Codex Review RPG Codex Review: Disco Elysium

[zeitgeist]

So with Willpower, you give yourself commands, and not only is your body not able to do them but your mind is unable. So say you try to “concentrate on this thing for 40 minutes”, and then you’re just not able to do that. Or say what you want to do is “call her and say that you’re sorry” or something, and your hand just doesn’t raise. So sometimes you’re on the backseat in your own mind, and I think that with pen and paper role playing I’ve really pursued that kind of feeling – to make it hard for players to play their character. I think video games are in this unique position to show how the human psyche works, and that’s what we really want to do.

 

[Puteo]

So is the game just post modern marxist naval gazin or is it just the pseudo intellectual review style?
I really didn't get much information from the review I feel.

At first glance, you might think this review is just a heaving mass of self-aggrandizing poorly-written purple prose stuffed to the brim with oodles of superfluous superlatives that serves not to inform but only to further inflate the chronically engorged ego of the reviewer while encouraging a masturbatory sense of pseudo-intellectual superiority in the minds of those who already agree with the conclusion and who are impressed by any 1st year literature student capable of vomiting 10-cent words into a .txt

But don't be fooled, fool!

This review is not actually a review, it is in fact a subversive counterpoint to any and all possible claims that Disco Elysium is pretentious; as in comparison nothing even begins to approach the everestian heights of pomposity it achieves.

Bravo Bàtáillê, bravo.

 

[lobsterfrogman]

If they make a sequel to DE and keep the mechanics of thought cabinet they should put in a thought "What is an RPG?". It should be unattainable though - the internalization time should be longer than time limit of the game.

 

[Prime Junta]

If they make a sequel to DE and keep the mechanics of thought cabinet they should put in a thought "What is an RPG?". It should be unattainable though - the internalization time should be longer than time limit of the game.

Needs a hefty research penalty too.

 

[Lacrymas]

My definition is retrospective and comparative. I'd say Disco Elysium is an RPG because the stats you have chosen for the character is what allows him to do different things. It would've been a point and click adventure game had there been no stats and you just have a bunch of options to choose from.

Character statistics and progression are only two of the fundamental aspects of RPGs, and over the years these two particular RPG mechanics have increasingly been copied into games in other genres. Separating these two RPG aspects from the other fundamental RPG characteristics results in a highly misleading and overly expansive definition of RPG.

Except I explicitly said those stats have to give you options that someone without thе same stats wouldn't have, huh? It's not only that, shooters aren't RPGs even if sometimes there are skill checks, but Disco Elysium is an RPG without combat in my eyes because of the effect of the stats, otherwise it's a point and click.

 

[axedice]

I disagree with the combat part of this argument, there actually is combat in the game. There are boss battles such as Evrart and Ruby where you can take damage and die if you don't succeed at defensive checks (or heal yourself), there are minor encounters where you either have to convince/manipulate people or deduce results from evidence with a combination of your social/mental/physical skills, otherwise you will be less than successful in your investigation. Finally you are battling your furies all the time, hence no truce with them. This is a Detective RPG so the encounters (battles) are what we can expect from an internally consistent detective story, with a few exceptions that prove the rule. Actually Disco Elysium is just like that "The Wire RPG" Avellone kept talking about before he fell from grace.

Thought cabinet is a brand new idea that can be improved, linearity has never been a problem for me in well written RPGs (and DE is one of the best among them) , but the lack of fail states is the weakest point of this game IMO. Comparing it with AoD , where you can easily get your diplomat/thief/loremaster killed if you don't play smart, it is really hard to actually fail in DE. There are almost no dangers to your person (which can be forgiven due to the setting and the nature of your character), but most importantly there are no dangers to the safety of the investigation and you are able to proceed with it unless you deliberately sabotage yourself.

These shortcomings do not prevent the game from being an RPG though, it's just not perfect.

 

[AwesomeButton]

I'm still writing my review, and just finished the part on the combat.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Prime Junta]

I dont get those fancy descriptions. If I focus on inland empire, will I be able to get malkavian playthrough? If its not enough what should I add to the mix?

Shivers. Psy + Fys is pretty out there.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[ItsChon]

Fys

?

Physical he means. Physical plus Psychology.

 

[Prime Junta]

Psyche + Physique. They abbreviate Physique to Fys to make the difference clearer.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

Psyche + Physique. They abbreviate Physique to Fys to make the difference clearer.

As per comrade Stalin's Marxism and the National Question, the proletarian English nation must purify its language of bourgeois etymologist influences in writing.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

Alternatively you coulda used synonyms but I see the master wordsmiths at Estonia, California are too good for plain old coherent design

Gotta have det sik fysiq, Maksi.

 

[Wunderbar]

They abbreviate Physique to Fys to sound cooler and more hip

ftfy

 

[Junmarko]

As per comrade Stalin's Marxism and the National Question, the proletarian English nation must purify its language of bourgeois etymologist influences in writing.

Proletariat champagne for all.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

As per comrade Stalin's Marxism and the National Question, the proletarian English nation must purify its language of bourgeois etymologist influences in writing.

Proletariat champagne for all.

I ain't no W*stern champagne socialist, comrade. Rakija and slanina for all.

 

[Prime Junta]

I ain't no W*stern champagne socialist, comrade. Rakija and slanina for all.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

Not how we do things around here, lad.

Spoiler

 

[Junmarko]

I ain't no W*stern champagne socialist, comrade. Rakija and slanina for all.

...and pompous French terminology to infest the English language for all. Because every proletarist has the time to spend, thinking about the evil boojewahr influence over the world lol.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

I ain't no W*stern champagne socialist, comrade. Rakija and slanina for all.

...and pompous French terminology to infest the English language for all. Because every proletarist has the time to spare thinking about the evil boojewahr influence over the world lol.

We can't all be Icelanders, lad.

 

[Junmarko]

We can't all be Icelanders, lad.

You sound like an S.P, my fellow working class er, I mean, proletariest. L.Ron would be ashamed.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

We can't all be Icelanders, lad.

You sound like an S.P

A what now?

 

[Junmarko]

A what now?

One of Xenu's, I mean...Boojewah's, unholy disciples.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

A what now?

One of Xenu's, I mean...Boojewah's, unholy disciples.

Born, baptized and raised in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Orthodox Church, lad.

Spoiler

Not that I care too much about Rabbi Yeshua, but I do value (and defend) my cultural heritage.