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

[Zed Duke of Banville]

I would rather have named the nightclub No Truce with the Commies, but sadly that wasn't an option.

 

[Quillon]

just talked to titus

Spoiler

he said ruby is a red head soooo

Spoiler

is cunoesse ruby? lol

 

[Luckmann]

High Shivers gave me an interesting playthrough, but I'm thinking you probably don't want it for a more exhaustive playthrough.

I'm not sure if it's going to be exhaustive or not, but I can say that focusing on Inland Empire + Shivers, with Conceptualization and Perception, is a fucking trip so far. I kind of regret going Psyche/Intellect, in hind-sight, but at the same time, Physique feels weird for something paranormal like Shivers, but c'est la vie.

Edit: Also, could someone give me a hint of where I can get

Spoiler

Paint/oil? I've already gotten a brush from emo girl.

Is it even possible to find on Day 1/Day 2 (it' currently 22:00 on Day 2)? I want to finish my master-piece.

Just a pointer in the right direction would do, in case I'm missing something flagrantly obvious, because there's some people I haven't talked to because of "why would I?"-reasons (like the oldies in the park - sorry PJ).

 

[Kyl Von Kull]

Is it even possible to find on Day 1/Day 2 (it' currently 22:00 on Day 2)? I want to finish my master-piece.

Day 3 is the earliest. It will be hard to miss.

Edit: I’m very glad I went with high INT/high PSY for my first run. Probably maybe the best build for a more serious playthrough as long as you use some thoughts to raise the skill caps on Perception and Shivers.

 

[Haba]

You know full well that generally speaking companies do not publicise their internal budgets for their projects. Trade secrets and all that.

That kind of secrecy never made any sense to me. There are certainly a good number of notable exceptions who will be happy to talk about their budgets (Feargus when he can, CD Projekt, Swen Vincke, plenty of indies as well).

The game has been funded by a wealthy mafioso investor. There are a plethora of business reasons not to reveal the exact budget.

 

[Luckmann]

Is it even possible to find on Day 1/Day 2 (it' currently 22:00 on Day 2)? I want to finish my master-piece.

Day 3 is the earliest. It will be hard to miss.

Thanks, I'll just assume that it has something to do with

Spoiler

the run-away car that fucked up the fence, the sign, and the canal crossing.

Edit: I’m very glad I went with high INT/high PSY for my first run. Probably maybe the best build for a more serious playthrough as long as you use some thoughts to raise the skill caps on Perception and Shivers.

Don't get me wrong, I'm getting so much out of the Intellect skills it's not even funny, and I have a hard time envisioning how other skill groups could ever compete (and some people say they don't, quite simply). Encyclopedia, Rhetoric, and Logic chime in all the time, Conceptualize is trippy and creative, and Visual Calculus feels like a truly defining ability for your ability to act as a cop, even if the really cool aspect to it has only popped up twice so far.

I think it's more that my focus is less "serious playthrough" and more "I want to see beyond the veil of reality, soar across the clouds of dreams, and spit sown on God's creation" and I have no idea how I got to that. My next character is definitely going to be 1/1/6/? tho, going full hobocop.

 

[Luckmann]

However, Prime Junta has been explicitly sworn to secrecy on this matter, so they have something to hide

That was a dick move Roguey, quite unlike your usual self. "Sorry, no, can't talk about this" does not justify a "therefore" asspull like this. That's Daily Mail class shitfuckery.

You know full well that generally speaking companies do not publicise their internal budgets for their projects. Trade secrets and all that.

The people have a right to know!*
*Unless it causes questions regarding the economics and funding concerning my own political clique and the associated background motivations and loyalties involved.

- literally any run-of-the-mill gommunist.​

 

[v1rus]

Beat the game. Its good. Excellent probably, but its far from flawless/masterpiece tier, even if we decide to take the combat out of the equation completely.

ending spoiler

Spoiler

Anticlimactic, eh, but thats not the problem. Bug was fun too, as was making your case with your fellow detectives. Its the fact that you are chasing a killer for the whole fucking game, and in the end it turns out its a random unconnected commie, that literally appears at the very, very, very end. Hes even unconnected to any of the previous characters. Thats a whole new level of bad. The game lacks proper climax at the end, which is why probably everyone and their mother is disappointed. It can be a fucking anticlimax, its ok, but you need a BOOM to end the game. Not the literal boom obv, but you get my drift. You need to emphasize it, place a dot, anything. Here? It seriously feels like you could just move to mission 2 and continue the game.

There are more problems in the game, but the ending is prolly the biggest source of disappointment.
Now, some stuff I havent been able to figure it out.

Spoiler

1. Is there any C&C in this game? Like, any? I managed to save the eight chick, locked up the crazy B and gave info of the fat commies plans to nice libertarian lady. I can pretty much see how everything would be exactly the same if i made different choices

2. how the hell do you solve that quest TO MAKE A WALL BEAUTIFUL. I went to the Skull girl, did a conceptualization checked, got it on the first and... Thats it. Pls dont tell me the only solution is to fail the check.

3. how do you get Cuno in party? Heres my wild uneducated guess - Kim can die during the shout, in which case, Cuno nurtures you and follows you to the end. He prolly does not help your case with the cops.

4. Is the Shivers check after you decide not to imprison the dancer bitch chick doable? What does it say if so?

 

[underground nymph]

Is there any way to play without manual saving? Can’t stop savescumming.

 

[AwesomeButton]

This has probably been asked multiple times already, but I don't want to read back because of spoilers:

Which strategy is better from a gamist, not roleplaying point of view: open all thought slots and start adding thoughts, or gradually raise skills?

It seems the former is more risk, higher reward, the latter is the opposite.

 

[Prime Junta]

Which strategy is better from a gamist, not roleplaying point of view: open all thought slots and start adding thoughts, or gradually raise skills?

Open slots and add thoughts.

 

[Van-d-all]

Can someone plz tell me how to unlock the "Finger Pistols" thought? Who do I talk to and with what stats?

 

[Prime Junta]

Can someone plz tell me how to unlock the "Finger Pistols" thought? Who do I talk to and with what stats?

The guy selling stuff that fell off a truck. Be a sleazeball. I don't think the stats matter much, I got them both playthroughs with just about diametrically opposed stat profiles.

 

[cruelio]

I beat the game in 19 hours doing as far as I could tell everything my character could do. I have no intention of ever playing again because:

1) flat ending although I laughed my ass off at a twist that would have infuriated me if the ending was actually good
2) no ending slides accounting for a single thing that you did (unforgivable)
3) aids skill system
3) SLOOOOOW movement even while running, made worse by:
4) 9001 loading screens

Fun while it lasted and unique but by the end I was begging to be finished.

 

[Van-d-all]

Here's my rant/take on the game.. It's pretty long and quite negative, but I need to let off steam. And if you've played DE then length isn't a factor to you :D.

Spoiler

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.

I think you hit on a valid issue with the game. Some ways of playing are inherently more satisfying. Being a fascist meathead is terrible, because the usefulness of the skills you'd tend to go for with physique/motorics lack utility for the most part (physical instrument, half-light, etc.). The best skill from those stats is perception by a mile, based on my experience. My first playthrough was a 4/4/2/2 specialising in logic, visual calculus, and rhetoric, and it was hugely satisfying amassing information, breaking down people's alibis, and solving the case. Then going inland empire/shivers makes for an amazing Malkavian style playthrough. I can see why your experience would have been painful. Unfortunately, you missed out on a lot of the really great inter-brain battles and input you get from high intellect or psyche - having at least one of those is a must for this game.

Honestly no, just no. If you pick a dumbfuck character, expect a dumbfack playthrough. You are a detective, not a beat cop. If you want all builds to be good you end up with Sawyer grade autism, or Numenra's cakewalk. I can understand it's contrary to ZA/UM's game advertising tho, but I'd rather dump it all on the fact they shouldn't've said such things in the first place. If all builds are viable, there's no point in builds.

 

[Van-d-all]

The potential audience for something like this isn't particularly large, that's a fact. Now here's a question: did Disco Elysium have a budget low enough so that these numbers could be considered a success? Roughly 20 people working for five years would suggest a budget in the millions if they were using ethical labor practices like good commies should. However, Prime Junta has been explicitly sworn to secrecy on this matter, so they have something to hide (Are they embarrassed that they had access to millions to spend on a computer game of all things or did quite a few people go with little-to-no pay?). Something to think about.

But socialists are meant to run on high hopes and promises of better future like good Stakhanovists, not investments from shady foreign moguls.

You know full well that generally speaking companies do not publicise their internal budgets for their projects. Trade secrets and all that.

That kind of secrecy never made any sense to me. There are certainly a good number of notable exceptions who will be happy to talk about their budgets (Feargus when he can, CD Projekt, Swen Vincke, plenty of indies as well).

The game has been funded by a wealthy mafioso investor. There are a plethora of business reasons not to reveal the exact budget.

The most benevolent Soros? Seriously though what's the deal here? I've heard some shit here and there but nothing specific.

 

[Prime Junta]

The most benevolent Soros? Seriously though what's the deal here? I've heard some shit here and there but nothing specific.

Margus Linnamäe. More like an Estonian Koch brother. Capitalist swine of the first order.

https://www.aripaev.ee/uudised/2017/07/24/kaur-kenderi-loodud-mangufirmat-rahastab-margus-linnamae

 

[Stakhanov]

Honestly no, just no. If you pick a dumbfuck character, expect a dumbfack playthrough. You are a detective, not a beat cop If you want all builds to be good you end up with Sawyer grade autism, or Numenra's cakewalk. I can understand it's contrary to ZA/UM's game advertising tho, but I'd rather dump it all on the fact they shouldn't've said such things in the first place.

I don't mean that it should all be equally balanced, I mean it should be actually enjoyable to play as a meathead with some distinctive options. You get fuck all except smashing the occasional object.

 

[Terenty]

2) no ending slides accounting for a single thing that you did (unforgivable)

Wait what? I read somewhere that endings do include different variables?

 

[Van-d-all]

You get fuck all except smashing the occasional object.

Like a dumbfuck in a dialogue heavy cop game? It's like arguing CounterStrike isn't turn based.

 

[cruelio]

2) no ending slides accounting for a single thing that you did (unforgivable)

Wait what? I read somewhere that endings do include different variables?

There aren't any endings unless I managed to skip every single one of them somehow. There's one final confrontation where characters will remark on big picture things you did with your character's commentary and then it just fades to credits as you leave town. You don't find out any results of your actions.

 

[Prime Junta]

There aren't any endings unless I managed to skip every single one of them somehow. There's one final confrontation where characters will remark on big picture things you did with your character's commentary and then it just fades to credits. You don't find out any results of your actions.

Uh... that's how you find out the results of your actions. In that conversation. It is the ending slides.

What a bizarre complaint

 

[Van-d-all]

The most benevolent Soros? Seriously though what's the deal here? I've heard some shit here and there but nothing specific.

Margus Linnamäe. More like an Estonian Koch brother. Capitalist swine of the first order.

https://www.aripaev.ee/uudised/2017/07/24/kaur-kenderi-loodud-mangufirmat-rahastab-margus-linnamae

Quoting (translated) wiki:

"Linnamäe is a member of the Fatherland Party. He considers himself a passive member of the party. At the end of 2018, he supported the party with € 50,000."

That's some major two faced shit going on here. Someone should really grill ZA/UM about it...

 

[cruelio]

I was literally sitting there at the end thinking "did I just skip the ending by pushing a button or something?" Then I sat through the credits thinking maybe this was some ploy to make people sit through the credits to get their ending slides. But no. The game basically just ends on a big fart.

There aren't any endings unless I managed to skip every single one of them somehow. There's one final confrontation where characters will remark on big picture things you did with your character's commentary and then it just fades to credits. You don't find out any results of your actions.

Uh... that's how you find out the results of your actions. In that conversation. It is the ending slides.

What a bizarre complaint

Did you find out what happens to any of the factions? What happens to the characters that survived? What even happens ultimately to my character? No, you don't. You get to hear from some cops about what they think about what you did and present your case for why you should or shouldn't get to still be a cop.

 

[Prime Junta]

Did I find out what happened to any of the factions? What happened to the characters that survived? What even happens to my character? No, you don't. You get to hear from some cops about what they think about what you did and present your case for why you should or shouldn't get to still be a cop.

Have you ever watched a cop film or show or read a cop book? You don't do that kind of shit in them. If anything the ending had more closure than usual.