How difficult the game is?

[Toni 'Bō' Jones]

Hello all,
Happy Expedition 33 day - I hope y'all having a great time playing!

as title proclaims - I am curious about the game's difficulty. Is there anything close to story mode with reduced battles/complexity of them? any possibility to play the game on 'easy' mode, any difficulty settings? I know that you can turn off QTE in fights - but you still have to use dodge/parry system. can you save at any time or there are checkpoints only?
Is this game a good entry point into JRPGs, as a beginner-friendly?

asking for a friend.

[Sunsetter]

There's story mode for lesser difficulty, although Im not sure what it lowers.
When you exit the game saves your position, but on a checkpoint system, cant save everywhere.

Not sure about beginner friendly, guess it depends on how good you are at dodging since some attacks can be pretty harsh (on Normal)

[shondy]

On "normal" in the prologue at least, you have to dodge or parry at least some stuff to not die, Its an rpg so i assume this wont hold true for the whole time. get a healer, have better gear. maybe have the opportunity to over level if possible.. idk.

[Urza]

In normal, the game is quit difficult in my opinion.
The window to make parry or dodge is really small.
Guess it's like the Dark Souls of turn based games !

[GuNNuP]

Publicado originalmente por Urza:

In normal, the game is quit difficult in my opinion.
The window to make parry or dodge is really small.
Guess it's like the Dark Souls of turn based games !

the very fact that the game is finished, because it has difficulty modes. makes this not an unfinished game like those made by from software.

[Praesi]

Parry System has some weird behaviour and makes it harder than it should be.

[Uminak]

You die in 1-2 hits on the hardest difficulty with very strict dodge/parry timings. It's probably best to play it on easy/normal.

[Dilapidated Potato]

Been playing on GamePass.

The tuning is all over the place. Some enemies will flat out pancake you in a combo if you don't dodge/parry every attack, and once you miss one it's real easy to miss the rest.

I've started leveling 100% Vitality since most of the healing is %HP based. So the more HP I have the more I can heal. Damage output doesn't seem to change dramatically from what I've seen though I haven't tested a full glass cannon build.

I'll be totally honest -- I think the game is kind of terrible.
Visually it's gorgeous but I've found the writing to be absolutely terrible... and the combat just has not been very satisfying. The parry timing is way too tight for a turn based game. The combat would honestly be better if it was focused more on the combo system and less on the quick time events.

I dunno, I don't think I've ever been more excited for a game to come out -- and then spent more time roasting it.

I want to love the game but good lord there some terrible design choices.
Like -- I keep getting these weapon upgrade stones and these items I'm supposed to be able to increase my "Lumina" points with.. but you can't even use them until you get to your camp.. and then when you can go to your camp you still have nowhere in your camp where you can use them...

I'm assuming I'm going to be adding things to the camp.. but at this rate all the items I've collected will be obsolete before I can even use them in my camp.

Don't even get me started on the writing either. Like.. Good lord. I'm recording my entire playthrough and I am actually sad because I wanted to love the game but all I've just been finding that I've spent most of my time playing absolutely roasting the game sofar.

Not sure why the game has good reviews tbh. I was expecting something moving like FFXVI... and it just hasn't even almost built any emotional attachment for me.

Bleh :/

[nesðarus]

Not as hard as dark souls. The animations aren't nasty like later souls games. You can react to the animations rather than have to predict them. I think the balancing is not good though. HP is kinda pointless when everything one shots you. Enemy that does 2000 damage when I have 400 hp or enemy that does 600 damage when I have 400 hp makes no difference.

I guess the upside is that the Uber special strong enemies way above your level are just tankier regular enemies since both one shot ;D

[Kouki]

you can play story mode, i dont see achievement for beating it on highest doesnt rlly matter.

[ShadowLL]

Publicado originalmente por shondy:

On "normal" in the prologue at least, you have to dodge or parry at least some stuff to not die, Its an rpg so i assume this wont hold true for the whole time. get a healer, have better gear. maybe have the opportunity to over level if possible.. idk.

Those flying mf-s almost TPK-ed me an instant in the baby zone lol
I was like - ok, ha, I m getting used to it, wait, whats with this big guy over there..
Aaaand there goes 15 mins of restarting

GOTY 12/10 will recommend

[Ak-Dani]

Publicado originalmente por Toni 'Bō' Jones:

Hello all,
Happy Expedition 33 day - I hope y'all having a great time playing!

as title proclaims - I am curious about the game's difficulty. Is there anything close to story mode with reduced battles/complexity of them? any possibility to play the game on 'easy' mode, any difficulty settings? I know that you can turn off QTE in fights - but you still have to use dodge/parry system. can you save at any time or there are checkpoints only?
Is this game a good entry point into JRPGs, as a beginner-friendly?

asking for a friend.

easy

[Themightyred92]

Publicado originalmente por Dilapidated Potato:

Been playing on GamePass.

The tuning is all over the place. Some enemies will flat out pancake you in a combo if you don't dodge/parry every attack, and once you miss one it's real easy to miss the rest.

I've started leveling 100% Vitality since most of the healing is %HP based. So the more HP I have the more I can heal. Damage output doesn't seem to change dramatically from what I've seen though I haven't tested a full glass cannon build.

I'll be totally honest -- I think the game is kind of terrible.
Visually it's gorgeous but I've found the writing to be absolutely terrible... and the combat just has not been very satisfying. The parry timing is way too tight for a turn based game. The combat would honestly be better if it was focused more on the combo system and less on the quick time events.

I dunno, I don't think I've ever been more excited for a game to come out -- and then spent more time roasting it.

I want to love the game but good lord there some terrible design choices.
Like -- I keep getting these weapon upgrade stones and these items I'm supposed to be able to increase my "Lumina" points with.. but you can't even use them until you get to your camp.. and then when you can go to your camp you still have nowhere in your camp where you can use them...

I'm assuming I'm going to be adding things to the camp.. but at this rate all the items I've collected will be obsolete before I can even use them in my camp.

Don't even get me started on the writing either. Like.. Good lord. I'm recording my entire playthrough and I am actually sad because I wanted to love the game but all I've just been finding that I've spent most of my time playing absolutely roasting the game sofar.

Not sure why the game has good reviews tbh. I was expecting something moving like FFXVI... and it just hasn't even almost built any emotional attachment for me.

Bleh :/

if you think the writing is terrible in this game then i cant take you seriously

[Null]

If you're okay with timing dodges and parries it's really quite easy, even on Expert once you've gotten a bit of defense. Though a lot of people seem to be having issues since they're not used to that stuff, so it's really a very "your mileage will vary" game.

[sand.storm]

I've been eyeing this game but I'm not a Souls-like person however Story mode does sound promising.

From this article:
https://www.sportskeeda.com/esports/clair-obscur-expedition-33-difficulty-settings-explained-which-one-go-for

Story: The Story difficulty mode is the easiest way to play Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. In this setting, enemies deal less damage, and you get generous dodge and parry windows.

Expeditioner: This is the “Normal” difficulty setting, which is how the developers intended you to play this game. As such, enemies do damage as per their design. Parrying and dodging opportunities appear normally (compared to Story difficulty), making it challenging to pull off consistently. However, this window remains fair if you have the timing figured out properly.

Expert: This is the highest difficulty setting in the game. Enemies do more damage than in the previous modes. Moreover, your parry and dodge windows are smaller than before, requiring split-second reactionary button presses to evade enemy attacks perfectly.

[Saaguen]

It's less difficult than a souls game for sure.
I was never able to consistently parry in Souls, it's easier in E33 after you start learning ennemy attacks. Rolls have an even wider window so use that first.