In truth (aka imo) this game is the next step in the evolution of cRPGs, but I wonder if there are even any studios capable of evolving or modifiying what this game brought to the table of the genre. I am happily surprised by the quality of writing that Owlcat's Rogue Trader has but in the end it can not really compete with what DE does, even though i wouldn't say that there is less text in that game than here.
Sadly ZA/UM itself has, as it seems, been crushed by politics of greed and power, what a bitter irony, so i am not expecting them to be able to build upon the foundation of their own (can this even be said anymore?) masterpiece.
Also, i don't consider the esteemed Larian Studios to be ones who are to do it. I appreciate that they took inspiration from DE's little dice-roll animation, but while the world of gaming kneels before Larians masterpiece and cant stop talking about the supposed "new, likely irrepiclable level of RPG and AAA gaming", my own experience of Baldurs Gate 3 (i have stopped after 30 hours) showed me a game with very mediocre writing, very little meaningful content and a narrative that borders on trolling. But that for another time.

When i speak of the supposed (by me) evolution of the genre that DE brings to the table, I am speaking of course of it's attribute and dialogue mechanics, that achieve to make a combat-less rpg one of the most engaging playing experiences i've ever had. While this game is not branching in its story-line and many of the alternative routes end in little but very charming side quests, no other game has given me as much power over actually forming, shaping and evolving my character. Having played two times through this, once with a more physical brute-ish character and once with a more mentally gifted build, i was beyond impressed as to how different the game feels, but as i said, not necessarily plays out, and that despite of (Spoiler) Harry DuBois being such a unique(ly damged) odd-ball that it should be impossible to make him feel any distinct from himself, just through differing dice rolls during dialogue. ZA/UM managed to pull it off. And that is also in great part due what i consider some of the best writing ive ever come across in the medium of video games. The schizophrenic mess of voices, that represent your attributes and guide you through all of the encounters that this game has to offer, arguing amongst themselves while doing so, only came alive because the writing team on the studio is just so strong that it managed to create an amazing level of coherence and consistency throughout all of the many dialogues and descriptions. Considering the absolutely maniacal range of moods, atmospheres and characters this game goes through, i consider that a historical achievement within the sphere of video games.
Of course the mechanic that your character build influences your dialogue options is not new, but to center the entire experience of the game on it, remove combat alltogether and turning those attributes themselves into characters that reveal become differing narrative coices, has given the writers of this game the space and freedom to go wild. They handled it to a level of perfection.

While there is a certain political focus and bias in this game, the narrative does not fall into the trap of dedicating itself to a cause or a pedagogic mission, it can not even force itself to decide whether it is for or against existence.
The center of this game is the hollowness and simultaneous beauty of life, every one in revachol is struggling to survive in their own manner and even the bad guys are given their due by the writers. There is a tension in the world regarding the political and social circumstances that could easily lend themselves to be twisted into a manifesto in the form of a game, but after all this Revachol itself is the suffering leftover of a world in which ideology has failed. Yet Ideology can not die and continues to shape the lives of citizens how barely scrape by. To now go into spoiler territorry, the "supposed antagonist" summarizes my impressions wonderfully. This man who only appears at the very end of the game commits a murder, but what are his motives? There is the political dimension: Here is one of the last fighting communist revolutionaries, who has removed himself from the grasp of the system, who has stayed loyal to his duty and cause, who has turned, with pride, against the comforts of a civilized life within a capitalistic society; but there is also the human creature, that as we get to know it, reveals a certain hollowness, a certain convenience to this defiant stance. The person that Kim and Harry confront is not a proud soldier, an upright revolutionary who has carried himself through the hardships of seclusion through his utmost ideological commitment, no, they meet a deserter, who in truth has lost all faith in the revolution, a bitter, rotten and wounded creature that has, been strongly motivated by jealousy regarding the women he desired and voyeurishly peeped on from his hideout, jealousy of her lover whom he shoots while they are having sex, punishing her from giving herself to such a man. While there is the rational justification that said man was a mercenary and a likely mass-murderer, the so-called deserter himself does not seem convinced of his arguments and is easily moved by the player to confess his feelings for Klaasje. He can not hide to himself his demise and disintegration. The deserter is isolated, alone, unloved and unapproved.
But then there is also a third motive, that underscores one of an easily overlooked emphasis of the writing in this game: A mysterious mind-controlling cryptoid has been influencing the murderer for years. How accountable was he even for his act? How much control do we have over our lives, and what do we even know about living?
The Pale, a mysterious force that warps and even consumes reality is an everpresent factor in everything that happens in this game. Before it, the characters of this world shrink down to nothing. Those who traverse it, who touch it, are haunted by revelatory and deranged visions, it is a destructive truth that consumes everything and everyone it touches. And yet it attracts people, lures them to it. I think i need another playthrough to develop a proper understanding of it, but it is a fascinating facet of the world and its decisive differentiation to ours: It makes explicit that there is no assurance in existence, that there is not even a solid foundation to what we consider reality and that truth and madness have a close relationship to one another. The cryptoids hidden existance is part of this thematic cluster that proposes a giant question mark regarding all the things that can not be quantified, that are not related to unions, corporations, goverments and the homo sociologicus. This fascination with what lies beyond, this emphasis on the esoteric really lends additional validity to this games writing and is executed amazingly.

In addition to the incredible strength of this games writing and the unique character progression system that guides you through different branches of said writing, I also really appreciate the length of this game. Most games are extremely padded out, as to convince uncritical customers that they have gotten a proper return for their investment. Many of these games are beyond dried out by the time the ending roles around and many games i would consider master pieces suffer from having a length that is not appropriate with what the game has to offer. Disco Elysium is not one of those games, instead it is a tight, relatively short rpg package that feels just right. There is no padding whatsoever and if one cared for it, one could probably finish this game in about ten hours without attempting to actually speed run it.

What remains a little frustrating are its technical issues but while there were minor yet actually only half-functional elements (selecting equipment and tracking uncompleted skill checks) even on my second playthrough, 3 years after release, this can not really diminish the quality of this experience.

Great writing is hard to hope for in our times, especially since many gamers seem more than happy to praise writing-heavy rpg games where the writing seems to be done by an AI that has been fed a lot of Marvel movies and mediocre netflix shows. But i sincerely hope that this execution of a combat-free RPG will inspire many of game designers to do similiar, many talented writers to consider this medium as a whortwhile outlet for their talents.

As anyone who has read through this will have noticed, I can barely contain my enthusiasm for this game. My subsequent rating won't come much as a surprise, as this game has, by the time i played through it a second time, become my favourite game yet.
95/100