Disco Elysium Reviews

Disco Elysium is an RPG unlike any other RPG. This a fresh new take on the genre from Estonia. So can it really be a major change to the RPG genre?

RPGs tend to focus on repetitive combat between snippets of story, and many RPGs tend to overdo the combat as they think that’s what gamers want to see in an RPG. Perhaps they’re right, but Disco Elysium offers something different.

In Disco Elysium there’s no combat, and that’s not just an empty promise, but there’s actually no traditional, or action-based combat in the entire game. Instead, Disco Elysium gives the player a game that’s entirely played through dialog trees and decisions.

You start Disco Elysium like most RPGs, assigning character stats and skills. In Disco Elysium the stats are in the categories of intellect, Psyche (a form of Wisdom), Physique (a combination of Strength and Endurance), and Motorics (Dexterity or Agility).

Skills, on the other hand, are more varied. There’s everything from the Inland Empire which examines the unseen depths of a person, Electro-chemistry, where you deal with your knowledge of drugs and how they work on you, and Visual Calculus which helps you piece together crime scenes. These are not the typical skills for an RPG, and yet Disco Elysium makes them work.

Without combat, the way the skills can manifest sounds limited, but skills are more like instincts and abilities in Disco Elysium. During the dialogue, there are points where a thought my reach the main character. This is done behind the scenes looking at your stats. If they are high enough the character might think of a different number to say, intuit what someone is referring to or who they might be, or just say nonsense.

That’s not to say every skill is perfect, many skills can get information wrong or mislead the player, and it’s up to the player to decide what skill to trust, and who might be telling the truth. In fact, as part of a video that I recently produced, I ran a run with a mini character who had no stats or skills to speak of. This was a very straightforward experience where everything was the minimum that the game would allow me. Conversations were more direct, and focused, however, many options and discussion topics were missing because my instincts weren’t available.

On the other hand, on an intelligent heavy run, I correctly intuited how the murdered victim died, but chased the wrong character for a decent part of the game because my skills in certain areas were solid but others were deficient.

The other use of skills is to do a typical skill check that most RPG fans will be familiar with. The first major skill check is not throwing up as the player smells a rotten corpse. If the player doesn’t have a lot of strength, or endurance, they may have no choice but to throw up, and I believe this is expected. However the game also offers ways to improve your skill for a skill check, in this gaining a bottle of Ammonia to improve your stats, and from there “getting your shit together”. Which is honestly something the main character really needs to do.

That main character is unique. Most games will take a straight-laced detective, but here, the main character is… a trainwreck, who has spent the last three days drinking instead of doing his job. A police officer getting blackout drunk is probably a bad thing and sure enough, he’s suffering from those choices.

But this is not his fate. In fact, the story here isn’t written. You can take your main character, and drag him down to the pits of hell, indulging in drugs, karaoke, and a worthless existence, or you can try to improve him. You can delude his mind with the idea of being either a rockstar cop or a hobo cop. You can also make him just do the best he can or start to make amends for his mistakes. Each of these options can be combined in several ways but the point that Disco Elysium leaves the door open for you to discover who your character is.

In fact, I am calling him simply the main character, because his name is up to you to find out if you choose to.

That’s just one of the many quests that Disco Elysium has, and for the most part, Disco Elysium avoids linear quests. You start with having to do an autopsy, do interviews with people, but both of those tasks will lead to a long questline. It’s very common to have a quest that is impossible to complete until other quests are done.

In most games, this happens, but in Disco Elysium, you’ll usually be sitting on a stack of twenty to thirty quests, which are waiting for you to discover a little hint to get you back on the path. Your badge for instance is somewhere, but Disco Elysium might give you this quest on day one, yet can’t be accomplished until day three.

The Quest system is more of a checklist of desires then mandatory actions that need to be taken, but yet each quest feels like a major accomplishment, and it’s accompanied by a good chunk of XP. That XP leads to more level, which leads to a better-formed character with improved skills, who can do more stuff.

The thing is while much of this sounds like the typical actions of an RPG, Disco Elysium can use all these systems while being a pure dialogue game. You might get the option to strike someone or to dodge an event, but each is just a skill check in the middle of a dialogue tree, rather than a full combat system.

And that’s what makes Disco Elysium different and great. This is truly unlike any RPG I’ve played. Disco Elysium plays like a Visual Novel but uses a stat system like and RPG, and yet, it feels like neither and both.

The one flaw of Disco Elysium is the typical problem of the Visual Novel market. Stories have to end and most visual novels have a set number of conclusions. In Disco Elysium's case, that set number is one. At the end of the game, there’s a single final destination that will take players through the finale with final conversations. This is where Disco Elysium loses the amazing open nature that served the game throughout it. Rather than a large and varied ending, it felt like an ending everyone would eventually reach. It also is a very Disco Elysium. I’ll say that to avoid spoiling anything.

The thing is, Disco Elysium’s ending is awful, it just is far more linear than any other part of the game, and the result is almost always the same.

But I don’t think that’s the true Disco Elysium. The true form of this game isn’t a whodunnit or even a why they did it. Instead, it’s how you do it. It’s a discovery of who the main character is when you have control of it. What he does, where he goes, and what havoc he causes. That’s something only you can answer, and that’s where Disco Elysium really shines. Not in the end but the entire journey leading up that final island.

Personally, I found this to be an incredible adventure that I enjoyed even more once I started a second game and noticed how much and yet how little changed between my characters. It’s a game I could easily play through a second time to discover even more about it.

I give Disco Elysium an Arbitrary

9/10

This is a game that you won’t want to miss if you enjoy the stories that video games can tell.

If you want to see more I have a video that will take you through the opening quest of the game, with even more discussion available at:

Disco Elysium: The Final Cut is a striking, narrative-driven RPG that blends complex storytelling with intricate character development and a truly unique take on the genre. In this expanded version of the critically acclaimed Disco Elysium, players are thrown into a gritty, morally ambiguous world that blends detective noir with philosophical quandaries. Here’s a breakdown of what the game offers:

The heart of Disco Elysium lies in its gripping and often thought-provoking narrative. You play as a down-and-out detective with amnesia, tasked with solving a brutal murder in the city of Revachol. The plot unfolds through conversations with a colorful cast of characters, where every decision can dramatically impact the direction of the story. The game's writing is its strongest suit, with sharp dialogue and deep themes covering everything from politics to personal redemption.

While the story is incredibly engaging, its pace can sometimes be a little slow, and the complexity of the narrative may overwhelm some players. There are moments when the branching dialogue and vast array of choices can feel a bit daunting, but for those who enjoy intricate storytelling, it’s a compelling experience. (8/10)

The gameplay is unconventional for an RPG. Instead of traditional combat mechanics, the game focuses on dialogue, skill checks, and exploration. You build your character by investing points in various abilities like logic, empathy, and rhetoric, which will influence your interactions with others and how you approach solving the case.

Though this system offers a refreshing change from action-heavy RPGs, it can sometimes feel limiting. The absence of combat may be a dealbreaker for some players, especially those who prefer more hands-on gameplay. Additionally, the amount of reading and decision-making involved can be overwhelming, and at times, the slower pace of gameplay can detract from the experience. (7/10)

The controls are remarkably intuitive, especially for a game that is primarily text-driven. Navigating the world and interacting with characters is smooth and straightforward, with well-implemented point-and-click mechanics. The UI is clean and minimalistic, keeping distractions to a minimum and allowing the player to focus on the rich dialogue and exploration. While the game doesn’t feature a complex control scheme, its simplicity works in its favor. There’s a level of elegance to how everything functions, making it easy for new players to dive in without a steep learning curve. I did run into one issue, while running the game on my Apple TV via Steam Link: the right bumper (on my DualShock 4) is supposed to interact. I ended up having to play the game on PC because it did not interact. (9/10)

Visually, the game delivers a distinct and memorable aesthetic. The hand-painted art style is a standout feature, with vibrant, expressive characters and atmospheric environments that perfectly complement the game’s tone. The world of Revachol feels alive, even in its decaying state, and the art direction contributes heavily to the immersion.

However, the graphical fidelity may not be as high as some players expect, especially on more powerful systems. While the art is stylish, it does show some limitations in terms of resolution and detailed textures. Nevertheless, the artistic direction more than makes up for these shortcomings, offering a visual experience that’s as unique as the story itself. (8/10)

Disco Elysium: The Final Cut offers a deep and rewarding experience for those who enjoy narrative-driven games. While its unconventional approach to gameplay and slower pacing may not appeal to everyone, its rich story, strong writing, and unique world-building make it a standout in the RPG genre. With excellent controls and a distinctive visual style, this expanded version enhances what was already a stellar game, earning it a solid rating. (8/10)