Game News Esoteric Ebb is a 5E ruleset Disco-like where you play as a cleric unraveling a political conspiracy

[Maxie]

If you purchase this game, then know you are pushing the CRPG genre in this direction... It's not for me to say if that's a good thing or not

On one hand there is the chance of getting true successors to planescape and some stand out story driven ones, on the other hand rpg market will be filled with poe tier description.

there was a true successor of planescape already called numenera and it was as much of a boring lifeless mess as the first game

 

[Jrpgfan]

If you purchase this game, then know you are pushing the CRPG genre in this direction... It's not for me to say if that's a good thing or not

On one hand there is the chance of getting true successors to planescape

If they all follow this trend, we'll never get a successor to planescape because everyone is gonna try to ape Disco, including the awful writing style.

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

At first I thought the artstyle was trying to ape Moebius and failing, but then I realized, yeah, that's actually the exact same artstyle flash animations and games used. In this case, the ones that actually went to the trouble of animating their characters rather than using the ugly ass flash animation style. Wonder why?

 

[Ismaul]

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/escape-escape-embracing-skippable-combat

Skippable combat is retarded, because you have a game where a central part of gameplay is optional, so can't be tied to the rest of the game by design, and devs won't "waste" time on something optional. Best you'll get is Torment combat, and that was just because the Infinity Engine already had it ready to go.

But a game designed with no combat has to actually be developed with its absence in mind if competently made. Pacing built around it, new and different gameplay elements, bigger focus on C&C, etc.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

But a game designed with no combat

 

[Ismaul]

But a game designed with no combat

We know. You post your view in every related thread. Repeatedly.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

But a game designed with no combat

We know. You post your view in every related thread. Repeatedly.

Not my fault you play games wrong.

 

[Mortmal]

He's right, 5E is still d&d , a combat centric game , making a D&d game without combat is non sense there's much better system for social stuff. If they are using at its for quick cash grab . So what we have here is some flash style art , not very appealing to the say the least, not much combat and if there is it will be without any depth with one companion only at best. The voices overs... enough said. There's hardly anything positive about this. Western game development is depressing.

 

[Kasparov]

I like it

 

[AwesomeButton]

I like it

Damn you Kasparov, I saw your profile pic in the threads list and then the thread title and I thought you're announcing a new game.

 

[Mortmal]

I like it

Damn you Kasparov, I saw your profile pic in the threads list and then the thread title and I thought you're announcing a new game.

Nah, 2022 was shitty enough, enough bad news.

 

[Mordru]

Hmmm, 5e political rpg, cant wait for the veiled orangemanbad jokes!

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

/sarcasm

GOOD LUCK CLERIC!

 

[Lovecraft's Ghost]

I like it

Mr. Tamsalu, I know that within creative industries, but in particular that of video games, it is customary to give false praise to others since it's such an incestuous clique of horrid people that were you to step on the wrong toes you'd suddenly find yourself out of work and perhaps expelled from civil society entirely were the 'artist' in question the spawn of some Western traitorous oligarch or of a certain tribe. Even so, you have been to what remains of the once glorious Imperial Academy of Arts and your skill in the art, while not rivalling the great masters, is substantial and were your mind not so burdened by comics and video games you might have been even greater. Looking upon this travesty, a clone of DE so cheap it could not have been done even by the Chinese, whose artistic efforts in this medium, if lacking in originality, are not without merit, how can you look upon this with approval?

Perhaps it is in the fashion of a creative type who likes having his ego stroked by people aping him, not caring about the quality of such work, but on the contrary, finds the act itself flattering and like some misshapen grotesque person stood next to the average, is further flattered by how sumptuous and opulent your own work looks in comparison. The rest of us, however, are left staring at this ghastly and deeply ugly exercise in copying, not fit for consumption by any dignified person. With your pronouns in the plurals proudly in display, I won't ask how many people you identify as, under your handle it also comes across that this is more ideological signalling. I wonder how scatological you are willing to go in your quest to prove unwavering allegiance, how knee deep in excrement before it proves too much.

 

[Kasparov]

I like it

Mr. Tamsalu, blah blah blah.

Because you feign politeness and address me so formally, I’ll bite. After all you’ve even gone to the trouble of considering my background just enough to fashion a taunt of sorts.

I’ll start by saying that I’m surprised anyone at the Codex would care about a game’s visuals enough to question another’s appreciation of said game. Some of the titles that people shill for on these boards positively make my eyes bleed. I don’t judge; to each their own.

Secondly you really do read a lot into my laconic “I like it”.

If I were to appraise the artistic qualities of this one-man game project then I’d say it looks plenty uneven at this early stage. It is a work in progress (hat tip to the recent GTA VI fiasco) and if I were in the habit of critiquing another developer’s work publicly I would at least follow their game’s development with interest until it is done before forming any definitive opinions.

I admit I have done this in the past, however after almost six-seven years in gamedev myself I’ve become much more appreciative of the labor and challenges involved in making a video game.

What “I like” about this game project is the way they’re working with their interactions and dialogue menu. It is indeed very derivative down to the choocw of font and colors etc, but the UX design (the bite sized paragraphs, timing of the bouncy portraits, the sounds) and presentation as distinct cards instead of a continous vertical frame or tape is distinct from other games that have ditched the tried and true horizontal text box post-Disco.

What I’ve seen from this trailer/preview tells me that the author understands the gameplay of a game heavy with narrative in a way surprisingly few developers do. We did much more with the text and dialogues in Disco Elysium than rotate the layout from the horizontal to the vertical. Robert Kurvitz has talked about it in a video presentation which you can find by googling for it, I’m sure.

Presently I’ve wishlisted this game on Steam and will await for a demo or early access build or whatever and however they decide to publish and ship their game.
PS

As to the pronouns I put these this prominently on display just for Maxie. I blocked him from the Disco discord yeeears ago and he keeps coming back at me like a pissy boomerang. Does he want to fuck me or what is his deal? I might never know… Good to know though that the lure works universally in these waters.

 

[Rocket-Propelled Game]

You and Maxie have some sort of insane sadomasochistic battle going on?

 

[Kasparov]

You and Maxie have some sort of insane sadomasochistic battle going on?

Sure seems that way. I was starting to see a pattern when I logged on today for the latest game news and opinions™

 

[Rocket-Propelled Game]

Oh wait, I just realized Maxie is an actual user here.

You're acting like kind of a big deal here. Why don't you get a real job instead of being a gendertroll and complaining about how hard being a starving artist is?

 

[†††]

I just realized Maxie is an actual user here.

If you only knew about Maxie...

 

[Rocket-Propelled Game]

I just realized Maxie is an actual user here.

If you only knew about Maxie...

Do tell?

 

[Kasparov]

Oh wait, I just realized Maxie is an actual user here.

You're acting like kind of a big deal here. Why don't you get a real job instead of being a gendertroll and complaining about how hard being a starving artist is?

Better?

 

[Lady Error]

I like it

Are you still at ZA/UM after they fired the creative team and outsourced it to Bangladesh or something?

 

[Kasparov]

I like it

Are you still at ZA/UM after they fired the creative team and outsourced it to Bangladesh or something?

I can neither confirm nor deny that I now live in Bangladesh

 

[Tony]

This game has combat. What does Disco-like mean? I haven't tried Disco Elysium. An RPG without combat just doesn't appeal to me. If it's about the story and dialogue wouldn't 'Planescape Torment-like' be more fitting?

 

[Rocket-Propelled Game]

Oh wait, I just realized Maxie is an actual user here.

You're acting like kind of a big deal here. Why don't you get a real job instead of being a gendertroll and complaining about how hard being a starving artist is?

Better?

Pfft. Okay, you win, I like the cut of your jib now.