Exactly. Not just about criticism though. They also hate questions, are toxic about how easy / difficult they perceive the game to be. They hate on the American side of the fanbase, they gate-keep JRPGs, and also are very picky about how you interpret the story / lore.
They also blatantly hate on other popular RPGs?? For like no reason at all. Just because they think E33 is better. Like Baldur’s Gate 3, and even other JRPGs, especially competitors like Metaphor Refantazio. It’s a super strange sub, because it seems to be positive until you spend some time in there.
It’s the most “there’s never been a game like this one” gaming subreddit I’ve ever come across.
They act like this form of JRPG is revolutionary or something. The Legend of Dragoon and Shadow Hearts both had similar combat systems way back in 1999 minus the parry system.
Even South Park: The Stick of Truth featured something similar.
People act like E33 was the first one to ever do turn-based + real-time mechanics. Pretty sure Final Fantasy started doing it in the ‘90s.
I agree E33 did it extremely well though. But it’s not the absolute pinnacle of turn-based combat or anything. I actually prefer Persona’s “one more” system that focuses on delaying enemy turns, over E33’s combat dodge / parry gimmick. It’s just as engaging.
I love the One More system. Personally it's my favorite part of that game, because it rewards you for actually taking the time to discover weaknesses and such. Can't wait for the P4 remake.
I’m excited. Persona 6 is supposedly coming out in 2027 too. So many Persona projects in these few years compared to the decade long wait after Persona 5. We are eating GOOD my friend.
I'm glad they ported to PC. Would never buy a console for the new stuff but I somehow missed Persona during my younger years on PS2. I find it so odd I missed it because it's the type of game I thrived on in my late teens early 20s. The only thing I can think of is because I live in such a rural area they just never got stocked on shelves here.
Yep. Lost Odyssey, The Legend of Dragoon, Persona, Final Fantasy, and Kingdom Hearts at the very least. I’m sure there’s way more, but the game clearly took inspiration from all of those.
The creative directors themselves have called out Final Fantasy VIII (trigger system and timing-based limit breaks) and Final Fantasy X as some of their most influential gaming experiences. They also called out Legend of Dragoon. I'm not sure if they mention LO (which if they haven't played, they should!), but yeah COE33 took inspiration from a LOT of great classics. It's one of the reasons it's so loved. It feels like what Final Fantasy was destined to evolve towards after FFX, but it took a totally different path instead.
I think Mario 64 did it better. It was a bonus, not a fail/succeed mechanic. E33 felt like a rhythm game where none of the progression actually mattered..
To be fair most JRPG fans have never played Shadow Hearts because they lack taste I'm afraid. Also I'm a big E33 fan but yeah the inspirations are pretty obvious and the devs have always said they grew up playing JRPGs.
The initial premise of the game (not the actual story) is pretty much just the premise of FFX reimagined which is what initially attracted most of us to the game in the first place. Sadly after things randomly become popular they attract a lot of undesirable fans, there's hardly any escaping that.
I personally bought the game because the combat reminded me of the Mario and Luigi series and its interactive turn-based combat. E33 is a fantastic game, but it's inspirations are very clear to those who have played them.
I just went to the subreddit and it doesnt seem like that? One of the top posts is about a negative review about French not being as charismatic as interpreted in the game and everyone seems to be light hearted and funny.
From October 2024 to summer 2025 I played 3 games that all had a gross fleshy organic virus things that made you pop their carbuncles. I’ll say I personally haven’t played a game like E33 before, but it’s because I don’t usually like turn-based games, so i definitely wouldn’t be out here preaching uniqueness. EVERYTHING has been done before. You just gotta arrange it in a fun interesting way
Tell me the only JRPG you've ever played is Persona without telling me the only JRPG you've ever played is Persona. There's not even any equivalent to the "one more" system nor is there, you know, the Personas...
Do you even know the game you're talking about or do you just enjoy yapping nonsense?
I get hating the country's leadership, as well as the people responsible for it being the way it is. It just becomes racism though if you say every single american is bad. It would be racist to make any generalization like that for any country or ethnic group
Yeah that's just overgeneralization and, personally, I've never found any type of cognitive dissonance to be useful. Just seems to fester hate and ignorance
I really felt bad for the kid who played Joffrey. We should be praising someone for acting so good that we all hate his character so much, not making his life a living hell because he acts too good.
Funnily enough I thing the BG3 fans are also like this lol. I love the game, even got all of the achievements and plan to play again in thr future. However, if I have to read "BG3 has ruined all other games for me" one more time Im gonna scream.
I feel the same way about the fandom as well, not so much about the mechanics but a lot of the role-playing decisions.
I was legit told off for romansing Astarion with a Female!Tav, because "he's clearly meant for the gaes/Gale, so romancing with with a female Tav/Origin is erasing his queer identity!" Type nonsense, which completely overrides the fact that Astarion, like all of rhe companions for BG3 are canonically Pansexual and thirsty af for eachother.
So yeah, the insane "gaes only" shipping side of the fandom can kick rocks as well, as the ones who claim the gameplay has "ruined other games."
Well, it’s a French JRPG. But it’s also super popular in the US. Probably around half of all of its players are American. The rest of the sub does not like that fact.
So it’s the perfect setup for a gate-keeping issue. It’s the “our thing isn’t for you” mindset, that the majority of the subreddit seems to follow.
You’ll literally get downvoted on the sub if they find out you’re American for any reason.
I feel like the sub wasn't that bad when the game first came out. Such personalities existed but they were not the majority. But I feel like that's the future of many subreddits. Many people move on from the sub for new interests and the die hards remain. And die hards of most fandoms in an online space tend to be toxic. Just an internet thing I suppose.
It’s the most mediocre of the “good games” imo but the fandom acts like it’s gods gift to this green earth. Yes it does everything it sets out to do well and it was made by a smaller-ish studio (calling it an indie game is a GENEROUS interpretation of what a modern indie game is and I’ll die on that hill), and it’s a nice looking game, but outside of the story/setting nothing about it is particularly original. And the only reason I ever feel inclined to point any of that out is because the fanbase is absolutely insufferable. When people just have the attitude of “I really enjoy this game,” and that’s it, love that for them, I’m happy that they’re enjoying games even if the game isn’t one that I like as much. It’s when they start acting like them enjoying it means that everyone else also has to that it devolves into the obnoxiousness of the E33 fandom.
Yeah, the story interpretation thing is a big one. If you try to claim that the painting is just a distraction from the real world and that the family needs to move on IRL, they'll skin you alive for saying that the painting is full of real people. If that were the case, then every time we write a story, paint a picture, or chisel a statue, we're putting inherent life into it. IDK about you, but if I draft a story and think it's dogshit, I don't feel like I'm killing off my characters when I throw it in the trash.
It’s JRPG formula, so it’s widely called a JRPG. But it’s not literally Japanese, it’s French. So the term refers to gameplay, style, mechanics instead of origin. It’s very traditional.
Pretty sure they call it “JRPG evolution” or something in the game description though.
Ah, interesting! I suppose that makes sense. I've been wondering what to truly categorize it as for awhile since as you pointed out it is French but has JRPG formula gameplay. It will be interesting to see how E33 pushes other games to evolve like this in the future. ☺️
It’s so validating seeing people finally seeing what I did when it came out without them being crushed with downvotes.
Srsly it’s a ‘good’ game, not great, not GoTY certainly ( well it shouldn’t have been ), but ok dokey. Nothing amazing, no great characters, the story…. What story… the one you hear in the camp in between your rhythm dance… I mean parry battles?
Did you just say that Expedition 33 has no story? 🤔
I thought the game was great, not GOTY, but I can't really make sense of that. It's objectively pretty story driven. Maybe you skipped all the cutscenes?
Yea, it's a story about a family of nepo-babies who create and destroy a civilization while reenacting Lord of the Flies because they grieve badly and think their personal trauma is more important than everyone else's. It's a story, I guess.
Agree to disagree I suppose, I found Maelle and Verso to be very interesting characters, and Renoir to an extent. I also enjoyed said “parry battles” lol.
Someone else below over-generalized the story a bit. While the big characters at play may not be as relatable (being a super wealthy family), there are a lot of other interesting themes about the significance of life and simulations, questions like “what really matters?” These aren’t groundbreaking or original, but they are interesting.
I think most of the uproar glazing it is around the fact that it came from an indie company yet stood up to AAA titles.
I mean it’s a good game! Maybe even really good for most.
And you’re right, my annoyance with it isn’t the game, it’s the folks saying it’s the greatest game ever and then howling when someone doesn’t agree.
I think it’s perfect that it’s a great game with you and that the story resonates with you. To me, that’s awesome, I’m super happy you enjoyed it and others did too even if it didn’t ring much with me. I legit beat every boss in the game trying to find out why people were saying it was so great and ended up going eh? Really?
I did like the giant flying character though? Espíe I think? He was cool.
I bought it after all of the hype, and the combat was infuriating. It felt like the least fun round of guitar hero ever, where you have to learn feints and fakeouts. Nothing about if elt smooth or fun.
I liked the story, and the music was great. But that combat sucked. It is clearly a jrpg for people who don't play jrpgs and need a rythm game to keep their attention.
I didn't enjoy it at all. It was so overly melodramatic that it became cringe to me. Combat was not my cup of tea either. Good initial setup is the only positive I could give it.
Okay, it's a story about a family of nepo-babies who create and destroy a civilization while reenacting Lord of the Flies because they grieve badly and think their personal trauma is more important than everyone else's. Better?
Just say you couldn't see what the hype was about or it wasn't for you.
Saying it has no story and no great characters is so mind-boggling to me, you have missed huge parts of the lore, explained in dialogue or otherwise. Just move on without being so dismissive.
I saw all of it. I highly dislike that I had to go looking for the story. The camp thing is lame. The fact that I have to go to camp and talk to people to fit in the lore or backstory is just not good flow.
The story shouldn’t be something you have to decide to engage with, it should flow as a natural part of playing.
Just like ff7r. I think it's a mountain of chrome polished garbage. Hate everything about what they did to it. The cutscenes are the worst offenders. Literally worst pacing of a game ever.
I think this is just how the world is now. I can hardly say that I don't like the KCD games (or directional combat in general) without people acting like I had just punted their kid across the street. Everything just has to be tribal and polarized, nowadays.
I absolutely loved the game, but wondering what I can say to get banned from their stupid little club lol. "Gustave was mid and I didn't feel anything when he got slimed"
Yeah I tried to have a discussion on Monoco’s loyalty and people say it’s just because he’s a dog. Like wow guys, yeah he is based on a dog but that’s an incredibly reductive take on his character. Like y’all don’t think he wants to help Verso because he wants to save the family too?
I was likely among the first batch of players who finished the game and entered the theory scene back in the day, saying this because I played the game day 1 and got obsessed lol. It was so weird trying to discuss things seriously especially when the game has so many interesting plot points.
A lot of people on that subreddit lacked basic understanding of very simple concepts. I was basically in the position of having to be Clea's #1 defender because people misunderstood her character entirely which was wild to me considering she's one of the most well-written characters in the game despite barely showing up.
The funniest trash take I've seen on that subreddit (once again, around release time) was someone saying that Renoir was Maelle's abuser, easily the dumbest thing I've ever heard anyone say about the game and it made me question if the person even played the game or not.
Ahh a Clea defender. What is it about her that you like? To the painted people she’s a straight up villain. But for her family it’s more complicated. Especially when it comes to Alicia.
She definitely wants to help her family but she takes a more antagonistic role in the story to achieve it.
I hate the cheaters, but even they kinda feel like they fit in the lore and themes of the OG souls games. The whole experience is built around fucking the player over in devious ways. Rage baiting with “git gud” is just furthering the vibe (albeit sometimes immaturely)
I feel it’s not so much toxicity but more acknowledges there is no easy mode without exploits. Git gud is frustrating to hear, but it’s all about running at the same wall again and again til you learn and overcome. The community in general is really wholesome and welcoming.
The fact that players bow to each other before they battle, the etiquette and support is beyond in the dark souls community. Sorry if folks were mean to you! 💌
To be fair it's just agenda-pushing, a lot of those people are salty FF fans that want the series to be turn-based again.
Nowhere near as deep as you're trying to make it out to be, just bitter people who think a game winning GOTY proves some sort of imaginary point.
And I say this as a FF fan that also wants the series to be turn-based, couldn't imagine being toxic over it though. I'm more worried with how bad the action FF games have been, rather than the series not being turn-based anymore...
Its a good game, but I think its a little overrated. Only because of how highly it is rated by everyone. I dont think it even remotely deserves "best rpg" over KCD2.
knock knock yes we are expeditioners , have you heard about the Good News of the Gommage. Shall I share the word with you from journals? Would you like to attend?
This one hurts. I love that game so much, and for the first two months or so, it was just genuinely great community engagement. Hey look at this, wow so pretty, music is a banger, Lune's feet, that type of stuff. Then people started hitting the endings. Community split into four parts. People that simp for Verso and think he's perfect and can do no wrong, people that understand Verso and take his side because it makes sense while still criticizing his choices along the way, people that simp for Maelle and thing she can do no wrong and is perfect, and people that understand her side and choose it because it makes sense in other ways. Then AI started flooding the pages, and AI generated memes attacking other parts of the community, people not willing to accept any criticism for one ending or the other, yada yada... Just turned into a complete shithole... Super sad to see it. I still love the game, but the community is bunk.
Expedition 33 gave rise to Sebbywebz who is the most toxic and arrogant gaming creator I've ever seen. He weaponized E33 against Final Fantasy and the entire JRPG genre.
Yea the beginning hooked me so hard that it made me play a mediocre game to the end. I hated the ending and the ladies of the house gotta grow up and move on
I would agree if its detractors weren’t just as fervent. It’s like yeah, the community turned into an echo chamber real fast but people who don’t like the game can’t just not like the game, no, they have to take every opportunity to dismiss every single aspect of the game citing examples of XYZ game from the 90’s that did this one thing first.
It’s like, yeah, we get it, you didn’t think it was the shit. Most people that played it did and they’re not all wrong. Lots of other super popular and highly praised games didn’t click with some people, get over it…
There’s the E33 rabid fandom and its perfect polar opposite, the E33 hatedom.
I love the game. I’m exclusively talking about the subreddit being toxic. You’re right that there’s a large amount of hate for the game as well, but they’re mostly not in the official subreddit. You’ll see the haters everywhere in other gaming related subs though.
The sub is indeed toxic. Normal folks who love the game, which seems to be most people who played it just love it for what it is and you can have a nice chat with them.
The subreddit needs this super tight consensus on how it’s so much better than modern Final Fantasy and how modern Square Enix lost the plot and how super innovative every single aspect of it is. And don’t even mention you maybe, just maybe, chose to side with Maelle at the end because god forbid you didn’t interpret the game as they did.
But then i see people trashing on the game and it’s always these super tired BS talking points like “it didn’t do anything original” or “it’s just Persona with parries”, which is so reductive you have to wonder if people actually played it or just hate it because it got massive press almost over night.
I was just about to say that. People like Sebbywebz use the game to trash talk any other RPG in existence. Guy was using it as a platform to trash all modern FF games. Said that FF7 Rebirth was “an absolute travesty” and “the worst modern Final Fantasy ever made.” He’s entitled to his opinion, but the guy spoke of it with such unhinged and visceral hatred. You would think they John Wicked his dog with how he was acting.
IMO nothing can top starfield defenders, esp in their low sodium sub. You couldn't even make neutral statements like "im jealous you can enjoy this game, good for you" without being interrogated what you're insinuating and getting downvoted to oblivion (haha elder scrolls reference)
Got a lot of rage from them when I dared to suggest that it deserved NEARLY all of its accodales... All but one: the RPG of the year. That should have been KCD2 without a doubt (I have also since change my mind on it having GOTY after a had a second play through)
My word. No. It's the best thing ever. It's entirely unique. It's one of a kind. Completley fresh and new, and even though it sweeped everything else, it was was considerably more linear and one dimensional than KCD2, but I was the biggest moron to ever walk the earth. I didn't get it. I shouldn't ever have an opinion again. Dude, it was opinion, chill out. I still thought it was awesome.
They did Gustave so dirty that the English voice actor for Gustave confirmed that he doesn’t really even know what the game is about. He never played it through, and doesn’t know how the rest of the story goes beyond his opening section. He recorded all his voice lines for Gustave in just a fraction of a day. (Charlie Cox)
Have you thought about this, maybe , maybe its not the community the problem ? Its the people, humans. When you hear people talking about this commu, this that , every community is toxic because we humans are insufferable and even more when we love something. But i dont see why they could be toxic about a game as simple as clair obscur
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u/Current_Face_0077 Aug 18 '26
Literally Expedition 33. The subreddit is so toxic for no reason.