Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is an irresistible melting pot of previous and new concepts, combining basic JRPG tropes with trendy storytelling sensibilities and new gameplay thrives. It’s in some methods becoming, then, that the 2025 GOTY contender consists of non-obligatory challenges impressed by Last Fantasy’s most infuriating minigames, like chocobo racing and lightning dodging in Last Fantasy X.
All through gamers’ journeys in Expedition 33, they’ll encounter Gestral Seashores that are residence to distinctive minigames from taking part in volleyball to climbing huge skyborne towers. Finishing them rewards you with swimsuits, which supply no tangible advantages past having extra outfits to select from. A number of the challenges at the moment are notorious, partially as a result of they lean into a number of the worst elements of the sport, specializing in motion and demanding platforming precision when the controls aren’t actually designed for it, and in addition as a result of they’re usually ridiculous and require an absurd quantity of dedication for no actual acquire.
Sandfall Interactive sport director Guillaume Broche defined the inspiration behind them in a latest podcast interview with YouTuber Xavier “MisterMV” Dang (by way of Reddit). It’s in French, however the gist is that he preferred how sure minigames of the previous have been so dangerous, they stay hire free in our reminiscences eternally. He referenced the chocobo race and lightning dodging in Last Fantasy X particularly. The ultimate race requires gamers to get a time of 0:00 by accumulating solely blue blitz balls, which in flip requires utilizing the least responsive steering controls of any PlayStation 2 sport in existence. The lightning minigame, in the meantime, requires efficiently dodging bolts of electrical energy 200 occasions in a row with out lacking.
Each are notoriously infuriating duties, although in contrast to in Expedition 33, they’re essential to unlock two of the strongest weapons within the sport. Is that higher or worse? “There’s a sort of hatred however love that may be felt,” Broche mentioned (by way of a Google translation of the interview). He added, “For those who make a rotten sport that you’ve rotten minigames [in], nicely, it doesn’t work too nicely, however you probably have a sport that you simply have been connected to and you’ve got this sort of problem, just a little bit additional on the aspect…it’s humorous.”
He admitted the Gestral Seashores have been his concept—“I personally insisted on placing them within the sport and so sure, Gestral volleyball, if you wish to insult me, it’s me, I’ll take it”—however some followers are praising the event crew for reaching the specified impact with the annoying challenges in an in any other case glorious sport. “Spent an hour climbing the vertical tower one, and obtained Monoco’s swimsuit on the prime,” one participant wrote on Reddit. “There isn’t a higher potential reward for all of that ache than one thing as hilariously asinine as Monoco in a speedo. It’s simply absolute perfection, completely carries the spirit of these previous silly FF minigames. I really like that they’re there. I really like that they’re silly. I really like that I’ve the music caught in my head eternally now. THIS is high quality and love from the developer.”
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