Claire Obscure 33 is the most overrated game in history

hex

Super Moderator
Staff member
Supporter
Joined
May 2, 2012
Messages
39,182
Reputation
20,232
Daps
201,118
I'm sure if you get ahold of there finances you going to see a paper trail of pay for play.

I keep seeing people saying this but it makes no sense.

You can pull up old Reddit and various video game forum posts where these guys were trying to recruit people to work on "E33". This is from 2020:



Yet somehow they had enough money and clout to bribe half the industry, including Square-Enix, Kojima, Team Cherry, and most of the people they were competing with for Game Of The Year? Because all of those people were praising the game months ago.

It's fine to think the game is overrated. I disagree but whatever. But these conspiracy theories are bordering on that "It's Always Sunny" meme.

Fred.
 

MeachTheMonster

YourFriendlyHoodMonster
Joined
May 24, 2012
Messages
74,161
Reputation
4,315
Daps
117,694
Reppin
Tha Land
I keep seeing people saying this but it makes no sense.

You can pull up old Reddit and various video game forum posts where these guys were trying to recruit people to work on "E33". This is from 2020:



Yet somehow they had enough money and clout to bribe half the industry, including Square-Enix, Kojima, Team Cherry, and most of the people they were competing with for Game Of The Year? Because all of those people were praising the game months ago.

It's fine to think the game is overrated. I disagree but whatever. But these conspiracy theories are bordering on that "It's Always Sunny" meme.

Fred.

It don’t really have to be a “conspiracy theory”

It’s kinda like in music or politics. Coverage is very much influenced by connections and access.

Like seats at the awards cost thousands of dollars. The E33 team were able to buy multiple dozens of tickets.

It may not be straight up “pay to play” but when that much money is exchanging hands “fair” and “integrity” go out the window.

Like publishers that have the money are able to fly reviewers out and give them gifts, and take them to dinner with their families etc. Publishers that can’t afford it or don’t have the relationships just don’t get the same amount and quality of coverage.

E33 being a small cheap indie game sounds good. But then look at some of the voice talent, dev talent etc. Somebody with some big money and connections put a big push behind this game that other indies don’t get.

The game awards voting process is very lose. It’s just a bunch of people that call out a game. They don’t even have to claim to have played the games they vote against. It quite literally is a popularity contest, and when millions of dollars are being exchanged “popularity” isn’t really an integral measurement.
 

hex

Super Moderator
Staff member
Supporter
Joined
May 2, 2012
Messages
39,182
Reputation
20,232
Daps
201,118
It don’t really have to be a “conspiracy theory”

It’s kinda like in music or politics. Coverage is very much influenced by connections and access.

Like seats at the awards cost thousands of dollars. The E33 team were able to buy multiple dozens of tickets.

It may not be straight up “pay to play” but when that much money is exchanging hands “fair” and “integrity” go out the window.

Like publishers that have the money are able to fly reviewers out and give them gifts, and take them to dinner with their families etc. Publishers that can’t afford it or don’t have the relationships just don’t get the same amount and quality of coverage.

E33 being a small cheap indie game sounds good. But then look at some of the voice talent, dev talent etc. Somebody with some big money and connections put a big push behind this game that other indies don’t get.

I got zero issues with people entertaining this idea but I need some kinda receipts. Literally anything.

Like I said, you can find posts of these guys asking random ass people to help make the game. You can find tech demos from 6+ years ago too.

The biggest name on the game is Andy Serkis.

Charlie Cox worked for a single 8 hour session.

Kepler Interactive (the publisher) paid for both of them.

Jennifer English, Ben Starr, and Devora Wilde are relatively well known but they've worked on smaller games than this so I'm not sure what their pay rate is.

Aside from that the vast majority of Sandfall Interactive is not expensive talent. They found the composer on Soundcloud. They found the lead writer on Reddit.

Square-Enix and Kojima made it a point to reach out to them on some fan sh*t. Half the devs at the Game Awards praised this game when it came out and/or added to the memes, hype, etc. earlier this year.

Even if they bribed journalists, the media, early reviews, etc....did they bribe The Coli? Did they bribe the people that worked on "Final Fantasy" and "Silksong"?

I'm a fan of Occam's Razor. The simplest explanation is a gang of people (including most of the industry) think the game is that good. That's it. :manny:

Fred.
 

MeachTheMonster

YourFriendlyHoodMonster
Joined
May 24, 2012
Messages
74,161
Reputation
4,315
Daps
117,694
Reppin
Tha Land
I got zero issues with people entertaining this idea but I need some kinda receipts. Literally anything.

Like I said, you can find posts of these guys asking random ass people to help make the game. You can find tech demos from 6+ years ago too.

The biggest name on the game is Andy Serkis.

Charlie Cox worked for a single 8 hour session.

Kepler Interactive (the publisher) paid for both of them.

Jennifer English, Ben Starr, and Devora Wilde are relatively well known but they've worked on smaller games than this so I'm not sure what their pay rate is.

Aside from that vast majority of Sandfall Interactive is not expensive talent. They found the composer on Soundcloud. They found the lead writer on Reddit.

Square-Enix and Kojima made it a point to reach out to them on some fan sh*t. Half the devs at the Game Awards praised this game when it came out and/or added to the memes, hype, etc. earlier this year.

Even if they bribed journalists, the media, early reviews, etc....did they bribe The Coli? Did they bribe the people that worked on "Final Fantasy" and "Silksong"?

I'm a fan of Occam's Razor. The simplest explanation is a gang of people (including most of the industry) think the game is that good. That's it. :manny:

Fred.
There are lots of GREAT games that don’t get the coverage.

Occam’s Razor says something other than being a GREAT game is at play when it comes to coverage in the industry.

And i say that as somebody who LOVED the game.
 

Fatboi1

Veteran
Supporter
Joined
May 6, 2012
Messages
62,692
Reputation
8,270
Daps
114,831
Yeah just finished this after stopping at the final area before the final boss fight back during the summer. This story and world did not click with me. Couldn't give a Fukk about anything that was going honestly. :francis:

Great game but the overworld and exploration was thin as a piece of paper. I have no idea what enthralled so many people. Zero emotions at the end.

I'd like a new game in a completely different world with the battle system though but everything else I'm good:unimpressed:

Unlike @The Mad Titan hating on Astrobot, I at least finished this begrudgingly. It's an 8/10, anyone saying this shyt is a 10/10 is fukking lying and probably hasn't played Baten Kaitos.
 
Last edited:

hex

Super Moderator
Staff member
Supporter
Joined
May 2, 2012
Messages
39,182
Reputation
20,232
Daps
201,118
There are lots of GREAT games that don’t get the coverage.

Occam’s Razor says something other than being a GREAT game is at play when it comes to coverage in the industry.

And i say that as somebody who LOVED the game.

You're right. Some great games don't get this much coverage. But people have been asking for high quality, reasonably priced, single player games with no microtransactions (plus free DLC on top of that)....then when we get one people think it's suspicious.

I don't know what gamers want at this point. :francis:

Fred.
 

Deafheaven

Gleaming and Empty
Supporter
Joined
May 11, 2012
Messages
25,658
Reputation
3,807
Daps
76,687
There are lots of GREAT games that don’t get the coverage.

Occam’s Razor says something other than being a GREAT game is at play when it comes to coverage in the industry.

And i say that as somebody who LOVED the game.

youre so strange :dead:

you can see the reactions in real time on this site when it dropped let alone the whole of the internet.

There is no hidden astroturf campaign with this game
 

Deafheaven

Gleaming and Empty
Supporter
Joined
May 11, 2012
Messages
25,658
Reputation
3,807
Daps
76,687
Yeah just finished this after stopping at the final area before the final boss fight back during the summer. This story and world did not click with me. Couldn't give a Fukk about anything that was going honestly. :francis:

Great game but the overworld and exploration was thin as a piece of paper. I have no idea what enthralled so many people. Zero emotions at the end.

I'd like a new game in a completely different world with the battle system though but everything else I'm good:unimpressed:

Unlike @The Mad Titan hating on Astrobot, I at least finished this begrudgingly. It's an 8/10, anyone saying this shyt is a 10/10 is fukking lying and probably hasn't played Baten Kaitos.

I played Baten Kaitos on release and naw b you jumped the shark with that :dead:
 
Joined
May 3, 2012
Messages
1,514
Reputation
390
Daps
3,945
I got zero issues with people entertaining this idea but I need some kinda receipts. Literally anything.

there are no receipts, it's just this 'woe is me, the industry is against Xbox, everything is compromised' thing they do

it's why they're cynical towards award shows, game reviews, really anything from gaming media (cac tweets)
 
Top