The Super Zephyr Base

So some thoughts I need to share just so that I paint (hehEHE) a complete picture:

I like the characterization of the characters and setting a lot!

Collecting the journals; seeing the corpses and what's left of previous expedition members; the game does a great job making you feel the weight of the setting and those whom live within it. Their upward struggles that is made all the heavier upon the reveal of the truth of the setting.

I always looked forward to seeing new Check on the Others options at camp

(though if I may say a criticism that I will expand later; these sadly die down towards the end)

and get excited when it says I can spend time with the characters situated there

(More criticism; the fact you can make Verso have one-night stands with Lune and Sciel is super super weird (derogatory)-...)

The reveal of the Canvas is even brilliantly foreshadowed!

(How nice the Curator is to Maelle, the numerous doors that lead back to copies of the Mansion, Esquie, aspects of Renoir's actions, and those are the ones that stood out to me)

But as the Dessendre Family's conflict becomes more apparent, Act III begins, the Check on the Others options die down, one thing starts to be noticeable as it is bizarre.

Despite all the above mentioned; despite the fact that Act III itself hosts numerous sidequests that expand on the above even further-...

Hell; I even understand the emotions and the circumstances that lead to these situations and it's really good; I'm not asking for a golden ending where everyone is happy;-

-just...too bad the Definitely Super Sapient people of Lumiere and the Definitely Super Sapient Gestrals who developed their own culture separate from Painters and even the other humans of the Canvas have to get super fuq'd in both outcomes.

In "A Life to Paint"; everyone is brought back but it'll only stay that way until Maelle falls apart (to not even get into the nasty question of if Maelle's resurrected people are the same as the Paintress' version of them) and that Renoir is only banished from the Canvas and nothing is stopping him or; worst case scenario; him and Clea to break the door down and drag Maelle out before the falling apart.

The sapient life of the Canvas gets fuq'd.

In "A Life to Love"; Verso sends Maelle off. This allows her to take her first steps into moving on from the tragedy in her life the best she could...with Lune and Sciel very justifiably pissed at the outcome; so scathing their expressions that they don't even say anything (and in Lune's case; just sitting down and watching Verso's last moments before her own will inevitably follow).

The sapient life of the Canvas gets fuq'd.

I need to emphasis: I really get the vibe of this ending. I get that both Verso and Maelle are both high on emotions and that they're both making a selfish and selfless decision at the same time.

However; I do think because of this game's efforts to paint (HAHAHAHA) a picture of its characters and setting; highlighting their importance; only for there to be no real ending for them (Lune, Sciel, and Monoco don't weigh in on the final conflict between Verso and Maelle by the by; despite them still seeing what's going on through the portal) is what makes it weaker than Xenoblade 3.

Xenoblade 3 (and by extension Expedition 33) is teaching me that if the solution is to destroy the world the character's currently inhabit; I feel that this must be done so really really carefully otherwise you get the feelings I felt in Expedition 33's conclusions.

I think the biggest difference; while Maelle/Verso are much interesting final bosses than Z (who is more...a narrative system than anything else); can be very readily apparent by the fact that all of your party members that you have made throughout the game get summoned to join you in Z's downfall.

Heck; just the fact that the cast being concerned about what will happen to the people of the City when they get rid of Aionios during the ending; just shows why I prefer Xenoblade 3's world destruction solution versus Expedition 33 where the deciding factor of so much is due to the emotions of just two people despite everything about the game showing you the importance of the setting the characters inhabit...

Despite the flowers (hA) I want to give to Expedition 33; I ultimately think Xenoblade 3 is the better story and experience....