Our Problems Will Still Be There In The Morning.

[rionaleonhart]

I've finished Clair Obscur: Expedition 33!



I beat the Paintress.

Riona: The thing is that I know this is act two of a three-act story.
Ginger: The final act is just an orgy rhythm action game.

Alas, that was absolutely not what happened next. I wish I hadn't been aware that there was another act to go; I feel I'd have reacted much more strongly to everyone Gommaging if I'd fallen for the 'the journey's over, this is the end of the story' vibes!

I'm fascinated by the painting reveal! There are echoes of Greek mythology to it: the painter family are essentially a pantheon of gods, and the people within the painting both exist and suffer because of their petty family drama.

'Lune impulsively kisses Verso on the cheek. Caught off-guard, Verso smiles at her, a question in his eyes. Laughing, they return to the others.' I exclaimed 'cute!' aloud.

Lune just implied she might be interested in a relationship with Verso if he didn't have his casual thing with Sciel, and NO, GUYS, YOU SHOULD BE IN A POLYAMOROUS TRIAD, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. Very disappointed in the game for not recognising the potential here.

I'm a little dubious about the ending choice. I feel the game wants you to side with Verso; it seems like the thematically fitting choice. Let go of your grief, let things end, move on.

However! This canvas is an entire world! Populated by living, thinking beings! I'm not going to destroy the world and kill all the characters I've been spending time with just so one family can move on from their grief; are you kidding me?

The emotional stability of the gods does not trump the lives of their creations. If you have children in the misguided hope that it will solve your emotional issues, and it turns out that it just makes things worse, you cannot respond by killing those children; they have their own existence now, and you have a responsibility to them.

I've spent the whole game fighting for those who come after. I'm not going to rob this world of having any future at all.

Basically, I think the ending choice fails because - at least for me - there's a very clear correct answer, and it's not the answer that fits the game's themes. As Ginger suggested, it would make more sense for the choice to be 'Maelle remains in the canvas' versus 'Maelle permanently leaves the canvas; she can never return to that world, but the people within the canvas live on', rather than 'Maelle remains in the canvas' versus the unacceptable 'the entire world within the canvas is destroyed'.

Although the ending choice didn't quite work for me, I have to retract one of my previous criticisms of the game: the fact that Verso joins the party immediately after Gustave's death! I saw an interesting post by voelene on Tumblr pointing out that Verso is supposed to feel like a jarring replacement for Gustave. You can't give the player time to grieve Gustave before replacing him; the entire point is that Verso's existence prevents you from grieving properly. Verso will always be a replacement, a substitute, a second-best imitation of the dead; that's what he was created to be in the first place.



Overall verdict: what a game! The concept is interesting, the scenery is gorgeous, the battle system is fun and the soundtrack is absolutely extraordinary. I don't think it's a perfect game, but I think it comes very close.