Disco Elysium Pre-Release Thread [GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Terenty]

Prime Junta Would you say it lives up to the hype, a revolutionary rpg etc etc?

 

[vota DC]

Btw with a cheat characters with maxed stats would break the game removing all choices since you can do all?

 

[Prime Junta]

(1) There is a timer for quest ?

I haven't encountered any quest timers as such, but there's an in-game clock. Everything you do advances the clock so there's only a finite amount of shit you can get done during a day. So for example if you haven't figured out how to put together next night's rent during the day, you have a Problem.

(2) Can you fail to build your character, to the point of being stuck ?

Maybe? It's partly luck though, if you make a really shitty build you might still succeed in a lucky die roll. I couldn't tell you just how likely it is for you to fuck up the game just by build choice. IME getting completely stuck (or getting a Game Over condition) does require a combination of bad build + bad decisions. I'm pretty sure it's possible to get into a situation where the Thread of Prophecy is Severed etc.

And third question: Have you ever been surprised by the outcome by choosing an answer, or can you make an unambiguous choice?

Haha all the time baby! Not just the dramatic ones either. It feels very fair though -- it's only occasionally that you do or say something surprising, it's that people don't react to it like you might expect, there's something you missed, and so on.

Prime Junta Would you say it lives up to the hype, a revolutionary rpg etc etc?

I would say so obviously but then I am a self-confessed fanboy. This is pretty much my dream storyfag RPG. Whether it gets enough traction to be genuinely revolutionary is a different matter.

I've alluded to this before but I'll lay it out in a bit more detail here. The thing is that this combination of RPG and adventure game mechanics is unusual and I think many or most RPG fans expect more game in the game: specifically, game as in tactical combat. This is very much "talking to people, the game." There is a tactical aspect to it -- specifically: you need to be tactical about spending your skill points for re-rolling white checks you really don't want to fail (and might still fail, due to sheer bad luck), but at the very least you need to adjust your expectations of what a cRPG is to get past that. And if the main reason you play RPGs is to build and test your skill against the systems and the world, then this probably isn't the game for you.

Btw with a cheat characters with maxed stats would break the game removing all choices since you can do all?

If you maxed your stats with a cheat you would have a very chatty game. All your skills would be continuously haranguing you, pointing shit out to you, and generally just swamping you with stuff. You would also succeed in most of your die rolls and miss out the fail states.

However you would still have a ton of choice in how to play the game: you'd still be deciding which option to pick in a dialogue, building up your personality, and coming up with Thoughts to develop in the THC. There are the Copotypes and the politics that Marat Sar alluded to. So even with a cheat you would have to play through the game several times to experience all of it.

 

[Bibbimbop]

Can I wear a dress in-game and ask people to respect my pronouns and refrain from deadnaming me?

 

[Haba]

forever transform computer role-playing, and usher in the world revolution.

(I just wanted to use this picture)

 

[Prime Junta]

Can I wear a dress in-game and ask people to respect my pronouns and refrain from deadnaming me?

Not on the first day at least. You can tell people you're a feminist though, and there's the Homo-sexual underground also. Does that help?

 

[Terenty]

Not on the first day at least. You can tell people you're a feminist though, and there's the Homo-sexual underground also. Does that help?

Do people react if you are naked ala Arcanum?

 

[Prime Junta]

Do people react if you are naked ala Arcanum?

I don't know, I didn't try that. I put on my clothes before I left the hotel room like a civilised person.

 

[Strange Fellow]

easily the best writing I've seen in any video game.

You sure are going out of your way to instil massive negative bias in anyone who isn't hyped for this game.

 

[Prime Junta]

You sure are going out of your way to instil massive negative bias in anyone who isn't hyped for this game.

I think there are roughly three groups of people here who aren't hyped for the game: grogs who feel a cRPG without tactical combat isn't a cRPG, people who hate me personally, and cynics who just hate everything on general principles. I doubt anything I could do -- or fail to do -- would do much to budge the needle with any of them, so whatever I guess.

 

[HoboForEternity]

okay one more. since it is a detective game, how much is the ratio between the need for player deduction vs since it is an RPG, you just leave the skills and stats to do (literally) the talking?

 

[Prime Junta]

okay one more. since it is a detective game, how much is the ratio between the need for player deduction vs since it is an RPG, you just leave the skills and stats to do (literally) the talking?

I don't think it's possible to put a number on it. Since ultimately all your choices are in the dialog interface you can't "deduce" anything that isn't up there on offer. However there are situations -- commonly! -- where there's a bunch of choices available, and figuring out which is the best one to pick will require using your grey matter -- and having paid attention to stuff that's happened before; I would even say that it might not be a bad idea to take some notes from time to time. Your skills may give you advice in these circumstances; sometimes it's good advice, sometimes not so good, and a lot of the time you would be able to figure it out even without their advice.

Also, there are multiple lines of investigation you can pursue, and information gleaned from them can be used in the others. What you choose to do and in which order is highly significant.

Put another way, if you just cruise through the game clicking on dialog options as they take your fancy you might have a good time but it's unlikely you will get very far with the case. You do need to apply yourself and think about your next step quite often. As I said earlier though a lot of the failures are recoverable.

 

[Adidas-Clichèd Cringe]

How did they do searching for clues and evidence outside of talking with people, like looking at the environment for little details, going through someone's garbage etc? Is it easy to find everything there is to find if you are meticulous enough to click on everything, or do you need high Perception, Interfacing and perhaps Visual Calculus for that?

 

[Prime Junta]

How did they do searching for clues and evidence outside of talking with people, like looking at the environment for little details, going through someone's garbage etc? Is it easy to find everything there is to find if you are meticulous enough to click on everything, or do you need to high Perception, Interfacing and perhaps Visual Calculus for that?

The game definitely rewards you for being meticulous, but that's not enough. The important stuff is behind skill checks. But as I said, there are different avenues to pursue: if you have high Psyche you'll get more out of witnesses; if you have high Perception you'll notice details you would otherwise have missed; if you have high Visual Calculus you'll be able to reconstruct events from physical evidence. You don't need all of these to progress, but you do need to use everything you do have to pursue the avenues they permit. So if you're strong on Intellect and Motorics your case will be based more on physical evidence; if you're strong on Psyche then it'll be witness statements, perhaps even confessions.

 

[Van-d-all]

How about technical aspect of finding clues? I mean, do they get highlighted or is it '90s pixelhunting?

 

[ArchAngel]

That kills their claim of open world..

EDIT: Watch the trailer Infinitron. It says "go anywhere".. that does not work if they put stupid artificial limitations like these. I was hyped that it would actually really let you go anywhere within existing areas.

IMO this is kind of a semantic quibble. It's pretty common for open-world games to start out in a closed area and only turn you loose once you've cleared it. Most people would consider Witcher 3 an open-world game but you can't leave the initial area before getting friendly with the Bloody Baron for example.

While is it common I hoped this game would avoid it. Also some games do it better, like Baldur's Gate that let you loose at start and then lock your progress a bit later (not being able to enter Baldur's Gate until you progress the story).

But when games start you with a preset character with a history and reputation, I find it irritating when it claims go anywhere but puts stupid limitations. Your example of Witcher 3 is also a bad one, players should have been allowed to leave and fail the quest if they wanted to. It was more logical to lock down a nobody in Candlekeep before you are let out then to do that to people with standing, power and connections (not to mention that was because it was to be a kind of a tutorial).

 

[Prime Junta]

How about technical aspect of finding clues? I mean, do they get highlighted or is it '90s pixelhunting?

No pixel hunting, there's a highlight button. However hidden clues stay hidden until you've noticed them with Perception (or in some cases by some other means). (And not everything hidden is a clue, or even relevant to anything in particular... I think.)

 

[Comte]

Can you find money in trash cans?

 

[Infinitron]

First preview build gameplay footage on YouTube:

 

[Prime Junta]

Can you find money in trash cans?

I haven't. You can find empty bottles though which you can turn in for money, and not always in trash cans.

 

[Molina]

First preview build gameplay footage on YouTube:

The scam is elaborate, they even created a 20-minute video.

 

[Prime Junta]

I wouldn't watch that video if you're planning to play the game. The game has a strong opening and you'll lose out if you don't experience it yourself with a fresh mind.

 

[frajaq]

First preview build gameplay footage on YouTube:

must...resist....temptation....

 

[Joined on the 4th of July]

Dissapointed that this is full of loading screens. Tech has evolved enough to not have players staring at a loading screen for a good chunk of gameplay.

Developer ingenuity guarantees that they'll always find ways to show you lengthy and numerous loading screens. Despite all the tech advances.

I'll be installing this on an HDD to get the full experience.

 

[Comte]

Does the world feel big?