Disco Elysium

Text-based RPG with an isometric camera and point-and-click interface Disco Elysium has gained worldwide recognition for its storyline and unusual role-playing. Players can expect a complex detective story with half-hour dialogues, unexpected plot twists, and varied gameplay in each scene. There is no combat system like in modern RPGs. All gameplay actions and battles are conducted through dialogues and skill checks, and the hallmark of Disco Elysium is the debates of the hero's skills in his mind.

The game is based on a fantasy 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, now destroyed during a civil war and the prolonged foreign occupation that followed. After decades of mass repression, suppression of dissent, and harsh 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, rotting factory skeletons, and crumbling ghettos with millions of residents are a common sight here. The local police, in whose ranks the main character is, barely solves 10% of crimes.

There is no open world as such. Martinez is represented by numerous small locationsthat 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 during gameplay, and something may change in already explored areas.

Disco Elysium borrows a lot from old-school RPGs. Its role-playing mechanics are based on comparing the hero's skills with the dialogue conditions or situation, 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 parameters, there is a chance to fail a check — a die is rolled each time, adding uncertainty. Additionally, as skills grow, it becomes easier to pick up a negative effect, such as paranoia. However, the failure of the check, thanks to the efforts of the writing team, simply opens up a different course 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 collected. The latter is a kind of equipment that allows you to adjust the stats according to current needs and just look stylish.

From the beginning to the end of the game, you need to constantly make decisions, which will influence both the further development of events and the ending. There are 15 in total, but only 1 ending is beautiful and correct, all others are premature. How to complete tasks is up to the player — to persuade in dialogues, to engage in a fight, or to 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 alcoholism, and upon emerging from it remembers nothing except the ability to communicate. This is where the game begins.

Du Bois will not only have to solve the case again (main quest), but also restore his memory, and figure out what is really happening in Martinez. There are enough side quests, they are diverse: the unfortunate life of Harry himself, the political struggle 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 detective actions: from brainstorming collected clues to a straightforward interrogation. All this is based on 4 main characteristics (strength, motor skills, intelligence, and soul), with each having a range of 6 properties. Therefore, each point spent on 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 situation. "Empathy" will suggest not to pressure the interlocutor, "Drama" will notice a lie, "Logic" will ask for clarification of details. Often, a particular skill pops up 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, they appear after dialogues and visual analysis, or during a debate of skills with each other. 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 is contained in the thought, so Harry may start with a bonus, but ultimately encounter 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 it.

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 in the 1970s. The storyline is built upon a role-playing system.

Together they created an engaging and well-developed "living story," the full extent 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 adjust 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 simultaneously 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 expelled from the police for collaborating with criminals and accepting bribes.

Regardless of how eccentric the character may be, they will always reach the conclusion, either independently or driven by the game, as the main plot does not change significantly. However, every other aspect of each playthrough will be unique. But you will have to read. A lot. This can be compensated by the writing of remarkable strength: ordinary phrases can bring you to tears with their depth and emotionality.