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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 surpasses 500k sold [UPDATE: 2M]

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Turkey said:
I think FF16 being action was fine tbh. It's just that it feels like a game in limbo where it desperately wants to be action with a push from execs to maintain an "rpg" component which results in super half baked progression systems, pointless bloat and whatnot. FF16 is one of the games where I felt "why was this even added?" was a thought that really came up often in my playthrough.

If the game had been half the length, cut all the useless fat and refined the rest, it could've been incredible.
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I'm in a similar camp. It's my favorite Final Fantasy game (though I've barely played any) but it's not even close to e.g. Xenoblade 3 on my list.

The upgrade system could (and maybe should) have been completely removed.
Gear/Weapon stats could be tied to levels or story progression. The different weapon skins could still be optional cosmetics in the game (this system already exists).
The game is already marketed as a fast paced action game. It doesn't need to also be an RPG with barely any RPG elements.

btw I have a similar problem with the God of War series (though the RPG elements are more substantial).
I want to play the games for the story and characters and I enjoy the simple action gameplay.
I don't like spending time in menus deciding which pommel for my axe is the best option..
My "solution" was lowering the difficulty. This way I could enjoy the story and ignore multiple upgrade systems.
I should be able to start E33 this week since I'm getting close to finishing Xenoblade X.
 
Honestly, the more i play, the more i see a few cracks on the game especially in the combat system. And it boils down on trying to be a Souls like game fully. Most of the defensive stats are rather worthless, especially in the hardest mode but in normal it's an issue too. It feels like the whole dodge/parry mechanic is not exactly a "bonus" feature of the turn based combat but actually THE COMBAT. Your reward for doing that is actually play the game.

I mean, not that it detracts but i feel you might as well go full might/agility/luck and be the same, and that means you only want to use the weapons that has good agility/luck scaling. Kinda breaks the idea of builds or even stats.

You get too little HP and defense doesn't seem like it makes any difference, you are still dying in 2 hits if you don't dodge/parry.

Either way the game is fantastic.
 
Godzilla said:
Honestly, the more i play, the more i see a few cracks on the game especially in the combat system. And it boils down on trying to be a Souls like game fully. Most of the defensive stats are rather worthless, especially in the hardest mode but in normal it's an issue too. It feels like the whole dodge/parry mechanic is not exactly a "bonus" feature of the turn based combat but actually THE COMBAT. Your reward for doing that is actually play the game.

I mean, not that it detracts but i feel you might as well go full might/agility/luck and be the same, and that means you only want to use the weapons that has good agility/luck scaling. Kinda breaks the idea of builds or even stats.

You get too little HP and defense doesn't seem like it makes any difference, you are still dying in 2 hits if you don't dodge/parry.

Either way the game is fantastic.
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Later on once you get some good pictos with high defense/hp having one equipped is a make or break on whether you get to live a bunch of hits or get absolutely oneshot. I tend to use atleast one even on my main damage dealer just so I am able to stay alive without having to dodge or parry everything. So those stats definitely do make quite a difference, fwiw.

The damage output is still really damn high anyways and it relieves a lot of the stress off knowing every hit failed parry/dodge can end in a wipe. Obviously if you go into boss and mini boss fights expecting to no damage it, the stats are worthless, but knowing I can take 3 hits instead of 0 really eases off the pressure especially with heals and whatnot and can turn a tricky multiple attempts boss fight into a fairly comfortable first try success.
 
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Belthazar said:
I honestly stopped believing it exists until it materializes on the internal storage of my console or choice. It saves a lot of disappointment when they don't show it.
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I’ve been holding off on a replay of FF9 waiting for that remake to be announced… any day now… 🫠
 
I truly believe SE should test the waters with another proper turn based title, FFIXR would be great or even if they remade FFI but the combat system in FFVIIR is really good.. actually great. If you really dig into it, a proper blend of real time & ATB. They just need to stay consistent with whatever combat system they use.
 
Danny said:
I understand why fans of turn based RPGs wants to make the discussion about FF not being turnbased when it comes to sales. But i don't think a turn based FF would do much different when it comes to sales. Its evident that FF becoming an action game like FF16 hasn't led to increased sales like SE hoped, but a turn based FF wouldn't make FF sell 10 million copies either.

FF is selling mediocre numbers because they only have an aging fanbase of millenials interested in the franchise, that would be the reality for the franchise even if it went back to being turn based, which would mostly be something the same aging fanbase of millenials would praise it for doing.

Clair Obscur is doing great, but Square Enix does not want FF to be a Metaphor or Clair Obscur level hit, they want those 10 million copies sold games which seems impossible to achieve right now.
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A fair bit of the function of FF compared to Metaphor and E33 is the volume of marketing dollars available to spend. Again, when looking at E33, it’s night and day in that regard, it’s selling more on its WoM than any marketing push it had.
Lelouch0612 said:
Next FF is probably going to be turnbased either way.

FFIX Remake
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I will not believe that until I see it.
 
Legs still seem good. I think 2M within a month is going to happen. 3M+ in a year.
If we look at JRPGs, Clair will outsell every JRPG in current times bar FF/KH/DQ and Persona (might be close).

FF16 is likely 4-5M in 1 year.
Tales of Arise took 2.5 years to reach 3M.
Persona 5 on just PS took 2 years to hit 3.2M.
 
Charamiwa said:
Poor Three Houses always gets forgotten when talking about fastest selling JRPGs.
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(You seriously teed me up for this, I have no regrets)
It’s a bit too premature to invoke the comparison, though, isn’t it?
 
Charamiwa said:
Poor Three Houses always gets forgotten when talking about fastest selling JRPGs.
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Probably because other JPRG players can come from different backgrounds (PC, Xbox, PS), while with Three Houses it is Switch alone so unless you play on Switch (or even if you have Switch but did not play the game) you might have never touched it.
 
enpleinjour said:
Legs still seem good. I think 2M within a month is going to happen. 3M+ in a year.
If we look at JRPGs, Clair will outsell every JRPG in current times bar FF/KH/DQ and Persona (might be close).

FF16 is likely 4-5M in 1 year.
Tales of Arise took 2.5 years to reach 3M.
Persona 5 on just PS took 2 years to hit 3.2M.
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If this title goes on sale during the Summer/Holiday events, it may do better than that because the price point is already enticing and the WoM will have a lot of people who don't purchase outright adding it to their wishlists. A lot of runway with this title right now.
 
Maabus1999 said:
If this title goes on sale during the Summer/Holiday events, it may do better than that because the price point is already enticing and the WoM will have a lot of people who don't purchase outright adding it to their wishlists. A lot of runway with this title right now.
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This holiday season the discourse for E33 will also see a big surge due to the number of nomination/awards it will get for either Best RPG or straight up GOTY.
 
Luke88 said:
This holiday season the discourse for E33 will also see a big surge due to the number of nomination/awards it will get for either Best RPG or straight up GOTY.
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I can 100% see this getting a GOTY nom, it is truly a spectacular game. I think legs will be interesting to watch. I can see 5-7M LTD.
 
Officially sold out at every major retailer in the U.S.

- GameStop
- Best Buy
- Target
- Walmart
- Amazon

Some still have the XSX SKU in stock.
 
Hello, first time posting on IB!

Very happy to see E33 doing well. How much do we think the price being $49.99 (discounted to $44.99) had something to do with the sales success so far? It's a "short" game (roughly 30 hours of story content) but at a lower price than most AAA releases at the moment. Not much lower, but lower nonetheless. I have no idea how price elastic or inelastic games like this are.
 
LoonTwink said:
Hello, first time posting on IB!

Very happy to see E33 doing well. How much do we think the price being $49.99 (discounted to $44.99) had something to do with the sales success so far? It's a "short" game (roughly 30 hours of story content) but at a lower price than most AAA releases at the moment. Not much lower, but lower nonetheless. I have no idea how price elastic or inelastic games like this are.
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Welcome to IB! Priced at a lower MSRP helps but I think the overall quality is the shining factor, its a incredible game with great WOM. The pricing is the cherry on top.
 
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Estimates, so take with a grain of salt as always.
Clair's legs are extraordinary, never seen something like this for a "JRPG". Its nearly doubled PSN and Steam reviews since the 1M annoucement.

I think we will see a 2M announcement very soon. Like 1-2 weeks.
 
enpleinjour said:
gpy6ppwwmaml3xd-jpeg.875


Estimates, so take with a grain of salt as always.
Clair's legs are extraordinary, never seen something like this for a "JRPG". Its nearly doubled PSN and Steam reviews since the 1M annoucement.

I think we will see a 2M announcement very soon. Like 1-2 weeks.
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They are probably going to announce the 1.5M milestone before that
 
enpleinjour said:
gpy6ppwwmaml3xd-jpeg.875


Estimates, so take with a grain of salt as always.
Clair's legs are extraordinary, never seen something like this for a "JRPG". Its nearly doubled PSN and Steam reviews since the 1M annoucement.

I think we will see a 2M announcement very soon. Like 1-2 weeks.
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I mean for a brand new IP to be mentioned in the same breath as something as ubiquitous as an Elder Scrolls game is pretty wild.
 
Feels weird to draw comparisons between one of the best selling RPG series of all time and a new IP lol

Selling faster than Metaphor is interesting, though (at least on Steam)
 
opaidiota said:
Yes, Mario RPG is amazing.
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It’s kind of interesting that Mario RPGs have been doing reactive turn based combat for some time, but other RPGs didn’t really do much with it. Chrono Trigger had some reactive elements, but not a ton. The most recent I can think of is Sea of Stars.

So I’m glad to see E33 is taking it to the next level with their combat system.
 
MegaBulborb said:
It’s kind of interesting that Mario RPGs have been doing reactive turn based combat for some time, but other RPGs didn’t really do much with it. Chrono Trigger had some reactive elements, but not a ton. The most recent I can think of is Sea of Stars.

So I’m glad to see E33 is taking it to the next level with their combat system.
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I was initially interested because it was the closest thing I was ever gonna get to a new Mario and Luigi game before Brothership was announced. XD
 
MegaBulborb said:
It’s kind of interesting that Mario RPGs have been doing reactive turn based combat for some time, but other RPGs didn’t really do much with it. Chrono Trigger had some reactive elements, but not a ton. The most recent I can think of is Sea of Stars.

So I’m glad to see E33 is taking it to the next level with their combat system.
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That was why I bought Sea of Stars myself as well as Cris Tales. (A game I rarely ever see brought up anywhere).
 
MegaBulborb said:
It’s kind of interesting that Mario RPGs have been doing reactive turn based combat for some time, but other RPGs didn’t really do much with it. Chrono Trigger had some reactive elements, but not a ton. The most recent I can think of is Sea of Stars.

So I’m glad to see E33 is taking it to the next level with their combat system.
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One thing I always appreciated about the Mario RPGs (moreso the ones after SMRPG) is how much you interact with the map, in addition to the timed hits. Not just the jumping and exploring, but getting items, abilities, partners etc. that let you open up the map and explore things. The only other turn-based JRPG that scratches a similar itch, that I can think of, is Pokemon with HM moves.

Haven't played Clair Obscur yet (I'd like to!), but I hope it means devs keep experimenting with turn-based RPGs like that.
 
theprodigy said:
> talking about PS sales
>"launch-aligned copies sold on Steam"

what did they mean by this
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The wording is wrong in that pic, it should've been Playstation instead of Steam.

This is PC version, no doubt it's going to smoke Rebirth and XVI at this rate for overall sales numbers.
Expedition_image_1.webp
 
Game is about to have a second Steam CCU peak this weekend or very close to it. I'm also seeing a second wave of streamers (a lot of them with a sizable audience) picking up the game, probably from the great WoM. This all seems to indicate some really good legs for the genre.
 
Bodokoh said:
The wording is wrong in that pic, it should've been Playstation instead of Steam.

This is PC version, no doubt it's going to smoke Rebirth and XVI at this rate for overall sales numbers.
Expedition_image_1.webp
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Metaphor: ReFantazio had twice the peak CCU of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on Steam during its first week — but both sold the same? I don't buy it. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is too high on this chart.
 
SkyerIst said:
Metaphor: ReFantazio had twice the peak CCU of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on Steam during its first week — but both sold the same? I don't buy it. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is too high on this chart.
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Not sure one way or another, but Rebirth is a late port. Maybe a lot of people bought the game just to have it on Steam but weren't as invested in playing it immediately (there was also the double pack with Remake, right? So more reasons to buy it and not necessarily play it right away)
 
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