When it comes to role-playing games with amazing turn-based combat, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has certainly shown why it deserves to be heralded as one of the best. Its battles provide a sense of thrill and fun that most of its competitors lack, mainly due to the unique and interesting mechanics that keep players engaged at all times, regardless of the difficulty.
It also helps that every party member who can be used to take down enemies is viable and charming enough that you'd wish you could use all of them. As great as all that is in making Clair Obscur's in-game fights memorable and enjoyable, I believe one small change would have made them even better, and it relates to the previous aspect that was mentioned.
When up against any opponent in the game, you're only ever allowed to take them on with three characters and no more. This makes sense, considering that there will ever only be a maximum of five playable party members that you can switch between fights.
However, if that were changed to allow four active characters in a fight instead of three, I believe it would have made the game's combat even more intense, engaging, and rewarding. Some may wonder how, and the first reason I'll give is that it would add even more depth than there already is.
Each character, from Gustave to Monoco, has unique battle mechanics that force you to think of what skills they should have, what Pictos should be prioritized for each one, what role they should play, and in what order they should attack, allowing for a lot of strategizing both in and out of battle. And there's a lot of that when just considering which three active party members you'd want to have during fights, so imagine how much more if the game allowed for a fourth?
You would have to think things through a lot more, really planning out everything from what weapons should be equipped to what moves should be used that offer the best synergy. This makes combat more interesting, as it allows for a wide variety of combinations that would not have been possible with only three characters, resulting in endless hours of enjoyable testing.
Understandably, this does come with the concern of making the game too easy, considering that it can be beaten with three active party members. However, the thought of the balance of in-game fights being broken by adding an extra character would be a non-issue, bringing up the next reason why the change would make the game interesting: updates to opponents.
The enemies and bosses of Clair Obscur also suffer the limitation of having only three active members on their side at once, so naturally, they're designed to fight with that limit in mind, no matter how weak or powerful they may be. A good chunk of them can provide a challenge, but even the hardest among them would become too easy if they had to take on an extra character, even in expert difficulty.
To fix that, every enemy just needs to have their stats adjusted to be able to take on four characters. What that means is that they'll have larger health pools, stronger attacks, greater defenses, and boosted speed so that they offer a fair fight instead of being obstacles that can easily be run over. Such a change will not only guarantee that the game isn't too easy, but can even provide a greater challenge than ever before.
Also, since players are given an extra character to play with, it would make sense that enemies would have the same advantage. By allowing them to have four at once, it can change the entire battle dynamic. The additional opponent means an extra factor that deserves attention, as it could have the means to change the tide enough to make the fight more difficult than necessary, potentially even creating more game-over scenarios.
Such fights force players to seriously consider everything they do, even more so than when having to deal with three opponents. It would have guaranteed that there's always a level of engagement that leaves no room for boring moments, which is why it's a shame that fights are limited to three active members per side at once.
Don't get me wrong, the current party and enemy number limitations in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 still make for wonderful battles, but it could have been even better if it were increased by one. The opportunity was there, but unfortunately, Sandfall Interactive chose not to take advantage of it. If the game were given another DLC, hopefully the developer would at least consider putting in one or two 4v4 fights, as it would allow us to see what could have been.
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