4 ms·

If you haven’t played Disco Elysium, please do, there’s a reason people are so obsessed with it. It’s a novel really.

by adamnemecek 2y ago

pesus 2y ago
Some of my all time favorite writing, regardless of medium.
- jakevoytko 2y ago
  I believe that this game is an artistic masterpiece. On the first playthrough when I woke up with amnesia, I simply played a cop with amnesia in all of my responses. It was goofy, I annoyed Kim for fun, I beat the game, etc. On the second playthrough, I chose all of the dialogue options that honestly explained how the character became an alcoholic. It changed the vibe of the whole game to somber, and I was fascinated that the relationship with Kim felt different. It also felt natural to explore all of the lore and sidequests of the game involving the pale in this mood. And then I went on a completionist binge and found some great social commentary in the "high-net-worth individual" sections.
  - jimmygrapes 2y ago
    At risk of saying too much... I am playing it again right now and am choosing a path of sobriety and contrition and it's been making me think, pray, and cry every night. I'm working on it.
- ajmurmann 2y ago
  Very much agreed. When Harry met a certain creature I cried a little. The text and music were so moving.
- pdpi 2y ago
  The writing is an exercise in how closely you can toe the line of turning into purple prose without ever crossing it. It's clearly written by somebody who likes words, for other people who like words.
  - Toutouxc 2y ago
    One of the reasons I played using the "Psychological" voiceovers (where the characters are voiced, but not the inner monologue). The skills were to me the purplest element, and the voice acting differed too much from my imagination.
    - pdpi 2y ago
      Yeah, it's definitely not for everybody, but the narrator/inner monologue VA work is one of my favourite things about the game.
pm3003 2y ago
I've seen people use it to learn colloquial French. I'll try othetr languages.
OnionBlender 2y ago
I don't know why I haven't played this yet. I absolutely loved Planescape: Torment and Fallout 1 & 2. I already own Disco Elysium. I've just never booted it up yet.
- tapoxi 2y ago
  It's such an incredible science fantasy universe, probably my favorite piece of fiction from the past decade. The political history, nature of reality and shape of the world, even things about how computers ("radiocomputers") work are all fascinating to me. It's a shame what happened to the studio. There deserve to be more stories told in that universe.
  - duskwuff 2y ago
    > It's a shame what happened to the studio. And there's an extremely funny winking self-reference in the game: https://fayde.co.uk/dialojue/4600609 https://fayde.co.uk/dialojue/4600609 For context: ZA/UM was, for a time, called Fortress Occident.
    - camtarn 2y ago
      > ZA/UM was, for a time, called Fortress Occident Hah! I've spent some time reading trivia about the game recently, but I hadn't come across this. That makes a lot of sense.
    - mariusor 2y ago
      ZA/UM is also the name of a physical artefact in the Disco Elysium universe. It gets used in the novel Kurvitz wrote: Sacred and Terrible Air.
- armoredkitten 2y ago
  I think, even though they are very different games, Disco Elysium has a lot of the same feel as Planescape: Torment. A lot of the same introspection of human nature, philosophy, moral judgment, and wry humour. If you like one, I think you'll like the other.
ahartmetz 2y ago
I don't like anything about the game - writing, art style, characters, UX, voice acting, main storyline... so that opinion exists, too.
- egeozcan 2y ago
  I could play for 5 hours then gave up because similar reasons. In situations like this I usually think it should be an acquired taste, but in this case, I'm pretty much confident that I'd have never liked it. UX was the biggest pain point for me BTW.
  - afterburner 2y ago
    I thought it was a drag having to schlep around town for a point and click game.
    - me_me_me 2y ago
      imagine that, in a detective game you are required to poke around and TALK! to people. Crazy idea.
  - red-iron-pine 2y ago
    same. the entire thing could have been done similar to a renpy-style visual novel and generally played out the same. the dialog, trees, and story were the game, everything else was kinda clunky
- esperent 2y ago
  I definitely liked some things about the game. But what I didn't like is that it's incredibly depressing. There's not enough wry humor (even though it's good humor) to cover up the fact that it's a terribly sad story about a man who's alcoholism has destroyed his ability to comprehend reality. I made it about ten hours in, and deciding to stop there felt like opening a window onto a bright sunny day after being stuck in a menial office job.
- Freak_NL 2y ago

If you haven’t played Disco Elysium, please do, there’s a reason people are so obsessed with it. It’s a novel really.

pesus 2y ago

Some of my all time favorite writing, regardless of medium.

jakevoytko 2y ago
I believe that this game is an artistic masterpiece. On the first playthrough when I woke up with amnesia, I simply played a cop with amnesia in all of my responses. It was goofy, I annoyed Kim for fun, I beat the game, etc. On the second playthrough, I chose all of the dialogue options that honestly explained how the character became an alcoholic. It changed the vibe of the whole game to somber, and I was fascinated that the relationship with Kim felt different. It also felt natural to explore all of the lore and sidequests of the game involving the pale in this mood. And then I went on a completionist binge and found some great social commentary in the "high-net-worth individual" sections.
- jimmygrapes 2y ago
  At risk of saying too much... I am playing it again right now and am choosing a path of sobriety and contrition and it's been making me think, pray, and cry every night. I'm working on it.
ajmurmann 2y ago
Very much agreed. When Harry met a certain creature I cried a little. The text and music were so moving.
pdpi 2y ago
The writing is an exercise in how closely you can toe the line of turning into purple prose without ever crossing it. It's clearly written by somebody who likes words, for other people who like words.
- Toutouxc 2y ago
  One of the reasons I played using the "Psychological" voiceovers (where the characters are voiced, but not the inner monologue). The skills were to me the purplest element, and the voice acting differed too much from my imagination.
  - pdpi 2y ago
    Yeah, it's definitely not for everybody, but the narrator/inner monologue VA work is one of my favourite things about the game.

pm3003 2y ago

I've seen people use it to learn colloquial French. I'll try othetr languages.

OnionBlender 2y ago

I don't know why I haven't played this yet. I absolutely loved Planescape: Torment and Fallout 1 & 2. I already own Disco Elysium. I've just never booted it up yet.

tapoxi 2y ago
It's such an incredible science fantasy universe, probably my favorite piece of fiction from the past decade. The political history, nature of reality and shape of the world, even things about how computers ("radiocomputers") work are all fascinating to me. It's a shame what happened to the studio. There deserve to be more stories told in that universe.
- duskwuff 2y ago
  > It's a shame what happened to the studio. And there's an extremely funny winking self-reference in the game: https://fayde.co.uk/dialojue/4600609 https://fayde.co.uk/dialojue/4600609 For context: ZA/UM was, for a time, called Fortress Occident.
  - camtarn 2y ago
    > ZA/UM was, for a time, called Fortress Occident Hah! I've spent some time reading trivia about the game recently, but I hadn't come across this. That makes a lot of sense.
  - mariusor 2y ago
    ZA/UM is also the name of a physical artefact in the Disco Elysium universe. It gets used in the novel Kurvitz wrote: Sacred and Terrible Air.
armoredkitten 2y ago
I think, even though they are very different games, Disco Elysium has a lot of the same feel as Planescape: Torment. A lot of the same introspection of human nature, philosophy, moral judgment, and wry humour. If you like one, I think you'll like the other.

ahartmetz 2y ago

I don't like anything about the game - writing, art style, characters, UX, voice acting, main storyline... so that opinion exists, too.

egeozcan 2y ago
I could play for 5 hours then gave up because similar reasons. In situations like this I usually think it should be an acquired taste, but in this case, I'm pretty much confident that I'd have never liked it. UX was the biggest pain point for me BTW.
- afterburner 2y ago
  I thought it was a drag having to schlep around town for a point and click game.
  - me_me_me 2y ago
    imagine that, in a detective game you are required to poke around and TALK! to people. Crazy idea.
- red-iron-pine 2y ago
  same. the entire thing could have been done similar to a renpy-style visual novel and generally played out the same. the dialog, trees, and story were the game, everything else was kinda clunky
esperent 2y ago
I definitely liked some things about the game. But what I didn't like is that it's incredibly depressing. There's not enough wry humor (even though it's good humor) to cover up the fact that it's a terribly sad story about a man who's alcoholism has destroyed his ability to comprehend reality. I made it about ten hours in, and deciding to stop there felt like opening a window onto a bright sunny day after being stuck in a menial office job.
Freak_NL 2y ago