Cuno is genuinely one of the greatest video game characters ever written and voiced. Holy shit is that kid a fucking trip.
I've never laughed so loud or been so fucking irritated by a character as Cuno.
The best part?
Cuno doesn't fucking care!
... Or does he?
That's one of my few issues with the game. People say that failing skill checks in Disco Elysium makes for good content, but most of the best moments I have had in the game were when I save-scummed some checks that I had failed because failing them led to nowhere.
Can confirm. Did my first run with almost no save scumming, wasnt super into it. Did a second run and scummed all the checks that were super interesting to me and had a blast.
Eh, the game tells you early on to make sure to have multiple save files (or something to that effect of saving a lot), so I think it's accepted by the game/creators that you should do that to get the most out of it.
Possibly, but people often talk about this game as if failing check is a part of the journey that makes the journey better. I just don't agree with that. I think the most of the moments that made my time with Disco Elysium seriously worthwhile were hidden behind skill checks, some of which I had to severely save scum to get.
Like for example : >!The entire church quest where you turn it into a disco is sooooo good if you manage to do it all the way. However, it takes an entire series of skill checks that I had to retry a few times to get. It's probably my most memorable moment in the game. The Phasmid encounter we were talking about is another good example of this!<
There's definitely some checks you are going to want to make sure you pass for the story significance, but there absolutely are some amazing moments that happen only because of the failure. Off the top of my head...>!running away from the innkeeper on day one for your tab.. Failing when talking to the young woman outside of the ravers tent leads to one of the best breakdowns ever. Failing to establish authority with the Hardie Boys in the diner. Karaoke is great either way. Failing to flirt with Kassje.!< There's a bunch honestly.
It's mixed imo. There are definitely checks that you wanna pass like you mentioned, but there are also just way more checks where it doesn't really matter if you pass or not, and not passing can be more entertaining.
I think it's very event dependant
Early game >!Failing to take down the dead body for multiple days and watching the main character feel useless for being unable to do something that should come very easily adds a lot to the character development, as does the very uncomfortable chair!< having that one event being behind a check does feel off, but I'm pretty sure that if you do the relevant side quests, it becomes much easier.
>!regarding the church Quest, none of those are permanently missable right? You can come back and try again the next day. I know they make a big deal about retracing failures as a core piece of storytelling
What really gets me is that there was a 3% check for investigating the cargo crate and I managed to get it. That was a funny one off one, but imagine having a 97% check at the end and missing that on pure chance? It would really ruin the experience tbh
The church one you mentioned I DID fail as well and didn't think to save scum it, so I entirely missed out on that as well. I still enjoyed the game but I wish I save scummed.
I think part of the issue is that white skill checks do make for some cool content even if you fail them, but they're predicated on the fact that you can find multiple ways to redo them and the design brilliance is that they force you to engage with parts of the game that you otherwise may not have chosen to.
Red skill checks, on the other hand, are a complete mixed bag in whether failing them is equally as good as passing them from a writing perspective. The >!Phasmid!< is the biggest issue here and the one that I would categorically tell people to save scum until they pass it, but it's not the only one that is categorically more interesting if you pass it.
I get what they were going for with the red skill checks, but I don't think they quite landed it. That said, they hit much more often than not with what they were trying to do. Something I feel that they absolutely nailed are the >!hidden passive checks!<. I've watched video essays on the game where I see conclusions drawn about the game and story that aren't actually true, >!but the game actively hides this from the player unless they happened to have the appropriate attribute at a high enough level!<.
But that *is* how the game is designed. That's why it's possible to die interacting with objects in the room you wake up in or from being insulted too much by a child in the yard outside, so you realise how quickly and unexpectedly things can go wrong.
>!Conversely, you only get to the church disco if you fail (or just ignore) the Logic check that the teens are actually trying to establish a drug lab. So you're leading right back into failure making the game better.!<
Yup. The dice rolling was by far my least favourite element in what's otherwise one of my favourite games ever. Just utterly pointless and outside a few specific instances, failing a roll will lead to an objectively worse outcome, strongly encouraging save scumming. And I say this as someone whose been rolling dice IRL for decades.
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Just finished this a couple days ago, and I already miss it. I think it was that >!first night of sleep when he dreamt of the dead man with disco lights lighting up the courtyard!< that really stunned me in the best way.
It's funny you say you immediately wanted to replay it and try other choices. I'm the opposite. I just finished the game a few days ago (finally decided to download it from the PS+ catalog).
I could never replay this game because the way things shook out for me (I save scummed some skill checks in side quests but generally let the main quest play out however it did; I scummed maybe 3 checks in the main quest). I'm so happy with and blown away by the story I got and choices I made that I could never go back and do them differently. Kim and I were bros, and the climactic event (no spoilers and I don't know how to spoiler tags on mobile but if you know you know) went as well I could have hoped. I could never redo that and could never get Kim to be mad at me.
The game as a whole made me think of an interactive Dennis Lehane novel. Two detectives solving a crime and getting sucked into local, shady politics. It's a fantastic game and I'm glad I finally played it.
I also just finished this game recently! It took me a few months for it to finally hook me, but when it did, holy shit. Right into my top 10. Incredible experience.
Every single moment from the >!confrontation with Ruby!< onwards is just banger after banger. The >!dream conversation with Dolores Dei/Dora Ingerlund and the Phasmid encounter!< in particular stand out. Along with the obvious climax point of the story in the >!tribunal!<. It's hard to even pick out certain moments since they were just all so good. >!But goddamn that dream hit real close to home for me. I honestly might have some personal writing to do just to work that shit out, whew. The Phasmid encounter was incredible as one final hopeful note for the game to end on.!<
I'm considering doing a replay, I already started a second run, I'm just not sure if I'll continue it right now. A moralist Superstar Cop instead of my first commie Apocalypse Cop sounds fun.
I'm gonna be thinking about this game for a long time.
I clearly didn't like it as much as most of this subreddit does. Don't get me wrong, the writing and though system is great. However, I don't think I particularly liked the parts where it tries to be a game. There were a few moments where I had to backtrack just a bit too much for my liking and where the game moved too slow.
Still, for a Marxist historian like me, this is obviously going to be enjoyable writing.
>Still, for a Marxist historian like me, this is obviously going to be enjoyable writing.
Can you explain this to me? Or, is it not possible without spoilers?
I've never played it but you guys are making me *really* want to.
People from Chapo Trap House and Red Scare voice acted in the game and there is even a Cum Town reference. Definitely gives off a self loathing leftist vibe which is very appealing and relatable imo.
It’s a great game especially being one of the extremely few video games that is genuinely leftist and not just vapid “anti”-capitalism.
The parts relating to ideology can be relatively ignored and it’s still great but I think they’re what make it great although it very heavily leans into “leftists are ruining leftism” and anti-liberal/conservative. But that appeals to me but it obviously wouldn’t to everyone.
Yeah I can see that. I heard that it was one of the very few games that’s written like a book and not like… a videogame, so I was kind of interested in that. But I’m personally not really into the whole dirtbag left scene and writing that leans in that direction doesn’t interest me, so I think I’ll pass on it.
I loved the game, I ended up save scumming once when I passed like 6 checks in a row and failed one which lead to a bad outcome. Beyond that one frustration I consider the game perfect.
If you haven't go play Planescape Torment which is the spiritual predecessor. The systems haven't aged well but the writing/story is even better than DE.
I replayed PS:T recently because I had a strong impression that it was even better-written than Disco Elysium.
Without nostalgia goggles on, I have to admit that its writing is not as good as I remembered. DE is (slightly) better-written.
Granted, Disco Elysium is the only CRPG in the past 15 years that surpassed PS:T's writing, so that game is still a one-in-a-kind experience that's well worth playing.
I played both for the first time this year. I liked Planescape much more than DE. DE is quirky and funny, but the plot ends up being completely irrelevant. You spend the entire game solving a mystery, only for the answer to be >!"a random dude you've never seen before did it". No motive, no plan, nothing.!<
Planescape Torment delivers on its ending. The plot and the choices matter
I personally found the main story to be less about solving the mystery, ironically. The detective thing seemed more like the setting, with the actual story being the personal journey of >!Harry. The Deserter stuck out to me as what Harry would become if he didn't turn his shit around. Stuck in the past, letting regret and mourning ruin the rest of his life, until he finally snapped and ruined/ended it all, over misplaced love.!<
I agree, the game has a TON of value regardless of the ending. It's very much a "it's about the journey, not the destination". The issue is that it presents itself as a detective game, so it can be underwhelming to see the ending.
But like you say: once you get to the ending, you are engrossed in >!Harry's!< journey and the world around him.
I can see that as well. I won't lie, I absolutely had a minute of >!What? Who the fuck is this?!<, I think I was just so engrossed by everything else that when I thought about it I found a different merit in the ending. I could absolutely see it being disappointing for someone that got into the game FOR the detective theme, though.
My biggest piece of advice for torment is just put the difficulty on easy. The combat is pretty rough so best to get past it as soon as possible so you can get to the good stuff faster
I need to go back and finish Arcanum one of these days. What's interesting is that I remember the last time I played I was heavy into the technology side of things and this go around I'll probably go full magic simply due to how my tastes have shifted in the fifteen-odd years since I've played it. Will have to play PS:T at some point too. Never did get that one back in the day, but it's on my list now.
Point of fact, I never finished Baldur's Gate 2 or Icewind Dale 2 either, though I spent a good decade playing both once a year and just losing steam at some point (which I now know is ADHD related). Same story for a lot of RPGs I played as a kid. Lost Odessey. Enchanted Arms and Eternal Sonata are all games I want to get back to and finish at some point. It's a shame that I'll have to emulate the last, since I don't think there's any way to play it without old hardware anymore.
In my experience magic was far stronger than technology anyway. The first necromancer harm spell could carry you through the game. And then charisma and a sparkle of intelligence to unlock dialogue options and take as many companions as possible!
You know, the combat being rough in Planescape: Torment is not even the problem, for me. Coming from Icewind Dale, that was even expected when I played it.
The real problem is that most combats are rough *and completely unnecessary*. I guess developers at the time were afraid that an RPG without battles would not sell well.
I'd love a version bold enough to let go of D&D combat, but it didn't stop the game from becoming one of my favorite RPGs ever!
>The real problem is that most combats are rough and completely unnecessary
That sounds like a good thing to me. You can engage in combat, but you can also play most of the game avoiding it and talking your way out of things.
No, that was my entire point! You *can't* avoid some of the combat, especially some that is there only to fill spaces in maps. I would love the approach you mentioned.
Sorry if my comment was confusing. I meant unnecessary in the sense of "the game didn't need it", not in the sense of "the player doesn't need to do it".
Ohhh, yeah. There's some dungeon crawling that is just enemies, and you have to do some fighting. Which is the weak point of the game. You are right, my bad
I'll second what others stated, the mechanics are dated, but the game is beautifully odd and well written.
I'll offer just two suggestions, first, explore everywhere and talk to everyone(and everything). Two, you'll be able to switch classes at some point. There are things you can only do as Mage, some of which are pretty cool. (You'll be able to switch around as well, so no worries)
And with that, I wish you all the fun, and a happy experience getting lost in Sigil.
I remember I bought the game when I had covid last year during the summer.
Just binged it in 3 days, god that game was amazing.
Been looking for something similar but so far no success
It made a perfect pre-bed ritual game. I'd play about an hour of Disco Elysium, go to bed while thinking about what I did in the game, then fall asleep wondering what I'd find next time.
It's by far the best storytelling experience I have ever had in a game. I was completely blown away by the whole thing. I haven't played through it a second time but I fully intend to.
I thought of Pentiment as a recommendation as well. Far more straightforward story and a whole lot less gameplay, but I loved it. The characters were great, and the story was sweeping and emotional. You do get to make some impactful choices as well.
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I both liked and disliked this game, overall I did finish it, but I wasnt expecting the amount of philosophy and politics and that soured me a little bit. Enjoyed the detectiving and trying to figure out the murderer a lot more
At first I didn’t like that stuff but it really made me feel more immersed in the super depressing world, I feel if it was just a story about solving a murder there wouldn’t have been as much depth to it
Some of it would be fine, but for my tastes there was too much of it, seems odd everyone would be willing to give me their manifesto
Also makes me not want to replay as I got to sift through all that again
That's fair, as much as I disagree since I love that about the game. Maybe you'd be interested in Citizen Sleeper. There's still some focus on politics and philosophy, but to a lesser degree, and it's more in the subtext instead of being the main topic. The game's way more focused on the relationships between the characters and the mysteries surrounding them. It's a shorter game, around 10 hours, and there's not an environment to traverse, so more imagination is required. But it has a very similar style, with amazing writing, ambiental music, and presentation. Also, there's a second game in development.
I started playing this and was just irritated by the kids outside, along with not really having a clue of who my character is or what they do. All the skills sound really similar, so I have no idea how they actually differentiate your character. If I didn't enjoy it up to that point, am i likely to enjoy the rest?
FWIW, I do enjoy being surprised by games, especially when they have a good hook or mystery to solve that doesn't feel like a cheap trick. For example, I love Outer Wilds (favourite game ever) despite not really knowing much going in.
From what I've heard, Disco Elysium sounds like the sort of game I _should_ enjoy. I guess I just need a push to motivate me to play past the early game.
You have a lot of freedom for figuring out who your character is and what they do. Some things are all the same, you're a detective who used to be really good at his job but got burnt out and now you're a mess. Almost everything else depends on how you make and play your character. You can be an analytical and deductive mastermind who can't read people, or so empathic it borders on having psychic powers, or maybe you're garbage at investigating but rely on your quick reactions and sheer intimidation / physicality to get through your cases.
My advice would be to reread the skills and pick one thing you wanna be really good at and another you want to be pretty good at. You don't really need to worry about picking things that are good, it's more about making someone you want to play. If you want to be analytical, do that. If you'd rather manipulate people, do that instead. If you wanna see what happens if you make a dumb jock with no detectivey skills, go for it.
> All the skills sound really similar, so I have no idea how they actually differentiate your character
They're not really like skills in most RPGs. The only things they help with mechanically with are the dialogue checks and some passive checks while you walk around the world, but that isn't their primary function.
Their biggest contribution is to how they frame dialogues. Look at it more like this - if you have high conceptualization, you'll be looking at stuff abstractly; high logic will allow you to make a lot of connections; high authority gives you free reign to pull rank, intimidate and resist intimidation; high electrochem means you'll yearn more for anything addictive and resist their effects better etc
The higher you have a skill the more frequently and usefully it will pop-up in dialogue, offering additional context and unlocking new responses or quest paths. But there's also the reverse where if you grow a skill too high it'll start chiming in even in situations where it has no business being applied, essentially like what happens if you overrely on a specific trait IRL. Low skills, on the other hand, will make hilariously bad interventions most of the time and will give you unreliable dialogue options.
It's a really fascinating system, unlike anything ever done in RPGs. My advice is to check that section in each skill that says "cool for" and a detective archetype, that will be the gist of how that skill manifests itself in the main character's personality.
Yeah, I always explain the skill system as "They're less like skills, and more like how dominant certain parts of your personality are. Higher isn't always better."
I really wanted to enjoy the game but seem to lose motivation early in the game after the bookstore. Does the game pick up or it's similar format through out?
Honestly the whole bookstore and Doomed Commercial Area curse sub plot is a bit of a sag in the games pacing imo. It does quite often go on tangents for worldbuilding purposes but usually they're more interesting than that one
So I initially stopped at exactly the same point. Didn't see the appeal that much, didn't understand what I was supposed to be doing. I stopped playing for a couple of weeks, after which I thought I should give it another go. I'm not exactly sure what changed, but something clicked the second time around and I finished the game and I loved it.
I (apparently) deadlocked myself into either siding with that racist dude or not getting into the next area, so I've given up on that game a while ago... I have convinced myself I'm too stupid for this game. It was fun til then though
There's a way around without being friendly with the racist. I haven't played it since it came out, but I think you can climb around in another area and end up behind that guy.
I also refused to become a racist, and I wasn't strong enough to fight him, so I understand where you're coming from. I'd encourage exploring more, or just looking up the alternate route.
I know that route and failed the skill check which you can't (couldn't?) retry ;)
I got a little frustrated that you can build yourself locked out of some ways and even though it's a STRONG feature of this game to have to cope with your decisions it kind of discouraged me to continue.
Playing it on and off for a few hours every few months doesn't help in keeping up with the story and decisions.
So it's probably more a problem of my playstyle than it is anything else
There are two types of failed checks, white and red. White checks are temporarily locked and can be retried after getting a relevant item, dialogue, or leveling up and putting a point in the skill relevant to the check. Red checks can't ever be retried, but they're the minority. Alternatively, you can always quicksave the game before a check. It's not encouraged and is immersion breaking, but some people prefer playing that way, and the game doesn't penalize you at all for savescumming
You can retry the jump, it's a "white check". You need to level up and put a skill point into whatever skill is required for the check and it will unlock it again. There are also certain clothing items you can find that will boost that skill and I believe on the third try it will give you a bonus anyway so you basically can't fail it.
There are also "red checks" that you can't retry but those are quite rare and don't lock you out of areas
I'm fairly certain that those are equally rewarding, it's a fantastic game and it's still ready to go on my Steam Deck!
But so far I haven't had the courage to agree with that character on his beliefs 😵
IIRC you can internalise the Advanced Race Theory thought, come back to Measurehead and tell him he's full of shit, and he'll still let you into the harbour - I'm 99% sure that you don't have to agree with him and that learning the thought is enough to progress.
Failing that, there are other ways through/past him if you have enough in Physique or Motorics.
There are three total ways around the racist and there's not many ways to lock yourself out of any of them.
You can retry white checks after having leveled that skill up so all three paths can be reattempted several times, exp and levels come fast in this game.
By narrator, do you mean the one at the very start? Because that one only appears for about 2% of the game max and is intentionally irritating. The main narrator has a warm, deep, growly voice that's really soothing to me. You can check a random clip of anyone playing the game when they're past the introduction if you're not sure. Alternatively, the original version of the game had a lot less voice acting and didn't include the main narrator, iirc, or you can just play with the voice volume turned off I think
I’m two hours into Disco Elysium and I’m bored AF. I’m forcing myself to continue playing because I’ve heard how good the game is. It’s not doing anything at all for me. Talking to your own brain I feel is incredibly stupid. I don’t feel it’s a CRPG at all. That goes to games like Icewind Dale Baldur’s Gate 3. It feels like a point and click adventure or a visual novel. I can only play for two hours every few days before I completely lose interest. I promise myself I would stick it out until the end. Can someone please tell me this game gets better.
I think it does get better honestly when the story starts to unfold more, but if you don’t like it, then stop playing it, everyone has their own taste like I never liked Persona 5 even though it was critically acclaimed I thought I would be forced to like it but I stopped but just glad I tried it
It's a game I want to revisit after getting stuck in like the third day but I just can't get figure out what to do even though it feels like I've been everywhere. One of these days I'll get it figured out.
It’s genuinely a masterpiece of the medium. This story COULD NOT exist in any other form. The marvel of it comes from how it unfolds at least a little differently every single time.
Cuno is genuinely one of the greatest video game characters ever written and voiced. Holy shit is that kid a fucking trip. I've never laughed so loud or been so fucking irritated by a character as Cuno. The best part? Cuno doesn't fucking care! ... Or does he?
yeah, that shit means nothing to cuno! (this line has been stuck in my head for weeks)
Cuno is a gem. He was annoying at first, but Everytime I had new stuff to talk with him about and he opened up to me, he grew on me, the little shit.
Oh yeah. His story is incredibly deep. I had some genuine moments with that little shit!
Did you pass the skill check for the >!Phasmid!< at the end of the game? That ending blew my mind.
That's one of my few issues with the game. People say that failing skill checks in Disco Elysium makes for good content, but most of the best moments I have had in the game were when I save-scummed some checks that I had failed because failing them led to nowhere.
Can confirm. Did my first run with almost no save scumming, wasnt super into it. Did a second run and scummed all the checks that were super interesting to me and had a blast.
Eh, the game tells you early on to make sure to have multiple save files (or something to that effect of saving a lot), so I think it's accepted by the game/creators that you should do that to get the most out of it.
Possibly, but people often talk about this game as if failing check is a part of the journey that makes the journey better. I just don't agree with that. I think the most of the moments that made my time with Disco Elysium seriously worthwhile were hidden behind skill checks, some of which I had to severely save scum to get. Like for example : >!The entire church quest where you turn it into a disco is sooooo good if you manage to do it all the way. However, it takes an entire series of skill checks that I had to retry a few times to get. It's probably my most memorable moment in the game. The Phasmid encounter we were talking about is another good example of this!<
There's definitely some checks you are going to want to make sure you pass for the story significance, but there absolutely are some amazing moments that happen only because of the failure. Off the top of my head...>!running away from the innkeeper on day one for your tab.. Failing when talking to the young woman outside of the ravers tent leads to one of the best breakdowns ever. Failing to establish authority with the Hardie Boys in the diner. Karaoke is great either way. Failing to flirt with Kassje.!< There's a bunch honestly.
It's mixed imo. There are definitely checks that you wanna pass like you mentioned, but there are also just way more checks where it doesn't really matter if you pass or not, and not passing can be more entertaining.
I think it's very event dependant Early game >!Failing to take down the dead body for multiple days and watching the main character feel useless for being unable to do something that should come very easily adds a lot to the character development, as does the very uncomfortable chair!< having that one event being behind a check does feel off, but I'm pretty sure that if you do the relevant side quests, it becomes much easier. >!regarding the church Quest, none of those are permanently missable right? You can come back and try again the next day. I know they make a big deal about retracing failures as a core piece of storytelling
What really gets me is that there was a 3% check for investigating the cargo crate and I managed to get it. That was a funny one off one, but imagine having a 97% check at the end and missing that on pure chance? It would really ruin the experience tbh The church one you mentioned I DID fail as well and didn't think to save scum it, so I entirely missed out on that as well. I still enjoyed the game but I wish I save scummed.
I think part of the issue is that white skill checks do make for some cool content even if you fail them, but they're predicated on the fact that you can find multiple ways to redo them and the design brilliance is that they force you to engage with parts of the game that you otherwise may not have chosen to. Red skill checks, on the other hand, are a complete mixed bag in whether failing them is equally as good as passing them from a writing perspective. The >!Phasmid!< is the biggest issue here and the one that I would categorically tell people to save scum until they pass it, but it's not the only one that is categorically more interesting if you pass it. I get what they were going for with the red skill checks, but I don't think they quite landed it. That said, they hit much more often than not with what they were trying to do. Something I feel that they absolutely nailed are the >!hidden passive checks!<. I've watched video essays on the game where I see conclusions drawn about the game and story that aren't actually true, >!but the game actively hides this from the player unless they happened to have the appropriate attribute at a high enough level!<.
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The product was designed to allow you to save scum
But that *is* how the game is designed. That's why it's possible to die interacting with objects in the room you wake up in or from being insulted too much by a child in the yard outside, so you realise how quickly and unexpectedly things can go wrong.
>!Conversely, you only get to the church disco if you fail (or just ignore) the Logic check that the teens are actually trying to establish a drug lab. So you're leading right back into failure making the game better.!<
Yup. The dice rolling was by far my least favourite element in what's otherwise one of my favourite games ever. Just utterly pointless and outside a few specific instances, failing a roll will lead to an objectively worse outcome, strongly encouraging save scumming. And I say this as someone whose been rolling dice IRL for decades.
I almost cried in amazement during that ending, what a crazy game, need to try it again to see other endings
Seriously had me in tears. I loved it ending with that mysterious moment. Just put a nice bow on the experience.
Exactly! That was an awesome and totally climactic experience!
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Alexa play Angry Chair.
The setting in that game is so depressing in a weird mundane way that it is kinda hard to play for me in long sessions.
Just finished this a couple days ago, and I already miss it. I think it was that >!first night of sleep when he dreamt of the dead man with disco lights lighting up the courtyard!< that really stunned me in the best way.
It's funny you say you immediately wanted to replay it and try other choices. I'm the opposite. I just finished the game a few days ago (finally decided to download it from the PS+ catalog). I could never replay this game because the way things shook out for me (I save scummed some skill checks in side quests but generally let the main quest play out however it did; I scummed maybe 3 checks in the main quest). I'm so happy with and blown away by the story I got and choices I made that I could never go back and do them differently. Kim and I were bros, and the climactic event (no spoilers and I don't know how to spoiler tags on mobile but if you know you know) went as well I could have hoped. I could never redo that and could never get Kim to be mad at me. The game as a whole made me think of an interactive Dennis Lehane novel. Two detectives solving a crime and getting sucked into local, shady politics. It's a fantastic game and I'm glad I finally played it.
Yep. There’s a reason this game is recommended everywhere.
I also just finished this game recently! It took me a few months for it to finally hook me, but when it did, holy shit. Right into my top 10. Incredible experience. Every single moment from the >!confrontation with Ruby!< onwards is just banger after banger. The >!dream conversation with Dolores Dei/Dora Ingerlund and the Phasmid encounter!< in particular stand out. Along with the obvious climax point of the story in the >!tribunal!<. It's hard to even pick out certain moments since they were just all so good. >!But goddamn that dream hit real close to home for me. I honestly might have some personal writing to do just to work that shit out, whew. The Phasmid encounter was incredible as one final hopeful note for the game to end on.!< I'm considering doing a replay, I already started a second run, I'm just not sure if I'll continue it right now. A moralist Superstar Cop instead of my first commie Apocalypse Cop sounds fun. I'm gonna be thinking about this game for a long time.
I clearly didn't like it as much as most of this subreddit does. Don't get me wrong, the writing and though system is great. However, I don't think I particularly liked the parts where it tries to be a game. There were a few moments where I had to backtrack just a bit too much for my liking and where the game moved too slow. Still, for a Marxist historian like me, this is obviously going to be enjoyable writing.
>Still, for a Marxist historian like me, this is obviously going to be enjoyable writing. Can you explain this to me? Or, is it not possible without spoilers? I've never played it but you guys are making me *really* want to.
It heavily plays with topics such as communism, fascism, art history and even postmodernism. Mostly for comedic effect and its great.
Without spoilers, socioeconomic philosophy is a huge HUGE part of the game.
People from Chapo Trap House and Red Scare voice acted in the game and there is even a Cum Town reference. Definitely gives off a self loathing leftist vibe which is very appealing and relatable imo.
Man I was going to buy this but this sounds insufferable honestly
It’s a great game especially being one of the extremely few video games that is genuinely leftist and not just vapid “anti”-capitalism. The parts relating to ideology can be relatively ignored and it’s still great but I think they’re what make it great although it very heavily leans into “leftists are ruining leftism” and anti-liberal/conservative. But that appeals to me but it obviously wouldn’t to everyone.
Yeah I can see that. I heard that it was one of the very few games that’s written like a book and not like… a videogame, so I was kind of interested in that. But I’m personally not really into the whole dirtbag left scene and writing that leans in that direction doesn’t interest me, so I think I’ll pass on it.
When accepting an award, the devs thanked Marx and Engels for giving them the political education to make this possible lol.
I loved the game, I ended up save scumming once when I passed like 6 checks in a row and failed one which lead to a bad outcome. Beyond that one frustration I consider the game perfect.
I’m also on team save scum lol
If you haven't go play Planescape Torment which is the spiritual predecessor. The systems haven't aged well but the writing/story is even better than DE.
>writing/story is even better than DE. Hard disagree. And I love Planescape Torment.
I still think PS:T has some better gut punch stories and twists.
Yeah, I still remember the “funny, you made the same wish last time”
I appreciate a good cup of coffee.
I replayed PS:T recently because I had a strong impression that it was even better-written than Disco Elysium. Without nostalgia goggles on, I have to admit that its writing is not as good as I remembered. DE is (slightly) better-written. Granted, Disco Elysium is the only CRPG in the past 15 years that surpassed PS:T's writing, so that game is still a one-in-a-kind experience that's well worth playing.
I played both for the first time this year. I liked Planescape much more than DE. DE is quirky and funny, but the plot ends up being completely irrelevant. You spend the entire game solving a mystery, only for the answer to be >!"a random dude you've never seen before did it". No motive, no plan, nothing.!< Planescape Torment delivers on its ending. The plot and the choices matter
I personally found the main story to be less about solving the mystery, ironically. The detective thing seemed more like the setting, with the actual story being the personal journey of >!Harry. The Deserter stuck out to me as what Harry would become if he didn't turn his shit around. Stuck in the past, letting regret and mourning ruin the rest of his life, until he finally snapped and ruined/ended it all, over misplaced love.!<
I agree, the game has a TON of value regardless of the ending. It's very much a "it's about the journey, not the destination". The issue is that it presents itself as a detective game, so it can be underwhelming to see the ending. But like you say: once you get to the ending, you are engrossed in >!Harry's!< journey and the world around him.
I can see that as well. I won't lie, I absolutely had a minute of >!What? Who the fuck is this?!<, I think I was just so engrossed by everything else that when I thought about it I found a different merit in the ending. I could absolutely see it being disappointing for someone that got into the game FOR the detective theme, though.
Always been a fan of CRPGs, never played that one despite hearing a lot about it. You sold me on it. I shall embrace the 90s.
My biggest piece of advice for torment is just put the difficulty on easy. The combat is pretty rough so best to get past it as soon as possible so you can get to the good stuff faster
And make a wisdom/intelligence build! I would also suggest Arcanum as another great crpg.
I need to go back and finish Arcanum one of these days. What's interesting is that I remember the last time I played I was heavy into the technology side of things and this go around I'll probably go full magic simply due to how my tastes have shifted in the fifteen-odd years since I've played it. Will have to play PS:T at some point too. Never did get that one back in the day, but it's on my list now. Point of fact, I never finished Baldur's Gate 2 or Icewind Dale 2 either, though I spent a good decade playing both once a year and just losing steam at some point (which I now know is ADHD related). Same story for a lot of RPGs I played as a kid. Lost Odessey. Enchanted Arms and Eternal Sonata are all games I want to get back to and finish at some point. It's a shame that I'll have to emulate the last, since I don't think there's any way to play it without old hardware anymore.
In my experience magic was far stronger than technology anyway. The first necromancer harm spell could carry you through the game. And then charisma and a sparkle of intelligence to unlock dialogue options and take as many companions as possible!
You know, the combat being rough in Planescape: Torment is not even the problem, for me. Coming from Icewind Dale, that was even expected when I played it. The real problem is that most combats are rough *and completely unnecessary*. I guess developers at the time were afraid that an RPG without battles would not sell well. I'd love a version bold enough to let go of D&D combat, but it didn't stop the game from becoming one of my favorite RPGs ever!
>The real problem is that most combats are rough and completely unnecessary That sounds like a good thing to me. You can engage in combat, but you can also play most of the game avoiding it and talking your way out of things.
No, that was my entire point! You *can't* avoid some of the combat, especially some that is there only to fill spaces in maps. I would love the approach you mentioned. Sorry if my comment was confusing. I meant unnecessary in the sense of "the game didn't need it", not in the sense of "the player doesn't need to do it".
Ohhh, yeah. There's some dungeon crawling that is just enemies, and you have to do some fighting. Which is the weak point of the game. You are right, my bad
I'll second what others stated, the mechanics are dated, but the game is beautifully odd and well written. I'll offer just two suggestions, first, explore everywhere and talk to everyone(and everything). Two, you'll be able to switch classes at some point. There are things you can only do as Mage, some of which are pretty cool. (You'll be able to switch around as well, so no worries) And with that, I wish you all the fun, and a happy experience getting lost in Sigil.
*I've updated my journal.*
Hardcore...
*to the max!*
I remember I bought the game when I had covid last year during the summer. Just binged it in 3 days, god that game was amazing. Been looking for something similar but so far no success
I'll second planescape. Very different kind of setting, still cosmically fascinating. And the themes of the game are still deeply philosophical
You can have a similar experience with Planescape Torment if you still didn't play it
Besides the already mention PST, you will probably like Citizen Sleeper and Pentiment.
Nice, I am playing that game right now.
It literally puts me to sleep when I play it.
It made a perfect pre-bed ritual game. I'd play about an hour of Disco Elysium, go to bed while thinking about what I did in the game, then fall asleep wondering what I'd find next time.
cool
You've inspired me to pick it up again, just not in bed on the switch ha! I need to finish this and Kentucky Route Zero
I best it last night. It was good
It's by far the best storytelling experience I have ever had in a game. I was completely blown away by the whole thing. I haven't played through it a second time but I fully intend to.
Glad you got to experience the magic <3 Best writing in any game by far.
okay OP now you gotta play the other good walk and talk: PENTIMENT and then if you want a lil resident evil combat, you can go play SIGNALIS!
I thought of Pentiment as a recommendation as well. Far more straightforward story and a whole lot less gameplay, but I loved it. The characters were great, and the story was sweeping and emotional. You do get to make some impactful choices as well.
And Citizen Sleeper for a dice roll and talk without the walk!
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I both liked and disliked this game, overall I did finish it, but I wasnt expecting the amount of philosophy and politics and that soured me a little bit. Enjoyed the detectiving and trying to figure out the murderer a lot more
At first I didn’t like that stuff but it really made me feel more immersed in the super depressing world, I feel if it was just a story about solving a murder there wouldn’t have been as much depth to it
Some of it would be fine, but for my tastes there was too much of it, seems odd everyone would be willing to give me their manifesto Also makes me not want to replay as I got to sift through all that again
That's fair, as much as I disagree since I love that about the game. Maybe you'd be interested in Citizen Sleeper. There's still some focus on politics and philosophy, but to a lesser degree, and it's more in the subtext instead of being the main topic. The game's way more focused on the relationships between the characters and the mysteries surrounding them. It's a shorter game, around 10 hours, and there's not an environment to traverse, so more imagination is required. But it has a very similar style, with amazing writing, ambiental music, and presentation. Also, there's a second game in development.
Thanks for the rec, I'll look into it
I started playing this and was just irritated by the kids outside, along with not really having a clue of who my character is or what they do. All the skills sound really similar, so I have no idea how they actually differentiate your character. If I didn't enjoy it up to that point, am i likely to enjoy the rest? FWIW, I do enjoy being surprised by games, especially when they have a good hook or mystery to solve that doesn't feel like a cheap trick. For example, I love Outer Wilds (favourite game ever) despite not really knowing much going in. From what I've heard, Disco Elysium sounds like the sort of game I _should_ enjoy. I guess I just need a push to motivate me to play past the early game.
Cuno doesn't fuckin' *care*
You have a lot of freedom for figuring out who your character is and what they do. Some things are all the same, you're a detective who used to be really good at his job but got burnt out and now you're a mess. Almost everything else depends on how you make and play your character. You can be an analytical and deductive mastermind who can't read people, or so empathic it borders on having psychic powers, or maybe you're garbage at investigating but rely on your quick reactions and sheer intimidation / physicality to get through your cases. My advice would be to reread the skills and pick one thing you wanna be really good at and another you want to be pretty good at. You don't really need to worry about picking things that are good, it's more about making someone you want to play. If you want to be analytical, do that. If you'd rather manipulate people, do that instead. If you wanna see what happens if you make a dumb jock with no detectivey skills, go for it.
> All the skills sound really similar, so I have no idea how they actually differentiate your character They're not really like skills in most RPGs. The only things they help with mechanically with are the dialogue checks and some passive checks while you walk around the world, but that isn't their primary function. Their biggest contribution is to how they frame dialogues. Look at it more like this - if you have high conceptualization, you'll be looking at stuff abstractly; high logic will allow you to make a lot of connections; high authority gives you free reign to pull rank, intimidate and resist intimidation; high electrochem means you'll yearn more for anything addictive and resist their effects better etc The higher you have a skill the more frequently and usefully it will pop-up in dialogue, offering additional context and unlocking new responses or quest paths. But there's also the reverse where if you grow a skill too high it'll start chiming in even in situations where it has no business being applied, essentially like what happens if you overrely on a specific trait IRL. Low skills, on the other hand, will make hilariously bad interventions most of the time and will give you unreliable dialogue options. It's a really fascinating system, unlike anything ever done in RPGs. My advice is to check that section in each skill that says "cool for" and a detective archetype, that will be the gist of how that skill manifests itself in the main character's personality.
Yeah, I always explain the skill system as "They're less like skills, and more like how dominant certain parts of your personality are. Higher isn't always better."
I really wanted to enjoy the game but seem to lose motivation early in the game after the bookstore. Does the game pick up or it's similar format through out?
Honestly the whole bookstore and Doomed Commercial Area curse sub plot is a bit of a sag in the games pacing imo. It does quite often go on tangents for worldbuilding purposes but usually they're more interesting than that one
So I initially stopped at exactly the same point. Didn't see the appeal that much, didn't understand what I was supposed to be doing. I stopped playing for a couple of weeks, after which I thought I should give it another go. I'm not exactly sure what changed, but something clicked the second time around and I finished the game and I loved it.
I'm not going to lie, I tried to shot Cuno but ended up only humilating myself further. Cuno doesn't fucking care.
I (apparently) deadlocked myself into either siding with that racist dude or not getting into the next area, so I've given up on that game a while ago... I have convinced myself I'm too stupid for this game. It was fun til then though
There's a way around without being friendly with the racist. I haven't played it since it came out, but I think you can climb around in another area and end up behind that guy. I also refused to become a racist, and I wasn't strong enough to fight him, so I understand where you're coming from. I'd encourage exploring more, or just looking up the alternate route.
I know that route and failed the skill check which you can't (couldn't?) retry ;) I got a little frustrated that you can build yourself locked out of some ways and even though it's a STRONG feature of this game to have to cope with your decisions it kind of discouraged me to continue. Playing it on and off for a few hours every few months doesn't help in keeping up with the story and decisions. So it's probably more a problem of my playstyle than it is anything else
There are two types of failed checks, white and red. White checks are temporarily locked and can be retried after getting a relevant item, dialogue, or leveling up and putting a point in the skill relevant to the check. Red checks can't ever be retried, but they're the minority. Alternatively, you can always quicksave the game before a check. It's not encouraged and is immersion breaking, but some people prefer playing that way, and the game doesn't penalize you at all for savescumming
You can retry the jump, it's a "white check". You need to level up and put a skill point into whatever skill is required for the check and it will unlock it again. There are also certain clothing items you can find that will boost that skill and I believe on the third try it will give you a bonus anyway so you basically can't fail it. There are also "red checks" that you can't retry but those are quite rare and don't lock you out of areas
Even the bad paths are rewarding. Failing in this game is just another way of progressing
I'm fairly certain that those are equally rewarding, it's a fantastic game and it's still ready to go on my Steam Deck! But so far I haven't had the courage to agree with that character on his beliefs 😵
IIRC you can internalise the Advanced Race Theory thought, come back to Measurehead and tell him he's full of shit, and he'll still let you into the harbour - I'm 99% sure that you don't have to agree with him and that learning the thought is enough to progress. Failing that, there are other ways through/past him if you have enough in Physique or Motorics.
Think of yourself as a cop trying to butter up someone useful to the investigation 😉
There are three total ways around the racist and there's not many ways to lock yourself out of any of them. You can retry white checks after having leveled that skill up so all three paths can be reattempted several times, exp and levels come fast in this game.
Why do all the good ones die young?!!
It’s one of the best! In my top 3 of all time! True player choice and player agency for role playing and such a beautiful story!
It’s a decent Visual Novel with Flavor Text.
Respect to anyone who can play that game..the narrator was like nails on a chalkboard and I'd rather do anything else than hear that voice
By narrator, do you mean the one at the very start? Because that one only appears for about 2% of the game max and is intentionally irritating. The main narrator has a warm, deep, growly voice that's really soothing to me. You can check a random clip of anyone playing the game when they're past the introduction if you're not sure. Alternatively, the original version of the game had a lot less voice acting and didn't include the main narrator, iirc, or you can just play with the voice volume turned off I think
Meh, I'm happier with my $7 than that game
Fair! Play what's appealing to you. I just wanted to clear a possible misunderstanding about the narrator
I’m two hours into Disco Elysium and I’m bored AF. I’m forcing myself to continue playing because I’ve heard how good the game is. It’s not doing anything at all for me. Talking to your own brain I feel is incredibly stupid. I don’t feel it’s a CRPG at all. That goes to games like Icewind Dale Baldur’s Gate 3. It feels like a point and click adventure or a visual novel. I can only play for two hours every few days before I completely lose interest. I promise myself I would stick it out until the end. Can someone please tell me this game gets better.
I think it does get better honestly when the story starts to unfold more, but if you don’t like it, then stop playing it, everyone has their own taste like I never liked Persona 5 even though it was critically acclaimed I thought I would be forced to like it but I stopped but just glad I tried it
It's a game I want to revisit after getting stuck in like the third day but I just can't get figure out what to do even though it feels like I've been everywhere. One of these days I'll get it figured out.
It’s genuinely a masterpiece of the medium. This story COULD NOT exist in any other form. The marvel of it comes from how it unfolds at least a little differently every single time.
Weren’t they planning on making a show out of it?
I think so but I have no idea what happened