Travis Bruno of Capsule Computers writes:
"Thinking back, it’s a bit surprising that it has been eight years since the original release of Persona 5. Perhaps this is due to how the Persona series remains incredibly popular to this day or the fact that Persona 5 has been given so many revamps or guest appearances in that timeframe that it feels hard to top it. Well, one man thought the same and it happened to be the game’s director and producer Katsura Hashino who left P-Studio when he finished the game and formed Studio Zero within Atlus instead. Intent on crafting a high fantasy style game and moving away from the direction Persona was likely heading, Studio Zero spent years developing their first grand RPG in the form of Metaphor: ReFantazio and it must be said that not only have they succeeded, they’ve created the type of RPG that you just don’t much of these days, an original IP offering both quality and quantity of content with so much lore players will be delving in for more."
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Metaphor: ReFantazio encourage player agency, allowing an impressive level of nuance and creativity to team builds.
I hadn't played Metaphor until it was on GamePass and I can tell you I vastly prefer Clair Obscur. That said, I have never been a big fan of the Persona games.
Same tbh. I love persona but Metaphor felt dated to me personally. Expedition 33 definitely felt fresh.
I could not get into Metaphor, whatsoever and I’m a huge Persona fan. I feel like Metaphor is incredibly overrated, but… and I know this is blasphemy, but I think Clair Obscur is slightly overrated as well.
I think that was on me though because everyone said it was the best thing since sliced bread and when I fired it up, I thought it was ok. I’d take Yakuza Like a Dragon, FF7 Remake/Rebirth, and Persona over it… heck I actually think Lost Odyssey is better. But to each their own.
Lost Odyssey is pretty underrated. Clair Obscur felt like a combo of Lost Odyssey, Legend of Dragoon, and some Shadow Hearts: Covenant, all amazing games that I love.
Yeah. Expedition 33 is a bit overrated. It’s cool to have a turn base RPG with a good story, I’m grateful. But it seems that the people that are more impressed don’t really play RPGs and see it as fresh air.
Yeah, I think they are overrated as well, based on how highly people lift them up. People hoist clair obscur up as if it is a 15/10 game.
I love all of the persona games, but I cannot get into Metaphor for some reason, I am trying to play it
Clair Obscur is good, but I do not like the battle system, both Metaphor and Clair have great stories
I just finished Clair yesterday
Both Metaphor and Clair are very slightly overrated
I personaly really disliked ReFantazio, couldn’t get into it and i loved P5 back in the day. Clair Obscur is much, much better IMO. It cuts all the nonsense and bloat, focuses on fun, it’s much more intuitive, waaaay more focused and much better paced and it doesn’t have incoherent anime nonsense. And i found Refantazio take on the racism and classism to be very shallow. So no i don’t agree that they are two sides of the same coin.. i mean why? Just because they’re both turn based games? Get out of here with that.
For me it was like demon souls to blood Bourne.
I know not the same game but it’s the best example for me.
Just like bloodborne, expedition 33 was faster and more fluid.
And metaphor, just like demon/dark souls, it’s much slower.
For me I like the faster pace combat.
The success of numerous original titles and the failure of several live service games demonstrate a strong demand for story-driven experiences.
Three months into 2025 is as good a time as any to celebrate the best games of 2024.
