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

[Multi-headed Cow]

Prime Junta Were there opportunities to be a dirty/crooked cop like I was planning for my first run? Ways to get out of actually doing detective work and just get hookers and blow? Figure I should ask since if that's not really a viable option I should build my dude differently instead of being an asshole and playing a detective game with the intent of doing as little detective work as humanly possible.

 

[Prime Junta]

Thanks. Do the skills really shape you character or you can easily ignore their suggestions and always reply with generic options?

I suppose that technically you could but... it depends a bit on what you mean by that. You can certainly ignore the straight-out suggestions; like if Electrochemistry is urging you to go find some speed and snort it, or Authority is telling you to arrest Garte for disrespecting you, you can certainly ignore them. (And sometimes they give you very good advice too.)

On the other hand, your Visual Calculus will just straight-up tell you stuff about the people on the scene based on their footprints ("8 1/2 inch shoe, light step, woman or adolescent"); this is information you will then be able to act on later. That would be hard to ignore.

 

[Van-d-all]

So ask me anything, I'll answer

So... Can you fail? Just plain get something plot related, like a case, and outright botch it, leaving it unsolved and not progressing said branch of the plot.

And sub question - If so, why? Is it because of your build, because of random rolls, or because decisions you make (including negligence, like not doing something at all).

 

[ArchAngel]

What is that 5th area? Did you get there?

No. The ferry over to the rest of Martinaise isn't running on the first day so you're restricted to the area around the harbour.

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.

 

[ArchAngel]

he's not going to give you objective answers. this is propaganda.

This is true, and it's why I declined the opportunity to review the game. I really want this to be a huge success, forever transform computer role-playing, and usher in the world revolution. There's no way I could muster up enough objectivity to write a review about it, so I'll just be a fanboy instead. So by all means parse my answers in that light.

However, I will try to be as honest and objective as I can, knowing that I will fail to be as objective as I would like.

Since you are also a fanboy of PoE (or you were). How much better would you said DE is compared to PoE, at least in writing department?

 

[HoboForEternity]

I am interested most about how failures work in this game. like can you botch everything you do and still get to finish the game or what?

 

[Terenty]

I suppose that technically you could but... it depends a bit on what you mean by that. You can certainly ignore the straight-out suggestions; like if Electrochemistry is urging you to go find some speed and snort it, or Authority is telling you to arrest Garte for disrespecting you, you can certainly ignore them.

Am i right to infer from your response that your character's personality doesn't really change with skills, just that it adds some dialogue options that you are free to act on or not as a player?

From you example Electrochemistry wants you to do drugs, but you can just ignore it without any penalties, you dont need to pass another check to resist the urge etc., that kind of thing?

 

[Prime Junta]

Prime Junta Were there opportunities to be a dirty/crooked cop like I was planning for my first run?

Well you can pretty much start your day by pickpocketing a sleeping guy. You can also solicit bribes, bully witnesses, and all that kind of stuff. So that's a definite YES

Ways to get out of actually doing detective work and just get hookers and blow?

The main quest is tied to the progress of the case. You can ignore it and pursue your hookers and blow quests (at least blow, there weren't any hookers in Day 1 that I came across), but if you want to keep playing you will eventually get back to the case.

Figure I should ask since if that's not really a viable option I should build my dude differently instead of being an asshole and playing a detective game with the intent of doing as little detective work as humanly possible.

If you make a really determined effort at not being a cop, you can, but you will eventually lose. Again, that means you're effectively ignoring the main quest and focusing on side content. It is possible to do a lot of side stuff though, it is really well fleshed out.

So... Can you fail? Just plain get something plot related, like a case, and outright botch it, leaving it unsolved and not progressing said branch of the plot.

Oh hell yes. There is a really rich pageant of failure in there. Most failures are recoverable; one line of investigation closes up but there are still others you can pursue; it is also really hard to fully succeed -- most of the time you will have gotten something wrong while pushing on regardless. And yes it is possible to fail so badly you die, give up, or end up in a dead end.

And sub question - If so, why? Is it because of your build, because of random rolls, or because decisions you make (including negligence, like not doing something at all).

Yes to all of those. It's a lot harder to progress the case with some builds than others (but they may have other rewards). I'd say the easiest way to fail at the game is to make a build and then not play to your strengths. Like if you make a cop with shitty Physique and then continuously try to do physical stuff, you're in for a bad time. Or, conversely, make a cop with really high Physique and then not punch the hell out of everything and drink, smoke, and snort everything.

Since you are also a fanboy of PoE (or you were). How much better would you said DE is compared to PoE, at least in writing department?

In the writing department there's really no comparison. That's like comparing... I dunno, Baldur's Gate to Planescape: Torment, or those Dragonlance novels to Tolkien or Ursula K. Le Guin.

I am interested most about how failures work in this game. like can you botch everything you do and still get to finish the game or what?

If you botch everything, you die or give up. Giving up is a mechanic -- you have two kinds of HP there, physical and morale, and certain kinds of failing gives you morale damage. Run out of morale and it's game over. This makes playing an extremely fragile character -- physically or mentally -- a real challenge, because you really can't afford to fuck up much in the areas in which you're weak.

 

[Prime Junta]

Am i right to infer from your response that your character's personality doesn't really change with skills, just that it adds some dialogue options that you are free to act on or not as a player?

Your personality is what you make of it. Your skills are your internal dialogue, thoughts that pop up, urges, observations, and what have you. The personality thing really is one of the core features of the game, and it is shaped by the choices you take. This is mechanically supported by the Thought Cabinet. So for example if you're acting and talking all entrepreneurial for a bit, you'll pretty soon get a Thought that shapes you into a free-market liberal type, with its own consequences.

The skills are also a bit like what party members are like in, say Deadfire or the Dragon Ages. You pick the companions you want, they travel with you, comment on what you're doing, sometimes argue with you, and serve as a kind of sounding board. So it's really a lot more than just some dialogue options.

From you example Electrochemistry wants you to do drugs, but you can just ignore it without any penalties, you dont need to pass another check to resist the urge etc., that kind of thing?

As far as I know there are no penalties for ignoring prompts by skills. There are instances that the skills will kind of "take over" from you -- specifically, when you attempt a "red" check and fail. For example, if you use your Suggestion to hit on Klaasje and fail, Suggestion will come up with a Very Bad, No Good, Terrible pick-up line, and be forced to say it whether you like it or not. (Your Authority might help undo some of the damage after you blurt it out though.)

 

[Prime Junta]

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.

 

[lobsterfrogman]

1. More info on the HP/Morale mechanic? From what the devs said long time ago when your HP drops to 0 you have a heart attack and if you have too many of those you die. This to me automaticaly stunk of Hellblade where you think you can die but in reality you can't. From what you say now it seems you have only 1 "life" and HP reaching 0 is game over. So how is it?

2. How many stat points and skill points do you get at character creation? (if I can't play the game for 2 more weeks I want to at least "play" the chargen part)

3. How is the journal handled? Seeing that this is a detective novel I assume that quest compass is not included, but even quest descriptions in many games can be quite suggestive of what you are supposed to do. This seems like it might be a problem in a game where one of the features is supposed to be an information overload if you boost some skills too high (mainly Encyplopedia). Any comments on this?

 

[Jenkem]

Can you be a Nazi cop that drinks his own urine?

 

[Terenty]

Am i right to infer from your response that your character's personality doesn't really change with skills, just that it adds some dialogue options that you are free to act on or not as a player?

Your personality is what you make of it. Your skills are your internal dialogue, thoughts that pop up, urges, observations, and what have you. The personality thing really is one of the core features of the game, and it is shaped by the choices you take. This is mechanically supported by the Thought Cabinet. So for example if you're acting and talking all entrepreneurial for a bit, you'll pretty soon get a Thought that shapes you into a free-market liberal type, with its own consequences.

The skills are also a bit like what party members are like in, say Deadfire or the Dragon Ages. You pick the companions you want, they travel with you, comment on what you're doing, sometimes argue with you, and serve as a kind of sounding board. So it's really a lot more than just some dialogue options.

From you example Electrochemistry wants you to do drugs, but you can just ignore it without any penalties, you dont need to pass another check to resist the urge etc., that kind of thing?

As far as I know there are no penalties for ignoring prompts by skills. There are instances that the skills will kind of "take over" from you -- specifically, when you attempt a "red" check and fail. For example, if you use your Suggestion to hit on Klaasje and fail, Suggestion will come up with a Very Bad, No Good, Terrible pick-up line, and be forced to say it whether you like it or not. (Your Authority might help undo some of the damage after you blurt it out though.)

Ok, thanks for the answers.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Well you can pretty much start your day by pickpocketing a sleeping guy. You can also solicit bribes, bully witnesses, and all that kind of stuff. So that's a definite YES
The main quest is tied to the progress of the case. You can ignore it and pursue your hookers and blow quests (at least blow, there weren't any hookers in Day 1 that I came across), but if you want to keep playing you will eventually get back to the case.
If you make a really determined effort at not being a cop, you can, but you will eventually lose. Again, that means you're effectively ignoring the main quest and focusing on side content. It is possible to do a lot of side stuff though, it is really well fleshed out.

Interesting. So I guess I can't go fully crooked on the main story (Which I guess makes sense because there is no main story if it won't be solved or even advanced without the detective player digging into it) but I can be as greasy as possible otherwise, taking all the hookers and blow and bribes I can along the way. Maybe I'll be able to get by with some shitty skills other than dialog related ones so I can maybe do well on witnesses but am complete garbage at figuring things out at crime scenes. Except I'll want electrochemistry to keep up the drive for hookers and blow and some endurance so I don't give myself a heart attack, of course.

Thanks! Going to be a long two weeks. Hopefully there's a shocking early launch.

 

[Lithium Flower]

Prime Junta What is the saving system like? Can you save/load the game at any time or is it limited or rationed via checkpoints, consumable items, autosaves, etc?

 

[Prime Junta]

1. More info on the HP/Morale mechanic? From what the devs said long time ago when your HP drops to 0 you have a heart attack and if you have too many of those you die. This to me automaticaly stunk of Hellblade where you think you can die but in reality you can't. From what you say now it seems you have only 1 "life" and HP reaching 0 is game over. So how is it?

I don't know if they tuned the mechanic since the last time I died, but at those times it certainly was 0 HP/morale and game over.

2. How many stat points and skill points do you get at character creation? (if I can't play the game for 2 more weeks I want to at least "play" the chargen part)

I'll have to check but it's enough to max out one skill and pull another one up to Average, so... seven I guess? Something like that.

3. How is the journal handled? Seeing that this is a detective novel I assume that quest compass is not included, but even quest descriptions in many games can be quite suggestive of what you are supposed to do.

Absolutely NO quest compass. There's a quest log that lists your active and completed quests with stuff you've discovered about them. There is very little handholding in general, you are expected to not be a retard and be able to figure things out on your own as you go. Sometimes they do point you in the right general direction. It's very old-school in this respect!

This seems like it might be a problem in a game where one of the features is supposed to be an information overload if you boost some skills too high (mainly Encyplopedia). Any comments on this?

None of the background info you get from Encyclopedia or by pumping NPCs about history, geography, or the nature of reality gets logged in the quest log. Some of it might pop up in conversations later though. A lot of it is just for your own information.

Can you be a Nazi cop that drinks his own urine?

I did not encounter any possibilities to drink your own urine. You can lick a rum stain off a dirty counter though.

Maybe I'll be able to get by with some shitty skills other than dialog related ones so I can maybe do well on witnesses but am complete garbage at figuring things out at crime scenes. Except I'll want electrochemistry to keep up the drive for hookers and blow and some endurance so I don't give myself a heart attack, of course.

All the skills are dialogue related.

If you want to be a dirty corrupt cop just give yourself high Physique and put the rest of the points wherever you want and go nuts. No guarantee you won't end up failing of course...

 

[Prime Junta]

Prime Junta What is the saving system like? Can you save/load the game at any time or is it limited or rationed via checkpoints, consumable items, autosaves, etc?

Completely trad save system. Save anywhere as well as periodic autosaves so you're not completely fucked if you forget.

 

[Kem0sabe]

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.

 

[Molina]

Thanks P. Junta.
Two questions :
(1) There is a timer for quest ?
(2) Can you fail to build your character, to the point of being stuck ?

 

[Molina]

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

 

[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)