Why was this game advertised the way it was?

[Blade]

I feel they falsely advertised the game. Rather than be honest with players and label it a turn-based souls-like instead of some fully accessible genre-defying experience, they manipulated everyone into thinking this game would be for them, just to find out after two hours what it really is and not be able to return it on Steam or PS5 when they can't get passed the beginning of Act 1 because they're just not having fun. Dark Souls always had big bold letters of "prepare to die" so players knew exactly what they were getting into. Instead, these devs I think were afraid a label like that might scare people away and they'd rather them stop playing after they've paid and can't get a refund rather than not at all.

Don't get me wrong, I personally love the game and I play on gamepass, but I've been seeing almost nothing but posts about parry being too hard and it also being the only source of any challenge in this game, which is true. From a turn-based standpoint it's probably one of the easiest turn-based games that exists, but add in cheap gimmicks like attacks that wipe your entire party, the parry timing that 90% of traditional turn-based players just aren't conditioned for, and it turns into the most difficult just on those gimmick alone. In the later half of the game if you can't parry, you can't win. It's mandatory once you reach a certain point unless you're willing to put every skill point into vitality and defense for all your characters, but then you won't deal enough damage without parries to survive.

Was this an intentionally deceptive tactic by the developers or is it possible it was the same situation as Metroid Dread where they didn't realize how difficult the game would be for players since they played it everyday during development and got insanely good at it?

[Elektrospieler]

There are lots of people complaining about the parry doge system. And I quite frankly agree.

It’s an annoying mechanic that spoils the fun for a lot of players. I also agree it should be labeled a souls like. It certainly is no proper turn based game where you win by strategising instead of reacting to a janky visual cue.

I for my part refunded the game because of that.

[benj]

Originally posted by Blade:

they manipulated everyone into thinking this game would be for them

Manipulation? Hardly. That's what advertising is supposed to do. It's on the player to do their due diligence before buying, always.

[Chiramu]

My biggest problem with the game is that it says Normal difficulty is for "fans of turn-based games". Fans of turn-based like games like what Larian Studios puts out where if you're at a disadvantage, you can use items and whatever you can think of to try and win a fight(I also love Divinity Original Sin 2 and Baldur's Gate 3 on Tactician difficulty). SaGa Scarlet Grace is one of my favourite turn-based games, and it is staggeringly difficult but it gives me a huge dopamine hit when I manage to beat the hardest difficulty(SaGa games are not super popular because of the different mechanics and horizontal progression).

I like difficult turn-based games, that is why this game's combat pisses me off so much! It is NOT suited to fans of turn-based as it was advertised. It's suited to Elden Ring fans!

[C1REX]

Originally posted by Chiramu:

It is NOT suited to fans of turn-based as it was advertised. It's suited to Elden Ring fans!

I like turn based games. Final Fantasy Tactics is my favourite game of all time. And I still like this game a lot. I simply don’t mind action elements when others may really hate them.
E33 it’s still 90% turn base game for me with a sprinkle of action.

[Finrod]

I dont play souls like games and in exp33 I play in normal, now in act 2.
Also, dark souls games do not have an easy difficulty. Dodging on easy (I tried to get an achievement, to beat a boss w/o receiving damage) seems accessible really.
True, it is a bit frustrating, and for sideboss I'll come back later.

[WolfEisberg]

Just read an article about a player playing the entire storyline on Story mode without using dodge/parry at all and without using broken builds.

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/clair-obscur-player-tanks-their-way-through-the-entire-game-without-dodging-or-parrying-to-prove-a-point-you-can-finish-it-without-gamer-reflexes/

[PHARA]

"They manipulated everyone"

LMAO

[Widgit]

Originally posted by Blade:

Was this an intentionally deceptive tactic by the developers or is it possible it was the same situation as Metroid Dread where they didn't realize how difficult the game would be for players since they played it everyday during development and got insanely good at it?

To answer your question honestly, and assuming you weren't trolling: No, I don't think it was intentionally deceptive. It is possible the development team got very good at their own game and didn't realize how difficult it was, so I will say a very slim 'maybe' to that.

To be frank though, there is no challenge in this game that is insurmountable with just a little practice and patience. I'm 44, my reflexes aren't what they used to be, and I made it through the base game and NG+ on Expeditioner difficulty just fine. In fact, I ended up going for all achievements. I think the game is very challenging, but I also think it's easier to whine and complain on forums and reddit about a game that challenges you, rather than beating the challenge.

[goodbye_bonito]

To answer your question honestly, and assuming you weren't trolling:

I guess that's where you are already wrong, of course they do

[Widgit]

Originally posted by goodbye_bonito:

To answer your question honestly, and assuming you weren't trolling:

I guess that's where you are already wrong, of course they do

Was worth a shot.

[GodMan]

It's because people had gotten lazy over the years and got used to being held by the hand just so they can finish the story.

Is it turn based? Yes
Is it souls like? No? So now every game that has dodging of parrying mechanics is considered souls like? If anything, its more jrpg than jrpgs are nowadays.

Nobody forced anyone to buy the game at the release without proper research beforehand AND if you can't cope with the difficulty you should refund and watch the gameplay on youtube or something if you're interested.

Funnily enough when I first played this on gamepass I too was complayining about the parrying mechanics. So I lowered the difficulty while I was still learning the game. Now I'm doing it no problem on normal and hard. It's not the game thats too hard. It's that people don't want to learn and prefer to start compaining intead of improving themselves.

The game is actually fun if you manage to get a grasp on parrying. It makes the game trivial and you actually feel like you've accomplished something.

[Arestris]

I think they didn't label it like this, cos it isn't ... it's far from "souls like" ... why is every game that has a bit of difficulty called "souls-like" nowadays? And actually, on story difficulty (far more generous parry / dodge window + less damage), this isn't even true, on story difficulty it's a piece of cake, a walk through the park. And if even this is too hard for you, just get the easier parry / dodge mod ( https://www.nexusmods.com/clairobscurexpedition33/mods/28?tab=description ).

[Vosker]

Originally posted by Blade:

I feel they falsely advertised the game. Rather than be honest with players and label it a turn-based souls-like instead of some fully accessible genre-defying experience, they manipulated everyone into thinking this game would be for them, just to find out after two hours what it really is and not be able to return it on Steam or PS5 when they can't get passed the beginning of Act 1 because they're just not having fun. Dark Souls always had big bold letters of "prepare to die" so players knew exactly what they were getting into. Instead, these devs I think were afraid a label like that might scare people away and they'd rather them stop playing after they've paid and can't get a refund rather than not at all.

Don't get me wrong, I personally love the game and I play on gamepass, but I've been seeing almost nothing but posts about parry being too hard and it also being the only source of any challenge in this game, which is true. From a turn-based standpoint it's probably one of the easiest turn-based games that exists, but add in cheap gimmicks like attacks that wipe your entire party, the parry timing that 90% of traditional turn-based players just aren't conditioned for, and it turns into the most difficult just on those gimmick alone. In the later half of the game if you can't parry, you can't win. It's mandatory once you reach a certain point unless you're willing to put every skill point into vitality and defense for all your characters, but then you won't deal enough damage without parries to survive.

Was this an intentionally deceptive tactic by the developers or is it possible it was the same situation as Metroid Dread where they didn't realize how difficult the game would be for players since they played it everyday during development and got insanely good at it?

It is much more about build than parry/dodge mechanics until act 3 imho. I suck at parry/dodge being able to do it on average once per 3 hits from enemies.

Still I played on expert and got almost every boss first try in act 2. Only Siren and optional spinning boss in mask area got me once each.

Try to optimize/change your build and try different tactics

[Kofina]

Some of y'all must be bad at baseball or dodgeball with how you are with parrying.

[Josso Wares]

They should've put a warning saying that the game wasn't made for gaming journalists, or for the playable movies enjoyers