izigame.me

Disco Elysium is an unusual game. There is no other game like it. It takes you to places you've never been to before and lets you go through unusual experiences. It puts you in the shoes of a detective tasked with solving a murder. An unstable, addicted, loser detective. Or a rather sane, boring detective. It's up to you. The game gives you the freedom to take your character in whatever direction you want and for the endgame it doesn't really matter. It's an RPG, but don't worry about stats, or which path to take. There is no right or most effective way to play Disco Elysium. You play this game to experience the story and the strange moments. In that way, it's not unlike the adventure games of old like the ones made by Sierra or LucasArts. You'll spend most of the game talking to people and exploring... and that's really about it. Combat is not a significant part of the game at all. Chatting with a stranger and passing a few checks can get you very far. Leave your guns or spells at home.
You've probably read that Disco Elysium involves a lot of reading. It's true. Reading and choosing dialogue is 90% of what you'll do. That and running around, sometimes aimlessly. Now, if that makes you lose your interest rather quickly, then this game is not for you. Indeed, it's not fast-paced and that's not a bad thing if you're looking for something a little different. It's not 'Slow Boil: The Game', because that award goes to Else Heart.Break(), but it gets close sometimes.
And that's where my biggest criticism lies. The pace is too slow sometimes. I'm under the impression that the developers have relied on the game's writing (which is terrific and amazing!) a bit too much. It's an RPG, why not let players explore new areas a bit more? Or at least a bit sooner? New areas open up very slowly and are gated behind major story advancements. Expect to travel between A and B a lot before C and D even appear on the horizon. The same applies to the dialogue. You'll spend a lot of time talking to the same characters over and over again before someone new gets introduced. I'm fine with reading a lot, but especially during the middle part of the story I really wanted the game to pick up the unnecessarily slow pace. A few times I had to load an older save because the devs clearly expected me to do X, and I didn't do X, and that resulted in me following a dead end. An example would be (and this is not really a spoiler) me not being able to sleep anywhere and thus not advancing the story because I chose not to accept a certain character's money offer, and thus I couldn't afford the hotel room. Yes, you can spend a lot of time collecting tar and searching every nook and cranny for a few pennies here and there, but come on... you are the Hobo Cop. Look at the way the developers present their protagonist. Surely he should be able to sleep on a bench at night! So just so you know in advance, when that someone offers you money, just accept it. You'll save yourself a lot of trouble.
There are a few other ways the game gets artificially lengthened. I wish it was possible to save anywhere, including during the game's many dialogue scenes. If you have to leave and stop playing while talking to a character, next time you play you'll be reverted to the most recent save before that talk, which can be annoying because you have to go through the lengthy dialogue again. Of course this time you won't have to finish the voice acting and read everything again, but still. Let the player save anywhere. Another strange thing that happened to me a lot was 95%+ checks failing quite regularly. That can happen, but it happened suspiciously often. Perhaps there's something going on under the hood that's hidden from the player, or maybe I'm imagining things. Either way, it made me want to reload a save a few times to redo a check.
Most 'professional' game 'journalists' never mention these things in their 'reviews'. Instead they go on and on about their GOTY nominations, always gushing over this year's dearest game in 15+ articles spanning several weeks, but rarely covering the glaringly obvious negative aspects. That's great publicity for the developer, but not very useful for gamers who want to buy a nice game with their hard-earned money. That's why I felt compelled to go against the grain a bit and deliver a slightly different message.
Disco Elysium still is an amazing game. The writing is superb and on another level. The art is unique and atmospheric. The characters are great. The city is great. Revachol breathes character, just like Thief's "the City". If you're looking for a game that almost plays like you're reading a book, a game to relax with, a world that sucks you in, then you should definitely buy this game. It may not line up with your expectations entirely, but you'll have a good time and it's a great experience. During the game's later stages the pace will pick up a bit and the ending doesn't disappoint.
Here's to many more succesful titles from ZA/UM!