In an unusual comparison, the article delves into the unexpected similarities between two seemingly disparate modern RPGs: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Nintendo’s latest, Pokémon Legends: Z-A. While both titles possess a distinctively French influence, despite their worlds lacking any geographical France, their core premises diverge significantly. Clair Obscur is presented as a deeply compelling meditation on death, enveloped within an addictive action-RPG framework, where character progression involves dismembering monsters to empower a yeti companion with new attacks. In stark contrast, Pokémon Legends: Z-A is characterized as a treatise on urban planning, where civic solutions include accepting a certain number of ghost attacks when visiting a cemetery.

Despite these profound tonal and thematic differences, a singular, peculiar commonality unites these two games: their shared inclusion of large, cumbersome obstacle courses that function poorly with their respective control schemes. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 particularly leans into this clunky parkour obsession, though it is thoughtfully sequestered within optional, clearly demarcated zones. While minor platforming sections appear in regular dungeons, often concealing upgrade materials or new weapons, the game's true embrace of its 'jump button, despite its near superfluity' philosophy is found in the 'Gestral Beaches'.

The Gestral Beaches are portrayed as a deliberate joke, a series of rickety obstacle courses designed as death traps by the deliberately goofy, goblin-esque Gestrals—a species incapable of permanent death. The reward for navigating these frustrating challenges is swimwear for the game's heroes, often tasteful with one notable exception. The game itself subtly communicates that these challenges are entirely optional, practically broadcasting, 'You don’t actually have to do this.' Yet, the inherent compulsion of the 'gamer brain' often overrides such advisories.

The author recounts their own experience, driven by an obsessive video game nature, to repeatedly engage with these Beaches, even when the experience ceased to be strictly enjoyable. While the most arduous of these, a colossal tower of free-floating debris reminiscent of Bennett Foddy’s Getting Over It, remained unconquered after a significant fall and a declaration of 'Never again,' the underlying belief persists that fun or meaning must be present in any challenge a video game presents. This psychological draw compels players to persist with content that, by all rational measures, offers a frustrating and imperfect experience.