Disco Elysium has been tough for me to get through so far. All of the characters are aggressively bad people except maybe for your partner, to the point where I considered putting it down. I still might, but toward the end of my last session, I was starting to see more good than bad. Looking at my Steam friends list, dozens of people have played it, and maybe two finished it, while most of them (including some who are big RPG fans) put it down after a few hours like I’m considering. It’s strange that I never hear about this side of the game and that I only hear the praise it gets.
I’ve also been playing a second playthrough of Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. I finished my first run, but I finished it in such a way that a lot of the faction quests’ scripting were broken along the way, so it left me with very few quests to finish to attempt to reach max level, so the DLC was stupidly hard, so I just finished the base game and called it a day. But I was curious enough to check it out in turn based mode, and it turns out I liked that way better, so now I’m level 12 on this new playthrough, and we’ll see if I can get that DLC done this time.
Disco Elysium is one of the best pieces of media I’ve ever consumed, but it’s not really a regular CRPG, he’ll I’d argue it’s hardly even a game. It’s more visual novel than anything.
If you’re okay with that (and considering you’re only a few hours in) I advise you to give it another chance. There are some bad people, but most characters are considerably more nuanced than they appear at first glance (including the protagonist).
I don’t blame you if you bounce off it though, I’ve seen it happen because the game itself kind of presents a false front. It claims to be a detective game CRPG about a murder case, but I would argue it’s barely any of those things. And I’ve seen people who come at it expecting (and wanting) that type of game be disappointed.
My advice is: don’t tunnel vision on the case. Don’t be afraid to explore, or to fail, or to say wild things. And accept that you’re not given a blank slate. You can choose some characterizations, but it’s more like Geralt in Witcher 3: at the end of the day you’re playing a pre-defined character. In fact, the exploration of that character is a huge part of what makes DE great.
I think I’m dropping it. Besides the abrasive characters, the world’s lore is very info-dump-y and not particularly interesting, and after 5 hours with the game, I’m not especially curious to see where the plot is headed either. It is definitely an RPG in the way its systems work and open up different paths, but even coming at it with a change of perspective of what the game offers, I’m not coming around on it.
Interesting, I personally found the world building and lore to be excellent and fascinating. I also just love the balance they strike between making the world familiar and yet strangely alien. Have you found out about the pale?
Otherwise yeah, the game is definitely info-dumpy and exposition heavy, I was just eating it all up.
As for plot, the ostensible plot of the game is less important than the pervasive themes. And for me those just resonated very heavily, I think. Dealing with depression, failure, addiction, loss… I could very easily relate to (or at least sympathise with) the protagonist. And I enjoyed the knife’s-edge balance between nihilism and hope.
I don’t think I made it far enough to see half of that stuff, and I think there’s something to be said for hooking your audience early and without asking them to keep track of too many proper nouns out of the gate.
I think it’s probably just different tastes in the end, then. I was hooked by the writing and voice acting pretty much immediately from the start at the dialogue with the Reptilian Brain and the Limbic System during the blackout. The dialogue option “I like pain and burning light and wanting things from people who don’t want to give them to me.” and the bit about evil apes duking it out on a giant ball had me from the get-go, and after the very funny failed first couple of red checks I knew I was in for a trip.
But even then I underestimated how profoundly moved I ended up being by the game. It’s ability to make me laugh, cry and think in almost equal measure is very special among games I have played. Though again, I definitely came out of it feeling like I had consumed an interactive novel, rather than played a game.
It’s most certainly different tastes. I’m just surprised to find a reaction like mine so underrepresented.
I’ve definitely seen some people bounce off the game, though maybe not for the exact same reasons as you. I think the nuanced characters are a real strength the game has, and even though there are definitely some bad people to encounter there are genuinely sweet and lovely characters as well. Right out the gate you have not just Kim but Lena, Anette and Tommy Le Homme. Even Mañana is a very pleasant character, though whether he is a good person becomes a more philosophical discussion.
Most people I’ve seen who stop playing early are those who get very upset at how the main character behaves. They come into the game with the idea of being given a blank slate like many other RPGs, and get incredibly frustrated by being forced to select “stupid” or insane dialogue options. You’re not really allowed to live out any character concept, the whole point is to explore this deeply flawed, pre-defined protagonist.
And there are also those who finish it but end up disappointed. These are typically players who wanted and expected a detective game, a CRPG whodunnit about a murder mystery. The game isn’t really that, and if you skip a bunch of “side stuff” and just try to focus on the case you probably miss not just many important moments but probably the whole point of the game. And then the conclusion will leave you disappointed.
I love Disco Elysium, but I totally get that it’s not for everyone.
Still finishing up Saints Row: The Third, then I’ll probably go play some Zachtronics games (currently TIS-100).
Lethal company, I’ve been joining random people online and seeing how it goes. I got some good tea advice from a random New Zealand tweenager, that has turned out to be worth the price of the game alone (continues sipping rooibos).
I was playing SWAT 4 until recently, but I don’t feel a need to finish it as the gameplay didn’t seem evolve or change much after about halfway through. Voice acting is great, team AI is great, but once you discover non-lethal weapons the challenge disappears (and higher difficulties are impossible if you give your teammates lethal weapons). The popular Elite Force mod makes some nice changes, but sadly everyone overall now feels even easier and more repetitive.
Todo:
- Cruelty squad because it was on discount.
- Anthology of a Killer. Autofishs’ game opinions tend to be good.
- Bitfighter, I think I recall a friend playing this once.
I’m on the last continent for Unicorn Overlord right now, and the gameplay is real fun to try and optimize. The story’s dirt simple, but I’m fine with the occasional simple narrative game. I should have probably chosen a more difficult setting though - normal’s not really presented a real challenge yet.
Also, watching Francis John play Subnautica blind made me do another playthrough of that game. Now I’ve got bases setup all over the place.
