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- The Thirsty Mage RPG Newsletter - July 2024
The Thirsty Mage RPG Newsletter - July 2024
A number of interesting titles makes up for a lack of big reveals.
David Lloyd
June 27, 2024
With E3 officially in the rearview mirror, the annual summer release schedule has now spread out over a number of weeks as numerous “fests” attempt to fill the void. Though we didn’t get any internet-breaking announcements, a particularly strong Nintendo Direct and a number of interesting titles certainly stand out from the crowd for RPG enthusiasts.
In the spirit of keeping this newsletter a comfortable length, I’ve chosen 3 announcements that managed to get me to leap out of my chair.
What’s Coming
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
2025 Release - PS5 / XBox X|S / PC
This visually stunning RPG is the first title from the brand new French developer, Sandfall Interactive. Led by former Ubisoft developers, Expedition 33 is a visually stunning RPG looking to innovate the turn-based combat system. Based in a world inspired by the artwork of the Belle Epoque period of France (1871-1914), the game centers around a Paintress that extinguishes the lives of all that are of the age that is she paints onto a monolith. In a desperate attempt to save the lives of everyone of the age of 33, a party of six characters attempts to change their destiny by vanquishing the Paintress once and for all.
"Once a year, the Paintress wakes and paints upon her monolith. Paints her cursed number and everyone of that age turns to smoke and fades away.
Year by year, that number ticks down and more of us are erased. Tomorrow she’ll wake and paint “33.” Tomorrow we depart on our final mission - Destroy the Paintress, so she can never paint death again.
-We are Expedition 33."
Expedition 33 looks to innovate the turn-based combat system by introducing real-time actions in between commands. Between the footage during the Xbox Game Showcase and the description from the developer, the combat seems to be a hybrid of the combat system designed for Final Fantasy VII Remake and the rhythm and timed-attacked style of a Paper Mario or Sea of Stars. The most recent work by the lead designers appears to be on MMORPGs, and their listed inspirations include: Persona 3, Elden Ring, and Final Fantasy VIII.