site banner
PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   1261 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for May 2, 2025

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

1
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 https://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/1903340/

A French JRPG with French themes made by French Frenchmen from France. I find the premise strangely appealing, ridiculous as it seems when spelled out. I saw the prologue (in French, obivously) and thought "damn, I want to know how it continues". Notably though, the setting and plot are pretty much all I'm interested in. I can't stand JRPGs for the gameplay. Not sure if I want to get into those weeds. Weebs. Weebweeds. That said, this would be just the thing for reactivating my French in anticipation of a visitor I'll host later this Month. But at 30-45€ (depending on where I might get it from), the price is pretty steep. Believe it or not, but I pretty much learned fluent French by playing fully voice-acted text-heavy games in French, many years ago.

The premise, by the way, is that the world has ended 67 years ago, all that's left is a slice of Paris stuck in an ocean, and since then the maximum age for humans has been lowered by one year every year, it's now the year 33, everyone's and the end of their rope one way or another, expeditions have been sent out yearly to try and remedy the situation but so far none have achieved anything. Hence Expedition 33, staffed primarily with 33-year-olds who donate the last year of their lives to giving humanity (or Parisians, anyways) a fighting chance at survival.

It's moving stuff. The game starts of with the festival of erasure, where everyone says goodbye to the 34-year-olds, last gifts are exhanged, some drink, some fuck, some hide, and then all gather to observe as the maximum age gets lowered and their friends, mothers, ex-girlfriends, fathers, brothers, and possibly themselves die on the spot. Newly-made orphans are escorted to orphanages, life continues, at least for the time being.

Above all, it's French. And since I can't stand French filmmaking, French gaming is pretty much the only media I sometimes enjoy in which I can hear French people talk. I'm still debating whether or not that's worth playing a JRPG for, though.

I'm enjoying it quite a lot. The writing has been really good, the graphics are well done (and the art style is beautiful), the music is good... the game really just fires on all cylinders. The only complaint I've had thus far is that the enemies can sometimes be overly damaging if you don't pull off the dodge/parry, but for the most part that has been reasonable. You spend more time healing up if you miss dodges and the like, but it's doable. Thanks @Silverdawn for the strong recommendation to play despite my misgivings!

The only complaint I've had thus far is that the enemies can sometimes be overly damaging if you don't pull off the dodge/parry, but for the most part that has been reasonable.

Dodging has a more generous window than parrying, for what it's worth. It's helpful when studying enemy attack patterns.

It's true. But I would say the primary difficulty (for me) isn't hitting the parry correctly, it's when the attack makes you think it's about to fall but then hangs in the air for another 2s and hits you when you're recovering from the animation. I find dodges equally susceptible to that problem.

Also to be honest my gripe is that the very damaging attacks exist in the first place. I don't like Dark Souls and don't want it in my JRPG. The places where it creeps in have been few thus far, but every time it's been a bummer for that reason.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats