Clair Nascur Review: Expedition 33 – Damn Fantasy

“When someone falls, the other continues. As long as he stands, at least one of us, the battle has not ended. ”

Regardless of how the result turned out to be a special and vision of independent video games from completely new (supposedly only thirty!) Research that could attract so many players with their artistic style, plot and atypical gameplay. Inside the Clair Mcant, many wonderful and unskilled science fictions or RPG will certainly become one of the most interesting game impressions this year. Unfortunately, however, the result was influenced by some inexperience of the creators, therefore, although the game can charm and pleasantly surprise, but also really disappointed.

• Platform: PS5 (overview version), XSX/S, PC
• Date of issue: 24.4. 2025
• Manufacturer: Sandfall Interactive (France)
• Genre: RPG
• Czech Republic Localization: No
• Multi -user: No
• Download Data: 42 GB
• Game time: 30+ hours
• Price: 1299 CZK or Game Pass Subscription

A desperate expedition

The world was amazed at a disaster that literally defeated reality. However, in certain islands, people survived and tried to restore the world suitable for life. But they brutally intervene their mysterious artist, who will perform at a giant monolith at a distance behind the ocean once a year to draw a number on it. Everyone who has reached the age will die that day. Every year it is lower. Right now he stopped at 33, which means that another expedition is aimed at a dangerous expedition in the direction of the monolith. This time it consists of members with 32 years, who, in any case, have no hope for a more year of life, unless they can stop the artist.

The creators managed to introduce so many important moments of history at the hour of the game that they will draw you to their world as a hurricane, not having the time to think about why the world and even its sky look so strange. You will experience the destructive consequences of the artist’s annual deduction, parting with members of the 33rd. In a really creative plot and absolutely excellent dramatic beginning of history.

Creative plot and an excellent beginning of history.

Each good story is based on good characters, and in this respect the game also surpasses. We have a caring mechanic Gustav, curiosity, obsessed with a scientific moon or even a young man, but even more bold Mall, who should not be in this expedition at all. The game became known before the release of the extraordinary cast (duplicated), including actors such as Andy Serkis, Jennifer Inglish, Charlie Cox or Ben Starr. Although this story is also served by some genre cliches and experienced fans of the genre, possibly just like me, just like I can correctly explain all the riddles with the artist at the beginning of the game, this is impressive work with characters, music and emotions that will keep your attention to the story for most of the game.

Endless QTE sequences

In addition to watching the flow of films and sequences of dialogs, you will spend most of the game in battle. The creators have repeatedly proclaimed their inspiration in JRPG games, so the combat system is based on a turn where three of your retinue members of your retinue against enemies or boss on the other side of the battlefield will confront each other, and then you can move during movement, and you can influence an order of magnitude with special sands and equipment. Unfortunately, the creators decided not to satisfy the classic stretching system and enriched it with the “action” of the nipple in the form of almost mandatory pressing buttons to strengthen your blows, bounce or jump to the enemy. But this is not an action that you should be free from management, you just need to squeeze the buttons when the game tells you.

I admit that I hate QTE sequences, I find irritating and surviving, such an artificial imitation of a real dynamic point of playback in the style of “compression of the buttons on the team, and we will promote the game forward”, which is noticeably truncated dynamics against “classic” gameplay with free control. This almost obligatory part of the combat system was disgusting from the very beginning, but I had no idea how I would hate it after several tens of hours of the game.

“Cush buttons on the team.”

I felt that I was playing a rhythmic dance game, and the need to concentrate on the correct pressing of the buttons on the team was completely damaged by experience. What is even worse, that the time of the cunning and the counterattacks that you should partially guess, at least for the first time you do not have the rhythm of enemy attacks. While the game contains settings for QTE automation, you should always serve manually for covering and counterattacks. Some of the long bosses with several stages are especially tiring, and improper pressing can cost you tens of minutes of repetition.

Tire

Like the combat system, the study of the game world will fully show its weaknesses with a growing watch in the game. The locations themselves are mainly beautiful and well designed in terms of the location of enemies, production or labels. Nevertheless, they are connected with the world map, which is not so interesting for movement, because you are always slow on it, and if you decide to return from an advanced place to one of the first (which you sometimes make you), this is a rather amazing sheet. At the same time, the game contains a system of teleports, but only in some places between their checkpoints, and not between places.

At the last stage of the game, another, really unnecessary and incomprehensible problem. Firstly, the game shows the classic “sling” from the fact that the jump in complexity in the last place and the boss practically stops every player who, frankly, did not perform all the main and side effects throughout the game, so you need to return and train correctly.

Places will not give you a more specific indication of complexity.

But here you will face the problem that many locations at the end of the game will not give you more specific signs of their requirements, only red lights as a warning “here it is too difficult for you.” Of course, the difficulty is evaluated, but you literally have no other option to find out how to enter every place, and try how quickly you will die in it in order to withdraw some of the orders to continue. Together with the slow travel on the world map, this stage is really hellish and should not finish the game for the review, perhaps I would give it (or at least reached some instructions).

Chaotic

Although the equipment system in the game contains interesting ideas, unfortunately, suffers from the same lack of thinking as other aspects described above. For example, the alignment of your weapon is very important for your strength, but at the later stages of the game you can easily have many higher ingredients to improve new weapons, but you miss the lower ones, so it uses all this. At the same time, this will be enough to place the seller with the main raw material in your camp. By the way, when another merchant puts you in the creators of the camp, they put him, at least, in the side cave, so that you always had to run back and back.

The benefit system also disappoints where you apply the objects and benefits of Lumina on your characters. These objects are absolutely necessary, which gives you key skills and statistics at the same time. After four fights won, Pictos will unlock its Lumina version, which practically means that your characters have learned the perk and can be used at the same time without using this particular Pictos object. Does it sound at least a little chaotic? If not, enjoy chaos, at least in the form of managing these items in the inventory, when you have dozens of them, and navigation will degenerate into real blood pressure from insufficient filtration caused not only by the user interface and control.

Fiction

Despite everything that is written above, the story of the game is so original, and its script and acting performances are so strong that it will make you bite all weaknesses. Everyone can find another favorite, but I was personally amazed at a couple of characters, whose motivation exceeded the traditional boundaries of good or evil, the right or poor choice. At the best moments, despite his brightly painted fantastic jacket, the game is incredibly serious and human, scraping the depth of psychological injuries of individual characters, which, of course, is where the extraordinary actor stands out.

Another motivating factor for the game and decoration is an unusual expedition, which is respectable not only technically, but mostly aesthetically. The French origin of the game really does not deny here, and the design of many media or enemies looks completely surprising. Of course, this also helps music with many songs, although it is true that everything is very harmful, and in places they have already played music after several hours of painful ballad. I played the PS5 Pro with the graphics set in Power mode, where the game supported impressive visual effects and fluidity.

The story will make you bite the game.

At the end of the main story, I came in thirty hours, but it was obvious that during the next tens of hours of playing on the world map there were still a number of additional places or bosses. I strongly recommend completing at least secondary missions related to your retinue, because you will open their strongest attack (and, of course, you will also learn the point of their personal history). In general, the game was a strong experience for me, and some of its plot points, including the decision/election of the end, I will definitely remember for a long time. I just would like the memories not to be damaged from the aforementioned disgust.