I have minimal history with JRPGs. Growing up I maybe played a few. Tales of Symphonia, Baten Kaitos and a small handful of spin-off Final Fantasy games, Fire Emblem games too if those count I suppose. So I dont hold too much nostalgia for the genre. But when I first saw Clair Obscur on instagram in a random reel, my curiosity was piqued. You dont see a lot of turn based style games with this level of graphical fidelity. Then I saw the very french aesthetic and I was immediately intrigued.

Suffice to say I had hear literally nothing about the game beforehand, not a trailer, ad or anything. Just some gameplay a few days after it came out. And since I wanted something fresh and unique to kill some time before Doom the Dark Ages came out. I picked this up on a whim.

To say I was immensely surprised and happy would be an understatement. The prologue alone, was one of the most moving, beautiful and crushing experiences Ive had in my 30 years of gaming. The way Clair Obscur sets the stage and premise for its world pulls no punches. It establishes thoughtful characters and clear and heart wrenching stakes all while showering you in the beauty and somber-ness of its world.

From then on I was hooked, both from the gameplay and its amazing story. Clair Obscur does an excellent job of bringing you into its characters and plot, and the mystery of whats going on is a constant desire to keep playing and figure out what comes next. I found myself constantly rushing to my computer to be able to play again for hours simply to know the next story beats. A feeling I haven't felt from a games narrative in a VERY long time.

The gameplay is as mentioned before, a turn based RPG. You have a gang of characters who all have unique playstyles, movesets and abilities in combat. Very typical RPG affair. What makes COE33 a bit unique is that there are parry and dodge windows for combat as well as timed inputs for your attacks, making the combat a fair bit move involved and engaging. While I dont mind TB combat myself anyway, this inclusion keeps you on your toes and encourages tight gameplay and focus. Improving at the combat and nailing the parrys and counters is deeply satisfying as well as critical to success on the middle and higher difficulty. The build variety as the game opens up is immense as well, many characters can be used in multiple ways depending on preference.

Graphically Clair Obscur is breathtaking and one of the best looking games to come out this year. Its colorful, vibrant and clean. And its aesthetic is wholly unique. Early in development they had initially thought of making it a steampunk aesthetic, and thank goodness they didnt as its been done so many times before. The very French aesthetic alongside the games bizarre characters and locales gives it a truly unique vibe that is entirely its own. Its world is gorgeous and captivating.

Before I finish my final thoughts on the story I will gush over its soundtrack. If Clair Obscure doesnt win OST of the year at the game awards, something is rigged. The score in this game is nothing short of excellence, beautiful, painful, intense, at times absolutely fun as well. They cover so many bases and there are so many memorable and outstanding tracks that paint the games story in such a rich light alongside its music. Rarely do I find myself listening to a games soundtrack in my car on my drive to work...yet here we are.

And to dial it back to story and without spoiling anything. Clair Obscur tells a tragic and breathaking story that deals with loss, grief, family and pain. And it does so in such a unique and beautiful way. Anytime I thought I had things figured out, I was met with new revelations, it is something brilliant and all it's own. And it is something to be experienced all on your own. Do not spoil, go in blind and be ready for a rich and special experience.

Clair Obscur Expedition 33 is a masterpiece and a must play. It is in my mind, a 10/10. Any flaws I can think of, would simply be nitpicking its excellence. This is in my mind, the game of the year for 2025 and one of the finest games I have ever played. I love this game.

Star Wars is without a doubt one of the most culturally impactful and popular franchises ever created. Its legacy spans decades and its imprint on our culture as a whole is rivaled only by others like Pokemon, Harry Potter and Marvel. However in the last few years a lot of Star Wars content has become a mixed bag. While shows get pumped out and sup bar movies being released. There is higher amount of Star Wars content than ever but less and less of it is quality.

So where does Jedi Survivor stand? Ultimately, somewhere in the end of the good quality stuff despite its glaring and obvious flaws. First and foremost, for a game that's been out nearly 2 years its performance on PC is quite abysmal. Frame drops, stuttering, crashes ( had an issue where my PC would literally just black screen which I found out was caused by the game having random power spikes), to name the major culprits, this should be absolutely unacceptable for a modern AAA game considering this is backed by EA and made by Respawn who are very competent developers. However after a couple performance mods and tweaking some settings I have found the game to be stable despite its inconsistencies. This is still not good, but it allows me to play the game.

That disclaimer aside, let's actually talk about the game now. Jedi Survivor is the sequel to the 2019 Jedi Fallen Order. In nearly every capacity this game carries on the same trend and gameplay style as its predecessor. It functionally plays like a vaguely diet Dark Souls (closer to Sekiro) action game with strong platforming segments as well as some metroidvania elements to its traversal and map exploration. The key difference between this and Fallen Order is quite a few of its world maps are far more open to explore and traverse. Now with far more secrets to find there is more to discover if you're willing to spend the time outside of your main story.

Content wise this game blows Fallen Order out of the water, more bosses, more secrets, more puzzles and a bit more depth to its combat make it a truly excellent sequel. I found the story was as engaging as the first. Cal is an excellent protagonist and seeing his journey as he struggles with his Jedi teachings and his endless battle against the empire makes him feel far more fleshed out than in the first game as he represented more of a plucky Padawan who was still finding his place in the galaxy. As the story unfolds you get a real sense and feel for the separation he has from his old crew and as things come back together it feels truly renewing to get back with this characters again. Without spoiling, I will say the story is one of the strongest aspects and a key part in what gives this game its depth and feel.

A great addition is 3 new forms of lightsaber combat, dualwield (which only had a brief attack in the first game), crossguard and blaster stance. As well single bladed and double bladed have been rebalanced so all forms have benefit and usability depending on player preference. I will say an issue is that only 2 can be selected at a time, but with mods this is easily fixable. It is a shame this was not in the full release as it doesn't break the game flow in any real way.

There is a surprising amount of depth to the exploration as well as a great amount of secrets for those who are willing to look, as someone who is usually quite meticulous at finding things I was surprised how much I missed when I would come back through areas. Which brings us to our next major flaw....This game has an offensive amount of backtracking. Be it looking for hidden things or for story segments. You frequently return back to multiple planets for short missions or to simply touch base and returning to old areas for loot can be an absolute chore if youre like me and obsess over unlocking every goofy outfit and beard style for Cal. I would HIGHLY recommend saving this till the end when you have all the upgrades to your movement and traversal to save time.

All in all, Jedi Survivor is a very solid game with its only real flaw being its performance. That aside, even if that were perfect it is not a masterpiece. Its combat while fun and satisfying, is not incredibly finely tuned, it has a jank to it that makes it feel not as fluid as it could, but it still feels weighty and powerful (though lightsaber combat is always awkard as it is difficult to balance a game around a weapon that SHOULD be a one hit kill). All that aside, Jedi Survivor is a 7/10 game with its performance being as it is and an 8/10 if it were running as a modern game should be. A must play for Star Wars fans and a solid maybe for those with passing interest.