Did Expedition 33 Ruin Gaming?

There’s plenty of critical acclaim for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and I’m right there with everyone else. Did Expedition 33 ruin gaming? Not exactly. But it did set the bar so high that even two solid games I picked up after felt like a slog.

What have you done??

Since finishing Expedition 33, I played Donkey Kong Bananza and Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles on the Switch 2. Bananza is fine - good, even - but nowhere near what the internet hyped it up to be. And as a longtime Final Fantasy fan, I expected to lose myself in Tactics again (I played the War of the Lions version on the PSP many years ago), especially with the buzz around the polish and quality-of-life improvements. Instead, both felt like chores just a few hours in. Why? Simple. Expedition 33 was so damn good it ruined gaming for me.