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laereviewsrandomly · 16 days ago

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Lae Reviews: How To Train Your Dragon (2025)

NON-SPOILER REVIEW:

It's good. Honestly, there's not much else you can say about it. It's almost a one-to-one recreation of the original animated movie so if you liked that, you'll probably like this. It's visually stunning and the reworked music is great. The set and costume designs are amazing and were clearly crafted with care. However, the movie fails to do anything new with the story, which creates a bland feeling for the movie overall. It feels almost hollow.

NUMERICAL RATINGS: Characters: 6/10 Story: 8/10 Music: 9/10 Enjoyment: 8/10 Adaptation Quality: 5/10 Rewatchable?: Sure! Overall: 7.2/10

SPOILER REVIEW AHEAD Yarrgh! There be spoilers ahead...

It's hard to fully describe how I feel about this movie. I went to see it on a whim; I had nothing better to do with my day, and I realised it had released, so I bought a ticket and found myself in a cinema seat. I didn't know what I was expecting; I hadn't watched any trailers, and I was mostly there to see if they did Hiccup justice.

Me awaiting the possible destruction of my goat

When I say the movie was frame for frame the original animated movie, I truly mean it. They barely tried to change anything up, which is both a gift and a curse. On the one hand, it meant that the story was just as enjoyable, and I had fun watching it. On the other hand, it felt like a disrespect to the animated medium. If you're going to do a new adaptation of something only to copy and paste what has been done before, what's the point in adapting it? It lacked its own soul in that sense. You watch Hiccup touch Toothless for the first time in this movie and you feel nothing. Sure, I was Leo pointing in my head at the parts I loved from the original movie, but I knew that my excitement only stemmed from being able to see How To Train Your Dragon in a cinema again.

It technically did everything right, except when it came to being an adaptation. It felt like when games get a remaster, there's nothing new to the game, and they still want you to pay full price just for a graphics upgrade. If I had to choose between the original and the remake, I would choose the original.

That being said, I think the actors did a wonderful job. Mason James is a really good Hiccup. He embodies the character well, and I feel like he put a lot of care into his performance. For me, he made the trip to the cinema worthwhile. I liked how much emotion he put into his role and I appreciated that Hiccup cried several times in this adaptation. I genuinely smiled during his test drive scene and for a moment, I forgot that I was watching a remake.

I have nothing bad to say about Stoick either. Using Gerard Butler again was the only good choice and I'm glad they did it. It was awesome seeing that gruff Viking chief on my screen again. Gobber was a surprising one for me, though. I had no idea that Nick Frost was cast as Gobber, so it was a shock when he came in during the opening sequence. However, I think he is an inspired choice for it. He had some good comedic timing and he actually felt different to the animated Gobber which I liked. I cannot say the same for Hiccup's group, though. All the young Vikings felt weird, off in some way. Astrid felt stiff throughout the movie and I found myself unsure of whether they had changed her character or not. It might be me misremembering the first movie, though (I can't say I have rewatched it this year (I'm too busy rewatching the second one all the time)). Fishlegs was okay, I think he was the best out of the lot, but there was something about him that just felt like a parody of the original character. Ruffnut and Tuffnut felt watered down too; they weren't quite as silly as the animated movie, which saddened me. Though, Tuffnut's dick joke was funny. I definitely did not expect it. Snotlout was just kind of sad to watch; I think the extra scenes with his dad made him feel more like he needed a hug in this movie. Which was a weird feeling for me to have about Snotlout.

The music was fantastic. I mean, what do you expect from these movies? Test Drive will always make me want to ascend to the heavens, and Romantic Flight will always make me come down again. I liked how they remixed the music slightly so it sounded fresher; it was nice to hear a new version of different songs.

The set design was insanely good. Every scene in Berk looked like it had been fully built for the movie and it just made me smile from ear to ear. Every costume was beautifully done. Even though some costumes, for example, Astrid, were not the same as the animated movie, I could not find a reason to complain about them. Everyone and everything was absolutely stunning to look at. The CGI was no different. In an age of ugly CGI jobs, this movie comes in and knocks the ball out of the park. The best example of this is Toothless. He looked fantastic. No notes. Perfect blending with the real world. All the dragons looked incredible, but Toothless really took the cake (greedy dragon).

Overall, if you're looking for a new take on the How To Train Your Dragon novels - this isn't for you. If you're looking for a new way to watch the animated movies, give this a go! I wouldn't say run to the cinemas, maybe wait until digital, but it's a good time. I mean, how could it not be? It's basically the same movie! It's just as visually stunning as the original movie, and the majority of what makes the series good is present.

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laereviewsrandomly · 23 days ago

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Lae Reviews: The Doctor Who Season Finale: The Reality War

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW

I've sat through a lot in Doctor Who: the good, the bad and the ugly. I watched the Timeless Child stuff and thought they could go no lower; I was wrong. This episode was a mess. Belinda? Disrespected and forgotten. The Doctor? Doing things you don't think the Doctor would do. Ruby? Being a bit too forgiving for my liking. The episode is a follow-up to "Wish World", another episode I wasn't very happy with. They took an interesting concept and decided to take the worst possible route with it. I can safely say this finale did not feel like the original plan for the series, and it fails to save itself in any regard. Never in my life have I been actively angry at the way a Doctor Who episode has ended until this Saturday. It had me taking a walk to Tesco (big up Tesco) in pure shock as I could not believe what RTD had done to the series he helped create. NUMERICAL RATINGS: Characters: 3/10 Story: 2/10 Music: 7/10 Enjoyment: 1.5/10 Rewatchable?: Not for me. Overall: 3.375/10

SPOILER REVIEW AHEAD To the victor, go the spoilers...

This episode was so disrespectful to the characters that it's not even funny. Belinda, the woman who wanted her independence and made it clear she didn't want to be tied down by anything, suddenly loves being a mother and a wife. And then she's written out of most of the story, despite being the Doctor's main companion at the time, to be in a box? Seriously? The independent woman relegated to babysitting duty feels very weird to me. It was also weird that she went from not wanting marriage or children to suddenly loving having a kid. Not to mention that she got married to a random man we never see off-screen. The storyline provided to her is so unreasonably disrespectful to the character we met in "The Robot Revolution". I miss her every day. I really don't know what she did to RTD to deserve this massive mishandling, but it really does hurt.

The Doctor felt weird in this episode. I think it started when he used a laser gun against an ugly CGI monster, but you know, I might be mistaken. I was honestly flabbergasted when he just killed Omega. Like straight up, what? The man who hates to kill, kills without a second thought. Okay. Weird. What makes it worse is that he defeats the bad guy in the middle of the episode. Like, perfectly in the middle - I went back and checked. So now we just have half an episode of nothingness to sit through: no monster, just dumb yap.

What also bothered me about the Doctor was his regeneration. He was perfectly fine, no injuries or anything. He just decides to kill himself over a child that only existed for like two days. One could argue the love of a parent, but the child isn't even his when he returns her to the timeline. It all felt so pointless. The only saving grace of that scene was getting to see Jodie as the Doctor again. I love Thirteen, so it was the only point they got a proper smile out of me. It felt like RTD being like "we know you're going to hate this, let me jangle some keys in front of you so you don't pay too much attention."

Unfortunately for RTD, I am not a cat. I noticed, and I hated it. Fifteen also regenerates outside of the TARDIS, which honestly feels more dangerous for people than doing it on the inside, especially with the amount of energy he was releasing (good golly). The regeneration CGI also looked really ugly compared to the ones that came before, which is crazy, seeing as the "Whoinverse" is partially owned by Disney now. And regenerating into Billie Piper? Are you joking? Seriously. What kind of nostalgia trip is RTD on. What a disrespect to Ncuti man, having his era sandwiched by RTD's endless need to pat himself on the back. Such lazy writing. However, it did not call Billie Piper the Doctor in the credits sequence so I am willing to retract this statement if something of worth comes of it.

Ruby was one of the few aspects that didn't truly bother me about this episode until the end. I cannot believe she just forgives Conrad. Show some passion, woman! Get angry! You should be angry. Let out that rage queen! Forgive and forget? No! Hold grudges and hate! He was horrible, treat him as such!

The Rani was such a disappointment for me. After all this build-up over Fifteen's seasons, all these teases that she did: I expected so much more. Instead, we got like five minutes of screentime with her before she gets eaten by CGI Omega. I was so happy to have a female timelord for the Doctor to face, I loved it when he went up against Missy (I love you Missy), and then they barely face off? Honestly, they barely even shared a screen with one another. What a pointless villain with no payoff. She had the potential to be great and she was wasted by a plot that was too quick to wrap itself up.

Speaking of pointless, why was Omega even there? Was it literally just to eat the Rani? I don't think he was in the show for more than three minutes. All powerful founder of the timelords my arse. He came in and got beamed. He didn't even look like Omega from classic Who! There was no similarity whatsoever. They didn't even try! What is the point of bringing back this classic villain to make him unrecognisable and then kill him? Was this just one of RTD's childhood fantasies? It certainly felt like it.

Omega's original design.

Overall, this will definitely go down as one of the worst episodes of Doctor Who. From a messy plot to a straight Kate Lethbridge Stewart (what?), this episode had no idea what it wanted to do. I think it was definitely hindered by Ncuti leaving the show so early in his run, but it doesn't excuse bad writing. RTD had some serious hits back when he was writing the Tenth Doctor, but it feels like he forgot where he put his pen that actually works properly. This episode made it its mission to disrespect every single character on display, and you know what? It succeeded! Congrats RTD. You win.

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laereviewsrandomly · 26 days ago

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Lae Reviews: The Last of Us (Season 2: TV 2025)

I am a massive Last of Us fan. I love the first game and part two is in my top games of all time. I have played The Last of Us Part II three times now. Ellie is one of my favourite characters. Preface over! :)

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW

This season really upset me. For context, I enjoyed the first season of the show and I thought it was quite faithful to the games and the characters, even with the changes they made to the lore. It was a good time. So I was going into season two with the expectation that I would get a decently faithful adaptation with some extra stuff sprinkled in to expand upon the world. What I didn't expect was a season that completely disrespected its main character and messed up key plot points. I was okay with some changes, but others were downright infuriating to watch. I literally had to pause sometimes because I was sitting there like "they would never do this". I was pulling my hair out by the end of it. NUMERICAL RATINGS: Characters: 5/10 Story: 4.5/10 Music: 7/10 Enjoyment: 5/10 Lore Loyalty: 4/10 Rewatchable?: Not for me.

Overall: 5.1/10

SPOILER REVIEW STARTS HERE!

And here come the spoilers!

I think I have to start this review with Ellie. They seriously disrespected her this season. From the gutting of her Seattle segment, to her overall character - never in my life did I expect them to disregard her so aggressively. In The Last of Us Part II, Ellie has matured with her age. She still jokes around every now and then, but overall, she is more reserved and feels like she has changed in the five years we have been absent from her story. Ellie in the show feels like she has barely matured. She doesn't take things very seriously, and throughout the season, she lacks the angst that surrounded her in the game - and I really didn't like it. They also made her feel stupid this season, which is just insane to me. She needed Dina to do literally anything, as if she hadn't travelled with Joel for months on end and learned how to survive. Dina should not have been planning everything for Ellie! Ellie should know how to plot routes to places and how to pack supplies. While I think Dina should help Ellie with some things, I feel that basic survival understanding is not one of them and it made Ellie feel like such an idiot in an apocalypse scenario.

They didn't do her any favours with combat either. In the game, Ellie is a goddamn terminator. In the show, Ellie is getting her ass handed to her a little too often for my liking. It was so unexpected! I saw a clip on Twitter the other day with Bella Ramsey doing this insane fight choreography practice and I was sitting there like - where the hell was that?! It would have been awesome! It definitely feels like they cut some serious action sequences for Ellie and it is such a waste.

The fight choreography I saw!

I will say, though, I liked the hospital sequence. The chase was really enjoyable and the confrontation worked for me. It was like a taste of what this season could have been.

What I didn't like, however, was what came after. Ellie did not seem to give a single damn that she had just beaten a woman to death, there was no remorse or shock. She just carried on. It frustrated me. In the game, at this point, Ellie is shell-shocked and she couldn't quite get over what she had done. She was so emotionally tumultuous that she finally started to give in to the pain she was feeling. It was a devastating moment to watch in the game, in the show it was like nothing had happened. They took the emotional weight from Ellie and filled her with this seemingly endless apathy.

They only spend ninety-one minutes on Ellie's story in Seattle, and you can really feel it. The cut content feels like lost limbs, and the show feels like a hollow shell of a story. The shortened season was completely the wrong move for a story that stretches over more than 10 hours. It was a series of getting from point A to point B with no sauce, no flavour and certainly no emotional depth.

I'm not sure how to feel about Dina. I think, overall, she was alright. I didn't like that they left out her religious background; her moment in the synagogue in the game was lovely and deepened our understanding of the character. Dina's character felt mostly well represented in the show, far better than Ellie's, but I do take issue with how her sexuality is approached. I think it's because they changed her background but I don't fully understand why they made it seem like she was scared to be queer; Dina being comfortable in her sexuality is something I loved about her character in the games, I am not saying a new take is bad - I just didn't like how they went about it. Then again, the entire season has been reading like Craig Mazin hates our favourite girls.

Mazin has been on the record saying that he thinks that Ellie and Dina have "a mother-daughter relationship". Absolute insanity. How one so violently misunderstands such a clear relationship, I will never know, but it certainly explained why this season felt the way it did.

I also had a big issue with how the season ended. Ellie begging for her life? Seriously? Ellie, the girl who is all in for dying for like ninety percent of the second game, is afraid to die. You could say it's because Dina is pregnant, but if that's the reason, why didn't Ellie do the same thing in the games? Because that's not who she is in Part II. Elle isn't afraid of death. That girl is down to let it happen; she isn't going down begging - and don't even get me started on that wacky editing. Who missed their quick time event and failed the scene?

Me watching Craig Mazin manage to mess up a story that was already fully laid out for him.

My final big qualm with the season is how they characterised Jesse. He started off fine, but then he got to Seattle. Why was he so angry to be there? He literally chose to follow them. My guy was fighting for the angriest man of the year prize. Why was he beefing so badly with Ellie? They're meant to be friends. I'm fine with him voting against Ellie's want for a team, but I'm not okay with him actively choosing to go after them and then taking it out on Ellie. Like, what the hell? Calm down, man! You're meant to be a calm voice of reason, not Ellie's scolding father. I refuse to believe Jesse would ever be like this. It's so weird to me.

I think my most lukewarm take is with Abby this season. She was fine. There isn't much I can say about her, seeing as she was hardly in the season (which I expected), but from what we saw of her, I enjoyed her character. Honestly, I think my only problem I found was when she called Joel handsome. It didn't feel right. She definitely wouldn't say this.

Time for the positives! I know I haven't been very loving of this season, but I think my issues are fair. However, I did enjoy a few episodes properly. I thought episodes 1 & 2 were well done, even if I think the dance scene was way too early in the show, and the Joel scene was perfect. While I did take issue with the teaming up of Dina and Joel over Tommy and Joel, I can see why they did, as Tommy has a different role in Jackson for the show. I didn't mind the change necessarily, but I do think it caused Tommy to be a bit too sidelined this season in the story. The scene itself was really good, I honestly have no issues with it. It hit well emotionally and probably set my expectations for the season too high.

I also enjoyed the flashback episode. They definitely cut the museum short; the BTS we were given proved that, and I think I will always be a little salty about it. I thought it was a sweet episode, and it was well placed in the season. I thought lie reveal being changed from the hospital was alright, I was a little upset about it but I don't think it was nearly the worst change they've made - so I got over it. The added scenes with Ellie's different birthdays were really nice to see; being able to see Ellie change over the years was a nice insight into what we missed during the five-year timeskip. The scene with Joel, Kat and Ellie was kind of awkward to watch, but then you remember that Joel is allowed an adjusting period and it caught him by surprise. He still loves his lesbian daughter, but he just had several different shocks at once.

Overall, I think this season was a hollow shell of what TLOU is. It felt like one of those Disney live-action remakes where they remove the soul of the original movie for the sake of a few dollars. I'm hoping season 3 is better than what we got with season 2 but I'm not holding my breath for it. Who knows, though, they may just surprise me! I'll be there regardless, I love Abby and Lev too much not to be. That's all, folks! Hope you enjoyed! :)

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laereviewsrandomly · 28 days ago

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Lae Reviews: Bet (Netflix TV 2025)

I'm going to start this by saying I am familiar with Kakegurui, I watched season one of the anime and part of season two (I don't know why I didn't finish it, I honestly think I forgot, but I will get it done) but I have not read the manga nor am I incredibly invested in the fandom space. This review is from a very casual viewer's perspective, so I had zero expectations for it going in.

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW

I don't think it was that bad! It was certainly janky at times, and the dialogue definitely had me wondering if the writers had spoken to teenagers in their lives at certain points, but I had fun. It was somewhat campy, and I liked that about it. I think the changes they made to the story allowed it to be its own thing from the Kakegurui anime, while still providing the expectations that come with the world it is set in. It is definitely catered towards a Western audience, which caused some negatives for me. However, I did find myself wanting to watch on - I was thinking about it while at work or out and about. It definitely hooked me, even with some questionable choices. NUMERICAL RATINGS: Characters: 6.5/10 Story: 6.5/10 Music: 7/10 Enjoyment: 6/10 Lore Loyalty: 5/10 Rewatchable?: I would say so! Overall: 6.2/10

SPOILER REVIEW STARTS HERE!

Welcome to spoiler central!

If I compare the story in Bet to season one of Kakegurui, I can safely say there are some clear differences.

Having Yumeko's motivations laid out from the start was an interesting move in my opinion. It took away from the focus on the gambling aspect of the show in favour of a crime mystery, but I think it was a good choice. The choice was made with a Western audience in mind, crime thrillers are incredibly popular, and I don't think it loses the core elements of the story. Plus, it helps that I was interested in the detective work, even if I guessed the entire club was involved as soon as it was brought up. The addition of Michael to Yumeko's inner circle was honestly not something I cared all that much for, though I do think I am biased. I did not really enjoy his character in the show, and I think if he were merged with Ryan's character, the story would barely change. He was the stereotypical "tech guy" for the show that helped Yumeko progress, however, I think she was more than capable of reaching most of the conclusions on her own.

As for Ryan, I don't really have anything to say. He was an alright character, reminiscent of Ryota. I thought he was entertaining enough, though I don't like the idea of Yumeko having a romance with a man, that's just personal bias though.

I think the two standouts in the show, at least for me, were Yumeko and Mary. I think Miku Martineau embodied Yumeko really well and felt like a toned-down version of Yumeko in the anime. It felt like she took a lot of care when it came to embodying her character, and I think it paid off. She had the off-putting vibe of the character down, with her best moments being when she's gambling, which I think is probably the most important. The gambling has to be the lifeblood of any sort of Kakegurui exploration and Yumeko's intensity when it comes to the luck of the draw is vital. I would say they nailed that, at least for a toned-down Western adaptation. As for Mary, I would say she is my favourite character coming out of the show. Eve Edwards really managed to embody that Mary snark that I associate with her while also providing an interesting performance as we watch Mary grow throughout the show. I think it was an interesting choice to make Mary Student Council, it made her fall from grace in the first episode feel impactful and honestly, somewhat tragic. My favourite scene, however, between the two characters is their second gamble against one another. In the intensity of the game, with their fingers on the line, they finally start to feel like proper Kakegurui characters, losing their minds for a moment in the adrenaline of the chance game. It was a moment that made me hopeful for future seasons, if it even gets that, and I hope they lose it again. It just makes it all the more interesting to watch.

I think my biggest issue with the show is Suki. I think he was the worst-written character out of everyone. His dialogue felt like the writers had never spoken to a gay man and had instead based everything he says on stereotypes and God, was it annoying. I could not stand him, and when he "died", I was just relieved I didn't have to listen to him anymore. It upsets me because I think the icebreaker game was an interesting idea for the change in character, as Suki was more focused on social media than anything else, but I couldn't get passed how annoying he was. He drove me nuts.

I wasn't sure about Kira in the show either. I think the first thing that threw me was that she didn't have white hair, I don't know, it just bothered me like nothing on Earth. Once I got over a hair dye choice, I realised that she didn't feel as in control of the school as Kirari does. She was not nearly as calm and collected, and she certainly did not play her cards all that close to her chest. I don't think the changes to her character are awful, and I think her team-up with Yumeko in the finale lays a path to an interesting storyline, but I do feel like she is not a proper ice queen like her anime counterpart.

The Student Council, in Bet, felt lacklustre to me. They were hardly an intimidating force that Yumeko had to face, honestly, some of them were just kind of non problems. Half of them were helping Yumeko in some way by the end of the season and it just further expressed the idea that Kira simply lacks any kind of real control. Dori felt weird as a character, like they wanted to express the same crazed vibe as Midari in Kakegurui, but were too afraid to do it? So instead, they made her a stalker? For a man no less. I think her not actually losing her eye was a big one for me, it killed a decent amount of stakes that I relate to Kakegurui as a whole and it was just kind of disappointing to see. Chad was a weird one for me as well. I didn't hate him really - I just didn't understand why he was there. He didn't have the cutthroat vibe that I expected from Student Council, but I didn't mind him. For a guy with eidetic memory, they sure made him feel rather stupid. It also bothers me that he didn't gamble against Yumeko, small thing, but ya know.

Riri definitely felt like she belonged on the Student Council. She was probably their most intimidating factor, while also having a nice little romance with Mary, which I appreciated. I enjoyed the twist of her becoming Student Representative on the board and am genuinely interested in her relationship with her father. Even though she doesn't say much, which was to be expected, she is one of the best parts of the show.

To put it simply, when compared to the likes of the Kakegurui anime, it does fall short. However, as a translation to a more Western show, I would say it does its best. It most definitely has flaws, Suki, I'm looking at you, but I had fun. It's one of those shows that you don't watch expecting a masterpiece, but rather just to see some teens have some mad beef at school. I found it entertaining enough, and I would probably watch a second season if that ever did arrive. I can't say I'm betting on it, though. That's all, folks! Hope you enjoyed! :)

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laereviewsrandomly · 29 days ago

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Lae Reviews: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

What a game, huh? I had been following this game for a while before its release, having found it a year ago when its reveal trailer dropped for all to see, and my expectations have never been met so perfectly. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a turn-based role-playing game developed by Sandfall Interactive and released in April 2025. The game follows a group of Expeditioners on their journey to defeat the Paintress so that the limitations upon their lives are lifted.

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW

In this section, I will provide my short, spoiler-free review. My numerical rating of the game (out of ten) will also be provided here. I have never been so utterly captivated by a game until I pressed play on Clair Obscur. Which is strange to say when it comes from former developers at Ubisoft. However, any expectations I had for this game, and they were high, were shattered when I allowed myself to sit down and play it through properly. I dedicated an entire day to my first session of it and, God, it was worth it. The gameplay is delightful, even for those who do not find themselves drawn to turn-based games often. It is surprisingly fast-paced in encounters, and I found myself on the edge of my seat often, attempting to lock the hell in so that I would have a perfect round of defence before my go.

An incredibly accurate representation of what I would be doing in encounters

Immensely enjoyable gameplay, mixed with one of the best game soundtracks I've had the pleasure of experiencing, creates a gaming experience that honestly I can only describe as ascending to the heavens. The music in this game is heavenly. There is no other way to put it, honestly. It is an all-consuming soundtrack that buries itself into the core of your being, no matter if you are in an intense fight, or a gut-wrenching scene (of which there are many).

The story, which I won't speak on very much in this segment, is a fantastic exploration of grief and what love can do to a person. I will fully admit I shed tears over several moments, and I would do it all again. If you are looking for a story to make you question everything about love, you have certainly found it.

Ratings:

Music: 10/10 Gameplay: 9/10 Story: 10/10 Satisfaction: 10/10 Replayable?: Absolutely.

Overall score: 9.75/10

SPOILER REVIEW AHEAD

From this point on, spoilers are everywhere! You have been warned...

GAMEPLAY

Now, I'm not the biggest turn-based game player on the planet. I've played Baldur's Gate 3 and enjoyed it, but that is about as far as my experience with the genre goes. So, I can't make comments in the same way as veterans of the genre, but I can provide a casual player's perspective.

Skills, Pictos and Luminas

My favourite part about the skills in Clair Obscur is how varied they are, while also being uniquely tailored to each character. The characters all have very different ways of fighting, very different playstyles, that can all provide a sort of synergy with one another. Skills are not outrageously expensive, and you can strategise when spending your skill points so that you can get to some insanely powerful skills that make the late game incredibly fun to play. When I'm being honest with myself, I'll admit one of my favourite parts of this game is watching the damage numbers get massive at the very start of a round. It's like my own personal brand of heroine, and the skills make it easier to get there. Once I unlocked Maelle's Stendahl ability, I realised that there was really no going back for me. It truly is her best ability, doing insane damage and making it feel so very satisfying. I believe it is that satisfaction that makes the skill system work so well for me, the skills are simple to understand once you understand a character's core gameplay and then the dopamine rush you get from hitting an annoying boss with a million points of damage with a skill you worked towards from Act 1 all the way into Act 3 really just is a feeling unlike any other.

Me looking at a mini-boos like a delicious meal in Act 3 onwards. I won't lie, when they first brought up Pictos and Luminas in the game, I got confused. However, I am slow to understand parts of games, no matter the game, so I can't necessarily fault the game for that. Pictos and Luminas are those extra passive boosts that you can get aside from your skills to improve your damage, defence and overall gameplay. You can equip up to three Pictos at one time, per character, and you train them through three different stages in battle. They can also be levelled up, which increases the stat boosts they provide. Luminas are then extra Pictos that you can add to your character through Colours of Lumina points, found all around the game maps. Colours of Lumina allow you to slowly add more Pictos to your characters and make them insanely strong - and I mean insanely. After I had finished the main story on my first run of the game, I went around and did some side-questing in my pursuit of achievements. I had around 90-100 Colours of Lumina at that point, and I found a mini-boss just in the open world. In all honesty, I flew into it accidentally, and I hadn't intended to fight the boss - I was quite annoyed at myself over it. Then I realised, I had Maelle first turn; she was in Virtuose Stance, with 8 AP (Attack Points) ready to rumble. So, I did what any sane, frustrated player would do. I used Stendahl, and let me tell you...With Pictos and Luminas backing that one attack, and two perfect skill checks passed, that boss was seeing the light of heaven before Maelle even finished the move. Insane power. For some, it takes the joy out of it - for me, I was laughing hysterically.

Parrying and Dodging

If anyone tries to claim that they hold the record for being the angriest at a video game, they have never seen me trying to parry the attacks of Simon (part 2: evil boogaloo) in the Abyss. I didn't go into this game expecting a rage mechanic, but by God, I found one. I, one hundred percent, know it is a skill issue on my part, but when you miss a parry in a combo of hits in this game, it feels like God has forsaken you and banished you to the shadow realm at times.

All my rage aside, parrying and dodging are two amazing mechanics that keep the gameplay flowing in encounters. In between your turns, enemies have the chance to attack, and you can either parry the attack or choose to dodge it. Though a simple gameplay addition, it adds an intensity to the game I really did not see coming. Having to remember the combinations of moves that an enemy does in a certain combo, if they force you to jump or if the attack is a gradient (a special attack that deals extra damage), has you staring so intently at the screen that the enemy might get stage fright and run away. I learned, through trial and significant error, that the most important part of an enemy's attack is their sound cue, not their movement. An enjoyably infuriating part of the parry/dodge system is that the enemies love to fake their attacks - they love to do it a lot. It used to drive me mad, I would freak out to the point that I am ninety percent sure that my roommates might be concerned for me. However, once the sound cues became clear to me, it simply became a game of forcing my brain to ignore the endless edging of the enemy animations and instead focus on the sounds they made. I felt like a Jedi in training. The satisfaction of getting through a successful series of parries and hearing the start of your counterattack can only be comparable to eating the best damn dessert of your life. 10/10 would bite my desk in anguish for it again any day.

Stats

The stats in Clair Obscur are incredibly simple: health, strength, defence, critical hit chance and number of turns. Level them up as your character levels up, with three stat points per level. A simple system that does not need anything special, really. It is a normal RPG element. However, I do find that investment in certain stats proved (at least for me) to be surprisingly more effective than doing a standard three points to strength every level. The agility stat has to be the most important in the game; that's all I'll say.

Levels

Clair Obscur has the player explore various maps on the Continent to progress towards the Paintress. Each area is beautiful to the eye and does not feel like it overstays its welcome. You fight various new and interesting enemies that fit the environment they are in, alongside some mini-bosses hidden around the place. The levels all have unique soundtracks as well, allowing for a fresh view to be accompanied by a new, life-changing score. My only issue I ever had with the levels is how confusing some of them are. I find myself getting lost at times and wishing for a map of some kind to gently guide me more onto my path again. I got turned around on many occasions, which could honestly just be a skill issue, but I bring it up regardless. While it was not outright infuriating, mostly because I was too infatuated with the beautiful level design, it was definitely noticeable and I often found myself saying the words "where am I?"

Open World

In the game, once you get through Spring Meadows, you have a vast open world map to explore called the Continent.

You slowly unlock new ways to traverse it thanks to your, hopefully good, friend Esquie, who helps you run, swim and fly around the place.

God, I love that guy.

The open world allows you to enter non-story areas, fight mini-bosses and do challenges. It is a nice expansion on the main story and allows you to really live in the world and immerse yourself in its wonderful oddities. Challenges, such as the Gestral Beaches (certainly a challenge!), allow for you to unlock various new cosmetics and items for your Expeditioners to look and fight their best, which is always a helpful pit stop in between main story quests. Mini-bosses are scattered around in various little challenge areas, as well as on the Continent itself, allowing for extra fighting for those brave enough. Each mini-boss is unique in its fighting style and feels like it was made with love for the genre. Satisfying to beat, even if difficult.

I have insane beef with the Lampmaster mini-boss.

Camp

Once you reach a certain point in the game, leaving to find Maelle in the Flying Waters, the game prompts you to camp for the first time.

Camp allows you to upgrade weapons, invest your Colours of Lumina, and check out your awesome record collection, write in your journal and check on your Expeditioners. One of my favourite things to do in Clair Obscur was checking on the characters. I loved having the individual conversations and growing the relationships between Verso and the others, slowly unlocking new hidden stories about each character while coming to understand their thoughts and feelings about the progressing story. All the while gaining their individual Gradient Attacks (special attacks that do extra damage) that feel like you really earned them through getting to know the character individually. Depth is everywhere in this game, you never have to look far to find a story that is worth the effort of experiencing.

STORY

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has one of the best game stories I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing. I could just end it there, to be honest. That's all you need to know; it's incredible. A heart-wrenching tale of what love does to people. Of course, I'm a nerd though so I will be going into detail. However, if you have read this far and not played the game, go play it first! The story should be experienced blind to have the best experience!

Act 1: Gustave

The first act is, unsurprisingly, a lot of set up. You learn about the world, the plight its people face and how they plan to stop it. The prologue, which I'm including in the Act 1 section even though it's a separate chapter (no one can control me), has to be the first game to ever make me cry in the first thirty minutes. Truly, they used Charlie Cox being devastated against me. I hate it when Daredevil is sad. Seeing the Gommage first hand, instead of it just being spoken about, was a fantastic way to open the story. It set the stakes, and it set them high. Having Gustave lose the love of his life instantly gives us a clear motivation for our opening protagonist and has us empathising with his grief and determination from minute one. When Sophie turned into flower petals, I was ready to go to war for that sad little man.

Continuing ever on, you meet your fellow Expeditioners and get to know them before departing for the continent. Then, the game decides the suffering is too minimal for the beginning of a story and has Renoir obliterate everyone. I did not see this coming, and so I was slack-jawed as I watched the people I briefly became acquainted with die like it was D-Day. Gustave was incredibly relatable in that sequence; my guy was just as shocked as I was.

Andy Serkis, always at the scene of a crime. Paragraph TW: Suicidal ideation

Traversing through the Spring Meadows, getting used to the combat system along the way, you find yourself in a moment with Gustave as he experiences his worst moment (worst as in, tragic). He finds a pile of his comrades' corpses in a cave, and a large part of him begins to give him - it's clear in his eyes. He sits there for a moment, contemplating, before he lifts his gun to his skull with a clear intent of giving up as the journey begins. Experiencing a low like this so early in the game was expected, but it didn't make me want to hug the man any less. Gone was the hopeful inventor we saw at the beginning of our expedition; all that remained was the guilt-ridden survivor who could do nothing but stand there as his friends fell one by one to an enemy they could not hope to defeat. The build-up of emotional devastation that Gustave had felt in the literal beginning hour or so of the game gave so much weight to this scene, and I found myself on the verge of tears once more. In that moment, he had lost everyone.

When one falls, we continue.

I feel the introduction of Lune at this moment was a perfect choice. The one character that motivated the rest to move forward, especially Gustave, coming in and reminding Gustave that it is not over until the bitter end. They had a mission, and Lune helped Gustave remember that. Death was expected, and so they had to push through.

You persevere onwards with your duo of Expeditioners until you find Maelle again. In the strange, reality-defying, manor, you catch a glimpse of something not being quite right with Maelle for the first time. From this reunion, I knew something was up with that girl. Her strange relationship with the continent and its creatures was so interesting to watch unfold as this act progressed, her nightmares adding to this. Each time the screen turned black and white, I watched with rapt attention as pieces of the mystery surrounding her revealed themselves slowly. I had my theories, but none were quite right in the end, and I appreciate that. I hate it when I can guess exactly what a story is going to do. I prefer to guess and only get some things correct over predicting the future. Escaping Flying Waters, you go on in search of Gestrals. Gestrals are one of my favourite parts of this game. When I first got to the Gestral Village, I spent about twenty minutes going around and looking at all the different Gestrals. Funny, silly little paintbrush people that add a lightness to the story that I needed. I giggled when they talked to me about their love of fighting and beating each other up, and I loved how when you fight some of them, they are distinctly unique fighters (big up my goat, Dominique Giant Feet).

I could not find a GIF of Dominique Giant Feet, so have Monoco doing a little jig instead.

Fighting through the Gestral Tournament allows you to add my favourite empath, Sciel, to your party. Sciel is the lifeblood of your Expedition, in my humble opinion. She acts as the glue holding everyone together while still being surprisingly calm. Not to mention, she is strong as hell in battle. I am a big fan of the sequence in the village; it acts as a nice breather for the story. You go through, experiencing all this pain from the moment you arrive on the continent, and it's nice to just meet some silly guys and bro around. Get into a cheeky fight with a few of them and then find one of your friends. An optimistic section, it made me very happy. After unlocking Sciel, you go on to find one of my favourite characters in the game - Esquie. God, this guy is such a goofy goober. I love him. I would give my life for him. While he is mainly there to help you traverse the continent in new ways to progress the story, I love that you can just go have a silly conversation with him at your camp. Incredibly sad story beat? He knows he will hug you. Just feeling down for all the tragedy in this game? He'll provide you with a silly dialogue that turns those Whoo feelings into Whee feelings. He's not a big part of the story, but he is my world.

After meeting Esquie, the game decides you have had too much joy and promptly fixes that. Gustave's death punched me in the jaw and shot me three times. I did not see it coming at all. I felt as Maelle did in that moment, devastated and angry. It is always effective when the villain kills a fan favourite, I just didn't expect it to be our protagonist. I will admit I had to sit there in shock for about ten minutes after it happened. A soul-destroying moment after so many hopeful encounters. A reminder of mortality in a world built to punish its people for sins they did not commit. Certainly a way to end an act, that's for sure.

Act 2: Verso

I don't think we could have met Verso under worse circumstances. He shows up, saves Maelle from Renoir and is suddenly the new character that replaces Gustave. I suppose that gave me a little bias against him in the beginning. I mean, he thought he could waltz in and replace my goat after all! Not okay. However, through this act, he proves himself to the group and me, as he helps them progress further towards the Paintress. Verso is one of those characters that you go in with a distrust of his reasoning. You find yourself wondering why he didn't step in sooner and save Gustave; you might even blame him for Gustave's demise. I know I did, a little. But you grow to love this poor little broken man who just wants a happy life with his family, being normal.

Not long after meeting Verso, we are introduced to Monoco. Monoco is a Gestral who can speak English (the only one who can, seemingly). He's a little bit of an oaf, but I found that incredibly endearing about him. Monoco was, for me, an apology directly from Sandfall for killing Gustave. My favourite addition to the Expeditioners and his feet collection truly acted as a lifesaver in some fights for me (no, I'm not explaining the feet collection, you have to go play the game for that one). Adding a being that has only ever lived on the Continent was such a wonderful choice in my opinion, all he wanted to do was impress the humans and live his life with Noco.

Once Monoco is safely in your Expedition, you journey onwards to Old Lumiere as instructed by Verso. The characters become more comfortable with one another, and at camp, you can improve Verso's relationship level with the different characters to unlock new abilities and get them to open up to him. I think adding a relationship-level system with the arrival of Verso is brilliant. It means you can slowly get to know the characters even better alongside him; with Gustave, you were at a disadvantage, the characters had known each other all their lives, but with Verso, you're given a chance to understand them from step one.

Through Old Lumiere, you come to a familiar Manor. There, you have a moment with Maelle, furthering the mystery surrounding her, only for it to be interrupted by Verso. In this sequence, Verso is revealed to be related to Renoir. While this didn't surprise me, I rather enjoyed how the other characters reacted to him. After the boss fight with Renoir, the characters are colder to Verso for a bit, apart from Monoco and Esquie. I liked that a lot. Verso being stonewalled a bit, both made sense and added to my distrust of him. At that point, I had grown to like him more, but I sure as hell did not trust him to do the right thing. The manor scenes were a great way to show how Verso is not necessarily here to just help the Expedition.

Progressing onwards, you defeat Axons to create a way to breach the barrier around the Paintress. However, when you get to her, you find yourself unable to harm her. No skill harms her, and there is nothing to counterattack - she doesn't even acknowledge you.

It becomes obvious that the giant Paintress is not the real thing, and the Expedition must enter the Monolith. The Monolith level has to be my favourite in the game. A walk through all the main story levels again, reminding yourself of how far you have come to get here, with each one having a glimpse into the memories of the Paintress. It is here where you start to feel little questions bubbling up in your mind, wondering if you're doing the right thing. I loved seeing each memory and properly starting to piece together the identity of the Paintress. When you finally reach her, her identity is made clear when she sees Verso.

The Paintress being Verso's mother made me question fighting her at all. She seemed so confused and lost, but also grieving. It is here that you understand the tragedy that befell the Dessendre family. The fire spoken of in brief dialogue and the regret that follows Verso has its first small payoff here. In the second phase of the Paintress fight, I found myself hesitant to attack her because of all the built up emotional surrounding the fight. In the end, I did finish the fight. The Paintress is defeated and Verso and his family regain the mortality they lost.

The group returns to Lumiere, hailed as heroes, as Verso slips away to read the letter his sister gave him. At this moment, it is revealed that the Paintress was never the true adversary of the plot, and Verso knew that. In an incredible twist, we learn that Verso had neglected to tell anyone of the real threat that they face as everyone in Lumiere Gommages. The end of Act 2 was somehow more devastating than Act 1 for me. It was a soul-crushing moment that had me step away from the game for a full day as I came to terms with how all the efforts of my Expeditioners were in vain, and Verso knew. The Act Epilogue is disorienting, especially after what just happened. After Maelle Gommages, her true memories are revealed to her. It is revealed that the world the player had been fighting for was, in fact, an artificial reality created by the real Verso. We learn that Maelle is Alicia, Verso's sister, and she had been badly injured in the fire that killed the real Verso. We learn of Alicia's guilt over Verso's death, and how their mother lost herself in grief, choosing to stay in Verso's canvas. At this point, we come to a simple qualm I have with the story: they briefly talk about a war between Painters and Writers in the real world, and I found myself wanting to know more about it. It's not really expanded on, and I do understand why, but it doesn't stop my curiosity, which frustrated me a little bit.

We find out that Alicia went into the canvas to help with the fighting between her mother and father. Her father had gone into the canvas to convince her mother to leave it and come back to reality, and they were in a stalemate. Alicia sought to help with the turmoil, only to lose herself in the canvas and live a false life as Maelle. I found this reveal interesting, and I believe it was satisfying to experience the mystery of Maelle coming together.

Act 3: Maelle

This act is rather short compared to the others, but I'm alright with that. Maelle returns to the canvas with her memories intact and brings back Verso. They speak of everything that happened and of Verso's choice to hide Maelle's identity from her.

This act is purely for pulling everything together, to tie off some loose ends and to provide a closing statement on the game. Maelle revives your Expeditioners, and it then montages her collecting Chroma (power) to then take on her father after a retreat at the beginning of the act. I do appreciate that they did not make us go through and grind Chroma collection, I cannot say the same for other games (cough, Ubisoft, cough), but I do feel that it did make the act feel somewhat like it was speedrunning through. The final battle in Lumiere is pretty awesome. The music is at its best, Maelle's Chroma soldiers are holding off enemies all around you as you get closer to Renoir to stop him from destroying the canvas.

The final confrontation with Renoir is interesting; you don't just oust him from the canvas and call it a day. Instead, it ends with Maelle convincing him to let her stay in the canvas in a gut-wrenching moment as you realise the canvas is consuming her much like her mother. Verso, however, does not want this to happen. Maelle and Verso have a confrontation where you are forced to choose a side between them.

Me when I am forced to choose between Pookie One and Pookie Two.

Whoever you side with defines your ending. There are only two endings in the game. I can safely say the ending I chose was not the right one. I sided with Maelle, and I got a modern tragedy as I watched Verso beg Maelle to end it. I don't think I will ever truly recover from the ending I got, which is why I will be getting through a New Game+ to see the other one (I'm using it as an excuse to play the game again). God, this game knew exactly how to kill me. Coming out of this game, I feel like a different person from the one going in. Grief and love have never felt so close together for me, and it was truly an exploration of how much my heart can take. Turns out, my heart can't take much.

Me after finishing Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 for the first time.

MUSIC

LISTEN TO IT. EXPERIENCE ASCENSION.

Threats aside, this is probably my favourite game soundtrack ever. I don't usually listen to soundtracks outside of where they come from, it's just not really my thing, but I found myself drawn to this one so badly that it has the top position on my Spotify On Repeat playlist.

I genuinely cannot fully express how embedded this music is in my being. I took moments of pause in various encounters just to break it down to the sound of a French woman pouring her heart and soul into each song. It all being composed by just one person is literally insane to me. How does one create so many bangers without failure? I know I'll never reach such heights.

CONCLUSION

This game will be stuck in my brain for the rest of my days. My expectations for video games have been lowering as of late, with games such as Assassin's Creed Shadows numbing me to the point that I just played games to get through the motions. I had lost my love of single-player stories until I was graced with Clair Obscur and reminded that some stories are told for the experience, not the profit. If you decide to play only one story-driven game this year, in the sea of multiplayers and battlepasses, play the little French game and learn what it is like to experience a true labour of love. Now, I hope you enjoyed this ramble of a review. I did it for those who come after.

P.S.: This is my first review! I tried my best! :)

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