If you know me, and you trust even a sliver of my taste in video games, I urge you to buy this and play it. Go in blind, immerse yourself, and just enjoy. Seriously. This game made me feel such a wide variety of emotions that no other game has ever done. This game was an experience that I will be thinking about for a long, long time.

I'm sure I'll be back for NG+ to fully complete all the achievements.

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The storytelling in Expedition 33 is phenomenal. It doesn't just tell a story with long winded lore or exposition dumps. It pulls you in. The pacing is strong, the emotional moments are impactful, and the world-building is incredibly rich. I found myself thinking about it when I wasn't playing. I even had an "Expedition 33 Book-Club" with a couple of my friends and we would compare notes as we went through it. That's how rich this world is.

Every character felt real - I cared about each and every one of them. The characters open up and change throughout the game in real ways. They were all acted and portrayed extremely well. Their motivations and development arcs evolved naturally as they revealed more about themselves and reacted to the in-game events.

The gameplay while somewhat flawed, it is a real joy to play. It, generally, struck a good balance between challenge and game-breaking strategies. However, there were times where the parrying / dodging mechanics felt a bit "sloppy", but other times where they felt perfect. Creating your ideal team composition was a lot of fun, and didn't require outside research. (Lightning Lune, that's all I'll say 🤭)

The exploration is incredibly rewarding as you find nooks and crannies throughout the world that can make the world of a difference in certain boss fights. You feel rewarded for even just going off the beaten path a little bit to find out new things about the game, characters, or just getting some extra materials for your weapon upgrades.

Visually, this game is stunning. One of my reasons that I'm waiting for NG+ is a photo mode. This is a rare game where I'm excited to have a photo mode in the game. The creativity of the environments is what helps keep this game so fresh. They are both beautiful and haunting in many places.

The soundtrack, as well, deserves its own shoutout. It is emotionally resonant and complements every moment, from the quiet introspection to the adrenaline-filled action. There is so much background music as well, that I never felt that it overstayed its welcome. I'm definitely going to be listening to this while working for a long time as well.

To summarize, again, this is probably one of my top 5 games of all time. I seriously cannot give it any higher praise. I enjoyed every moment. I loved talking about it with my friends - theorizing with them and guessing what was going on. I will overwhelmingly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good story.

This game is easily a 10/10 from me. I don't give those out very often, but this one deserves it without hesitation.