LogFAQs > #947356213

34. Disco Elysium
Genre Story-based Adventure

Gameplay: 3
Rest of Game: 6
Engagement: 6
New to Me: 5
Playtime: 5

Total score: 25/40

Song selection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psNKPe4pOHI

I very rarely buy games based purely on reviews or accolades. I also very rarely pay full price for games, as I can be very patient in waiting for games to go on sale. But at the end of 2019, when Disco Elysium was released, I decided to take the plunge on an unknown based on the awards it was picking up. While Im glad to have had the experience of knowing what DE is, Im not going to otherwise regard it as time or money well-spent.

Disco Elysium is the tale of an aging police detective who struggles with his share of demons while attempting to solve a murder. Because our friend screws things up so badly before the game starts, gets himself drunk, loses his badge and gun, and manages to give himself amnesia in the process, the case makes absolutely no headway until a separate precinct sends an officer down to investigate. He becomes your stalwart companion as you explore the docks at the ass-end of a city, wrapped up in a war between the merchants and the local labor boss. Nobody really wants to help you, especially since you werent exactly inspiring competence upon arrival, and it will take many days and quite a few plot twists before you finally unravel the truth.

There are two main things that carry Disco. The first is the character system. At the start, you allocate points to four different general spheres that basically correlate to brawn, brains, agility, and strength of will. Each has six skills, which you can increase as the game progresses to improve your chances of succeeding skill checks. Theres no actual combat, but theres plenty of dice rolls to determine if you succeed at anything. Youll add your skill level to your 2d6 roll, needing to exceed a certain value. Most of the time, you can retry if you fail, perhaps with a penalty, but there are some checks that are one and done, which is incredibly frustrating when you fail a roll that you had a 35/36 chance of succeeding, and leads to a ton of save-scumming. But the character system itself is pretty cool.

The other, and by far the stronger, is the writing. Disco Elysium is ostensibly a visual novel that happens to contain a small 3-D world you can walk around in. Even though the original writer is Estonian, the actual narrative (in English) has a tremendously high pedigree of flair, freedom, and strong voice. It feels like youre playing an incredibly well-developed single player D&D campaign, and you have a DM that almost encourages you to be an obstinate ass. You have options in the dialogue to be the hugest dick known to man sometimes. You also have severe issues upstairs and often get into warring dialogues with other voices in your head, which accuse you of espousing various philosophies or give you nicknames for being a wuss. Overall, the narrative voice is incredibly strong and typically carries the game for the people who like it.

Overall, start to finish took me about 15 hours to complete, and while I cant say I enjoyed every minute of it, I was certainly engrossed for about half the time.

Should you play it?: Truthfully, I think the game is very overrated. But if youre a VN-lover, you might give this a shot.

Next: A game about generating resources

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Video Game Music Contest 14 champion: Idola Phantasy Star Saga - Endeavour