Disco Elysium is a paradox of amazing innovation, with poor execution. I understand the praise the game gets, but the experience was personally ruined for me by contradictions in the bad level design, world contradictions and the big fat story flop. Why should you play this game? 1. The art style is superb, not only making the game stand out, but being the most unique art design of any isometric game I have ever played. 2. The skill system needs to be in more RPGs, being a refreshing jump of creativity/innovation. Every skill has its own personality and converses inside your head, representing internal cohesion and/or conflict. You can also internalize certain beliefs/ideas to get boons and buffs. The skills meld with the game's premise of "detective with amnesia" by helping or hurting you as you piece together not only the crime, but your own life. Skill checks are where the level design takes a big hit. Certain areas or situations require you to pass one skill check, not having multiple avenues. Seriously, to get to the last section of the game, you have to literally "listen to the wind" and do it really really well, contradicting a logical detective/clue style game. The game lampoons outlandish ideas, like believing in cryptids, or super races, or insert any political ideaology besides grass-roots socialism. It lampoons stupidity on one hand, while introducing supernatural elements, meaning the "who done it" plot could be anything and logic does not matter. Lastly, the narrative was the biggest disappointment of the game. SLIGHT SPOILER AHEAD, but the game ends with a killer that not only I did not guess, but could not guess. Personally, having a shyamalan style twist ruins the narrative for me. Nothign mattered, and I hate that. Maybe I am just not deep enough to get it, or the game is being deep by doing this, but I do not care. I do not play games that throw out all of their build up with a contrived ending. I played it on steam, btw.
