3y ago

I finished Disco Elysium yesterday

The church questline was the ~~greatest~~ most HARD CORE thing I have ever seen in a video g*me.

Also communism, lots of communism. Unfortunately also fascism, moralism, humanism and liberalism :ooooooooooooooh:

It's definitely a 10/10 masterpiece, though I wouldn't include it in my personal GOAT like New Vegas or Dragon Age Origins because it got too realistically depressing at times.

NO NATION BUT TRANCE NATION - NO WAR BUT CLASS WAR

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I loved the whole game, but what stuck with me the most was the beginning, learning how awful you are. I'll put it in spoilers even though it is early game stuff, but learning that you have ::: spoiler spoiler left the body hanging from a tree for several days and pawned your service weapon without you having any choice about it ::: made me realize that this was different from what I was used to.

Egg head is going to be okay. I hope.
- YA, INCREMENTAL CHANGE!!!
  
  :ooooooooooooooh:

There needs to be more dialogue options that are explicitly insincere. Sometimes you gotta tell people what they wanna hear but I don't want the game thinking it's my actual sincere take

The satire of ideologies in DE is genuinely some of the most biting satire in that regard anywhere. The satire of communism hits particularly hard because it comes from a place of real experience and affection.
- :::spoiler communist quest spoilers I love how clear it is Harry has no place calling himself a communist and how goofy he comes across during the quest. He's some dumbass cop who lost all his memories and decided he's a revolutionary, the one true communist actually. I love how he'll bring up communism in nearly every conversation regardless of the context. He'll loudly and openly mention he hates the bourgeoisie, just so everyone remembers. It's such an accurate portrayal of some baby leftists I always smile in those parts.
  I love how he gets a little thrill whispering that he's a fellow traveler to some of the union guys. I love how he meets with those two students thinking it's an org, when it's just a glorified book club. It's just so good.
  Then the final part, meeting the veteran revolutionary who calls Harry out. Harry keeps saying "yeah I'm a communist like you." and veteran replying that Harry is a dumbass cop who doesn't know what he's talking about.
  It's so good. It's coming from experience and a place of understanding. The devs are just so good. A few lines should just be accepted theory, like how communism is like getting a degree in truth, or that that one line about zero percent of communism has been built.
- Gotta love it when ::: spoiler Disco Elysium communism spoiler You join an org and it's a glorified book club which mostly just critiques stuff like media, argues over weird almost posadist (without the nukes) theory, doesn't actually read theory, is extremely academic and splits constantly. :::
  Also gotta love Kim Katsuragi.
  ::: spoiler same as above You bring him to a communist meeting, despite being basically a socdem, and not only doesn't complain, but is implied to actually have fun when Harry and the students discuss theory. :::
  
  Kim is a very good boy and the only good cop to ever exist

The dancing in the church was some of the best animated dancing in ~~computer game~~ history

I'm playing through it for the first time. It's actually quite tricky because during most of my gaming I'm also listening to podcasts or YouTube, whereas with Disco Elysium I want to fully focus on everything. I keep screenshotting the dialogue to send to my girlfriend, who's probably quite confused without full context.

That quest has to be some of my favorite sci fi world building of all time.

moralism, humanism and liberalism
:same-picture:

It's weird how the church quest is an incredible side quest and almost 1/4 of the game for me yet it's completely optional and missable
- Really? Doesn't it reveal clues for the main storyline though or am I misremembering?
  
  Only that ::: spoiler spoiler Evrart is planning to use drug money :::
  but that is also information you can obtain in another way

Converting Egg Head to communism was so satisfying.
- Best character

When I first got the game I had no idea the chapos were in it. I lost my shit hearing Felix do his tier one operator voice as the strike breaker
- They got revoiced in the re-releases and major updates though.
  
  For the better, with no offense met. Glad the Chapo boys got to be in it, but the voice actors for the rerelease did a much better job.

When I played it I loved the writing too but the game itself just felt so, so sluggish, and the skill checks were so bad it completely killed any enjoyment.
And I say this as someone who really likes VNs. I love reading. It was everything else in Disco Elysium that just made me groan until I got tired of it.
- I can see where you're coming from, but the skill system in particular being designed the way it is is a perfect match for the game's themes. Just like with white skill checks, Harry's life is the story of someone failing horribly but coming back to try again.
  But there's a fast travel system in the game that just straight up doesn't work and it would be better if it did.
- It's the very beginning that is very frustrating. No wonder everyone gravitates towards sorry cop, you're completely fucking useless and a complete fuck up who can't even do basic cop shit. Once that's dealt with, the game picks up pace really quick, and you'll have some good bearings on what you stats you want to focus on and it'll make you feel like big dick gumshoe.

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