Sometimes, the most important thing we can do in a day is make a mistake, in order to learn from it for future prosperity.


When life gives you grapples, make grappleade

My time with Expedition 33 (E33) has been an enjoyable one, and while I still have a ways to go before I finish the title, my rhythm and flow on Active Time Event generates certain feelings of intuitive grandeur within me, driving my creative process, and guiding me ever forward in my quest for knowledge. To that point, I’ve made it a habit in the last several months to give any “major play” of a game I am enjoying, at least a few weeks of time in the spotlight before moving on, and we have about arrived at that point with E33. I had fairly confident suspicions I was not going to able to finish the game before having to move onto another writing topic, as most JRPGs generally run bare minimum 40 hours, and I just don’t usually have enough time in my day to get more than an hour of play with any particular game, while simultaneously wanting to always rotate my writing and gaming schedule as well.

Realistically, while I don’t at all mind the challenge of putting myself to the task of finding creative angles to write about any one game, and there is usually much to speak on when detailing any experience in full, I also hate the idea of filler for fillers sake, and once I’ve said my peace on a title, I’m more than happy to move on to “greener pastures”, as the case sometimes is. That doesn’t mean I’ll never write about E33 again, as I will still be playing it for the foreseeable future, but it will not be the rosy checked starlet darling that will take up my center stage anymore.

I guess if nothing else, I will likely dedicate one more article to it down the road, after I’ve beaten it, to report back in on final thoughts, as I have a feeling the ending will be a doozy, and perhaps even the endgame may follow suit with some of Final Fantasy’s looney tune proclivities, as even that storied franchise usually drives the vehicle of reason right off the edge of sanity with almost any story it tells, but I guess half the fun is seeing the wreck real time, horrified but invested all the same.

Hmm…I suppose I do still have to provide final thoughts on E33, even if they aren’t truly final, bit I must depart on something. While it is a shame that the game had its Indie Game of the Year award revoked for using generative AI in its development, as the title is highly praise worthy, this is on Sandfall Interactive for not being honest with the IGA commission about using the tech in the first place. Definitely a bitter sweet scenario, cause I see some worth in being pro and against the particular outcome…on some level. However, generative AI is a plague upon any creative industry, and the old saying goes the road to hell is paved with good intentions, leading me to want to condemn Sandfall’s usage of it during development, as it brings into question just how willing they would be in using it low-key on other parts of this project or others, how much of their creative process is truly “theirs’, and where the line is drawn amongst all of the semantic arguments that follow.

Even now as I toss it around in my head, trying to play devil’s advocate, it just doesn’t sit right with me in putting any blessing on generative AI use for game development, as gen AI, for any of you unaware, is problematic due to its methodology, in that it culls data from a wide source of artistry, but in doing so, pulls from the work of other creatives and artists who haven’t been asked to use their work in the matter, thusly consisting on some level of plagiarism. If we combine that with the notion that it is okay to give a “little leeway” to others in using it, and then award a title from said developer, the worse kind of knock on effect comes in way of setting a bad precedent, in telling other developers using it may give you a better chance of winning Game of the Year. In an industry filled with terrible standards, the last thing we need to do is create just one more. Hopefully, Landfall interactive can use this at least as an educational moment moving forward.

Having said that, it is important for the punishment to fit the crime, and I think that having their IGA win stripped away is fair play for breaking the rules, as they still won many others, and it did bring attention to their project, for better and worse. Now, as they take an L for poor decision making, it’s appropriate to realize that one bad decision should not completely sully the name of a new developer, nor should we throw the baby out with the bath water, in “canceling” Sandfall Interactive, or whatever goofy equivalent of “social punishment” you wish to imbue the process with. Most times, people are redeemable, and certainly better than their worst day, so there remains plenty of future for Sandfall to enjoy, if they continue to charge ahead with a properly righted ship.

I’m wondering if the more tangible legacy of E33 will come in the form of the JRPG genre seeing a continued adoption in other areas, with E33 having been made in France, and by that technical standard, an FRPG, but all of it’s borrowed sensibilities are indeed cut from the cloth of JRPGs in their texture and material. Whether the success of this game will give confidence to other French developers to give game creation a shot, much like Black Myth: Wu Kong gave to Chinese devs, time will tell. I’m guessing ar the very least, E33 helped to reiterate just how important the synthesis process in creating new kinds of entertainment, by blending disparate ideas together into one amalgam of creative fury. After all, it is important to give credit where credit is due, by paying tribute to those that have come before, and lay the groundwork for those who come after.

Which, very appropriately, is the same mantra that helps to prop up the emotional core of Expedition 33 at its heart of hearts, and is a respectfully resonating experience. as a result.

-Pashford