Current Events > Expedition 33 has now sold 4.4 million

(+) Yeah! (+)

It beat FF16, wow.
https://www.gamereactor.eu/clair-obscur-expedition-33-quietly-tops-44-million-in-sales-1601503/

Is that despite being on GamePass too?

SE is looking at this taking a long hard look at their business practices and

will release 20 new live service games on mobile

and make FF17 in to a dark souls style game remove things like chocobo and moogles

and they will announce loudly that no one wants turn based games so stop asking

Akagami_Shanks posted...

It beat FF16, wow.
https://www.gamereactor.eu/clair-obscur-expedition-33-quietly-tops-44-million-in-sales-1601503/

it's almost half the price and didn't get kneecapped by exclusivity deals, that's not surprising

sabin017 posted...

Is that despite being on GamePass too?

Yes, day 1 on GamePass I think.

AceMos posted...

SE is looking at this taking a long hard look at their business practices and

will release 20 new live service games on mobile

and make FF17 in to a dark souls style game remove things like chocobo and moogles

and they will announce loudly that no one wants turn based games so stop asking

Probably.

Voidgolem posted...

it's almost half the price and didn't get kneecapped by exclusivity deals, that's not surprising

or maybe just maybe FF16 is not what most FF fans want

its barely a RPG anymore

Didn't beat ff7 remake, SE still thinks it's good

AceMos posted...

SE is looking at this taking a long hard look at their business practices and

will release 20 new live service games on mobile

and make FF17 in to a dark souls style game remove things like chocobo and moogles

and they will announce loudly that no one wants turn based games so stop asking

You forgot the part where after saying nobody wants turn-based games they then continue to release turn-based Dragon Quest, Octopath Traveler, and other games that sell incredibly well while Final Fantasy continues to be twisted into a first-person shooter series

TMOG posted...

You forgot the part where after saying nobody wants turn-based games they then continue to release turn-based Dragon Quest, Octopath Traveler, and other games that sell incredibly well while Final Fantasy continues to be twisted into a first-person shooter series

They keep making turn based gacha FF's. And making dramatically more money than every non-gacha game in the process.

AceMos posted...

or maybe just maybe FF16 is not what most FF fans want

its barely a RPG anymore

Eh, exclusivity definitely hampered the sales of the game a bit. But yeah I don't really think FF fans generally want a pure action game either. The 7 Remake trilogy is honestly the most perfect balance of action and RPG that I've seen them pull off since it's not only really fun and active but also requires strategy and gear prep.

AceMos posted...

and they will announce loudly that no one wants turn based games so stop asking

It is still really confusing that people look at the number 1 selling final fantasy game FF10, the number 2 FF7, and then the number 3 FF15 combined with the MMO FF14 which makes more final fantasy money than anything else and think "yep. The battle system being turned based is such a huge thing that matters and that our voices of displeasure of a final fantasy game not being turn-based is immense!"

Voidgolem posted...

it's almost half the price and didn't get kneecapped by exclusivity deals, that's not surprising

ff16 has been $50 for like a year now, and is frequently on sale for $30 or less

Mad-Dogg posted...

It is still really confusing that people look at the number 1 selling final fantasy game FF10, the number 2 FF7, and then the number 3 FF15 combined with the MMO FF14 which makes more final fantasy money than anything else and think "yep. The battle system being turned based is such a huge thing that matters and that our voices of displeasure of a final fantasy game not being turn-based is immense!"

10 and 7 both have turn based battle systems

AceMos posted...

or maybe just maybe FF16 is not what most FF fans want

its barely a RPG anymore

XVI was great though.

Uta posted...

XVI was great though.

it was good, but e33 is great

Uta posted...

XVI was great though.

I like XVI, but it's definitely more of an action game, than RPG. I would love to see a new mainline game that does the more hybrid system that that the VII Remake games have.

Uta posted...

XVI was great though.

ok it still was not really a RPG or what most fans want out of the franchise

Can't celebrate the game of the year without bringing Final Fantasy into it.

Wonderful.

Deserved

World of Final Fantasy was the only title in the franchise I enjoyed since the pre-merger days. It was turn based and felt like classic FF and I don't think it broke a million copies sold because people whined about the chibi artstyle portion.

Going pure turn based isn't the magic fix that some people think it would be and I say this as someone who prefers and loves turn based.

archizzy posted...

World of Final Fantasy was the only title in the franchise I enjoyed since the pre-merger days. It was turn based and felt like classic FF and I don't think it broke a million copies sold because people whined about the chibi artstyle portion.

Going pure turn based isn't the magic fix that some people think it would be and I say this as someone who prefers and loves turn based.

wasnt world of final fantasy one of the many mobile FF games?

archizzy posted...

World of Final Fantasy was the only title in the franchise I enjoyed since the pre-merger days. It was turn based and felt like classic FF and I don't think it broke a million copies sold because people whined about the chibi artstyle portion.

Going pure turn based isn't the magic fix that some people think it would be and I say this as someone who prefers and loves turn based.

Its not, but the thing is that most of the reasons the newer games suck are the reasons they are so adamant to not do turn based. Basically, they want to make super cinematic movie games that are tech demos and eye candy with budgets large enough they need to sell at least 5 million copies just to break even, and they think turn based battle systems would break the immersion of that kind of game.

So basically, if they are doing turn based, its a good indicator they arent doing a movie game tech demo which is a huge reason the series has declined.

PraetorXyn posted...

Its not, but the thing is that most of the reasons the newer games suck are the reasons they are so adamant to not do turn based. Basically, they want to make super cinematic movie games that are tech demos and eye candy, and they think turn based battle systems would break the immersion of that kind of game.

and yet its the turn based games that have the most impressive cinamatics

FF8 in particular has legit impressive cinematography

not just in cut scenes either but even the in engine stuff is will framed

archizzy posted...

World of Final Fantasy was the only title in the franchise I enjoyed since the pre-merger days. It was turn based and felt like classic FF and I don't think it broke a million copies sold because people whined about the chibi artstyle portion.

Going pure turn based isn't the magic fix that some people think it would be and I say this as someone who prefers and loves turn based.

the Pokemon aspect of that game really turned me off personally

AceMos posted...

and yet its the turn based games that have the most impressive cinamatics

FF8 in particular has legit impressive cinematography

not just in cut scenes either but even the in engine stuff is will framed

They were made with Sakaguchi at the helm (or at least with influence on it in the case of X). The newer directors had and have different priorities and opinions etc.

AceMos posted...

10 and 7 both have turn based battle systems

Final fantasy 14 makes more money than the series' existence in it's entirety. That is the point I was making by pointing out the top 3 selling games of the series, and then the MMO game alongside the list..........The top 2 have their own spins on a traditional rpg turn-based battle system, final fantasy 15 has a very basic action game type of system, and the MMO, well, plays very similar to the most popular MMO of all-time world of warcraft. None of these battle systems actually matter and have that much of a effect on why final fantasy has it's fans.

No one gives a shit what battle system a final fantasy game has. They never have, from the very beginning of the series' origins.

You want to know the true, genuine reason why final fantasy games has a huge fanbase?

"Wow, that game has high quality cinematics compared to its other fellow japanese-made role playing games. These characters have higher quality writing compared to vast majority of other fellow japanese-made role playing games in each game's era. The story feels really well-made compared to other japanese-made role playing games of this era. The music is so high-quality. I like charming and familiar final fantasy things like chocobos, moogles, tonberries, cactaurs, cid, airships, bombs, marlboros, silly side-tasks, etc."

....thats it. Even for the 16 bit games, cinematics like FF6's opera house is the most fondly remembered scene from that game. Seriously, think back as far as you can remember to every single final fantasy game's development updates via video game magazines or internet articles. The advertisements/commercials. The talks at shows like tokyo game show and E3....

*Final fantasy 7 as it was coming out*

"Damn, these cinematics look sick. I heard the basic details about the story with this midgar place and this main character cloud, it sounds awesome. These FMVs look really good and cutting edge. This guy with the gun arm and this wolf looks cool I wonder what their story is about.....wow that guy with the super long katana looks awesome. I like chocobos and moogles"

*FF7 releases. Square knocks it out of the park with the characters, the story, and the FMV looking very high-quality for 1996 and 1997 standards. Financial success.*

*Final fantasy 8 is in development.* "Wow, these characters look pretty interesting, this guy called squall and his rival seifer. Holy hell, these cinematics/FMVs look even better than before.....that fight in the flower field looked amazing!" Squaresoft said this game's theme is a love story...cloud and tifa was ok, but I would like something a little more.....rinoa is squall's love interest and she looks cute. The music sounds soooo goooood. This song is called eyes on me and dawwwww its so good. Laguana is cool. I like chocobos and moogles."

*Final fantasy 8 is a financial success. This game is bigger proof than anything that the battle system is a very minor aspect of a final fantasy game's success, because if there actually was a huge priority placed on this by both gamers and critics then FF8 would have been taking plenty of hits about it.*

*Final fantasy 9 is being made. Same thing with the video game news cycle and whatnot. Final fantasy 10 was being developed at the same time and so 10 stole a lot of this game's thunder, but FF9 was still being produced with love and is extremely nostalgia inspired. A craving to go back to the before more futuristic setting of 7 and 8. Again, priority among the media was placed mainly on the characters, the story, the cinematics, and "final fantasy feeling like final fantasy" with familiarity. Financial success.*

*Somewhere or another squaresoft legitimately tries to get into the movie business because that is just how popular and succesful squaresoft got from their video game cinematics and FMVs. Movie bombed, but square really was that popular at the time because of their characters, stories, and cinematics.*

*Final fantasy 10 is being made*. "This game's cinematics is going to be so freaking cutting edge because the playstation 2 is like, crazy. This water scene looks siiiiiiiiiick. This story is so damn good oh man. Auron is just so freaking awesome. I am very interested in the people of spira's plight against sin. Goddamn jecht. Hey seymour get your hands off yuna you bastard! Why so racist wakka? I really like the well-animated lulu win-pose. I like chocobos and moogles still......kind of miss that world map though". *Financial success*

*Final fantasy 11 is being made*. "You know that everquest game looks ok, but wouldn't it be cool if like, it was like that game, but its a final fantasy instead with the same jobs we all know and a great story and character as expected of a final fantasy? Hell yeah". *Financial success.*

*Final fantasy 13 is.........a mess, but its being made*. "Wow lightning looks kind of like cloud. I really like that we have a female protagonist now, and like, one that doesn't have to share or whatever like terra did. Oh, my, GOD, the graphics will be siiiiiiiiiiiick!!!! The PS3 is a super computer and can control nukes or whatever! (Hi xbox 360). Everyone else now wants to try this game too because the cinematics and story looks so interesting". *Its.........a financial success! I think!*

*Final fantasy 14 is being made, but just swap everquest for WoW*

*Final fantasy 15 is being made". "This game is a bro trip........ok. Damn, is it going to be open world now?! This game took so long that I went through like 3 phases in my life, but its finally happening. The cinematics looks siiiiiiiiiiick. Noctis looks interesting, and he is some kind of prince on the run? You know what I can dig it, you take your kingdom back! Its modern day and we can eat burgers at a gas station! Lmao conan was hilarious tonight, maybe we can get noctis to hook up with his friend!"

*Final fantasy 15 is a financial success despite what a mess of development it was.*

*Final fantasy 16 is being made* "Ah, a hairy-assed grown fantasy western man main character, and he isn't anime? I really liked game of thrones, and I heard this is final fantasy game of thrones. The cinematics will look so fucking sick on the next generation playstaton 5, and PC, and xbox series X. It sucks I won't be able to play this because I can't actually find a damn PS5 right now without a scalper trying to charge me 1K dollars for it, the PC port isn't until later, and it isn't known if the xbox series consoles is getting this no time soon, so that sucks. I really hope chocobos and moogles is in this one because its looking a little too serious for my tastes as a final fantasy fan....

....sick summon battle graphics though. Wait, this one got true nudity where we can see a breastseses game of thrones style? I like chocobos and moogles"

*Final fantasy 16 is the final fantasy game that is considered below average for success. Availability aside, the game's biggest criticisms was that the "final fantasy", things like side-questing, the rewards for bothering with side-quests, the traditional final fantasy-ish whimsical, it just wasn't there for this entry. They were trying a serious business angle that just did not click with long-time series fans that love final fantasy for all that stuff I just bothered to type out. (Plz read all that stuff I typed out.....I spent a good bit of time actually trying to remember people's thoughts before the previous game's releases, lmao).*

But seriously though, I put more effort into that post than I have done in any other on gamefaqs for the past like, 4 years, lmfao. I'm going back on borderlands 4 now.

About final fantasy 16, this game literally could have been any battle system imaginable.......it would have done absolutely nothing to change this game's fate sales-wise.

1. As said, a final fantasy fan loves the series' take on the characters. This game is a standard action game one-man army.
2. Both the serious and the whimsy is loved with this series......go too far in one direction and you are going to lose some fans.
3. It genuinely was hampered by PS5 availability. A ton of gamers was still on the PS4 and xbox one at that point, still missing out on a xbox series version then sucked, and final fantasy as a IP has always been more of a console series than a PC series.
4. How can anyone with a straight face blame the battle system when we already have 5 examples blatantly proving that final fantasy fans actually don't have a problem with action as long as the "vibes" is still final fantasy. (FF11, FF14, FF15, FF7 remake and rebirth)

Expedition 33 too could have been any other type of battle system.....hell it could be pure first person etrian odyssey style fighting. The game knocked it out with its plot, its characters, music, and balancing serious and light-hearted.

I'm not saying the gameplay for a rpg never matters at all, but goddamn the amount of priority some people put on it legit feels like a version of coping or whatever. There is no grand turn-based vs action-based conspiracy.

Voidgolem posted...

it's almost half the price and didn't get kneecapped by exclusivity deals, that's not surprising

It's also a completely new IP in a segment full of serials.

*Open topic for E33 celebration*

Its all final fantasy

AceMos posted...

or maybe just maybe FF16 is not what most FF fans want

this would make more sense if FF7R did not exist or if Square's *still existing* turnbased franchises sold better than they currently are.

Can admit the grimdark fantasy intro probably threw a few people before they got to the traditional "Crystals, darkness, goofy sidequests" part of the game that's almost straight a beat-for-beat go at FF4/5.

...also the game's pacing between the big hype bossfights is garbage, but that's been the trend of the series ever since FFX - much to it's detriment, I'll add, seeing as the big hype moments cost a lot of money to make.

BewmHedshot posted...

It's also a completely new IP in a segment full of serials.

this is also true. Maybe FF would do better if they dropped the numbered titles and went with something else, seeing as most of the franchise is like...loosely connected at best, aside from the ones that've been directly linked

4.4 million at $40 a copy would be considered a huge failure for square enix.

Tyranthraxus posted...

4.4 million at $40 a copy would be considered a huge failure for square enix.

Says more about square enixs budgets and expectations than anything tbh

If a $70 game needs to sell like 10 million copies to be considered a success something is wrong

ssb_yunglink2 posted...

Says more about square enixs budgets and expectations than anything tbh

If a $70 game needs to sell like 10 million copies to be considered a success something is wrong

This.

Sandfall fucking embarrassed SE with that game, by basically every metric. But the main one is that it proved you dont need a Hollywood movie budget to make a gorgeous game with attractive characters and a beautiful world with a mature adult story and a cinematic feel etc.

I mean if I try to come up with something to criticize Expedition 33 for, a couple of the Gestral Beaches is about all Ive got.

It sadly wasn't my cup of tea but glad to see the game succeed...

Voidgolem posted...

this is also true. Maybe FF would do better if they dropped the numbered titles and went with something else, seeing as most of the franchise is like...loosely connected at best, aside from the ones that've been directly linked

What I mean was, there was no built-in audience ready to buy it. So the fact it's even getting compared to Final Fuckin Fantasy is a huge accomplishment.

Yeah, as much as a spectacle FF7 Remake/Rebirth and FF16 are, not every game Square develops needs to be The Most Expensive Looking Game Ever and have a 5+ year development lifecycle and people enter high school/university and graduate without even seeing a sequel release

its ok to take the Yakuza/Trails route. Re-use assets, release a game every year or two with a far lower budget

solosnake posted...

it was good, but e33 is great

E33 was also Great.

Fuck yeah. I'd say SE should take notes but they literally did. And they'll probably ignore them.

Expedition 33 really is a pretty good game, that it doesn't surprise me too much it's selling well. I'm likely one final boss fight away from heading into Act 3, but I'm having a pretty fun time leveling up, and coming up with my own customizations and strategies to beating enemies.

E33 wasnt an overbudgeted game, and it still looked, sounded, and played beautifully.

SE needs to stop thinking budget=quality. This isnt the PS1 era where it was new to be cinematic. Now Mario is cinematic. Time to make good games,

ssb_yunglink2 posted...

*Open topic for E33 celebration*

Its all final fantasy

Just imagine the insufferable if E33 manages to win game of the year.

Expedition 33 is the perfect example of a video game I personally love that exists and sold. well but absolutely hate all discussion about this game on this website. Every single time, whining about final fantasy.

this game deserves all the success it can get!

been a while since i had this much fun with a turn based RPG game! great story, soundtrack and gameplay! what more do you need?? lol

Mad-Dogg posted...

Just imagine the insufferable if E33 manages to win game of the year.

Expedition 33 is the perfect example of a video game I personally love that exists and sold. well but absolutely hate all discussion about this game on this website. Every single time, whining about final fantasy.

It's perfectly fair. When SE says people don't want turn based Final Fantasy, this game comes in and proves them wrong. The people don't clamor for Octoscraps, they want that big beautiful final Fantasy the way it used to be.

crayola555 posted...

Didn't beat ff7 remake, SE still thinks it's good

Rebirth sold even less

I think the discussion around E33 extends beyond turn based, even though people like to point towards Final Fantasy as the point to say they want it.

Expedition 33 did it earlier this year, and now Silksong has done it too, where these are games that are visually stunning, have incredible music, tell an interesting story, have relatively few technical issues, and are fun to play. And then they blow a lot of AAA games out of the water by doing all that and releasing at a lower price point. The takeaway I get from these is not that they're doing it to challenge or laugh at the industry, or because of lack of confidence in their product. They price their games "low" because their first and foremost goal was to make a video game as art and they wanted as many people as possible to see it.

Obviously they can't price it too low--a person has to eat and make rent, after all--but they would have gotten tons of praise even releasing at a much higher price. There's arguments to be made from a business perspective of course, like Sandfall setting a low price point to prove themselves and hook people, but I think that was secondary. The themes of art are written all over E33 after all, and it makes sense that someone proud of their art would want people to see it.

And that's where I think that most major publishers are falling short these days. Money is the main driving factor. The art is stripped away as the things they make get turned into a product. It has to get massaged by focus groups into a mass appeal mold and have tons of money pumped into graphics so they can have a big flashy scene for marketing trailers. Even if the people lower down still have passion to put in development, it gets filed away for the sake of profit.

And unfortunately, if bigger devs, Square Enix included, do learn any lessons from this, I don't think that'll be the one they take away.

Tl;dr: E33 was successful and beloved for being art with passion while major releases like Final Fantasy have been reduced to products.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/8/8b04d221.jpg

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/9/9d2fef81.jpg

TMOG posted...

while Final Fantasy continues to be twisted into a first-person shooter series

...no. XVI did skew too much into action game and not enough RPG. At least get the criticism right.

AceMos posted...

and yet its the turn based games that have the most impressive cinamatics

FF8 in particular has legit impressive cinematography

not just in cut scenes either but even the in engine stuff is will framed

It was a very different time when FFVIII was released. And graphics were very different. Not really comparable.

Mad-Dogg posted...

"Ah, a hairy-assed grown fantasy western man main character

...

Rika_Furude posted...

Yeah, as much as a spectacle FF7 Remake/Rebirth and FF16 are, not every game Square develops needs to be The Most Expensive Looking Game Ever and have a 5+ year development lifecycle and people enter high school/university and graduate without even seeing a sequel release

They aren't. FF is most guilty, though there have been some others as well, like Forsaken that flopped. They do have some smaller releases with mixed success. But overall, their budgets are too high.