I read a Chinese Steam review that rated Expedition 33 negatively, to get an Eastern perspective on the game, and I was surprised.
To paraphrase, the reviewer had these things to say that were positive:
Performances are good, feels closest in tone to FF6
Map exploration is immersive enough given the smaller budget
Challenging enough combat that you get what you give, basically
And their negatives, which were very fascinating:
The plot is metaphorical and romanticizes a real event, so adults latch onto the pretentious narrative and blow it out of proportion
It is trying to be nostalgic and modern at the same time, but the actual script and story beats feel ten years out of date compared to what we have now
Instead of being high or low fantasy, which are evocative, it is more concerned with showing a world fantastically constructed by the characters. This gets in the way of meaning while also, ironically, making certain things too literal
At some point this method of storytelling falls apart, because everything is "invincible" so any pitfalls or plot holes can be explained through a single interpretation. The setting is not real, but everything in it is concrete, which makes it feel lazy
The ending, since it relies on the constructed fantasy rather than risking being clunky, shows that the authors of Expedition 33 did not love their own work
So essentially their main contention is that the story does not really care about itself, but is also desperate to feel sincere, and this makes the game bad. Considering that Chinese media, even if not all that good in comparison, takes itself incredibly seriously and doesn't rely on metaphors, I can see the disappointment.
Review link for posterity: steamcommunity.com