{"id":6271,"date":"2025-04-28T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/?p=6271"},"modified":"2025-05-01T18:22:06","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T18:22:06","slug":"games-inbox-is-clair-obscur-expedition-33-goty-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/28\/games-inbox-is-clair-obscur-expedition-33-goty-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Games Inbox: Is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 GOTY 2025?"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"363\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22983413 lazyload\" alt=\"Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 screenshot\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SEI_249149656-414b.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 &#8211; the best game of 2025 (Kepler Interactive)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Monday letters page discusses Nintendo <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/nintendo-switch-2\/\" data-track=\"inline-tag-auto-link_article\">Switch 2<\/a> controversies, as a reader imagines a The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind remake.<\/p>\n<p><strong>To join in with the discussions yourself email <a href=\"mailto:gamecentral@metro.co.uk\">gamecentral@metro.co.uk<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Game of the year<\/strong><br \/>Being playing Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 all weekend and, so far, <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/04\/23\/clair-obscur-expedition-33-review-a-classic-jrpg-made-france-22958398\/\">your review<\/a> looks dead on. It\u2019s a fascinating mix of familiar tropes and very unique ideas. I love how it\u2019s a Japanese role-player but with actual believable people as the main characters.<\/p>\n<p>I love <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2024\/02\/22\/final-fantasy-7-rebirth-review-remade-remodelled-reborn-20323101\/\">Final Fantasy 7<\/a> and the rest as much as the next person but they\u2019re all basically anime characters that don\u2019t talk or act like real people. Clair Obscur is different because they do seem like actual people in a fantasy setting. If this happened to ordinary people, this is how they would act. And yet the combat and game side of things is really good too. It really feels like the best of both worlds.<\/p>\n<p>I see that it\u2019s now the highest rated game on Metacritic this year, ahead of <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/04\/09\/blue-prince-review-summary-best-puzzle-game-year-22875048\/\">Blue Prince<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/03\/04\/split-fiction-review-best-co-op-game-generation-22665683\/\">Split Fiction<\/a>, although I doubt that\u2019s going to last for long. With Mario Kart World and GTA 6 due out I imagine they\u2019ll be the frontrunners this year, but in terms of outside choices Clair Obscur seems like the real deal.<br \/><strong>Focus<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Thirtysomething expedition<\/strong><br \/>Spent a decent chunk of this weekend playing Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (wish it had a catchier title) and it\u2019s been a beautiful well-crafted game so far,<\/p>\n<p>My only real complaint is no map in the dungeons, although very pretty they are easy to get lost in at times, although I thought I would hate the QTE elements but I\u2019m slowly improving<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019ll get a lot of praise for the music, battle system and story, but what I really appreciate is that the characters are all around 30 and act appropriately, quite refreshing vs. the default template of teenagers saving the world<br \/><strong>Michael, Crawley<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>GC:<\/strong> We were worried about the name too, but it seems to have sold very well so far.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Horse before cart<\/strong><br \/>All going well, I won\u2019t get my Switch 2 until release day. However, I have come across a huge sale on the Switch eShop and one of my favourite types of games, Golf Story, has been reduced from \u00a313.49 to just \u00a32.29. However, it wants me to log into my Switch to purchase it. Obviously, I haven\u2019t got my Switch 2 yet. On the 27th of April it goes back up to \u00a313.49, which is a sting knowing that is going for just over two quid now.<\/p>\n<p>Is there any way to get this game? It is a digital copy that I want, (physical copies are going for silly money anyway) I even have \u00a31.50 on my account so I just need to find 79p.<br \/><strong>Charlie H.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>GC: <\/strong>If you don\u2019t have a Switch 1, maybe you can set up a Nintendo account now and download the game when you get a console? We\u2019ve certainly never tried that but perhaps a reader has.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Email your comments to: <a href=\"mailto:gamecentral@metro.co.uk\">gamecentral@metro.co.uk<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Halcyon days<\/strong><br \/>The golden age of video gaming has gone, for me at least.<\/p>\n<p>I will always remember visiting one of many of my friend\u2019s houses, playing Green Beret on the Amstrad CPC 464.<\/p>\n<p>Looking in awe at another friend\u2019s Spectrum with a built-in cassette deck\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Seeing Speedball 2 for the first time on an Amiga\u2026 &#8216;ice cream!&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>I chose to start with a Master System along with a copy of Wonder Boy, which grabbed my attention along with ports from the arcades, such as Golden Axe and Shinobi.<\/p>\n<p>I was hooked in 1994 by Ridge Racer and Daytona USA in the arcades.<\/p>\n<p>Plenty of fun was to be had with the Saturn. PlayStation and Nintendo 64.<\/p>\n<p>WipEout 2097 literally made a statement and should be inducted in video game folklore.<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s fast forward a bit\u2026<\/p>\n<p>I still play WipEout Omega Collection on PS4 Pro in 2025 and a Switch 2 is on the way for my son.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m glad I experienced the early years of video games.<\/p>\n<p>Things are so different now, but I&#8217;m so glad I was a part of it.<br \/><strong>Carl<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Marvel&#039;s Midnight Suns | Official Launch Trailer | 2K\" width=\"840\" height=\"473\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/68j33y5N6Qg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p><strong>Make mine Marvel<\/strong><br \/>It was interesting to read Michael&#8217;s take on Marvel\u2019s Midnight Suns. The failure of that game is, in hindsight, to me, a travesty.<\/p>\n<p>Even worse, I&#8217;m one of the ones to blame.<\/p>\n<p>Now, I&#8217;m a huge Marvel fan, have been for decades. I&#8217;m also a huge turn-based strategy fan (have been since the days of Rebelstar Raiders) &#8211; with the XCOM series obviously being the daddy here!<\/p>\n<p>What I didn&#8217;t think I was a fan of was card deck building games. So I didn&#8217;t buy it. I only got it as a freebie on Epic Games Store.<\/p>\n<p>Then I started playing it. And\u2026 I love it! Unlike you GC, I like most of the Abbey stuff. I think without the stuff at the Abbey the characters don&#8217;t work (and they absolutely nailed the characters in my opinion! The voice-acting and characterisation is spot on, to the point that when I read some of the characters comics, that&#8217;s the voice I now hear.). Yes, some of it&#8217;s a bit overwrought, but it&#8217;s\u2026 a Marvel comic book game! That&#8217;s what Marvel comic books are like!<\/p>\n<p>The combat is great fun, and I actually like the fact that, unlike XCOM 2, you can never make the game unwinnable (I&#8217;ve never won XCOM 2 yet).<\/p>\n<p>Sure, it&#8217;s a bit buggy and occasionally shonky, but two things happened that really surprised me with this game, and show how much I think of it:<\/p>\n<p>1) I bought the DLC (and that is some great content too!)<br \/>2) I started a New Game+. I have never, ever, since New Game+ became a thing, done a New Game+ run on a game. I&#8217;m normally done after one playthrough and ready for the next thing. The New Game+ is even more fun than the first play through.<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, just wanted to share how much I&#8217;m enjoying Midnight Suns and encourage anyone who isn&#8217;t sure about it to give it a go.<\/p>\n<p>Oh\u2026 And anyone who loved the game, check out the original Midnight Sons comic book event if you can. It&#8217;s about Lilith returning and centres on Jonny Blaze and Danny Ketch\u2019s Ghost Rider. With some help from lots of supporting characters and was a real shot in the arm for the magic\/horror side of Marvel at the time. It was about &#8217;92\u2026 it&#8217;s on Marvel Unlimited if anyone&#8217;s interested.<\/p>\n<p>Have fun gaming Y&#8217;all!<br \/><strong>The Dude Abides<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Ordinary controversy<\/strong><br \/>In response to your question, \u2018Which controversy do you feel has been manufactured?\u2019, I\u2019m hoping that was a rhetorical question on your part.<\/p>\n<p>I feel like Nintendo delivered a solid reveal, the hardware\u2019s good without being overly expensive, and there was a better games line-up than I can remember any previous console having. But now, with all the core things the media and influencers would normally sensationalise mostly nailed by Nintendo, it feels like every tiny detail is getting spun into some kind of drama.<\/p>\n<p>Whether it\u2019s about the not giving prices for future games, the hate for Nintendo creating cheap game-key cards that publishers can choose to use in place of download codes, which is odd because that is a massive improvement for gamers. The lack of full backwards compatibility because of Labo, etc., or whatever &#8211; it\u2019s like people are looking for things to complain about because there\u2019s no meaningful flaw to latch onto.<\/p>\n<p>Many \u2018influencers\u2019 really seem to thrive on that \u2018everything is amazing!\u2019 flips overnight to \u2018Here\u2019s why I\u2019m worried\u2026\u2019 just to get the views. Manufactured outrage gets attention, even when the core product is solid.<\/p>\n<p>Ironically, nobody seems to care about the one thing I\u2019m nervous about, the changes to game sharing within a family group. Currently two of us can play the same game together off a single digital purchase and it looks like the option will be removed in the future, even if not immediately.<br \/><strong>Antony White<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>GC:<\/strong> It was not a rhetorical question. It took Nintendo three weeks to give UK prices for some games and upgrades and the game-key cards are not intrinsically cheaper than normal carts. We\u2019ve not seen anyone complain at the lack of 100% backwards compatibility, since it\u2019s clearly physically impossible &#8211; and that was announced before the Direct anyway.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Second place<\/strong><br \/>RE: <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/04\/26\/ghost-yotei-this-week-playstation-officially-gave-readers-feature-22975891\/\">Aston Marley\u2019s Readers\u2019 Feature<\/a>. The reason why Sony are being like this is simple, because they won last gen and are going to win this gen. They think that the new gen they are going to win, as well. The one thing that I miss is E3 and all three of them being there.<\/p>\n<p>First Xbox then Sony and then Nintendo, and they all tried to beat each other. Now with Xbox selling less consoles and Nintendo sort of like in their own world, why does Sony need to try? Xbox at the mo\u2019 is going all out cross-gen at least till the end of the current gen, so why would Sony try?<\/p>\n<p>And even if next gen Xbox did come back all it would take is poor sales and Xbox would have to go cross-gen again. Sony know this. If in 2027, when their new Xbox comes out, if sales are poor Sony know their games will come to the PlayStation, so why try?<br \/><strong>David<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>GC: <\/strong>When it comes to \u2018winning\u2019 a generation, the Switch has outsold both the PlayStation 4 and 5.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Elder advice<\/strong><br \/>I would have definitely wanted an Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind remake rather than an Oblivion one, but I definitely agree it\u2019s looking so good and without an insane amount of gameplay changes either!<\/p>\n<p>I did not even know this was in the works and with so many modifications done from fans, was really surprised anything needed done at all, but wow!<\/p>\n<p>Watching the dialogue wheel seems hilarious now but I did think they\u2019d do something a little different. The voices are, I presume, mostly from the original game and not redone obviously and that I suppose includes the majority of NPC\u2019s also! Though riding horses seems a lot less clunky with the majority of weapon play and general movement also.<\/p>\n<p>It will be definitely nice to experience some of my favourite side quests again, especially the ones with funny glitches or ones were the game gets confused and makes it a sitcom or something. Like leading the new soon-to-be-emperor down a steep slope on horseback and hearing a bunch of bedraggled and painful cries behind me as the next emperor emerges without a horse and looking rather worse for wear!<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll especially never forget the time where I caused a marriage to become violent between two characters and the guards were called to settle the situation, just because I accidentally caused discord between the two on a side quest which needed to have them work together!<\/p>\n<p>After spending so many hours in the original game, I don\u2019t think I could do any more due to my current list of games that I am enjoying very much. I know Bethesda did not do the remake but oversaw it instead, which keeps the majority of the team on Elder Scrolls 6, thankfully.<\/p>\n<p>It still would be nice to get another studio to do a Morrowind remake or maybe that game is just too old now! Either way, I am pleased with the overall reception of Oblivion and it\u2019s good that the decent amount of hard work with the wonderful graphics has been successful in making this game one of my all-time greats.<\/p>\n<p>Not forgetting the music also, which is possibly the only contender for Skyrim\u2019s amazing score. So congrats to Virtuos and Bethesda developers for making this happen.<br \/><strong>Alucard<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>GC: <\/strong>The original voices are included but there\u2019s also a lot of new recordings too.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Inbox also-rans<\/strong><br \/>I couldn\u2019t guess when Resident Evil 9 will be announced but it feels time; it feels like it\u2019s close. I hope they realise the goofier elements of Village and the remake 4 were popular and lean into that. I hated it when they tried to take it 100% serious.<br \/><strong>Bowie<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I still don\u2019t understand why a Fallout: New Vegas remaster isn\u2019t the number one priority at Bethesda. They must really resent the fact that everyone likes that one and not the two they made themselves.<br \/><strong>Lobo<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Email your comments to: <a href=\"mailto:gamecentral@metro.co.uk\">gamecentral@metro.co.uk<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>The small print<\/strong><br \/>New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers\u2019 letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader\u2019s Feature at any time via email or our <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/submit-stuff\/\">Submit Stuff page<\/a>, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>You can also leave your comments below and don\u2019t forget to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/gamecentral\">follow us on Twitter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><title>Arrow<\/title><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/04\/25\/games-inbox-will-uk-nintendo-switch-2-pre-orders-22969925\/?ico=more_text_links\" class=\"\">Games Inbox: When will there be more UK Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders?<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><title>Arrow<\/title><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/04\/24\/games-inbox-elder-scrolls-4-oblivion-remastered-overrated-22962560\/?ico=more_text_links\" class=\"\">Games Inbox: Is The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered overrated?<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><title>Arrow<\/title><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/04\/22\/games-inbox-elder-scrolls-4-oblivion-better-skyrim-22948347\/?ico=more_text_links\" class=\"\">Games Inbox: Is Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion better than Skyrim?<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 &#8211; the best game of 2025 (Kepler Interactive) The Monday letters page discusses Nintendo Switch 2 controversies, as a reader imagines a The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind remake. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk Game of the yearBeing playing Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 all weekend and, so far, your review looks dead on. It\u2019s a fascinating mix of familiar tropes and very unique ideas. I love how it\u2019s a Japanese role-player but with &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/28\/games-inbox-is-clair-obscur-expedition-33-goty-2025\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Games Inbox: Is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 GOTY 2025?&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6271"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6271"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6274,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6271\/revisions\/6274"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}