Disco Elysium

Disco Elysium is a text-based RPG with an isometric camera and a point-and-click interface that has gained worldwide recognition for its story and unique role-playing experience. Players can expect a complex detective narrative with half-hour dialogues, unexpected plot twists, and varied ways to complete each scene. There is no combat system like in modern RPGs. All gameplay actions and conflicts are resolved through dialogues and skill checks, and a distinctive feature of Disco Elysium is the debates of the hero's skills in his mind.

The game is based on a fictional reality created by Robert Kurvitz called Elysium, where life exists only on the Isolas (islands and archipelagos) separated by the Grey (a consuming Nothing), through which one can still travel at the risk of life. The Isolas are densely populated by people whose appearance and culture are inspired by the English, Germans, French, Chinese, Koreans, and other ethnicities.

Humanity in Elysium has gone through stages of development similar to those on Earth, but the process itself was different, so firearms, primitive motor carts, and airships coexist with atomic energy, radio communication, electronics, and computers. Society, after centuries of feudalism, is bubbling with new political movements: anarchism, democracy, communism, libertarianism, and fascism.

The player finds themselves in Revachol: once a powerful city-state that influenced all of Elysium, but now destroyed during a civil war and the subsequent long foreign occupation. After decades of mass repression, suppression of dissent, and strict police control, the thriving metropolis has turned into ruins.

The port district of Martinez, where the action of Disco Elysium takes place, is no exception. Criminal gangs, private corporate armies, crowds of drug addicts, packs of wild animals, decaying factory skeletons, and crumbling ghettos with millions of residents are a common sight here. The local police, in whose ranks the main character serves, barely solves 10% of crimes.

There is no open world as such. Martinez is represented by many small locations that serve as a static backdrop for the narrative (even though everything looks like a watercolor). The player's task is to survey the location, click on each point of interest, and not miss any details. Careful exploration of the world will be very helpful, as new locations open up as you progress, and something may change in already explored areas.

Disco Elysium takes a lot from old-school RPGs. Its role-playing mechanics are based on comparing the hero's skills with the conditions of dialogue or situations, with active and passive checks happening constantly. With low stats, additional options simply won’t appear in dialogues, or the hero may miss important details.

However, even with high stats, there is a chance to fail a check — a die is rolled each time, adding uncertainty. Additionally, as skills increase, it becomes easier to pick up negative effects, such as paranoia. However, the failure of the check, thanks to the efforts of the writing team, simply opens up another development of events, and therefore is not perceived with rejection.

The character has an inventory where notes, clues, and various items with positive and negative bonuses to skills, such as harmful substances and clothing, are stored. The latter is a kind of equipment that allows you to adjust stats to current needs and just look stylish.

From the beginning to the end of the game, you need to constantly make decisions, which will affect both the further development of events and the ending. There are a total of 15, but only 1 ending is beautiful and correct, all others are premature. How to complete tasks is up to the player — persuade in dialogues, get into a fight, or quietly gather clues.

Detective Harry Du Bois arrives in Martinez with the task of investigating a strange murder. Almost solving the case, he suddenly experiences a life crisis, falls into a deep binge, and upon emerging from it remembers nothing except the ability to communicate. This is where the game begins.

Du Bois has to not only solve the case again (main quest), but also restore his memory, and figure out what is really happening in Martinez. There are plenty of side quests, and they are diverse: the unfortunate life of Harry himself, political struggles in Revachol, paranormal antics, and they are as well-developed as the main quest.

The Metric development system offers 24 skills, covering most of the usual actions for a detective: from brainstorming collected clues to a simple intense interrogation. All of this is based on 4 main characteristics (strength, motor skills, intelligence, and soul), with each having a line of 6 properties. Therefore, every point invested in development changes a lot.

Bare numbers are not everything, as each skill is a kind of advisor in Du Bois's head, with the ability to intervene in dialogue or situations. "Empathy" will suggest not to pressure the interlocutor, "Drama" will notice lies, "Logic" will ask for clarification of details. Often, a particular skill surfaces in the most unexpected situations, as the game constantly performs checks.

A novelty of Disco Elysium is a whole mechanic responsible for thought processes. Thoughts constantly swirl in Du Bois's head, appearing after dialogues and visual analysis, or during skill debates among themselves. A thought can be contemplated by placing it in a special slot in the "thought cabinet".

While the thinking process is active, the hero receives one perk, and when the thought development ends, it changes to another. It is unknown in advance what the thought contains, so Harry may start with a bonus, but ultimately end up with a penalty and severe depression. The latter, in turn, will open a separate quest. Thoughts can be both accepted and rejected, spending development points on this.

The basis for the narrative of Disco Elysium is a world full of problems (caused by life in poverty and ruin) and contradictions (political, economic, ethnic, linguistic, and others) of a society stuck at the level of the 1970s. The role-playing system serves as the framework for the plot.

Together, they created an engaging and well-developed "living story," the full depth of which can only be seen on the third playthrough. And there is no tired "saving the world," just a purely local story. The narrative is so well thought out that characters and situations adequately adapt to the main character's build and decisions.

An idealist will find all the evidence, punish all the guilty, and, to the applause of colleagues, solve the case, while gaining the support of many local inhabitants. An anarchist, on the other hand, will argue with half of the characters but will make new friends among racists and alcoholics, and will also be thrown out of the police for collaborating with criminals and accepting bribes.

Regardless of how quirky the character is, they will always reach the end, either on their own or driven by the game, as the main plot does not change much. However, every playthrough will be unique in every other aspect. But you will have to read. A lot of reading. This can be compensated by the prose of astonishing power: ordinary phrases can bring you to tears with their depth and emotionality.