Recent reviews by Vulgarian

TLDR:

One of the best turn based RPG’s I have ever played. Fun gameplay, wonderful soundtrack, beautiful art style, interesting story, you name it, it has it all! This is my GOTY for 2025.


Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a game I was initially interested in due to its art style, quickly grew to be one of my all time favorites. The dialogue from the very beginning was captivating and the story manages to pull you in without trying to rush any explanations.

I spend roughly 88 hours on completing the entire game 100%. I believe if you are purely interested in the main story, you can beat it in roughly 27-30 hours. I do recommend exploring the world and doing optional content, cause it improves the main story as well. (the best boss in the game is also optional)


Story:

You are thrown into a fractured world and begin in a city called Lumiere. There you discover that every year an age is erased from existence. This year everyone that’s 34 is erased and the main character has 1 year left to live. Together with a group called the expeditioners (a different group departs each year) they embark on Expedition 33 to stop the Paintress from erasing more people.

I don’t want to write much more than the intro to the story, because I believe it’s best experienced for the first time, without any spoilers. I love the story and I think this game in general is a great example of how much good dialogue and a proper story can truly elevate a game. (even though this game nailed all aspects)


Gameplay Mechanics:

As I mentioned the game is a turn based RPG. That being said it does a good job of keeping it fresh throughout the game. You are able to dodge, parry and both those mechanics are crucial to the game. Especially if you decide to play on Expert.

I had a lot of fun mastering the combat and I never got bored of it throughout my 88 hours of playing.


Graphics:

The fact that this game was made by so few people in this day and age, is nothing less than impressive! Add on top of that since launch the game has been properly optimized and looks incredible is just insane!

The game was developed in Unreal Engine 5 and unlike many UE5 titles doesn’t experience that many problems. Combine the beautiful graphics with the amazing art style and you have a game that will continuously make you stop and admire your surroundings!

Difficulty Level:

There is 3 different difficulty options. I ended up playing on Expert and I believe the only thing that changes between difficulties, is the amount of damage that enemies do. So as long as you are comfortable with the mechanics in the game, you can easily beat this game on Expert.

Overall I enjoyed the level of difficulty in the game. There were definitely certain ‘walls’ I had to overcome, but nothing ever seemed unfair. You simply need to get gud.

Performance:

I played this game on launch and it ran great for me! My setup is a 4070 Super, 5800X3D and 32 GB of RAM. The game was played on 1440p, max settings and I roughly got 90 fps on average.

In the first 30 hours I experienced very few issues, but the last 50 hours that I mostly spend doing optional content in the late game, I started experiencing more screen tearing and occasional crashes. Luckily it didn’t happen often and since the game has an autosave system, it never set me back far.


Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is my GOTY for 2025! I haven’t fallen in love with an RPG like this in a loooong time and I highly recommend that everyone gives this game a chance. It is worth every penny!

9.5/10


Things I Would Love To See In The Future:

- A better way of knowing whether or not you have gotten every item in a level. (I didn’t have to much trouble with it, but I know some completionist people that would definitely appreciate it!)

- There is still so much I want to know about this world and specifically a certain faction mentioned throughout the story! I hope the studio considers making a sequel or DLC addressing that aspect of the world/story.

TLDR:

At the time of writing, Hogwarts Legacy, is by far the ultimate Harry Potter game. From the numerous references of the books/movies, the beautiful soundtrack or the wonderful open world, Hogwarts Legacy truly makes you feel like you are in the Harry Potter world. Whether, you are a fan of the series or someone that is simply interested in trying out an open world game, I highly recommend this game!


This year has been jam-packed with amazing games and Hogwarts Legacy is not an exception to this rule. Hogwarts Legacy does not redefine the open world or rpg genre by any means, but what it does is give you an experience that no other Harry Potter game has been able to replicate in the past.

There are 3 major areas in the game: Hogwarts castle, Hogsmeade and the rest of the open world (which is far larger than you might expect). Although, I wish they improved certain open world collectibles/tasks, the world itself is beautiful and fun to explore (more on that at the end of my review).

If you are looking for the best Harry Potter experience in 2023 or you are simply interested in a new open world game, look no further, this is the game for you.


Story:

You are a 5th year student arriving late to Hogwarts, lacking the experience that most 5th year students would have at that point. What you lack in experience you quickly make up with your natural talent in magic and "special power" that no other student has access to. The game takes place in 1890 and your MC stumbles upon a goblin rebellion. It is up to you to discover the mysteries surrounding this rebellion, while trying to fit into Hogwarts, learn magic and make new friends along the way.


Gameplay Mechanics:

Hogwarts Legacy is an open world rpg, where combat mostly revolves around dodging/countering spells and combining your own spells to create devastating combos. By all means it is a relatively fast paced action game. I preffered using a controller, since that felt the most natural to me while playing the game.


Graphics:

IT'S VERY ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ PRETTY! They managed to NAIL the Harry Potter world and I am still blown away by how good Hogwarts castle looked. There isn't much I can say that will properly express how much I enjoyed both the graphics and art style, but if you are a Harry Potter fan, this game won't dissapoint you visually!


Difficulty Level:

Although, you might feel a bit weak at the start of the game, that quickly changes once you have learned most of the combat spells. I would have preffered if the game was a bit more punishing or difficult at times, but I understand it's hard to balance a singleplayer game like this without ruining the fun of being an OP wizard/witch.


Performance:

I played this game on a 2080ti and a 5800X3D, while at launch the game suffered from a bit more stutter, most of that has been fixed by now. You will occasionally experience some weird minor glitches like you can expect from most open world games. Performance wise it worked great for me with DLSS and a majority of the time I spent well above 100+ fps. In my entire playthrough I experienced arround 3-4 crashes, but luckily it has autosave so it never set me back too far.


Hogwarts Legacy is THE GAME Harry Potter fans have been waiting for ever since they first read the books or watched the movies! I am very impressed by Avalanche Software and I look forward to whatever they do next!


8/10


Things I Would Love To See In The Future:

- Please don't spam the map with unnecessary collectibles/tasks! I nearly lost my mind by the amount of Merlin trials, treasure vaults and other boring stuff that was added purely to fill up the world. In this case, I would prefer less things to do, but make each one more meaningful. Most treasure vaults just felt like a waste of time.

- Each house got its own unique quest... cool right? Well, it would be if every quest was as good as the other ones, but for some reason Avalanche decided to give Hufflepuff (of all ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ houses) the coolest quest! THEY GOT TO GO TO ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ AZKABAN, meanwhile all the other houses just had some quest that happened in the open world. The reason this pisses me off, is because Azkaban is only accesible during that 1 specific Hufflepuff quest! If you are gonna do exclusive quests in the future, please make them all special in their own way!

- LET US SKIP THE MERLIN TRIAL CUTSCENES UPON COMPLETION!

- Having limited inventory space in a game like this makes no sense. Locking more inventory slots behind those boring Merlin trials is an even weirder decision. I would appreciate it if this wasn't a thing in future games.

- LIMITED TALENT POINTS?!?!? Why in a game that is specifically made to live up to the fantasy of being a powerful wizard/witch would you ever restrain players from unlocking every talent? By far one of the worst things in the game. If this was done for balancing reasons then you failed, because even without unlocking all the talents the MC is still broken af.

- It feels like there are endless possibilities for the future of this series, whether it's DLC or the next game, I would love to explore more locations in the Harry Potter world!

TLDR:

It feels surreal to be able to play an indie game of this quality in a year where we have had so many great games already! Dave The Diver is a unique experience that will stick with you. Whether it's the amazing pixel art style, soundtrack or hilarious characters, this game will surprise you in many different ways.



In a year where we have had so many amazing games, my backlog has only grown even more. However, I decided to make some time for this game and it ended up being one of the best decisions I made all year!

DTD blew my mind when it came to how much the game had to offer. Everytime, I assumed I had experienced everything the game had to offer, it would suddenly introduce something completely new. The developers managed to create a game that offers a variety of gameplay, fun story, hilarious characters and plenty of stuff to grind for!

If you are looking for a relaxing pixel art game, look no further, this is the game for you!


Story:

DTD is about a fat guy that gets scammed into coming out of retirement, only to end up as a diver/waiter/cook/manager/farmer/researcher. You are tasked to explore a mysterious "Blue Hole" that has a different environment each day! The further you descent the more you discover about the mysteries the "Blue Hole" has to offer. I won't spoil anything about the story, but it's pretty entertaining imo!


Gameplay Mechanics:

DTD revolves primarily around 2 gameplay mechanics. The first mechanic is being the diver, exploring the "Blue Hole" and collecting fish to supply your restaurant. The second mechanic revolves around managing your restaurant. Both are very fun and as you progress through the game, you unlock more things to do.


Graphics:

I am going to be honest, I am a sucker for pixel art games. DTD is no exception to this rule. The way the game implements pixel art and manages to utilize it is honestly incredible. I WISH MORE GAMES LOOKED LIKE THIS!


Difficulty Level:

There are no difficulty options in the game and tbh it doesn't really need it. The further you progress in the game, the harder it gets. Like I mentioned earlier, it's mostly a relaxing game that tends to offer challenging situations in smaller doses. Anyone should be able to start and finish this game without any trouble.


Performance:

I played this game on a 2080ti and a 5800X3D, no issues at all. Runs very smoothly and in my total 60 hours playtime I think I only crashed once or twice.


Dave The Diver is a game that has definitely left its impact in 2023. I look forward to whatever MINTROCKET brings us next!


9/10


Things I Would Love To See In The Future:

- More upgrades for your diving knife (and that it evolves similar to the harpoon gun).

- DLC? I fully completed the game, but I still want more!

- Allow us to hire someone to manage the fish farm.

- More decorations for the restaurant!