Rolled a 1-1-5-5 build with H/E as signature skill ie. a cop with no brains or emotional depth, but plenty of brawn, good perception, quick to react, quick on the draw and a 6th sense in windy weather. So most likely a corrupt cop who abuses his power and doesn't really solve cases. The game had an incredible start: the visuals, the music, the characters - all great. The content was densely packed and I felt like I never had enough time to scour every place and engage in every possible dialogue, so had to make meaningful choices when decided which quests to pursue. Day 1 had many great moments: kicking the 'raseeal penacl' into a coma, meeting the union boss and passing the composure check, meeting the company rep, seeing a shady character on the balcony and spotting someone watching me from the window, finding the fridge, performing the 2nd autopsy, finding the dicemaker, ringing the buzzer, talking to Kim on the balcony at the end of the day, experiencing the dream sequence etc.
The checks did feel strange, though. Having put 5 points into Phy and 1 point into Int, it came as a surprise when I failed to pry open a trash container, but managed to reconstruct the actions of an irresponsible driver in my head. The interfacing skill cracked the real cause of death of the victim, which also made my cop look a lot more competent than what I'd expect from an imbecile. But hey, the game was fun, so I didn't get too hung up on it.
Then came day 2. Since everything is % based, I finally experienced a couple of nasty surprises. I failed a 92% red check for one of the motoric skills, yet managed to smooth-talk Joyce into disclosing valuable info with a 28% suggestion check just by dressing up differently. I also confronted one of the mercs and asked him a couple of questions about the victim. I won't spoil too much, but let's just say that one of his answers is very, very dark. The writing here is far harder than anything that preceded it, which sours the experience of sauntering around Revachol willy-nilly and just taking in the music.
It also became apparent that my character was not what was said on the tin, since I lacked the authority skill. This brings me to my biggest criticism of DE's character creation system: the grouping of the skills under 4 different 'umbrella' stats that govern ALL of them. With high motorics and physicality, I expected to fail in social settings, yet always have the upper hand in conflicts. This did occur, up to a point, but drugs and clothes blurred those lines by day 2. I was also saddled with 'skills' such as Half-Light, something akin to paranoia, which felt out of place in my character. Authority would have been right at home under the Phy tab, just as Half Light wouldn't be out of place in Psy, yet here I was, listening to my inner voice get scared over a closed door in a bookstore. Me, the big-dick fascist who's into clean-and-jerking topless.. The same applies to a few of the motoric skills, which make you feel as if you're playing an Int 3-4 character, instead of the dumbass you're supposed to be at Int 1. The absence of intellect translates into occasional brain-farts, not a crippling lack of social abilities.
Then came day 3 and fuck me was it bad.
The map opened up to let me venture forth into the other half of the world and to continue the main quest. Unfortunately, the quality here is subpar compared to Revachol proper. The content density is thinner and weaker, since a smattering old shacks and abandoned R&D facilities for an electrical company comprise this area. There are less characters in absolute numbers; 2 of them have egregious voice acting. The game seems to acknowledge this and quickly transfers a major character from the Revachol harbour onto the village jetty to try and deaden the impact, but it feels a bit cheap, especially if you have already conducted extensive talks with said character. The quests contained here are often tied to Revachol, so you'll have to shuttle back and forth between the two locations. The highlight of the area is the church, which has some great content, but its quest involves a lot of loading screens as you go from the church to a nearby tent, back to the church and then back to the tent and then back to the church..
I did manage to recover my gun, however, which was a welcome addition. A perception check allowed me to find a 2nd bullet under a floorboard, so I was finally armed. I confronted Ruby after my gonads tingled in the wind, got more info on the case from her and decided to call it a day. And then came the fucking tribunal. I walked onto that plaza like the big dick cop that I was. 12 H/E, 13 Reaction, 11 Perception, 10 Composure, 9 Physical Instrument. I had foregone all the sexy skills like Inland Empire and Empathy and Visual Calculus. opting into the boring stuff instead, which had almost no serious checks hitherto. But this, this would be my redemption. This would be my penacl. All those other builds would get fucked, whilst I would absolutely dominate. I have to admit I was really excited. Got the first shot off with 97% chance. Instant hit. Then the reaction check, 97%. Dodge the bullet like a pro. And then came the last check. 42%. Wtf? I have a second bullet, 2 of the bad guys are down, USE YOUR FUCKING H/E Harrier you thick cunt. Fucking shoot the guy! No, that's not an option. So I click on the last check and fail it (of course). Then comes another check, this time for authority, which I don't have. 28%. I fail (of course). So Kim gets fucked too.
It felt like taking a baseball bat to the face. All this time building up to this moment, just to get fucking wiped out in 4 checks. I couldn't listen to Cuno's voice, so I restarted day 3 from scratch. I put all the points I gained into reaction, which eventually tallied up to 14. Went into the tribunal and .. got fucking wiped out again. At least I managed to save Kim by taking off my red shirt before the shooting started.. I would have rage-quit otherwise. We talk to a few of the survivors. Their story doesn't seem to add up to what I saw happen in the tribunal, but fuck it, I'm past caring by that point.
I don't think I need to talk much about the ending. It's pretty fucking bad. There's a bit on a boat where the game decides to turn into a boomer Life is Strange for some inexplicable reason. The reeds were nice (especially because I never gave up on it! which in turn allowed me to pass the last Inland Empire check). But yeah, everything else was pretty disappointing after that fucking tribunal. It negated all of the great things the game had built up to that point. I got a good ending, I guess. Kim called me a racist, even though I stuck up for him (her?) in every encounter with actual racists. I guess not liking communists makes you a racist. But he did stick up for my sleuthing abilities. I did bring back a cool photo, which ingratiated me with my old buddy. Kim will also be leaving 57th to join our elite 41st precinct, so that was pretty cool. So I get accepted back into the unit and we go off to Jamrock to show the photo to some new friends. Roll credits.
I'd like to quickly mention my own opinion of the comparisons with PST. Is Disco as good as Torment? Is it better? I would say no, not at all. Don't get me wrong, it has some incredible writing and a fantastic cast; its dialogue system is far more advanced and ambitious than PST and it does have some unforgettable moments. Many individual facets are much stronger, but comparing them as two wholes I think PST comes out on top. PST's quality follows a wave function: it's incredible for the first 4 or so hours, but then starts to sink when you find Pharod. Then you find the tomb and it's awesome again, but then it goes a bit stale in the back alleys. But then you enter Lower Ward and experience all the joys that place brings. Then you go to Curst and it's a bit shit. Then comes Fortress of Regrets and it ends on an epic high. So even when you're in a trough, you feel the incline up ahead. For me, DE hit its high at the end of day 1, flatlines on day 2, starts to sink on day 3 and then crashes at the very end. It also doesn't help that most of the places mentioned in DE are just that, places that get mentioned, not actually visited. There's a lot of lore in PST, but there are also a lot of locations to back it up. You hear something and you pay attention, coz what if you'll be there at some point? Never got enough of that in DE.