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hariseldon
Unconfirmed Member
Tyranny is definitely on my todo list - this game has opened up a realm of isometric RPGs for me - pray for my soul.
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Disco Elysium |OT| A worthy Planescape: Torment successor
- Thread starter The Cockatrice
- Start date
- |OT|
Tyranny is definitely on my todo list - this game has opened up a realm of isometric RPGs for me - pray for my soul.
Fuz
Banned
Let me guess. The one during the tribunal?
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hariseldon
Unconfirmed Member
Got to the tribunal - think I fucked it up horribly.. what a gut-punch.
Fuz
Banned
The "phone call" was a bigger gut punch for me, being totally unexpected at that point added quite some weight.
And the voice acting was so damn perfect.
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Shifty
Member
Mental, right? But it's real, I swear!
And Tyranny... That's the one where your choice is essentially "coke evil or pepsi evil", right? It looked pretty cool from what little coverage I heard of it, will have to put it on the list.
Same. I wandered in by accident without prep, and flubbed every check that could be flubbed.
Distinctly tempted to load my save from 30min previous and have another try.
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Kadayi
Banned
Are you talking about calling your station or does someone call you? Because if it's the latter I never had that...
I think sometimes you've gotta just roll with it. From what I can tell there's definitely variation in terms of the result. For the record, there's more to events beyond the Tribunal.
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Fuz
Banned
No.
Careful if you plan to do another playthrough, knowing this in advance will ruin it for you:
If you use the payphone near the boardwalk, after a few prank calls your muscle memory kicks in and you dial your wife's number. The result is pretty emotional.
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Fuz
Banned
Yeah, there's some variation to it but I don't think it's too much. I did it twice and had only a little difference between the two attempts: first time everyone but the black guy and the bald one died, second time I managed to save the girl too - at least I think, because I didn't pay too much attention at what was written after it and she might have died offscreen? I dunno. Both times Titus died offscreen and I thought that was a "fake" roll and you couldn't save him, but then my friend did.
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Fuz
Banned
I also went in expecting to reload to save moneyHeh, no wonder. I never encountered it. Captain hoarder here never spends Real unless he has to
(I didn't)
Kadayi
Banned
Yeah in my playthrough a couple of the Hardies died, but Titus and the Lawyer girl lived, however, Kim got shot
, and I took a serious pasting myself (even with the armour) though I ended completing the rest of the game with Cuno (thankfully not off his nut on speed) who ended up being recruited as a trainee with the 41st, which was a rare achievement apparently. Absolutely failed to arrest Kjaase though........ . I'm of the opinion it's probably not possible to walk away unscathed yourself (that dodge chance is really really low), but the other aspects are subject to flux.I didn't mind the couple of seemingly fixed rolls I encountered though : -
The working-class woman one I thought was great, because you so think 'Yeah I can do this' because your characters probably done this before dozens of times, but then the reality hits you that despite how well you think you've got your shit together you seriously haven't and you just flubb it, it was a real 'Fuck...' moment, but then Kims there to talk it out afterwards...and then I go and get him shot.......
The bunker I read as a commentary on the 'Locked Door' conundrum of RPGs. I couldn't be bothered to save and keep reloading it though. so maybe it is possible to get it open, but then it's not clear where it actually leads if anywhere, because I don't think it goes to the Island
Oh as an aside post Tribunal anyone else have a hearty laugh when going to the docks and finding that elusive crate that was behind Measureheads position unguarded just contained some (now) Worthless Real and Tare.
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Fuz
Banned
WHAAAAAT?
Shifty
Member
And I'm done. Fucking fantastic, loved it.
Had a bit of a hiccup at the beginning of the end thanks to a forgotten thought cabinet slot with 'fail all red checks' as its learning bonus, but I'm not above loading my save for that.
I steamrolled the tribunal first-try with my carefully-nurtured Hand/Eye Coordination, and even rolled double sixes on the rigged check that causes you to get leg-shot. Kim and Titus survived, along with the black guy and the bald one. Far as I know the rest of them died.
From there, I went to the island, solved the case, discovered the phasmid(!!), got kept on at the RCM, and recruited Kim to Precinct 41. Didn't arrest Klaasje in the end, but I'm not too torn up over it. She played me good, like the dame from a dime store noir novel. I never did find out what the deal was with possibly being a mob boss' peone, but canonically speaking I never got that information.
Ideologically speaking I am apparently a communist, by one point, but a communist nonetheless (comrade.) I was overall a good cop, but wasn't afraid to hit the substances, inadvertently open a drug-fuelled rave club, and discover that the world is FUCKING DOOMED MAYBE thanks to the proto-pale pinpoint holes in reality. Not that the last part is all that important to the case.
Overall, I'm pretty damn happy with how that turned out. I saw enough on my failed tribunal attempt to know that I want to see the Cuno path on another playthrough some time down the line. The kid's an asshole but he's redeemable, personable even, when he's not off his fucking face on speed.
Hiccup aside, everything else was absolute butter, like playing a good book that you can't stop reading. Kim is an excellent Good Cop foil to your shenanigans, the supporting cast is varied and well-written, and the dialogue options are super expressive. Even Cuno is great, the littlecunt scamp.
As far as the politics goes, it gets a bit heady at points - as dictated by the characters - but never once told me the player what to think. Bravo gentlemen, you've done it- released a political game amid clown world that gives players a canvas, not a script. Show's over, everyone pack up and go home.
And, a closing thought for anyone who's still playing: Once you've seen the credits, stare at the title screen for a few minutes and take in the art. Think about it with 30+ hours of context at your back.
Stat-and-dialogue heavy CRPG stuff has never been my jam, but it sure as shit is now. Planescape, here I come!
Had a bit of a hiccup at the beginning of the end thanks to a forgotten thought cabinet slot with 'fail all red checks' as its learning bonus, but I'm not above loading my save for that.
I steamrolled the tribunal first-try with my carefully-nurtured Hand/Eye Coordination, and even rolled double sixes on the rigged check that causes you to get leg-shot. Kim and Titus survived, along with the black guy and the bald one. Far as I know the rest of them died.
From there, I went to the island, solved the case, discovered the phasmid(!!), got kept on at the RCM, and recruited Kim to Precinct 41. Didn't arrest Klaasje in the end, but I'm not too torn up over it. She played me good, like the dame from a dime store noir novel. I never did find out what the deal was with possibly being a mob boss' peone, but canonically speaking I never got that information.
Ideologically speaking I am apparently a communist, by one point, but a communist nonetheless (comrade.) I was overall a good cop, but wasn't afraid to hit the substances, inadvertently open a drug-fuelled rave club, and discover that the world is FUCKING DOOMED MAYBE thanks to the proto-pale pinpoint holes in reality. Not that the last part is all that important to the case.
Overall, I'm pretty damn happy with how that turned out. I saw enough on my failed tribunal attempt to know that I want to see the Cuno path on another playthrough some time down the line. The kid's an asshole but he's redeemable, personable even, when he's not off his fucking face on speed.
Hiccup aside, everything else was absolute butter, like playing a good book that you can't stop reading. Kim is an excellent Good Cop foil to your shenanigans, the supporting cast is varied and well-written, and the dialogue options are super expressive. Even Cuno is great, the little
As far as the politics goes, it gets a bit heady at points - as dictated by the characters - but never once told me the player what to think. Bravo gentlemen, you've done it- released a political game amid clown world that gives players a canvas, not a script. Show's over, everyone pack up and go home.
And, a closing thought for anyone who's still playing: Once you've seen the credits, stare at the title screen for a few minutes and take in the art. Think about it with 30+ hours of context at your back.
The title cityscape is Revachol viewed from the perspective of the sniper hidden on the island. You saw that critical line of sight to the roof of the Whirling in Rags before you even built your character. Mind blown.
Stat-and-dialogue heavy CRPG stuff has never been my jam, but it sure as shit is now. Planescape, here I come!
The realest deal. Do it.
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Kadayi
Banned
Just finished it. Mind blown. Will write up some proper thoughts later but honestly I have utterly fallen in love with this game, its world, its people. And likeShifty I’m gonna have to get the methodone of Planescape to this game’s heroin.
I look forward to your assessment. Shifty and myself have been driving everyone nuts with our Spoilered discussions in the Discord
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hariseldon
Unconfirmed Member
It's so nice to now be able to read the spoilered text I couldn't go near for ages! So.. to business.
Overall, I fucking love this game. I'm delighted to have had the chance to play something so special. I wonder if there's a reason most of the best writing is coming from Eastern Europe these days (these guys are Estonian)? The game itself presents some clues I think, a city that has seen ideologies come and cause trouble, and has seen the consequences of all of them, perhaps creative types in those places step outside of that ideology because they recognise it for what it is, where we in the west don't have that luxury. I feel that stepping outside of ideology is what allows our Eastern friends to write such compelling and grown-up content.
I will definitely regard this playthrough as canon in my mind, but there's a decent chance I'll go back in to see some of the variation - looking at people's spoiler text choices really do have consequences and that's wonderful to see.
This is the first isometric RPG to grab me (and damn it grabbed me). Hopefully this will be the gateway drug for Planescape Torment, Baldur's Gate, Divinity 2 et al where previously I've bounced off them a bit.
In terms of the shootout, some Hardies died, my fault for starting a bloodbath by shooting first and getting the merc, it all kicked off from there. I dodged the bullet and warned Kim in time to avoid him being shot (I was accutely aware that I didn't want him getting shot - he annoyed me a little early on but the wily little fucker grew on me). Took a bullet to the leg, Kim saved my ass.
Cuno hated me after I pulled a gun on him earlier in the game but after the shootout he respected me enough to talk to me again and I got to find out a bit more about him - his dad was a mess. Didn't speak to him, didn't want to screw things up by waking him up and starting a firefight, didn't want to kill Cuno's dad no matter how much of a fuckup he may be, after all that's all the kid's got. Got the speed and let Cuno have his bit - didn't like giving it to him but he needs to be able to trust adults and that's necessary on this occasion.
Had a look where Measurehead was doing his thing, got some Real but no Tare. Money was a bit stressful early on when I couldn't figure out how to get any to pay for my room but after the first night I was golden, so that's cool. I regret taking money from the union guy and the woman on the boat because that left me beholden to them somewhat.
Sum-up was decent - I'm a communist apparently, admittedly I was a bit of a pro-worker guy in some of my responses though I also had a decent number of 'traditional' and free market responses, but communism was my biggest.
Cuno hated me after I pulled a gun on him earlier in the game but after the shootout he respected me enough to talk to me again and I got to find out a bit more about him - his dad was a mess. Didn't speak to him, didn't want to screw things up by waking him up and starting a firefight, didn't want to kill Cuno's dad no matter how much of a fuckup he may be, after all that's all the kid's got. Got the speed and let Cuno have his bit - didn't like giving it to him but he needs to be able to trust adults and that's necessary on this occasion.
Had a look where Measurehead was doing his thing, got some Real but no Tare. Money was a bit stressful early on when I couldn't figure out how to get any to pay for my room but after the first night I was golden, so that's cool. I regret taking money from the union guy and the woman on the boat because that left me beholden to them somewhat.
Sum-up was decent - I'm a communist apparently, admittedly I was a bit of a pro-worker guy in some of my responses though I also had a decent number of 'traditional' and free market responses, but communism was my biggest.
Overall, I fucking love this game. I'm delighted to have had the chance to play something so special. I wonder if there's a reason most of the best writing is coming from Eastern Europe these days (these guys are Estonian)? The game itself presents some clues I think, a city that has seen ideologies come and cause trouble, and has seen the consequences of all of them, perhaps creative types in those places step outside of that ideology because they recognise it for what it is, where we in the west don't have that luxury. I feel that stepping outside of ideology is what allows our Eastern friends to write such compelling and grown-up content.
I will definitely regard this playthrough as canon in my mind, but there's a decent chance I'll go back in to see some of the variation - looking at people's spoiler text choices really do have consequences and that's wonderful to see.
This is the first isometric RPG to grab me (and damn it grabbed me). Hopefully this will be the gateway drug for Planescape Torment, Baldur's Gate, Divinity 2 et al where previously I've bounced off them a bit.
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Screamer-RSA
Member
Yahtzee (from Zero Punctuation) gives Disco Elysium a review, disguised as a Call of Duty review
"Its a densely fiercely intelligently written game."
Lets See if the Call of Duty boys realise.
"Its a densely fiercely intelligently written game."
Lets See if the Call of Duty boys realise.
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Shifty
Member
The Disco Elysium devs have been putting out in-depth blog posts discussing the game's systems, which are well worth a read. The latest one is on the political alignment system:
The Political Alignment System
Substances and You
The Political Alignment System
Substances and You
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hariseldon
Unconfirmed Member
I love this game so much. It really is a work of art.
PS sorry I go on about it so much, it’s just this thing really got into my head, made me rethink what the medium can do in many ways.
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hariseldon
Unconfirmed Member
Just got the wife started on it. She’s gone with a fairly balanced build, I didn’t see what specialisation she chose. She’s already told the racist lorry driver to fuck off and met Measurehead but hadn’t yet found the body. Not the best first impression of the game! She got the tie down first time damn it!
It’ll be interesting to see how she copes with this - it’s quite a jump from her usual Sims 3 (I got her a laptop with a GTX1070 for that ffs).
It’ll be interesting to see how she copes with this - it’s quite a jump from her usual Sims 3 (I got her a laptop with a GTX1070 for that ffs).
Kadayi
Banned
It's extremely cohesive. This game's been in development for quite a few years. You're not going to learn the ins and outs of everyone, but you get a sense for them.
The Cockatrice
Gold Member
Wish I had someone who would enjoy these type of games...or any games really. Not even my best friends are into this genre. FFS.
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hariseldon
Unconfirmed Member
Get new friends. But being serious I’m fortunate to have a wife who’s into this stuff, it gives me room to game, and we get to share experiences (we worked through walking dead on our laptops in the same room like saddos).
Bigrx1
it’s one of a small number of games that made me care about the characters. Kim is an absolute hero for instance, putting up with me like he does. The characters are memorable, well written and enjoyable to spend time with (apart from racist lorry driver - that guy is a dick).
Screamer-RSA
Member
Man this game, it doesn’t sound like much but a certain boat ride while play Sad FM on the boombox was one of the best experiences this year.
anthraticus
Banned
Yea, I had to leave my friends in the dust when it comes to games, their taste is so shitty.... just playing the usual mainstream/mp garbage only unfortunately.
We're still friends but games or anything gaming related doesn't ever enter the conversations , ect.. any more.
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hariseldon
Unconfirmed Member
So simple but such a beautiful moment. Disco Elysium answers the question of whether games can be art.
Deserved 4 Awards win at the game awards. Not surprised though that they won, the awards are voted on by journalists and it got excellent reviews after all. It also aligns with most game journalists political views.
Which is also my personal caveat and a bit of a disappointment. Disco Elysium worked for me because it basically satirized all political ideologies in a way. Their comment at the game awards *We thank Marx and Engels for proper political education* just sadly reminded me that at their heart they are hardcore socialists.
They can hold that opinion and that is ok, but I (personally) hope they don't lose that more objective style of storytelling/narrative design going forward. Otherwise I dunno if I'm seeing the birth of one of my favorite game studios or one of my most hated.
Which is also my personal caveat and a bit of a disappointment. Disco Elysium worked for me because it basically satirized all political ideologies in a way. Their comment at the game awards *We thank Marx and Engels for proper political education* just sadly reminded me that at their heart they are hardcore socialists.
They can hold that opinion and that is ok, but I (personally) hope they don't lose that more objective style of storytelling/narrative design going forward. Otherwise I dunno if I'm seeing the birth of one of my favorite game studios or one of my most hated.
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Kuksune
Member
So if i pirate it they're cool with it?
DunDunDunpachi
Banned
Glad it won some awards and got recognition. Still waiting my turn until the console versions are available.
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hariseldon
Unconfirmed Member
They're very smart people. The game doesn't preach, as you say it takes the piss out of everyone. Socialists can satirise all sides, just as conservatives can. They've demonstrated remarkable freedom of thought in this magnificent game - they've earned my trust for the next one.
mango drank
Member
Finished it yesterday. Random thoughts and questions:
- Kitsuragi is an excellent character. Feels human, feels real. Great visual design too (Kaneda jacket + gloves).
- The art style is amazing, and I love the look of the world. I wish it was a bigger world, though, with more to do and explore.
- The game doesn't look that demanding graphically, but my 1070 was often going nuts while playing. What is this game doing, mining commie crypto in the background?
- You spend 95% of your playtime reading, and you end up staring mostly at the lower-right 1/6 of your screen area, w/ the space above it for scrolling, and the rest of the screen area being mostly dead space just sitting there. This was a dumb design choice. Put the text front and center next time, utilize the space better.
- The game gives you a tutorial about the lower left of the screen, suggesting you can have companions other than Kitsuragi. But I never did. Did anyone else? Story DLC incoming?
- There were earlier screens showing Kim's car in different parts of the city. Can you drive that thing or no?
- Is there no New Game+ or anything? Otherwise, why the hell does the game bother to level you up during the last conversations? There's not even a post-game save or anything, it just ... ends. Am I missing something?
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The Cockatrice
Gold Member
Most likely things that were supposed to be in the game got removed due to time and budget or simply they changed their ideas and forgot to clean up the bits and pieces.
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hariseldon
Unconfirmed Member
Someone above mentioned a possible recruit but that only happens in a very specific circumstance. I agree there was probably intent to do more with that, the cops hanging around the hotel seemed to be a bit useless but the story ties it up properly in the end, but perhaps they were originally intended to join you? Maybe they dropped it for budget reasons or maybe they didn’t feel it fitted when they tried it.
They are Estonian. Ex-USSR. I'm pretty sure it's all tongue in cheek. Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia were the most anti-communist states of USSR.
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
Just booted this up for the first time and it was so engrossing that 3 hours just flew by like nothing. Gotta head to bed soon, but I'm super impressed by the setting and writing so far. It had me laughing out loud multiple times. I've got to look up who the writers are.
edit: looked it up and it appears to be written by an Estonian dude? Not seeing any information on an English editor. Holy shit if he really wrote all of this and isn't even a native speaker of English. Seriously impressive.
edit: looked it up and it appears to be written by an Estonian dude? Not seeing any information on an English editor. Holy shit if he really wrote all of this and isn't even a native speaker of English. Seriously impressive.
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D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
Holy shit at some of this writing. From the race supremacist dude at the docks:
"THE INFLUENCE OF THE “HAM SANDWICH RACE” IS WANING."
"YOU DOMINATED LESSER CULTURES – BUT NOW YOUR ASCENT TO THE GENETIC SUMMIT HAS HALTED. YOU ARE OBSESSED WITH SADNESS AND WITH FRIVOLOUS POP CULTURE."
"THE INFLUENCE OF THE “HAM SANDWICH RACE” IS WANING."
"YOU DOMINATED LESSER CULTURES – BUT NOW YOUR ASCENT TO THE GENETIC SUMMIT HAS HALTED. YOU ARE OBSESSED WITH SADNESS AND WITH FRIVOLOUS POP CULTURE."
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
Still loving this game, but I think I'm nearing the end (just a bit past the tribunal now).
I'm not sure I consider this game a "CRPG," though. Maybe a pointless distinction, but it feels much more like a classic point-and-click adventure (Gabriel Knight keeps coming to mind) than what I typically associate with isometric CRPGs.
Still, some fantastic writing and characterization. With that said, I almost wish they just set it on Earth as a parallel reality instead of using all these made-up names for things.
I'm not sure I consider this game a "CRPG," though. Maybe a pointless distinction, but it feels much more like a classic point-and-click adventure (Gabriel Knight keeps coming to mind) than what I typically associate with isometric CRPGs.
Still, some fantastic writing and characterization. With that said, I almost wish they just set it on Earth as a parallel reality instead of using all these made-up names for things.
Fuz
Banned
I agree with this.
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hariseldon
Unconfirmed Member
Personally I was fine with it. For starters I think it gave them freedom to do things that would probably have caused them a lot more grief otherwise. I also think it gave them a chance to mix cultures and ideas in a way they otherwise wouldn't have been able to, and to have the magical element and different technology (spoilers?) in a way that works more easily from a standpoint of suspension of disbelief.
SleepDoctor
Banned
Damn this looks great artistically. Is this pc only?
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hariseldon
Unconfirmed Member
Currently though I believe console ports are in the works. Btw for anyone interested it seems there's a mod scene starting to show up if you look at https://www.nexusmods.com/discoelysium - this includes gamepad support.
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anthraticus
Banned
Is there a mod or something that lets me pan the camera around, instead of just being able to zoom in & out only ?