If the first post was a ‘you should go and buy this’ post, this one is a bit more in mechanical, and likely more niche as a result.

RPGs make or break on two core aspects. The story itself needs to be engaging and relatively well thought out. The details matter. Veilguard is a good example where this part didn’t work. The second is the mechanical portion, where you actively engage in the world. Mosf often through combat. This is where SW: Outlaws had serious challenges. Also hard to balance.

Clair Obscur hits both of these well out of the park. Note that I speak French, a huge plus to my enjoyment.

The story rather succinct and each zone is relatively unique and never overstays. It’s a game where grief is the villain, not a particular person, which is always an achievement in storytelling. It may have the best soundtrack in the past 10+ years – earworms a plenty. The end of act 2 is a fascinating act of setup and payoff. The end of act 3 is the only time I can recall actually stopping to think about the right choice to make – simply from a story perspective. There are no weird logical gaps, everything has purpose and meaning. It’s a very satisfying experience to be part of the unfolding story, and one where you as a person come out reflective for the broader meaning.

The combat portion is the balance of three distinct systems. The actual tactical portion of pressing buttons to avoid/retaliate to incoming damage requires a significant amount of attention (which can actually be exhausting) and so extra rewarding when you pull it off. The skill mixes and cadence between the player buffs/debuffs and skill systems is wild to me, a more simplistic version of BG3 where one character’s actions impact the next, allowing for some strategic elements. Finally the picto/lumina passive skill system feels straight out of FF7/9 in both the simplicity (equip it, win 4 fights, everyone has access) to the complexity (how to find synergies between passive boosts that fit a character’s playstyle). Going from 5k damage in one moment, to 5m the next is a crazy fun feat and why I love RPGs. Break the math.

I’ve now completed all the pieces where I feel a ‘need’ to complete. There are 2 other late game parts I can tackle (they are still red gates, indicating higher difficulty) that I’m partially through, and are distinctly in the ‘want’ category. The mechanical portion doesn’t interest me here, the story does, which I think speaks volumes to the remainder of the game.

It’s going to take a bit for my brain to adjust to normal games after this. What an amazing achievement.