Shroud praises Expedition 33 gameplay after fighting against its Game of the Year win

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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 dominated the 2025 Game Awards, winning an unprecedented nine awards. Despite this, popular streamer Michael ‘shroud’ Grzesiek publicly supported the game Arc Raiders and encouraged his audience to not support Clair Obscur’s success.

Okay, so this really popular FPS streamer got a ton of heat for complaining about Expedition 33 winning, even though he hadn’t actually played it. It was kinda weird, right? Then Asmongold chimed in and basically told him to pick up the game himself. He was like, “Seriously? You didn’t even try it? It’s a shooter – you can just aim and shoot! He’d probably be great at it!”

Shroud promised he would play the new French RPG if it won an award, and he followed through on that promise during a stream on December 21st. He played for about seven hours and then shared his initial thoughts on the game.

Shroud gives early Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 verdict

Towards the end of his stream, shroud jokingly wondered if Asmongold had actually predicted this. He recalled Asmongold saying that if the game won Game of the Year, shroud would end up enjoying it. Shroud admitted Asmongold might be right, even though it felt a little early to say so. He reasoned that the game couldn’t possibly get any worse and was likely to improve from here.

He ended the stream saying he had a lot of fun and didn’t have any complaints. Even though he found the menus a bit complicated, he wasn’t bothered by it.

I’m really enjoying the game! The story is starting to pick up, though I’m not usually that interested in storylines. What really makes it fun is the gameplay, especially the parry system. I’m not typically into JRPGs, but this one’s great. Honestly, if it didn’t have that parry system, I’m not sure I’d be as hooked.

I prioritize how a game plays over its story. This game has solid gameplay and mechanics, which is what I really care about. While I’m curious about the story, I wouldn’t be bothered if I found out spoilers – it wouldn’t ruin my enjoyment.

Shroud will continue playing Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 on his December 22nd stream, and he’ll also be playing more of Arc Raiders. It’s still uncertain if he’ll reveal his pick for Game of the Year.

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2025-12-22 17:18