Disco Elysium - The Final Cut

This is hands down one of the best experiences i had in my life. And by the best i mean the most human experience of flawed characters, human mistakes and just flaws of humanity. The game presents characters that are not heroes, well not in a normal hollywood sense. It gives you options to meet people whos story is their own experience. Its all set in a world ravaged by war and genocide. Imagine the Balkans from the 90s. The world is real its flawed and not perfect, just like the world we all live in now. The music is just perfect and captures the feeling amazingly.

I thought hard whether to give it 4 or 5 stars, I ended up with 4 for one simple reason -> sometimes you can "softlock" yourself during some skill checks and that can be... discouridging... discouridging enough for me NOT to play it a second time... Other than that - it's GREAT. And different... and there's A LOT of reading, so if you're not fan of those, just don't :) But I can definitely recommend it otherwise.

I was hesitant about this game despite all of the good press surrounding it just because it looked somewhat bare and experimental and they're asking for a $40 price tag. Now after having played the game I can say that it is absolutely worth that $40 price tag and I 100% recommend this game. You may know the premise is that your character wakes up with complete amnesia but then is told you are a cop investigating a murder in a seedy city. The setting is somewhat fantastical with some supernatural elements and some sci-fi elements and a fictional convergence between various European cultures. The gameplay seems like a top-down cRPG but there is no combat per se, the interaction with the game world is limited to movement, dialogue, and interacting with the main characters skills and inventory. The game is driven forward almost entirely by its writing involing dialogue with other characters as well as dialogue within your character's mind as all of your skills and 'thoughts' can manifest as voices in your head that tell you what to do (which can be good or bad). The skill points you allocate can help you use these skills in various challenges while interacting with the gameworld but even if your points are low in something you can still attempt regardless. There is also the 'thought cabinet' which houses thoughts your character can have about themselves are the world that can affect skills or other aspects of gameplay. It works like a second inventory and can have some surprising effects depending on what you choose. I don't want to spoil much about the game but it can go in wildly different directions based on what you choose. The game world seemed small to me at first but there's an incredible amount of depth to it. I found it immersive and this has to be one of the only games I can think of that actually taught me something and got me thinking about how our thoughts and perceptions of ourselves can impact our sense of identity. This game really is a masterpiece.

I've been playing for about 8hrs and am still just right at the beginning, so this is a review in progress/ first impressions type thing. Game definitely starts out strong, the first 25-30 minutes are top notch. You have an in-depth character sheet, multiple dice rolls and small details such as assembling your clothes one article at a time, a small detail, but a very neat one. Dialogue is witty, the game is heavy with its writing, but the full voice-over mediates this a lot. Multiple dialogue choices and the ability to dive into many conversations with characters and into minor topics. There are constant skill checks throughout speaking with characters and exploring, but the quicksave option kind of breaks them - as long as you use it to cheese the game and cheat, lol. I've experienced about 3-4hrs of the story so far and the game is heavy on politics. Politics, different social systems, racism, sexuality - all major topics, which can be somewhat of a turn off, even though this is a role-playing crime game and these alignments define your overall character arc. On another note, the game has a very interesting art style and overall look (just don't zoom in too much), also seems to be able to run on a vast selection of vegetables, meaning - easy access. The soundtrack so far has been rather dull. Overall, for first impressions - so far, so good. The world has been hyping up this game to me for so long, there's bound to be a dash of disappointment, but there is undeniably something special about this game, so I'm looking forward to seeing how the story unfolds + multiple playthroughs.

Excellent writing, really good atmosphere and really good skill system. Mind you the game has no combat. It is pure roleplaying. But what great roleplaying it is. A true journey and a game that will stick with you. Only one advice: Embrace the failure in dice. The game is made with failure in mind. Do not re-load a failure. It actually bring out and enriched the story and some of the greatest moment in it is when you accepted that you failed and just move on.