Incline Disco Elysium - The Final Cut - a hardboiled cop show isometric RPG

[toro]

Poor Junta.

He championed another "masterpiece" at some point.

Which one?

I think Pillars of Eternity.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

Poor Junta.

He championed another "masterpiece" at some point.

Which one?

I think Pillars of Eternity.

I can forgive 1, but gods have mercy on his soul if it's Deadfire.

 

[Infinitron]

It's still #1 both on Steam and Gog.

Player peak tonight was 4783. Maybe it can even get even higher tomorrow...

 

[Lady_Error]

I can forgive 1, but gods have mercy on his soul if it's Deadfire.

I see it the other way around. Deadfire was an improvement in every way, which already started with the excellent White March extensions.

 

[ItsChon]

This game also made me want another detective RPG, but in a setting where it's always raining, always dark, and in a massive city.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

I can forgive 1, but gods have mercy on his soul if it's Deadfire.

I see it the other way around. Deadfire was an improvement in every way, which already started with the excellent White March extensions.

Depends on what you value more - narrative or mechanics. The latter might've been improved, but the worldbuilding of Deadfire was shit. Quirky pirate setting, lots of shitty characters (including parts of the 'main cast') and a mediocre main plot with an even worse ending. Still haven't mustered the will to replay Deadfire as to experience the DLCs.

 

[v1rus]

Is art cop thought bugged? I did a passive conceptualization check, and i got no xp

 

[v1rus]

Is art cop thought bugged? I did a passive conceptualization check, and i got no xp

Its def some sort of bugged.

Or it wont work unless it regeneratess one blue bar. In which case its abysmally bad

 

[Theophrastus]

I've been lurking Codex for a couple years, but after following this thread (and others) I thought I might as well join and post. I have played through the game twice, as well as reloading various points as to test things. My first run was a a 5-5-1-1 INT / PSY based run and the second one was a 2-2-4-4 FYS / MOT based run, albeit I tried to make it more balanced.

Right off the bat I'll admit to the game being one of my favourite pieces of media (films, tv shows, games, music etc) from the past couple of years. I am not bothered about categorising the game as an RPG - I think it is one - although I do think it needs more 'game' in it. I think the ending of the game is getting a lot of criticism for the wrong reasons, so first I'll respond to those but then I'll talk about the aspects of the game I am heavily critical of.

Spoiler

Two major points of contention people have with the ending are the phasmid and who the killer is, specifically that they come out of nowhere. If you think both of these things came out of nowhere I think you failed to pay attention to the game or took the wrong approach. The game is riddled with ambiguity and to decide that the world is the same as our own is wrong.

The phasmid is not teased throughout the game, although conditions allowing for its existence are. Speaking to Joyce and the Paledriver reveals a lot about the world. Elysium is not a planet but rather a crown of sorts, made up of chains of islands floating between the Pale. You are able to speak to Lely during the forensic analysis if you pass the Inland Empire check. The bookstore / church quest should especially prepare you for the paranormal or supernatural. The influence of David Lynch (one of the skills is literally named after one of his films!) and X-Files is evident, but I think the ambiguity is an essential part of it. In each X-Files episode there is as much counting against the existence of a monster or aliens as there is counting for it, sometimes its nothing but sometimes there is something, something which leads Mulder to continue to believe. The Phasmid questline continues this theme very well. There's enough in the world and the lore to lead you to believe that hey, maybe it does exist, although in the end you're likely to believe it doesn't. Its appearance at the end, imo, is fantastic and one of the best parts of the game.

To be honest, the first time round the killer took me off guard. I wasn't able to establish a motive nor arrest him. It didn't help that I was with Cuno. But on my second playthrough I began to realise that the Deserter was always there, even though he's defined as much as through his absence as through his presence. The secret passage and the prints which don't match anyone else's (including Ruby's), the bullet being from an antiquated gun, the little bunkers / hiding spots you find, the old cigarettes, the flowers which are left for Klaasje, the ballistics which point towards the island. Although the game leads you believe it's probably Ruby, as much evidence (even more imo) points towards another figure. Finding all this evidence on the second time round made for the finale to be much more satisfying. The conversation with the Deserter went from being short and disappointing to one of the longest pieces of dialogue in the game. All the suspects ending up as red herrings is a common trope in noir so I think its unfair for people to treat it as a betrayal or lazy. I feel like it has a lot of significance regarding the game as a whole but I haven't really thought this aspect through enough.

Now onto the things which I think the game / ending SHOULD be criticized for. It's not so much railroading but the illusion that the game isn't when it is.

Spoiler

On my first play-through I got to Ruby on Day 5, which I also expected to be the day of the Tribunal because of an Inland Empire bit with Joyce which says you only have 5 days. I let her get away after interviewing her because I had dogshit FYS and couldn't pass any of the checks to stop her. I then go to the Tribunal without my gun because I couldn't find out where the old fishmarket is. Even though I pass most of the dialogue checks since I don't have a gun everyone gets slaughtered and Kim is sent to the hospital. I end up with Cuno, leading to no one believing me about the Phasmid and my dismissal from the force. I thought damn I really fucked that up. On my second play-through I set out to rectify some of my failures, only to find out they weren't failures at all. The game literally forces you fail or locks you out of some choices. Since the Inland Empire check told me I have 5 days I try and get to Ruby, with my gun, by Day 4. Since in my first encounter with Ruby I was told I wasn't "really sneaking" (or being quiet, I'm paraphrasing here) this time round I try and do my best to approach Ruby stealthfully. I equip the merc boots (when checking out the pier you're told its good that you have them equipped because they're the lightest footwear or something) and make sure I walk and not run within the FELD building. First time round I don't open the door for Kim because that's obviously loud. Instantly killed. Okay, I open the door for Kim but make sure I walk there and have my gun equipped. This time I'll have the surprise and hopefully be able to arrest her. Nope. No matter what you do she knows you're coming. You can either let her get away or let her kill herself. Disappointing, but I continue hoping that since it's the 4th day and its my only remaining lead I can go to the island. I spoke to the lady the day before and she said it'll take a day or two to fix the boat. Maybe it'll be ready? Nope. Turns out the Inland Empire dialogue regarding the Tribunal is bullshit. It triggers once you find Ruby, not on a certain day. I go through the tribunal and although I immediately shoot the head merc and dodge the first shot 4 of the Hardie boys still die. I was glad I averted a massacre but thought there still must be a way to avoid the Hardie boys being killed. If Ruby kills herself maybe you can use both guns to kill more of the mercs immediately? Nope. Nothing changes. Also, turns out the second dodge check is impossible to succeed.

The game leads you on so much regarding choice and freedom that the eventual railroading feels like a betrayal. This is where the novelist / artist background of the developers hurts the game. Because in the end the story they specifically want to tell overrides the possibilities they presented and hinted at in the game. If you're presenting a narrative through the format of a game, particularly that of an RPG, you have to sacrifice some of your narrative vision to the possibilities you present within the game. Either don't suggest / allow for the possibility of something happening (definitely the weaker of the options), or allow some variation in the story.

This came out a lot harsher than I expected. This is still easily my GOTY and one of my favourite games of all time. These criticisms come from a desire to see the game be even better than it already is rather than some form of malice.

 

[Alienman]

This game also made me want another detective RPG, but in a setting where it's always raining, always dark, and in a massive city.

Try the Blade Runner adventure game.

 

[Forest Dweller]

Alright, bought the game yesterday, loving it so far. I just have one question.

Why is the word "faggot" censored but no other words? Like, seriously? When I read some comments about censorship I thought it might be a regional thing, but I'm an American, goddamnit.

 

[Latro]

after much thought and eloquent discussion in shoutbox, we've figured out that Disco Elysium is not, in fact, an RPG. It is, in fact, and in deed, a "Book-Game".

you simply apply stats to read the book differently. Infinitron Tear down this wall!/Move to Gen. Disc or adventure gaming!

 

[Urthor]

This game's review is self-writing. We should do this more often

While the way it wraps up the story is sort of subpar, ultimately the game is extremely enjoyable.

If you are going to overreact about the last 15 minutes of a game and tell people it's literally awful and you should never play it, well that's okay. But the single blemish is literally a single plot point in a game that was overwhelmingly great up to that point.

Then again, people overreacted enormously about the last 15 minutes of Mass Effect 3 instead of the actual reasons it's bad so idk what to say

 

[RegionalHobo]

can someone spoil me where s the gun, is it evrat second quest related?

or is it

Spoiler

the crazy kid ?

 

[Kyl Von Kull]

can someone spoil me where s the gun, is it evrat second quest related?

or is it

Spoiler

the crazy kid ?

Yeah, gotta do his second quest

 

[Background Character]

5 days and 71 pages later I have come back. I expected an experience and I got more than what I bargained for, it was the best fucking game I played in years, I laughed, I cried, I had an aneurysm (but a good one), I laughed again

I simply loved it

 

[Owlish]

5 days and 71 pages later I have come back. I expected an experience and I got more than what I bargained for, it was the best fucking game I played in years, I laughed, I cried, I had an aneurysm (but a good one), I laughed again

I simply loved it

F****t. The type of f****t that says "Kim's such a bro, the truest of true bros," and thinks Cuno isn't corny.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

I would often go there
To the tiny church there
The smallest church in Saint-Saëns
Though it once was larger

How the rill may rest there
Down through the mist there
Toward the seven sisters
Toward those pale cliffs there

I would often stay there
In the tiny yard there
I have been so glad here
Looking forward to the past here

But now you are alone
Now you are alone
None of this matters
None of this matters at all

 

[the mole]

LOL TwinkieGorilla is still butthurt about my comment related to his table top fetish.

People who don't play tabletop RPGs, you know, literally the thing that cRPGs try to emulate, have no place on an RPG forum.

Also: You're the most prolific retard I've ever seen at the codex. Nearly 17 thousand posts in two years. I'd be remiss if I didn't give my stamp of approval to the posts I see.

RPGs are just games that use numbers to demonstrate what your character can do, it doesn't matter whether it's tabletop, or was made on Jupiter, that part is irrelevant

 

[Background Character]

F****t. The type of f****t that says "Kim's such a bro, the truest of true bros," and thinks Cuno isn't corny.

Whaaaat? Everybody knows Ancient Reptilian Brain is the best companion

 

[HoboForEternity]

this is so meta. when i pick no truce, the kids said it's too long and wouldn't be catchy and difficult to say and picking disco elysium is perfect

 

[Urthor]

Definitely felt like I should have used The Return or Revachol West as a choice in that Dialogue

 

[taxalot]

Before I fully invest myself in the game :

1. Does it work on Linux ? (Even through Wine)
2. Does it have gamepad support ?
3. How many romanceable characters are there ?

Thank you.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

So far I've encountered 2 romanceable characters: Fluent and Kyl von Kul. To access the romance options you have to post on the Codex that Disco Elysium is a masterpiece and these characters will immediately suck your dick.

Hope that helps.

 

[Tacgnol]

Why is the word "faggot" censored but no words? Like, seriously? When I read some comments about censorship I thought it might be a regional thing, but I'm an American, goddamnit.

Apparently something to do with twitch streaming. Twitch doesn't allow that word on the platform or some bullshit.

Kinda worrying that a streaming platform can cause the censorship of game content.