Plot Twist!

Earlier this week I thought I was close to possibly wrapping up Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.  I had completed all the pre-requisite tasks and was ready to take on the big bads.  After struggling a bit with big bad #1 (I swear they intentionally made the timing on that fight just a tiny bit off) I had an easier time with what I thought was the final boss fight.  Finally, victory!  Then things took a dark turn...and, plot twist, there is actually much more game to go!  I'm actually glad about this fact because I've found that I'm greatly enjoying Clair Obscur and that it is definitely deserving of the high praise that it has received.

I'm not going to spoil the story or anything, but I sort of had an inkling that there was likely more game to go due to the fact that the map is scattered with side locations that were marked with an ominous red entrance (marked DANGER!) which I assumed meant that I wasn't high enough level.  Now, I'm trying to check out these many side areas and attempt some of the challenges.  I'm definitely not good enough to take on the uber-challenges (even at regular difficulty) but there are many different kinds sprinkled around the map.

One of the side areas.  Even they are visually stunning.

I feel like I'm not doing a good job with mixing and matching my pictos and could definitely be swapping them around for specific encounters.  There are so many!  I also have accumulated a large collection of weapons and feel like maybe I need to be spreading the upgrade wealth around a bit more rather than focusing on one specific weapon.  Maybe I'm not being strategic enough?  I am making progress though, so it must be okay.

Exploring the map is fun and I've found a few boss type enemies off the beaten track (and managed to take a few of them down).  One gripe I have about the game is that I wish there was some sort of indication of enemy level.  I found a giant Petank (the regular ones are hard enough to take down, so I knew this huge one would probably be a real pill) only for it to absolutely one-shot my squad.  I have a few other gripes, but I'll save them for my formal review.

For now, I'm just going to enjoy checking out as much of the map as I can and trying to defeat all the random bosses.  Happy weekend and happy gaming!