As much as I'd like to, like most significant art I'm going to struggle to say much of substance about this other than "oh damn this shit is good" but I'll try!
So many games I've played in my past fester in my brain like a weird dream, usually the ones that are mature, dark, violent, experimental narratives that are comprised of bizarre, nightmarish and challenging settings/themes. Killer7 and Inscryption are two all-time favorites that immediately come to mind; they dive deep into a world of intrigue, surprise and surrealism while also using mostly traditional genres of gameplay to get their point across.
Disco Elysium is a traditional feeling top-down RPG that, right off the bat, is almost giving you quick confrontational shoves backwards like someone trying to instigate a fight. "What are you gonna do? Huh? Do something. Come on, try me. I dare you." It wants you to be confused, to think about fighting back, or possibly even fleeing. It tries to knock you off balance immediately by throwing you into the dingy and warped fray of the player character, trapped inside his own mind. What you do next, where you go, who you speak to, it could all be laid out in front of you in a clear and concise matter. But who you are, how you speak, what you can accomplish and how, is all a fucked up mess of thoughts; hatred and torment, childlike confusion and amusement, twisted worldviews and ideologies. Who the fuck are you? This game frankly doesn't care, and good luck trying to figure that out anytime soon.
Video games are no stranger to containing boatloads of lore throughout their worlds, but Disco Elysium acts like there is a trilogy of books based on the history of its world you haven't read and never will. It thrusts you into conversations with characters about religion, race, social and political unrest, social relationships, and even the paranormal, which are all steeped deeply in the thick lore of its world. It won't explain any of this unless you poke and prod, a quirk which thankfully makes sense for your main character that is having an amnesiac episode and remembers nothing. Real world themes and familiar situations arise, but all in their own unique state of affairs the games world allows them to. Union strikes, murder, unruly teens, drugs, poverty, these things all exist in our world, but in Disco Elysium, they are all wrapped tightly in the lore of the world and molded to fit its blueprint.
I really can't emphasize the richness of dialogue here, it's unheard of in a video game. And everything else: the choices, the addictive levelling up of certain skills and personality traits, the detective work, the exploration, the tense moments of unrest, and even (as a big fan of cryptids) some cryptozoology!
Kim Kitsuragi is an incredible character that I would do anything for. Anytime I offended or disappointed him with my dialogue or actions, I truly felt it. He understands your flaws but still accepts that you're human. I went out of my way at first to try controversial things to see how he would react, but by the end I was protective of him at all costs.
This is a game to talk about at lengths, for years and years to come.
So many games I've played in my past fester in my brain like a weird dream, usually the ones that are mature, dark, violent, experimental narratives that are comprised of bizarre, nightmarish and challenging settings/themes. Killer7 and Inscryption are two all-time favorites that immediately come to mind; they dive deep into a world of intrigue, surprise and surrealism while also using mostly traditional genres of gameplay to get their point across.
Disco Elysium is a traditional feeling top-down RPG that, right off the bat, is almost giving you quick confrontational shoves backwards like someone trying to instigate a fight. "What are you gonna do? Huh? Do something. Come on, try me. I dare you." It wants you to be confused, to think about fighting back, or possibly even fleeing. It tries to knock you off balance immediately by throwing you into the dingy and warped fray of the player character, trapped inside his own mind. What you do next, where you go, who you speak to, it could all be laid out in front of you in a clear and concise matter. But who you are, how you speak, what you can accomplish and how, is all a fucked up mess of thoughts; hatred and torment, childlike confusion and amusement, twisted worldviews and ideologies. Who the fuck are you? This game frankly doesn't care, and good luck trying to figure that out anytime soon.
Video games are no stranger to containing boatloads of lore throughout their worlds, but Disco Elysium acts like there is a trilogy of books based on the history of its world you haven't read and never will. It thrusts you into conversations with characters about religion, race, social and political unrest, social relationships, and even the paranormal, which are all steeped deeply in the thick lore of its world. It won't explain any of this unless you poke and prod, a quirk which thankfully makes sense for your main character that is having an amnesiac episode and remembers nothing. Real world themes and familiar situations arise, but all in their own unique state of affairs the games world allows them to. Union strikes, murder, unruly teens, drugs, poverty, these things all exist in our world, but in Disco Elysium, they are all wrapped tightly in the lore of the world and molded to fit its blueprint.
I really can't emphasize the richness of dialogue here, it's unheard of in a video game. And everything else: the choices, the addictive levelling up of certain skills and personality traits, the detective work, the exploration, the tense moments of unrest, and even (as a big fan of cryptids) some cryptozoology!
Kim Kitsuragi is an incredible character that I would do anything for. Anytime I offended or disappointed him with my dialogue or actions, I truly felt it. He understands your flaws but still accepts that you're human. I went out of my way at first to try controversial things to see how he would react, but by the end I was protective of him at all costs.
This is a game to talk about at lengths, for years and years to come.