Disco Elysium

Disco Elysium, a text-based RPG with an isometric camera and a point-and-click interface, received worldwide acclaim for its story and unusual role-playing. Players can look forward to a tangled detective story, half-hour-long dialogues, unexpected plot twists, and different ways to play each scene. There is no combat system like the ones in modern RPGs. All gameplay actions and fights happen through dialogue and skill checks, and a signature feature of Disco Elysium is the arguments between the hero’s skills inside his head.

The game is set in the fantasy world of Elysium, created by Robert Kurvitz . Life exists only on the Isolas (islands and archipelagos), separated by the Pale, an all-consuming Nothingness that can still be crossed, though doing so is dangerous. The Isolas are densely populated by people whose appearance and culture are inspired by the English, Germans, French, Chinese, Koreans, and other peoples.

Humanity in Elysium went through stages of development similar to those on Earth, but the process was different. As a result, primitive firearms, motor carriages, and airships exist alongside atomic energy, radio communications, electronics, and computers. After centuries of feudalism, society is in turmoil as new political movements emerge: anarchism, democracy, communism, libertarianism, and fascism.

The player arrives in Revachol, once a powerful city-state that influenced all of Elysium, but now destroyed by a civil war and the long foreign occupation that followed. Decades of mass repression, the suppression of dissent, and strict police control have turned a thriving metropolis into ruins.

The port district of Martinaise, where Disco Elysium takes place, is no exception. Criminal gangs, private corporate armies, crowds of drug addicts, packs of wild animals, rotting factory shells, and crumbling ghettos with millions of residents are all part of the local scene. The local police, which the protagonist belongs to, solve barely 10% of crimes.

There is no open world as such. Martinaise consists of many small locations that serve as a static backdrop for the story (even if everything looks like a watercolor painting). The player’s task is to look around each location, click on every point of interest, and not miss any details. Careful exploration is very helpful, as new locations open up as you progress, and things may change in places you have already explored.

Disco Elysium takes a lot from old-school RPGs. Its role-playing mechanics are built around matching the hero’s skills to the dialogue or situation, with active and passive checks happening all the time. If your stats are low, extra dialogue options simply won’t appear, or the hero may miss important details.

But even with high stats, there is a chance you will fail a check —the dice are rolled every time, adding an element of uncertainty. What’s more, the higher your skills, the easier it is to develop a negative effect, such as paranoia. However, thanks to the writers’ efforts, failing a check simply opens up a different course of events, so it never feels like a punishment.

The character has an inventory for notes, clues, and various items that give positive or negative skill bonuses, such as drugs and clothing. Clothing is a kind of equipment: it lets you adjust your stats to suit your current needs, while also helping you look stylish.

From the beginning to the end of the game, you have to keep making decisions, which affect both what happens next and the ending. There are 15 endings, but only 1 is beautiful and right; all the others are premature. The player decides how to complete tasks: talk their way through conversations, get into fights, or quietly gather clues.

Detective Harry Du Bois arrives in Martinaise to investigate a strange murder. Just as he is close to solving the case, he suddenly has a life crisis and goes on a long drinking binge. When he comes out of it, he remembers nothing except how to talk to people. That is where the game begins.

Du Bois must not only solve the case again (main quest), but also regain his memory and figure out what is really happening in Martinaise. There are plenty of side quests, and they cover a wide range of subjects: Harry’s unhappy life, political struggles in Revachol, and paranormal activity. They are just as detailed as the main quest.

The Metric development system offers 24 skills, covering most of the actions a detective would normally take, from brainstorming over collected clues to a simple, hard-nosed interrogation. All of this is based on 4 main attributes (physical strength, motor skills, intellect, and psyche), each with a set of 6 skills. This means every skill point you spend can make a big difference.

Raw numbers aren’t everything, because each skill acts as a kind of advisor in Du Bois’s head, able to butt into a conversation or situation. “Empathy” may suggest not pressuring someone, “Drama” may spot a lie, and “Logic” may ask you to clarify the details. Skills often come up in the most unexpected situations, as the game is constantly making checks.

One of Disco Elysium’s innovations is a whole system for handling thought. Thoughts are constantly swirling around in Du Bois’s head. They appear after conversations and visual analysis, or during arguments between his skills. You can ponder a thought by placing it in a special slot in the “Thought Cabinet”.

While a thought is being processed, the hero gains one perk. Once the thought is fully developed, that perk is replaced by another. You don’t know what a thought contains in advance, so Harry may start with a bonus only to end up with a penalty and severe depression. The latter, in turn, unlocks a separate quest. You can either accept or reject thoughts by spending skill points.

The foundation of Disco Elysium’s story is a world full of problems (caused by life in poverty and ruin) and contradictions—political, economic, ethnic, linguistic, and more—in a society stuck in the 1970s. The role-playing system forms the story’s framework.

Together, they create a fascinating, richly detailed “living story” whose every side can only be seen on a third playthrough. And there’s no tiresome “saving the world”—this is a strictly local story. The writing is so well thought out that characters and situations adapt naturally to the main character’s build and choices.

An idealist will find all the clues, punish everyone responsible, and solve the case to his colleagues’ applause, while also earning the support of many locals. An anarchist, on the other hand, will fall out with half the characters but make new friends among racists and alcoholics. He’ll also be thrown out of the police force for working with criminals and taking bribes.

No matter how strange the character acts, he’ll always reach the ending, either on his own or because the game pushes him there—the main plot doesn’t really change. But everything else will be unique on each playthrough. You’ll have to read, though. A lot. The writing’s remarkable power can make up for it: even ordinary sentences can move you to tears with their depth and emotion.