Doesn't deserve to be seen as GOTY

[Magnum]

After watching vids on Expedition 33, I can confidently say the praise it's receiving, even being called Game of the Year, highlights how low the bar is. Comparing Expedition 33 to true classics like Final Fantasy VIII or persona 3,4, and 5 reveal how it falls short.

1. Expedition 33 vs Code Vein: A Low Bar Comparison

First, I’ll admit Expedition 33 looks polished compared to Code Vein, a game that was little more than anime fluff, endless fan service, repetitive corridors, and hollow Souls-like mechanics. That said, Expedition 33 is a hype feeding game. Female-led cast, a euro-frenchy pretty boy protagonist, more "Game of Thrones" writing.

2. Final Fantasy VIII: Humanity, Music, and Atmosphere

FF8’s characters felt real. Squall wasn’t just “emo”, he was an awkward, emotionally scarred orphan, and that was explained naturally through the story. Seifer was a true rival with realistic development, not a generic forced trope. Laguna, Ward, and Kiros weren’t token characters, they felt like real friends dealing with war, dreams, and regret. I’ll even go as far as saying Laguna and his crew are peak Square Enix character writing and proof that Square wasn’t always just Nazi-pandering blonde-blue fantasies. Nothing beats the three grunts of different backgrounds living comically but with real brotherly love even failing at cheap acting jobs and at getting the girl in the upper class. That was peak writing and relatability.

FF8’s story had genuine emotional pain. The themes of abandonment, lost time, and forced maturity hit hard. The sorceress Edea wasn’t just some exaggerated villain, she was tied to personal memory and betrayal, making her far more powerful emotionally than most modern villains.

FF8’s music set the emotional tone perfectly. The intro sequence, the clash between Squall and Seifer under “Liberi Fatali”, remains one of the most iconic openings in gaming history. Tracks like “Fisherman’s Horizon,” “The Oath,” and “Eyes on Me” weren’t just background music. They carried deep, human melancholy. The game’s art direction was raw, not market-tested. FF8 took risks with realistic visual styles, moody atmospheres, and adult emotional tone. None of that exists in Expedition 33. Its flower obsession feels like a bad ripoff of FF8’s opening, but without the soul.

3. Persona Series: Where Style and Substance Coexist

Even the Persona franchise makes Expedition 33 look out of place. Persona 3 had real emo darkness with the gun-to-the-head Evokers. It earned its tone through a haunting story about mortality and fate more complex than it appears. It was intimate and a reflection of depression as a psychological illness especially in Japan's culture.

Persona 4 countered with a sunnier surface that hid brutal truths. It showed actual thematic complexity. It was loud and upbeat but explored the reality that good times take effort. Chie’s whole “I need you to feel useful” was a very real note on how charismatic extroverts often manage stress and awkwardness.

Persona 5 was the peak of style meeting anger. It had jazz energy, political resentment, and stylish rebellion without losing its humanity. The Kamoshida arc was a game in itself, peak storytelling. Japan isn't peaches and cream, its darker societal underbelly is scarier than what than what the West allows in it's own reflection. Bullying, crime, underworld realities, Persona 5 captured that from the first scene and boss unlike the poor witcher imitation in expedition 33 (Aimless banter with a female in a pretty view and classical theme except we don't know or care about these chars yet..

All these games had:
Memorable, musically powerful intros (“Burn My Dread,” “Pursuing My True Self,” “Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There”) Characters who felt young, flawed, and real, despite anime exaggeration Meanwhile, Expedition 33 opens with bland overused, lifeless self unaware music ripped straight out of a Nightmare Before Christmas knockoff. Sad orchestral sounds with no real sorrow behind them from an unpolished intro.

4. No Human Pulse: The Core Failure of Expedition 33

The characters in 33 feel designed by marketing teams, not born from human experience or heartache. The world feels like a dress-up dollhouse: lots of pretty backdrops but no grime, no depth. The tone is manufactured sadness, ai describing fake hardship wrapped in flowers and whimsical art design, hoping you won’t notice it’s emotionally hollow.

It doesn’t feel lived in like FF8’s Garden/x mansion or Persona’s urban world/Gotham where every character has complex purpose. Even Skyrim, has heaps more in life. Feels more like Ubisoft titles where it looks pretty but realistically is empty. Expedition 33 doesn’t measure up.

5. Why the GOTY Hype Feels Hollow

If Expedition 33 wins GOTY, it won’t be because it’s a masterpiece, it’ll be because modern competition is weak. Today’s gaming culture mistakes "feels" marketing and visual polish for genuine depth. Players have been conditioned to accept Instagram-tier aesthetics over meaningful storytelling. It’s like comparing the original Matrix to its most sanitized conclusion.

In a healthier gaming era, Expedition 33 would be seen as a mid-tier game not in the same league as actual narrative titans. Even Wrath of the Righteous is a better story focused game with none of the trope fluff. This isn’t Fallout: New Vegas, either. And let’s be honest, if Oblivion Remastered had modern polish and performance, it would’ve swept GOTY.

Conclusion: Expedition 33 Is an Empty Trophy

Expedition 33 isn’t a bad game compared to low-tier releases like Code Vein. It looks great, but the visuals feel like a cheat—like steroid-enhanced aesthetics forcibly made pretty. This isn’t Paper Mario. It isn’t Nioh. It’s not even Okami. It’s I look pretty because I used what was pretty.

Contrast that with something like Oblivion Remastered. Its shadowing and lighting bring back that Ocarina-of-Time-style appeal, "get lost in the woods" atmosphere that once made Skyrim great. Expedition 33, on the other hand, reminds me of Dragon Age: Veilguard, a literal veil over its lifelessness.

I’m confident it’ll win GOTY anyway. Modern gaming is full of modern kids with modern minds. Gross and subpar to me, but I’m not here to debate its success. I know it’ll win, just like Balder's Gate 3 did despite being unfinished on release. That game had broken bosses, sloppy mechanics, and still got hailed as “godly.” Same audience, same result.

It’s no wonder these same modern consumers caused Bethesda to gut gender specificity in Oblivion, a game that used to joke openly about gender. Meanwhile, Nexus bans gender affirming mods while drowning in sex mods. That contradiction alone tells me all I need to know. So meh. Expedition 33 isn’t terrible, but it’s hardly above average.

Quick Comparisons:

Expedition 33 – 6/10: Pretty but not meaty. I haven’t finished it, but I can smell when a game relies on abstract “deep” instead of real, grounded writing. Squall vs. Seifer is real.
Persona 3: Wanting to off yourself is real.
Persona 5: Being punished for trying to stop wrongdoing is real.
Grieving in 33 feels like a fantasy melodrama full of characters I don't care about.

Final Fantasy VIII – 8/10: Flawed, with a weird Disc 4 shift and exploitable mechanics, but deeply human, emotional, and immersive. The world feels more real than most games today.

Persona 5 – 8.5/10: Style and execution are peak. Loses steam after the first boss but maintains a strong identity. Audience is niche, but it’s among the best in its lane.

Persona 4 – 8/10: Optimism layered over grim truth. Balanced duality makes it strong.

Persona 3 – 7/10: Very niche, but meaningful. The emo tone is earned.

Wrath of the Righteous – 9/10: Peak CRPG. Wears down your hype but sets a foundation for future RPGs. 3D polish would make it GOAT.

Baldur’s Gate 3 – 7/10: Held back by political fluff and shallow trauma writing. Characters feel weak. Larian sanitized what should’ve been dark and adult.

Dragon Age: Inquisition – 7.5/10: Rich and complex despite flaws. Cassandra alone carries more realism than most characters today.

Dragon Age: Veilguard – 4.5/10: Feels like a PS1 hack-and-slash with reused story ideas. Cheap, disappointing, and forgettable.

Only thing I'd say is I haven't fully played the game. Though I keep seeing these excitable zone in's from a weak hour play through that I simply disagree with.

[NoirVoid]

bro was cast out.

[Caduryn]

Told you OP was after something.

[Riley]

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