up the flow of the story. It's like having to add in the middle of your show or your movie to me like that's what it feels like Why I am so sucked in and I'm exploring and then I have to go fight a trash mob and it takes seven minutes You know to just fight this little trash mob and I'm like, okay, whatever and then it just it breaks everything up for me I know you guys are both shaking your heads, but that doesn't take away that I do think this is the best turn-based game I've ever played by far. That's fair. Fair praise

from far and away. I was before this probably like Legend of Dragoon because I played that when I was a kid and I just really got sucked into that game when I was a kid. But other than that, like this is far and away. I think it had, like, like I said, amazing story, I think the gameplay was great, but to me the ability to parry or dodge or jump didn't change the chore that it was to go into a battle. If this was an action RPG where I could go and all my fights and battles were fluid and in the moment and just continuous of me running through like the area and exploration this would be way up for up there for me on it on like just overall status of a video game that's fair I mean here's the thing right we like we say all the time that there's different games for different people right I'm not a fan of cozy games

or sim type games they just don't resonate with my brain. That doesn't mean there's anything wrong with those games. It's just that for whatever reason, my brain likes a different style of game. We have people in our community, you know, Patrick, one of them that was like, dude, I tried it. He was exactly like you, Ryan. He wasn't forced to play this game.

So he kind of went in and said, I tried it. It's turn-based combat really doesn't do it for me, man. Like I can appreciate the story and the game and all that stuff, but I just can't get past this. And I think that's a valid point. Like, Patrick, debt mark. Yeah. Wow, him and I usually have like spot on.

Well, here's the funny part. And this is why I love this too, because- Patrick, play it again, bud. Well, he is. That's the thing, right? So everybody, everybody that's been chiming in on this game being like, oh my gosh, this game is amazing. I haven't played a game like this in years.

It just keeps getting better and better. Like, I can't believe like a developer, a 30 man development team made this game that will compete with the best of the best AAA titles in existence, dude. That blows me away. I still can't believe it. But like, so Patrick was like, maybe I need to give this another try. Like, am I missing out on something? So I don't know Patrick's final verdict on this, but I do know that he has jumped back in and said, I need to experience this. Like, I need to kind of get past this.

My dislike of turn-based combat to kind of see what this game is as a whole. So again, maybe he's just gonna come back and be like, yeah, nevermind. But I think if you were the type of person that generally does not like turn-based combat, it is interesting for me to hear that the quick time elements, this dodging and pairing,

that you have to time very, very well. Like, I think the best analogy of this is a turn-based souls-like a game. Now people go, what the heck, a turn-based souls-like? But it kind of is, because you have to dodge at the right time. And if you're gonna parry, you have to parry. That window to parry is even smaller than the dodge window,

but it comes with a huge reward at that point. But that being said, it is still turn-based combat. So even though they try to add that flavor, the heart of that turn-based combat is there. And if you're not a fan of that, it might be hard for you to overcome, which it sounds like it was for you, Ryan. So a little bit, a little bit.

All right, I'll tell you what, let's take a quick break and then we're gonna actually get into the story and the combat and what makes this game what it is. So we'll be right back to talk about that. All right, we're back. Okay, it's time to actually get into the nitty gritty here, boys. We have to start with the story in this game.

For people that aren't aware of the story, this is all in the trailers. This is no, you know, no spoiler stuff here. But the I freaking love this premise, dude. The overarching story in this game is that the people in the world are are there, like, they're at the mercy of this being called the paintress. Every year, the paintress arises from sitting down in front of this monolith and she paints a number on this monolith and everybody that was older than that number fades away like being Thanos snapped into just dust and they call

that the gommage. So, this is the event where if you know, if if she had thirty-four on there and she paints 33, everybody that's 34 just fades away into nothingness. And this is how the game starts off. Like your very first hour in the game is knowing that the gommage is about to happen. You meet the main characters. It's very sad.

It's very kind of gripping as in like, man, you know what's coming on this. Um, what are y'all's thoughts as far as the, how they set up the story in the first hour of this game? Because it is a lot of cut scenes. It is a lot of talking to characters. I mean, it's kind of by nature required, but what are your thoughts on that? But it is a lot of cut scenes, but I think that they perfectly

tempoed the gameplay mechanics within those cutscenes so it never feels like gratuitous to me. And as far as cutscenes goes, they are world class in my opinion. Like, without giving too much away, this game almost had me in tears in the first 10 to 20 minutes of playing it, and I don't even know these characters.

It does such an excellent job of establishing emotional weight behind these characters in this world and how desperate it is, and there's no caricatures either. It's not like these silly archetypes of Frenchie guy A and big tank guy B. I mean every single character, every single NPC has depth to them where you like you can you can visualize that there's a backstory behind this and that it was carefully

thought out. Even even the term gommage, the term gommage in French is a French technique for removing dead skin cells and debris. Like even though the carefulness that they like titled these things, it's just so good. So good that the the the primary antagonist as you're presented it is is this pain truss and you know very, very little about her. And don't, I never got the feeling other than some like ambiguousness that this was like an evil thing. You know, like there's like this somberness

behind everything where it enhances the depth of the story. It's just a fact of life for these people. Yeah, exactly. It's just a fact of life for these people. Yeah, exactly. It's like a force in nature. Ah, mash. I'm like, I'm absolutely, absolutely loving it. They, I wish I could shake the hand of every 30 person on that 30 man team and give them a baguette.

Yeah. I guess. What about you, Ryan? A baguette. How does this beginning of the story and how they set it up, how did that strike you? It definitely drew me in. I did like because I know I often mention, I like when there's weight to a story.

Something that is heavy and it brings you in. And that's what this did. Right away, you felt the somber nature of that society, of that world. This was the part of their life. It almost kind of made me think of just kind of ancient times, ancient history, where like war was just what it was. Like, and they would just go off and, and they weren't expected to come back. Like that was just the nature of it. Like you would hope and dream, but you know, that was, that was your saying your goodbyes, you know, and that's what it felt like.

I'm almost getting goosebumps now thinking about it. Like that's just what it seemed like. And you see the festival and the way they tried to like lift everyone's spirits with it, but man, right off the bat, they did such a good job of, of drawing you in and giving you a sense of purpose as to why you're going to go do this, even if you'd never come back. Yeah, we talk a lot about games that want to exposition dump on you and they kind of like try to catch you up on the story and tell you why you should care about something, you know, and it's like a lot of times that misses because it's like, I don't know these

people, you haven't developed these characters. I know you're telling me that I should care about them, but I just don't care about them, man. Like you've given me no reason to. And the way that Expedition 33 goes about their storytelling is a combination of cut scenes, character interaction, like mood, like the beginning of this game is somber. Like you said, it's this weird like celebration or even. Beautifully somber.

Yes. Yeah. Yeah. It's not like depressing somber. It's just like you said, it's this for this is just the way life is. And these people have accepted it to a degree. And you see that acceptance. But then at the same time, they haven't accepted it because they're sending this expedition of people out to go try to kill the paintress. So she'll stop writing these numbers on the monolith and wiping out an entire age of people. And so you get that weird like juxtaposition of

people have accepted this, they know what's going to happen. Kids have lost their parents. People have lost their friends because nobody is immune to the gomage. You're poof, that's it. If you're that age, there is no exception to this. And so you see that, but then at the same time, it's hey, we're gonna fight this. And that's why it's called Expedition 33, because everybody that is 33 years old knows that they only have a year to live

until the paintress wakes up and wipes their number off the monolith. And so we're going to go try to fight her. And so that is where the game kicks you forward into the world and says, okay, now go play the game. And my goodness, dude, you get, we're, again, we're not going to spoil anything cause this is the first kind of like jaw hitting the floor moment in the game, but things don't go great for you. They kind of hint towards this in the trailer.

So again, this is very, very minimal spoilers here. Things don't go well. And now all poop has hit the fan and now you are left going, what the heck do we do now? And this is where you're kind of dumped into the gameplay world and you start adventuring and you start doing combat and things like that. So you hit him with a soccer boo. Yeah.

Oh man. So, so let's talk about the gameplay elements here guys. Cause you know, the story, we're not going gonna spoil anything else. It's incredible. And I will say this before we, before we step off story for a little bit here, this game in the storytelling will absolutely gut punch you.

I mean, in ways that I have not seen a game do in a long time, John, you mentioned it in the beginning about it'll make you emotional. It will abs, I have not had a game do in a long time. John, you mentioned it in the beginning about it'll make you emotional. It will abs. I have not had a game do this. I mean, honestly, since I'm going to put it up there with cyberpunk 2077 and red dead redemption to in the weight that this story can affect you as the player.

I mean, I don't know that I can say any higher praise to a video game than that because people that have played those two games understand, but that's how good it really is. So, all right. Gameplay wise, sure. The story's great, but man, it's turn-based combat, Ryan, you know, uh, you know, gameplay portion. Let's kind of break this down into a couple things. I wanna talk about the exploration in this game because there is a lot of that to be done. It is an RPG. It is a somewhat linear experience in a way.

It is also a very refined experience because they have come out and said the campaign in this RPG, which normally have 60 to 100 hour epic campaigns, is a tight 30 hour campaign. There is a lot of side content you can do if you want, but to beat this game, it's going to be about 30 hours. That's kind of unheard of for an epic RPG. So, like, let's just talk about it.

Let's talk about you're dumped into this world. John, what, you know, what's the first thing you do? Well, the first thing that I did, like I, the game immediately hooked me. And so I immediately started exploring every nook and cranny. Like there ain't no way in the heck this would be a, this is a 100 hour game for me. Like easy. and heck this would be a this is a 100 hour game for me like easy there's a point at which The game the game does a really good job of opening itself up in digestible bits Yeah

You start out and it's very linear and it's very clear kind of where you need to go and there's like little avenues that you Can explore but once you progress to that point and it gives you enough time to get used to a specific gameplay mechanic, it opens up a little bit. And then you get another character and it opens up a little bit and you meet somebody who gives you a new ability and it opens up a little bit. Then there is this part where, which again, I don't want to give it to a way too much, but there's two instances that I've experienced so far where you get a scope of how big the explorable area of this world actually is. And I was like, I am gonna be playing this game forever.

Like there is so much to do and I want to experience all of it. Every unexpected stuff too. I mean, Josh, did you get to the vertical platforming challenge? Yep, I did. Yep. Never in a million years was I expecting that.

I attempted that for about 10 minutes. So this is again not spoiler, it's an optional thing, but it's basically they give you a little mini game that's like the game only up where you are just climbing and trying to jump on platforms at one point And I did that for about ten minutes, and I was like oh, man. I'm making great Now I will never beat this I will never beat this little mini game, dude not doing it Yeah, I I plan to 100% this game. Yeah, I'm honestly having a hard time with it

because there's so many good games like Midnight Walk is coming out, man. Yeah, that looks amazing. That's like right up my alley. But I just can't imagine a scenario where I'm gonna wanna put this game down. I'm absolutely obsessed with it. Yeah, so Ryan, take the people through because John, touched on this but as far as exploration goes this game does a neat thing

Where they give you zones where you are running around in this zone that is itself contained kind of environment Whether it's a biome or something like that these zones are Beautiful, dude. I mean absolutely These zones are beautiful, dude. I mean, absolutely. The visuals and the world that this team has crafted is unlike anything I have seen, like legitimately, dude. And later on in the game, like I am at a point

where I got to a level and I just stopped and went, oh my goodness, this might be the one of the coolest levels I have seen like in a game, like legitimately. I mean, it's insane, but you have these zones that your main gameplay is in, but then you have an overworld that you can kind of run around in where that's how you get to these different zones. So Ryan, can you kind of touch on kind of the difference between those two? It was cool because the overworld was it almost was akin like back to those old school RPGs where you know,

you get that crazy kind of bird's eye top-up view where you're way zoomed out and you're running through and you can see your objective points off in the distance in different areas that you need to go through. But you know, you're kind of way zoomed out and you can transfer through there and there's still things that you can do. There's enemies you can fight, there's items you can pick up, so it doesn't take away from any of that, but even that was beautiful. Like as I was playing, I tried to get a lot of gameplay footage for Greg to edit for us, you know, when we do shorts and clips and everything, and I just kept finding myself stopping on cliff sides and just like panning across and looking and I'm just like pan of this pan of that and I'm just I was just

recording non-stop because it is just such a beautiful game the transitions are amazing the graphic the graphical detail even in that bird's eye view like off in the distance you see the flow it's not kind of like, you know, halfway done. Like they really took their time making sure they made that detail fluid and they added depth to that world. And every corner is going to have something, even if it's just like a little Picos or, you know, whatever little item you need or something like that, or just another enemy. There's always something around every corner that you go around. I will say I think they did a masterful job of keeping this game somewhat linear,

but giving you that exploration option at the same time. That's a hard thing to balance, you know? But in the overworld, like you said, you'll come across little groups of monsters, right? And you're like, well, I know I have to fight these guys, but in the middle of that group of monsters, you see a little glowing thing that says, hey, there's loot right here. So it's kind of like, well, do I want that loot? Because then I got to take these guys out. One of the things that this game does that I absolutely love is sometimes

you'll come up against a guy who absolutely just wipes the floor with you. And you're like, well, what the heck, man? He's in the overworld, am I not supposed to be there yet? So this overworld rewards you for exploring. Like you said, Ryan, it gives you that glimpse that there's going to be a lot more of this game that you are going to experience. But what the overworld does

is it also leads you to these zones. Now, some of these zones are part of the main campaign and some of these zones are just optional for you to go into and explore and fight new monsters and find loot and It's just optional side content that exists for no other reason than to just give you something to do Which I freaking love dude. Yeah, you know like I went into a zone and I was like, what's this? And it was like, there was nothing there other than some loot and some monsters that were way too tough for me to fight. But it was like, it was just rewarding to find it, to go in there.

It's beautiful zone all on its own, you know? And again, it was just this finely crafted little 20 minute experience of me getting my butt kicked by guys that I shouldn't be fighting at the time. That's what I did. Right when I got there, I went to some spot where I should not have been. And I remember messaging you and I'm like,

I don't think I'm supposed to be here, bro. Cause he was just like base shot, base attack was like 1800 damage. And I was just like, and I had like 400 health. Very first attack in your whole party. Done, all gone. base attack was like 1800 damage and I was just like, and I had like 400 very, very first, very first attack on your whole party is done. All gone. I'm like, yeah, I don't think I'm supposed to be here. So, but for me, like I've been, I've been taking my time with it. Like I've been grinding through enemies to level up a little bit, just so I've got like an edge and

stuff. And like grinding is something I hate doing in games usually, but the build slash counter system is so engaging for me that I'm like, I love every encounter. But running into some of these like little nooks and crannies, this optional content, when I get absolutely housed by an enemy or group of enemies, I love it honestly, because it gives me an idea of like the progression that lays ahead of me. It's a glimpse.

Like there's still so much more to grow in this game. I mean, it's great. Yeah, so this is kind of how they set up the structure of the worlds. And again, the zones themselves are very, very well done. And again, this is where a ton of the beauty in the game comes from. The zones all feel very, very well done. And again, this is where a ton of the beauty in the game comes from. The zones all feel drastically different to me.

I mean, they are their own little worlds and they are crafted so well, it's ridiculous. Let's get into the combat because this is another major aspect of this game where this is what's gonna put some people off. Admittedly, I think the combat is absolutely spectacular. It might be my favorite combat system in a turn based RPG that is more like your classical. It's it's you can't really compare this combat to like Baldur's Gate three combat. Like while they are both turn

based, they are different in a sense. This follows the much more typical JRPG, your party facing the enemies that you're fighting, you know, that kind of thing, all of Final Fantasy, you know, or any classic RPG that you are used to. But oh my goodness. Number one, the animations in this game are incredible. When your characters attack, I mean, you see this trail like behind their weapon that just makes it seem like they are swinging this thing at a thousand miles an hour. The impact sounds, the spells, the skills, the combos. I mean, even when you parry or a monster attacks you, there is, I can't think of a game off the top of my head that has the weight behind the combat that this game does.

And it is masterful, man. Like, you know, the way that you feel when you attack an enemy or the way that you cringe when an enemy hits you and you're like, oh, that hurt. Like, because you just feel it, man. Combat system in this game is absolutely top notch. I don't think it reinvents the wheel in any way other than throwing in the parry and dodge system

into a turn-based combat system. So while it is insanely flashy and good looking, do you feel, John, because you're nodding and you're kind of like, do you feel like it changed or added anything like that? We haven't seen before First of all full stop. I want to say this is in my in my opinion the best turn-based combat system that exists But I would agree it doesn't reinvent the wheel much like halo combat of all didn't reinvent the wheel when it came out it refined a you know it evolved combat they refined a, you know, it evolved combat. It refined a premise or a idea that already existed

and it just made it the best it could possibly be. And I think that this is an example of that. I think that, an example, I always go to food with this kind of thing. I love bacon and blue cheese cheeseburgers. Like bacon, black and blue burgers, I absolutely love them. But they're not for everybody. There's a lot of people out there who don't like

big sort of pub style burgers. There's a heck of a lot of people out there that don't like blue cheese. But if you like the lot of people out there that don't like blue cheese. But if you like, but for people out there who like a black and blue burger, there is a really good one out there. If you happen to like turn-based combat, specifically that JRPG style, Final Final Fantasy X, XII-ish, well XII actually was kind of its own thing,

but Final Fantasy X-ish sort of combat style, this is the best it has ever been. Yeah. I find the combat in this game to be absolutely incredible. It's engaging, the timing of the dodge and parry system adds that like risk reward factor that my brain just absolutely loves. I do think the souls like turn based combat makes sense.

Like, honestly, and I know that's that's hard for a gamer brain to kind of wrap our heads around and go, what are you talking about? But it like it is, man, like you're fighting these fantastical creatures, these giant boss fights. And it's like if you're going to with a dodge, you are going to pay for it, man. Like you're fighting these fantastical creatures, these giant boss fights. And it's like, if you're going to with a dodge, you are going to pay for it, man. Like this game, this game says you need to know how to dodge.

Now you don't necessarily need to be good at parrying because the dodge window is much more lenient than the parry window is. But if you are like, and see, this is where I thought it might get you, Ryan, because's like that risk reward that gamble because we know you're a gambler. Oh, I know. I know. And it's like the were you were you a parrier or were you a Dodger? So I was, um, there is that risk reward. And I found quickly certain enemies that I very much was like a Dodge guy. And there's certain attacks that were dodge only attacks.

But then like the timing of some of them, cause all the enemies, like they have their certain sequences and they have their, the way they attack. And there is little clues and kind of tip offs on how it's going to come at you. And there are certain ones where you can time it right. But man, so that,

I guess the long and the short is for a turn-based game I really did enjoy this combat system for what it was I know you guys are tenfold what I what I enjoyed but the the ability to time these figure out when a dodge makes sense when a roll makes sense the are not a roll there's the souls part of it the the parry when the parry makes sense, the, or not a roll, there's the souls part of it. Uh, the, uh, the parry when the parry makes sense because of that, that counter attack and then just throwing up like 2k, 2,800 damage on a, on a parry when you're like, Oh, okay. Maybe that was worth trying to risk that to take my 400 damage when I missed it last time, you know? So there is, there is a lot there and I think there is that good risk reward. And that did entice me quite a bit with a lot of these enemies.

I was, I was heavily, uh, obsessed with the boss fights. It's just all the other stuff I was just not a big fan of, but, but in those boss fights, this combat system was, was really awesome. There the. When you, so to give people an idea, it's easy to dodge something and you just don't take damage if you decide to parry you have to time the parry much more tightly But if you pull it off Not only do you get what's called an action point because your character spin action points to perform moves to use skills to just a basic

attack kind of thing so You get an action point which is very necessary component in combat, but you also get a counter attack and the game, the feeling of like parrying that attack and then getting that counter attack because it's a unique animation. The game kind of goes like, it like comes in and slows down and then it's like all slow motion. It goes black and white for a second. Ah, it's so cool. It's freaking amazing, man. It makes it feel so good. And so it's like you want to parry, but like 60% of the time you're gonna whiff your parry and then just get punched in the face by some epic monster. And you're kind of like, oh, I whiffed that, you know?

And I love that risk reward that it gives you. And it's funny because I asked, because this is what we see people asking like, Oh, are you a Dodger or are you a Perry? You know, we have people like Perry only baby If I whiff I whiff, you know, and other people like the souls players People just going nah, man, I'm just dodging I ain't risking that Perry so Combat to me the other thing before we move on from the combat is it is supremely entertaining to me.

I love, I love the combat in this game. I, the, the builds, we could talk about the builds that you can do in this game for an hour straight. Oh man. Yeah. You get, you know, you get your party, it's an RPG, you know, so your party might vary, uh, and every person in your party has unique kind of systems that they use That play into a very unique making each character feel and all of them are cool, too. They're all cool, dude

They're all cool. I actually really struggle with my party composition because it's like oh, but I want to play this person Play that person dude in Final Fantasy 10 and 12 which like those are the To come games that I'd like keep coming back to comparison because there's some of my favorite J RPGs my favorite J RPGs But I definitely had my party you know like my party was like set for most of the game unless like you had to Complete it with somebody else for some story-based element. I wanna play every single one.

It's a shame, at the point of the game I'm at right now, I have five available characters, but you can only have three in your party. And I'm bummed about it. I struggle with that. I legitimately struggle because, and then I try to swap them out, but then some combos aren't as effective,

and then I wind up going back to these other characters. The other thing that I'll say is there is a fantastic mix in combat of just easier mobs that let you kind of just practicing your dodging and your parrying and leveling up and just getting that XP to get stronger. You don't have to grind this game, but I think it is helpful if you enjoy the combat to do more of it, to kind of level up, you know,

in that system. And then I love the fact that there are more challenging fights where maybe it's not even a boss fight. Maybe it's just a tougher monster that might take you a little bit longer. That hits a little bit harder or has a unique skill where it's like, dude, if I'd miss this dodge, this character is probably dying. I'll still win the fight, but man, watch out kind of thing. I'll still win the fight, but man, watch out kind of thing. And then you get into these massive 20 minute long epic showdown boss fight type battles

where I am just all clenched up sitting forward. My hands are sweaty and I'm going like, don't miss this Perry. Don't miss this Perry. And then I whiffed the Perry and I'm like, dang it. It's just brings up six shields. No, come on. Yeah, and so I love that they give you that variety in the combat itself too, right?

Where it's just the, you know, you're gonna get easy fights, short fights, you know, crazy fights, these epic long boss battles, those sorts of things, so. Do you have a favorite? Who's your main? My main is Alune. Yeah.

Yeah, she's the one that I don't really ever pull out of my party. I tried for a little bit and then I went- Well, she's very versatile, yeah. And then I went right back to her like 30 minutes later and I was like, no, I really need her in my party. You gotta stay, you gotta stay. Yeah.

So. My L in C L for me, man, C L, I think I'm pronouncing that right. But you get to a point where you can actually use her like Luna and, and my L kind of like kind of split between the two. That was another one I'm at. The synergies between the characters is insane. I love it. The synergetic builds that you can have from character to character is absolutely insane. And even every character has their own sort of like combat- Like mechanic.

Buffing, yeah, combat-buffing mechanic. And they're all unique and they all work together. Yeah. Pairing those up was super cool. Now did you guys have like when you're traversing the world, did you cause you can switch between your characters as you're like running? Did you guys have one that you always use? Loon, the floating, the little floating with that was me too. Not having to like stomp and run and just like floating through the world. That's exactly what I did. I was so

curious because I was excited to ask you guys that so yeah I was the same way there's there's a few points in the game where there's some platforming elements Whether they're little challenges and I use her for that because like the running and the arms flailing like what my character's running Like that would throw me off, but she's just gliding peacefully Did you do did you do the race? Yes the beach race? Yep So I I don't think it lets you use her on that peacefully. Did you do the race? Yes. The beach race? Yep. So I don't think it lets you use her on that because I think she might actually have a

speed advantage. I don't think she's faster. It just looks, she's just smoother like moving around. I don't know. So yeah. Yeah. All right. So combat's fantastic.

If you, you know, if you're a fan, you're going to absolutely love it. If you're not a fan, I think it's so good that it, you're a fan, you're gonna absolutely love it. If you're not a fan, I think it's so good that it, you know, like, even with Ryan, it's, you know, it's, hey, this is the best one I've ever seen for somebody that's not a fan of it. The music in this game, oh my goodness, dude. Oh, my goodness. Oh, yeah.

Oh. I don't, like, I'm trying to think of a soundtrack in a game that will emotionally impact me like the soundtrack does in Expedition 33. And I'm not sure I can think of one dude. Not off the top of my head. Halo, Halo is close. Halo is close and I really like Nier Automata, the soundtrack for that game. But it is, it is amongst the very best. Like, I know people are like, you guys are just gushing over this game.

You're just gushing over it. The soundtrack in this game is absolutely top notch and you hear it from the very beginning and you hear it all throughout the game to where there are songs where I'm like, dude, this song is incredible right now. Yeah, this is the only game. So in lots of RPGs, there's an element to him where you like can go around the world

and from like the the vendors or whatever you want to call them, depending on the game is where you buy like a track, you buy like one of the soundtracks or whatever. And like I never do that. I don't know. I don't know. Yeah, I just whatever the game is playing it at that given point is fine. This is the only game where I've like gone out of my way to get those because I know when you go back to camp Which is sort of like the area where you enhance your character weapons and stuff where you can play them And I'm like I love all of these like I That I remember the first day I played it which I played it for like eight solid hours the first day

When Sarah and I my wife and I were getting ready for dinner like I hours the first day. When Sarah and I, my wife and I were getting ready for dinner, like I turned the game off and I put the soundtrack on my Spotify because I like couldn't get enough of it. It's so good. I imagine it's like great study music for those smart enough to study. It's beautiful.

It's beautiful. It goes along with the, like the feeling. If it's a somber part, you get this kind of haunting piano melody. If it's a kind of goofy, happy part, you get like, it's just this perfect music that accompanies that. If it's a danger or battle,

you get this like rousing like concerto type. It is insane, man. I need to look up who the composer was for this, but oh my goodness. I'll go so far as to say this. We're gonna talk about, you know, is this game a up who the composer was for this, but oh my goodness. I'll go so far as to say this. We're going to talk about, you know, is this game a game of the year candidate right at the end

of the show, which is coming up pretty soon. Cause we're running low on time. But if Expedition 33 doesn't win best music at the game awards, I will be amazed, dude, amazed. I know Greg puts together a pretty killer doom clip recently and I don't know where that song came from, but games that have such incredible music that could be so different that double bass Slow haunting violin and piano going in Expedition 33. Oh my goodness The graphics I mean people have seen this in the trailer.

I love the graphics in this game. We don't really have to spend a lot of time on this. The worlds are beautiful. We've talked about this kind of already. The animations, the style is just top notch to me. I could not be more thrilled with the way this game just presents itself graphically, whether it's through the the environments, the characters, the animations, the spell effects in combat.

The hair is trash though, man. The hair? The hair is so bad, dude. I know why it's bad though. It looks like hay. It looks like they have hay on. The reason for that is, is that there are a lot of cosmetic unlocks in this game,

and you can unlock a lot of hairstyles for the characters, and that's why. I don't care. I don't care. I know, but hey. I don't care what you can unlock, lot of hairstyles for the characters, and that's why. I don't care. I don't care. I don't care what you can unlock. The hair looks horrible. I think in the cut scenes and in the slower scenes, it can look really good.

There are a lot of hairstyles that are available for each and every character, and they are all over the range. I mean, it's that every sort of esoteric haircut you can think of. But I agree, there are certain scenes when the characters are moving around a bit where I'm like, like,

they're playing a spaghetti hanging out their head or something. Yeah. All right, guys, we're running low on time. I want to, you know, we have been gushing. We're gonna give our scores on this game here in just a little bit too. But you know, as much as we can gush on it, John, you and I,

but you know, there's gotta be parts of this game that don't work. We always say what works for you, what doesn't work for you. So Ryan, I'm gonna start with you because I have a feeling I know what your what doesn't work for you is, but what works for you the best in this game

and what doesn't work for you? Oh brother. What works for me the best in this game and what doesn't work for you? Oh brother. Um, what works for me the best is just, I mean, it's just, honestly, it's a great game, everything they did. You can tell that there was time thought and, and, um, careful input for every single aspect of this game. Gordon Ramsey can make the best whatever, but if it's not my flavor, it's not something I like,

then I just, I won't like it. You know, and that's, that's no shame on what these developers did, especially as a 30 man crew. Like that's, that's insane. So I am, I am extremely proud of what they made and what they created. And like I said, if, if this was an action RPG, I would be singing a whole different tune.

It's just, I just, I don't vibe with that. I tried it a million times. Just like I get seasick. I've gone deep sea fishing four times because I really want to deep sea fish, but I just keep getting seasick. Like I'm trying to love it. I just can't. Like I'm trying to love these turn-based games. I just can't. And I know what I'm missing out on on I know that you guys are just gushing over it over and over I just can't vibe with it But I think they did an amazing job at the world at at the flow of the game as far as like The story and the structure and the and the base that they created. The graphics are amazing. Like everything about it is just a really, really great game.

So is it just the combat that doesn't work for you? I just, I, every time, every time I find myself intentionally avoiding combat so I don't have to deal with it. And that's not how a game should be played. And that's, I know it's a me thing, but I will avoid it. And then I'll, I'll get to a spot where I'm like, Oh, I'm too low a level. And then I'll be on those good old fashioned, you know, save spots where I can have a enemy right there. Go kill them, rest, refresh, go kill them.

Just charge up, power up, you know, get my XP. Yeah. XP burner, just get them powered up. And I'm like, all right, now I can go to the next spot. I don't want to play a game that that, that I feel that way about. Um, I'm bummed that that's the way it is. Cause I would love to be as excited as you guys are, but that's just the way it played out to me. But, um, yeah, man, it's, it's a really, really cool game and I get why you guys like it. It's just, you know, that, that combat setting

just, it just doesn't do anything for me. It's fair. John, what about you? What? I mean I mean what what works for you? What doesn't work for you? It might be easier to just say what doesn't work. I'll put on my poncho while he gushes real quick. I'll start with it the stuff that doesn't work and it's really there's one thing that's nitpicky and we already touched on it. That the hair animation is a little funky. It's a little dirty. I don't really know what the appropriate word is, but it's not quite right. I will say I've been impressed with the level of emotion they've been able to get out of the facial animations. I think when there's a lot of games that when they try to capture realism, they sort of fall into that uncanny valley

and it's like puts me off, but this game is excellent at it The hair animation could probably use a patch or something And then there are certain things so we touched on it in the episode a couple of times but there are like certain platforming elements and The they are really fun Honestly, like I like the fact that they're in there and it breaks up the game. I never would have expected this in a game like this.

But at the same time, it's not the most crisp, balanced platforming. They're not designed to do this. So it's not perfect. That being said, just about everything in this game works for me. I'm hesitant to even score this game at this point because I will just say that if the rest of this game goes the way that the beginning 20 plus hours that I put into this goes, my top 10 list will absolutely be shuffling. The way that the beginning, you know 20 plus hours that I put into this goes

My top 10 list will absolutely be shuffling Yeah, I can I can understand that so I think for me the what works for me is I don't know that I have played a game that is a complete and total package like expedition 33. I mean Normally if you have incredible combat, like you're giving me pixel graphics, you know, or something like that. Or if you've got, you know, a great story and great combat, the music and the sound is atrocious or something along those lines.

Like for me, Expedition 33 has literally perfected almost every aspect of the game and put it together in this package that I have not seen in a game Like I said, I'm gonna put it up there with games like Red Dead with cyberpunk with God of War where it's like Every part of those games is incredible. There's not like this one glaring weakness that like holds those games back They it's like those those games have the perfect combination of gameplay, story, characters, world building. I mean, you know, everything that you wanna touch on

and Expedition 33 does that in absolute spades, in my opinion. I kept waiting for something to be like, oh, okay, well, this is the part that lacks or really drags behind and it doesn't exist. Like it doesn't exist for me. What doesn't work for me? I'm like, I'm legitimately struggling

to try to like figure this out. And that's not to be lame, but I mean, like I think if I had to say what doesn't work is like, I mean, sometimes I just, I'm not 100% sure why I go to a certain zone or like why this boss is one-shotting me, like there's optional bosses and stuff like that, and I'm like, is this guy part of the story?

Because they give you this kind of open world and I come across things that absolutely obliterate me and then I kind of go like, I'm gonna forget about that. There's not a quest tracking system in this game, there's not a mini map in this game. That's a good one. Yeah, that's a good point. And so, like, the thing that doesn't work for me

is unless I keep a notepad that says, go back to this zone and fight this mime because you couldn't kill him at the time, or remember this boss is in this corner of this area, I'm gonna forget, you know? And so I think to me, it's like what doesn't work, I'm afraid I'm going to miss some content, man. Like that's legitimately like the only thing I can think of, man. That's a good point. The game would certainly benefit from a

quest tracker. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. So, okay. We got to wrap this up, boys. We're going way too long on this. Is this a game of the year candidate? I feel like I'm asking this question so many times in 2025 already. I mean, we've had kingdom come to, I mean, you know, is, is this a game of the year candidate? Without a doubt. This, this might be a game of this one candidate game of all time for me. This might be a candidate game of all time for me. Okay, I fully agree that I cannot see a world where Expedition 33 is not nominated. I can't see it, man. With the score, all the music, and then the,

I mean, these are typically like that, you know, when you have the movie premieres and the awards and everything, those artsy movies are the you have like the movie premieres and like the awards and everything like those artsy movies are the ones that get a lot of recognition and stuff this is that style of game that always gets that recognition it's not you know any of these kind of just shoot them up kill them up crazy fun games that are amazing but they're just not as polished and have as much depth as something like this. I think that without a doubt it's going to be for sure nominated and it has a

really good chance to win. Yeah. Um, okay. So I'm going to put you guys on the spot because I want to, I want to score. I want to score this game. Um, I will start off and I want to preface game. Um, I will start off and I, I want to preface this by yes. I understand. I was insanely hyped for this game. I understand that it was like, you know, Hey, I wanted this game to be everything that I dreamed of in more. And that's a very hard bar to meet. Expedition 33 for me is, is the definition of a 10 out of 10 game.

Like, I, you know, again, I don't say that lightly and I don't give 10s out very often at all. But oh my goodness, if I cannot think of a game that is more perfect for what it is, you know, and part of that might be, and I said it for a long time, was I was really, really hungry for this style of game. So there might be a little bit of that right game at the right time kind of thing, but this game has so few flaws and it is so impressive in almost every single aspect that it throws at you. Like, this is the definition

of a 10 out of 10 video game for me. I am like you, the second we're done recording, I'm going to play, you know, like I, I, I gotta see where this goes. I got to like experience the end of this game and people know I don't finish video games. I am just compelled to, to play expedition 33. I am enamored of it. It is almost flawless in my opinion. It's a 10 out of 10, dude.

Again, I don't say that because I was biased. I don't say it because I was hyped about it. I say it because it is really that good of a video game in my opinion. So for me, it's a 10. Ryan, I don't remember if it was you or Paul who sort of famously didn't like to give out 10s. That's Ryan, he's never given a 10. Never. Yeah, and I agree with that philosophy. Like if you give something a 10, 10 is perfect basically.

And so like, what if something is, you know, what if, what if Clare Obscura part two comes out and they have a, A better hair? A quest tracking. Oh, man, you know, it's better. But functionally for me, this is a 10 out of 10. I mean, like it would be a 9.99 blah, blah, blah,

blah, blah to the nth power. But it is about as perfect a game as I've ever played. Yeah. That's really good. Yeah, I mean, I get why you guys are giving me the scores for sure. For me, it's something a little bit different just because I couldn't really get into that core of the game. I would say it's more of like a 8.3, 8.5 to me, which is a high, high score for a turn-based

combat game for me. If it was action RPG with the same story, with the same world, with all these abilities and the different things you could do, I'm in the nines all day. So great, awesome game. If you like this game style, if you're a turn-based combat type of person, you will love this game and it will absolutely be one of your favorites of all time, guaranteed. I've seen so many people say this, and this is what I love is that like again, people in our community that this wasn't on their radar, you know, and this is one of our joys. It's one of the reasons we do this podcast is like legitimately, I could probably name 10 people in our community right now that went, okay, so I heard you guys talking about

this game. I picked it up. Oh my goodness. I mean, we have people that said, dude, this is my favorite game. This is literally my favorite game that I have played. Like, I mean, that is insane, but it's like, this is what we want to do is we want to put incredible video games in front of people

and say, hey, this is a game that needs to be played. Guys, the craziest part about all of this is this is an indie developer, a 30 man team. This is a $40 game, 40 or 50. This is not a $70 AAA title or a $100 quadruple a title. You know, it's included in game pass. It's included in game pass. You can play it quite, you don't even need an Xbox. You can play it on your cloud TV. It's unbelievable Yeah, I like the fact that this is an indie studio that they had this kind of game and they just said hey It's 40 or 50 bucks, you know, and it's it's doing so well. I could not be happier. I'm with you John

I really wish I could like shake the hands of this development team and be like number one Thank you for giving me a game that I own France guys I love this game more than a game that I had, like honestly, like I've played a lot of games, but this game has me so enamored and so in love with it that it's like, I haven't felt this in a while. So if you have been on the fence, this is your, your call to action to say, you need to experience this. Even if you maybe aren't a fan of the turn-based combat, see if you can get over it. If you can't, we get it, man.

Ryan, you said it best. I don't like mushrooms. Gordon Ramsay might make the best mushroom stew in the world, but I just don't like mushrooms, man. I'm not gonna like it. And I think that's fine. But I think that everybody should experience this game. It is worth it.

And you might just find one of your favorite games that you have come across in years and years and years, because that is exactly how I feel. It's exactly how John feels. That is magic, man. That is the gaming magic that we all hope for. So, all right. That's gonna do it, boys.

I wanna go play this game some more I've always been saying is I got two weeks until doom the dark ages comes out. I'm gonna do all the side content I'm gonna beat this game. I'm gonna do everything that I need to do so that I can just say hey I got the full experience out of it. So definitely gonna keep keep putting in the time Listen, if you are new to this show, you know, and you enjoyed this episode, please take a second to follow us in the time. Listen, if you are new to this show, and you enjoyed this episode, please take a second to follow us in your podcast app. It's a plus button, it's a follow button, but that way you get all of our episodes

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People come in all the time and we're like, yo, this place is awesome, man. People actually talk about games. They suggest games. They hang out together. We do community nights together where we all play games together because that's part of what makes gaming awesome. There is no toxicity. It's family friendly. People of all ages, men, women, I mean, it's

welcome to everybody. If you are a gamer and you think that that sounds awesome, then you're the kind of person that we're looking for. The link's in the episode description there as well. And if you want to go the extra mile to support the show, there is a link in the episode description that you can click to sign up to support the show. We'll give you a shout out, you get free episodes early episodes and all that Alright boys. That's it for this episode Intel Ryan Listen I'm gonna say it one last time go check out video if you if you haven't done it man. Oh my goodness you Ryan's

You're ridiculous Ryan. Alright. That's it everybody. Until next time. Happy gaming to the Lou everybody. I'll sign off with the French salute.