THIS Game Could Change Single-Player Games FOREVER
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Date: 2025-05-10
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Comments and reviews: 20
jjr6461
These smaller developers are making what players want to play. A big business is thinking stock shares and meeting quarterly improvements and expectations. Therefore they use their money as investment in the game as getting their money back with interest from the players on the re-up, the come back, the stick around, etc. They want to improve earnings so they market games to investors as ways to make more money after purchase with microtransactions, pay aesthetics, pay for graphical enhancements, etc) The smaller studios remember that games are about the games, not how much their quarter earnings will increase.
What I think this means for the gamers is that people will pivot away from the big companies except for a few outliers that do a something that's leagues better than anyone else (i. e. Rockstar, Sucker Punch, Naughty Dog, Call of Duty. As for other games themselves, the games with the sales will be the games that people say is a good game because it does the job it was intended to do. be a good game. The big companies will have to get back into making great games for the sake of making great games and lower making more and more profits as a priority, OR they crumble to the smaller studios that make great games and those studios will be the new giants of the gaming industry.
In it's darkest turn however what could happen is that these great studios that make these great games will sell out and decide to be gobbled up by the industries heavy hitters (i. Ubisoft, EA. If that happens there will be no more sequels to the great games that you loved from the independents. The big studio is going to acquire them for their great game reputation and skills. Then they will grind them into the dust as they try to turn the studio into a profit making sweat shop. In result, the game's next edition just doesn't come out because the cost of making a great game not great anymore is too high. bye bye studio (shuts it's doors, or the sequel comes out; becomes a money grabbing trash pile THEN the studio is bye bye studio (shuts it's doors) for lack of sales.
This is my prediction on where this new world of gaming will go
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These smaller developers are making what players want to play. A big business is thinking stock shares and meeting quarterly improvements and expectations. Therefore they use their money as investment in the game as getting their money back with interest from the players on the re-up, the come back, the stick around, etc. They want to improve earnings so they market games to investors as ways to make more money after purchase with microtransactions, pay aesthetics, pay for graphical enhancements, etc) The smaller studios remember that games are about the games, not how much their quarter earnings will increase.
What I think this means for the gamers is that people will pivot away from the big companies except for a few outliers that do a something that's leagues better than anyone else (i. e. Rockstar, Sucker Punch, Naughty Dog, Call of Duty. As for other games themselves, the games with the sales will be the games that people say is a good game because it does the job it was intended to do. be a good game. The big companies will have to get back into making great games for the sake of making great games and lower making more and more profits as a priority, OR they crumble to the smaller studios that make great games and those studios will be the new giants of the gaming industry.
In it's darkest turn however what could happen is that these great studios that make these great games will sell out and decide to be gobbled up by the industries heavy hitters (i. Ubisoft, EA. If that happens there will be no more sequels to the great games that you loved from the independents. The big studio is going to acquire them for their great game reputation and skills. Then they will grind them into the dust as they try to turn the studio into a profit making sweat shop. In result, the game's next edition just doesn't come out because the cost of making a great game not great anymore is too high. bye bye studio (shuts it's doors, or the sequel comes out; becomes a money grabbing trash pile THEN the studio is bye bye studio (shuts it's doors) for lack of sales.
This is my prediction on where this new world of gaming will go
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boss350z5
Ive been saying for 20yrs. the formula was already perfected for JRPG style games in the 90s (I'm almost 50. All these devs needed to do was continue to utilize new tech, while sticking to the tried and true gameplay formula mastered 30yrs ago. here is the proof. Also, the industry needs to stop ignoring story driven, single player experiences. that's what made games great. all these remastered, rogue likes, retreads and pvp/pvpe games are never going to match the gameplay and pure fun of the games of yore. this is what we need, a return to greatness. Not that every game needs to be like this, FPS, fighting games, souls likes and metroidvanias are great as well (souls likes are basically the modern super hard 8bit game, I love em) but there has been way too much focus on everything. Except what worked all those years ago. fun gameplay, engaging storyline, memorable characters and immersive game worlds and environments. Im diggin it. MGGA(Make Games Great Again)
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Ive been saying for 20yrs. the formula was already perfected for JRPG style games in the 90s (I'm almost 50. All these devs needed to do was continue to utilize new tech, while sticking to the tried and true gameplay formula mastered 30yrs ago. here is the proof. Also, the industry needs to stop ignoring story driven, single player experiences. that's what made games great. all these remastered, rogue likes, retreads and pvp/pvpe games are never going to match the gameplay and pure fun of the games of yore. this is what we need, a return to greatness. Not that every game needs to be like this, FPS, fighting games, souls likes and metroidvanias are great as well (souls likes are basically the modern super hard 8bit game, I love em) but there has been way too much focus on everything. Except what worked all those years ago. fun gameplay, engaging storyline, memorable characters and immersive game worlds and environments. Im diggin it. MGGA(Make Games Great Again)
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erathizzle8810
Expedition 33 is a great game
and so is Split Fiction
and so is AC: Shadows
and so is College Football 25
and so is FF7 Rebirth
and so is Metaphor: ReFantazio
and so is Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
The amount of anti-AAA going around based on this game's success is not warranted. Although you might have a better point on pricing and the $80 front.
#1 You don't want financial investment in your hobby Even if there are committees, bloat or struggles involved
#2 Expedition 33 was made with UE5 probably one of the most subsidized by AAA engines out there and also Sandfall used contractors and former Devs from the AAA space heavily. This is the good side of that investment paying off regardless of how messy it is.
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Expedition 33 is a great game
and so is Split Fiction
and so is AC: Shadows
and so is College Football 25
and so is FF7 Rebirth
and so is Metaphor: ReFantazio
and so is Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
The amount of anti-AAA going around based on this game's success is not warranted. Although you might have a better point on pricing and the $80 front.
#1 You don't want financial investment in your hobby Even if there are committees, bloat or struggles involved
#2 Expedition 33 was made with UE5 probably one of the most subsidized by AAA engines out there and also Sandfall used contractors and former Devs from the AAA space heavily. This is the good side of that investment paying off regardless of how messy it is.
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Blacksadify
While Sandfall has a base studio of 30 people, they outsourced the work to over 120 other people. A South Korean studio did the animations and combat. Over 30 musicians, including a 9 person choir, did most of the music. All of the voice acting and voice direction were outsourced. All of the localisation and QA were outsourced.
Obsidian has 300 employees, but works on multiple games at a time, and doesn't outsource all of their work.
Saying that Clair Obcura was cobbled together by 30 people is totally inaccurate, and pretty disingenuous as a point of comparison to say that they're not AAA. It's a linear game that took about 150 people to produce, which is very much in the AAA realm.
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While Sandfall has a base studio of 30 people, they outsourced the work to over 120 other people. A South Korean studio did the animations and combat. Over 30 musicians, including a 9 person choir, did most of the music. All of the voice acting and voice direction were outsourced. All of the localisation and QA were outsourced.
Obsidian has 300 employees, but works on multiple games at a time, and doesn't outsource all of their work.
Saying that Clair Obcura was cobbled together by 30 people is totally inaccurate, and pretty disingenuous as a point of comparison to say that they're not AAA. It's a linear game that took about 150 people to produce, which is very much in the AAA realm.
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jkim789
The thing that really surprised me was the level of polish. Indie games are often very good with gameplay and art design, but because of lack of budget many of them have that less polished, AA feel. This is often a trade-off people are willing to accept because of all the other good parts. But with Clair Obscur, everything was just so polished that not only did it not feel indie, it felt much more clean and completed than many AAA games. Great animation, graphics, cutscenes, voice acting that usually needs AAA to pull off. Not to mention that I played the launch version and encountered no bugs whatsoever.
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The thing that really surprised me was the level of polish. Indie games are often very good with gameplay and art design, but because of lack of budget many of them have that less polished, AA feel. This is often a trade-off people are willing to accept because of all the other good parts. But with Clair Obscur, everything was just so polished that not only did it not feel indie, it felt much more clean and completed than many AAA games. Great animation, graphics, cutscenes, voice acting that usually needs AAA to pull off. Not to mention that I played the launch version and encountered no bugs whatsoever.
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shiro3146
remember, this is how Bethesda were once too, Julian will never came up with Elder scrolls if not for little DnD session they had on break, nor Ted. Blizzard will never have Warcraft if not because they love games, this is also how Ubisoft starts too i think, and also how Activision founded Call of Duty, inspired by how Half Life able to convey deep narrative with FPS game that at that time felt a arcadey, and combining it with Counter strike PvP and i think also Halo. look at them now, its either slop, shovel or bloated with battle pass, unintuitive UI or straight out impossible to navigate
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remember, this is how Bethesda were once too, Julian will never came up with Elder scrolls if not for little DnD session they had on break, nor Ted. Blizzard will never have Warcraft if not because they love games, this is also how Ubisoft starts too i think, and also how Activision founded Call of Duty, inspired by how Half Life able to convey deep narrative with FPS game that at that time felt a arcadey, and combining it with Counter strike PvP and i think also Halo. look at them now, its either slop, shovel or bloated with battle pass, unintuitive UI or straight out impossible to navigate
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peaceup5519
FIFTY FREAKING DOLLARS! I've been playing 33 since it's release and the whole game literally blows my friggin mind. It's hard to believe that the game I've been playing is only $50. Especially when I've played worse games that cost considerably more. 33 is a beautiful game that has been punching me in the feels on a regular basis. The voice overs and acting talent in the game is on par or dare I say better than any AAA game that's released in the past couple of years. Every cutscene is brilliant and captivating. I can't wait to see what else Sandfall is cooking because I'm crazy hungry.
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FIFTY FREAKING DOLLARS! I've been playing 33 since it's release and the whole game literally blows my friggin mind. It's hard to believe that the game I've been playing is only $50. Especially when I've played worse games that cost considerably more. 33 is a beautiful game that has been punching me in the feels on a regular basis. The voice overs and acting talent in the game is on par or dare I say better than any AAA game that's released in the past couple of years. Every cutscene is brilliant and captivating. I can't wait to see what else Sandfall is cooking because I'm crazy hungry.
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NjabuloMthembu-g2t
I wish the enemies looked less like rag monsters and more humanoid. Im not a fan of monsters and zombies. six armed monsters no thank you. Powerful people yes please. Especially because the way you take down a huge enemy is by hacking at its legs and feet with minimal to zero animation the enemy just keeps walking or charging and freezes for a second to supposedly make it look like you hit it. but its just never good animation. I think GOW spoilt me. Id love Devs to make more people versus people fights less giant ornaments versus people. That said this game looks good.
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I wish the enemies looked less like rag monsters and more humanoid. Im not a fan of monsters and zombies. six armed monsters no thank you. Powerful people yes please. Especially because the way you take down a huge enemy is by hacking at its legs and feet with minimal to zero animation the enemy just keeps walking or charging and freezes for a second to supposedly make it look like you hit it. but its just never good animation. I think GOW spoilt me. Id love Devs to make more people versus people fights less giant ornaments versus people. That said this game looks good.
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Turanic1
It kind of all started with Souls games, at first they were small niche games few people cared about made on a relatively small budget, but they were the first ones not to handheld players , Larian was also making relatively small budget Original Sins , Then Elden Ring dropped and BG 3 and it already changed a lot, but this, Expedition 33 was a final nail in a coffin of big studios, it obliterated them
and now you look at Form Software, Larian and Sandfall like new industry leaders like what Blizzard / Bethesda used to be
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It kind of all started with Souls games, at first they were small niche games few people cared about made on a relatively small budget, but they were the first ones not to handheld players , Larian was also making relatively small budget Original Sins , Then Elden Ring dropped and BG 3 and it already changed a lot, but this, Expedition 33 was a final nail in a coffin of big studios, it obliterated them
and now you look at Form Software, Larian and Sandfall like new industry leaders like what Blizzard / Bethesda used to be
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gameranx
Might give those developers that were gobbled up a second thought to break away from their parent company and get back to what they did best. I'd love for Bioware to say dues to EA. But I do think with the last few years we are seeing a shift in the great games coming out. Things like Elden Ring, Helldivers 2 and now Expedition 33 are proving you don't need a massive company to make really good games that will be talked about and played for years down the road.
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Might give those developers that were gobbled up a second thought to break away from their parent company and get back to what they did best. I'd love for Bioware to say dues to EA. But I do think with the last few years we are seeing a shift in the great games coming out. Things like Elden Ring, Helldivers 2 and now Expedition 33 are proving you don't need a massive company to make really good games that will be talked about and played for years down the road.
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redsoxfox
The gaming industry feels like it did back around the ps2 era. Like gaming has hit a wall and everything that comes out feels like something that i’ve played so many times before. Like I’m tired of FPS, building/crafting, turn based, skill tree, dark souls games. I’m at a point in which I probably won’t play games for a long while until technology truly evolves again like when I stopped between ps2 until ps5 or between n64 until switch.
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The gaming industry feels like it did back around the ps2 era. Like gaming has hit a wall and everything that comes out feels like something that i’ve played so many times before. Like I’m tired of FPS, building/crafting, turn based, skill tree, dark souls games. I’m at a point in which I probably won’t play games for a long while until technology truly evolves again like when I stopped between ps2 until ps5 or between n64 until switch.
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StreetComp
I know this is an Exp33 lovefest, and it’s well deserved, but small studios have been making amazing games or content for decades. Or I guess could go all the way back to the late 70s when Atari 2600 games were made by one person, or a small group
Anyway, those $20 to $40 games on Steam being worth a close look really started when I discovered how incredible Subnautica and The Forest were. They changed single player games forever!
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I know this is an Exp33 lovefest, and it’s well deserved, but small studios have been making amazing games or content for decades. Or I guess could go all the way back to the late 70s when Atari 2600 games were made by one person, or a small group
Anyway, those $20 to $40 games on Steam being worth a close look really started when I discovered how incredible Subnautica and The Forest were. They changed single player games forever!
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gameranx
This game came outta nowhere for me, I hadn't heard of it until it released and gave it a shot and what can I say Iam floored. It's fun despite conveying a depressing mood most of the time and most of all it's just heartbreakingly, gut wrenchingly beautiful. The art, the little optional but meaningful conversations and most prominently: that soundtrack. I just want to drown in it every time I start up the game.
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This game came outta nowhere for me, I hadn't heard of it until it released and gave it a shot and what can I say Iam floored. It's fun despite conveying a depressing mood most of the time and most of all it's just heartbreakingly, gut wrenchingly beautiful. The art, the little optional but meaningful conversations and most prominently: that soundtrack. I just want to drown in it every time I start up the game.
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570goonie86
This game didn’t grab my attention the way I wanted it to, the turn based will always take me out. I put it down pretty early on so it’s probably more my fault that I haven’t given it a legitimate chance. The immersion just isn’t there when the game stops to start up some turn based fighting. If this was real time combat, I’m going through no problem. Unfortunately this will be another pass for me
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This game didn’t grab my attention the way I wanted it to, the turn based will always take me out. I put it down pretty early on so it’s probably more my fault that I haven’t given it a legitimate chance. The immersion just isn’t there when the game stops to start up some turn based fighting. If this was real time combat, I’m going through no problem. Unfortunately this will be another pass for me
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Hauke-ph5ui
Why does everyone claim that the armaggeddon-like stories are JRPG specific They're not. Western RPGs have the very same epic threats.
Mass Effect, Dragon Age, even Baldur's Gate 3 with its massive pending Mindflayer invasion that - if successfull - will eventually overwhelm the entire world of Toril, not just Baldur's Gate. Or take the Oblivion - also a world spanning existential threat.
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Why does everyone claim that the armaggeddon-like stories are JRPG specific They're not. Western RPGs have the very same epic threats.
Mass Effect, Dragon Age, even Baldur's Gate 3 with its massive pending Mindflayer invasion that - if successfull - will eventually overwhelm the entire world of Toril, not just Baldur's Gate. Or take the Oblivion - also a world spanning existential threat.
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rid2cyn
I'm not especially impressed by the sells or user ratings. I'm impressed by how tenacious this game has been in clutching the news cycle. Normally big deals blow up headlines for a few days then fall off every radar imaginable. But this game is still holding strong in every corner of the gaming world for weeks after release. That's what is most impressive here. Now will it matter.
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I'm not especially impressed by the sells or user ratings. I'm impressed by how tenacious this game has been in clutching the news cycle. Normally big deals blow up headlines for a few days then fall off every radar imaginable. But this game is still holding strong in every corner of the gaming world for weeks after release. That's what is most impressive here. Now will it matter.
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HabibiC
Jake, stop butchering the director’s name. Guillaume. As a french person myself, Its kinda rude how bad it is pronounced because it shows a lack of interest in learning how it should be said.
Try this: GHEE-OHM (like the Indian butter, and the electric unit of measure)
You’re saying ghislane. Like bro.
We love you but this is a small learning opportunity. ;)
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Jake, stop butchering the director’s name. Guillaume. As a french person myself, Its kinda rude how bad it is pronounced because it shows a lack of interest in learning how it should be said.
Try this: GHEE-OHM (like the Indian butter, and the electric unit of measure)
You’re saying ghislane. Like bro.
We love you but this is a small learning opportunity. ;)
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janpesek4862
This gushing about the game is getting sickening. Clair Obscur is still a great game but it has its flaws: limited scope and content, terrible UI, stiff and clunky controls and movement, weird balancing, fact the game completely falls apart once you finish the main quest and I can go on for a while. Great game, sure! Do we need these videos spasming about it Hell, no!
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This gushing about the game is getting sickening. Clair Obscur is still a great game but it has its flaws: limited scope and content, terrible UI, stiff and clunky controls and movement, weird balancing, fact the game completely falls apart once you finish the main quest and I can go on for a while. Great game, sure! Do we need these videos spasming about it Hell, no!
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CtheBernwickle
I really want to play the game, the story seems cool, but I really hate turn based combat, it breaks the immersion for me so much. Nothing to interrupt my gameplay immersion like charts and taking turns. lol this isn’t 1850, we don’t all line up and take turns shooting till one of us runs out. I’ll just watch a montage of the cutscenes for the story
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I really want to play the game, the story seems cool, but I really hate turn based combat, it breaks the immersion for me so much. Nothing to interrupt my gameplay immersion like charts and taking turns. lol this isn’t 1850, we don’t all line up and take turns shooting till one of us runs out. I’ll just watch a montage of the cutscenes for the story
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raynalr15
I have play RPG in general since super Nintendo and the big videogames industry like you said Jake stop caring for the players they are just looking on how to make more money. They are just focus on remake or remastered. Is like they lost the creativity to create a nice chill out game. I am definitely going to be purchasing this game in the near future.
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I have play RPG in general since super Nintendo and the big videogames industry like you said Jake stop caring for the players they are just looking on how to make more money. They are just focus on remake or remastered. Is like they lost the creativity to create a nice chill out game. I am definitely going to be purchasing this game in the near future.
reply
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