I was scared going into this, since I kept seeing it constantly described as a cRPG, plus the "turn-based" mechanic I generally avoid at all costs. Still, something about the surreal nature of the trailers, the painting-like art design, something about the... ethos, the soul of this game, even, made me brush those worries aside and give it a try. I'm so very glad I did. If, like me, cRPGs, PnP, tabletop stuff is not your stuff, rest assured: Disco Elysium might be that, but it also manages to be other things, as well (or maybe all and none at once?). I don't really know how to classify this game. All the literary comparisons I could draw have already been made, Kafka, William S. Burroughs, E.E. Cummings, Boris Vian, Samuel Beckett, Hunter S. Thompson, etc. It's all this and, again, more. I guess it depends on how each of us plays it, and what kind of cultural background we come from. Whatever the case, though, Disco Elysium is bound to have something in it for you. This is not to say it's a game for everyone -- no game is fit for all people. All I mean is that there's no need to be scared by the cRPG category description: you can dive in at ease if you're a point & click adventure fan, you're likely to love the game if you're into experimental interactive narrative titles such as walking sims. In fact, I'd go as far as to say walking sim fans could enjoy Disco Elysium way more than oldschool D&D players looking for strategic battles or high fantasy tolkienesque medieval settings. Anyway, I echo what many others have been saying: whatever genre Disco Elysium is, you DO have to read. A lot. So it's definitely not a game for those that don't have the patience for that. It's mostly an experiment in interactive storytelling, introspection, character and worldbuilding, so, if you're remotely into that, you'll love this game. If you liked stuff like Sunless Seas/Skies, don't hesitate and pick this up right now.
Now, I decided to try this game even if the whole aesthetic and edgelord presentation were putting me off, because the gameplay looked like fun. It's not. Seriously. This game is poorly optimized if you want (or have) to play it using keyboard + mouse (I can no longer blindly accept the old excuse of "some games just play better with a gamepad, so buy one!", when SO MANY TPP titles play marvellously using the standard PC peripherals). This game tries to be a bunch of different stuff at once, but only manages to nail one of those aspects -- sadly, the one I dislike. It tries to be Darksiders, but without the cartoony charm or the deep, interesting lore; it tries to be Devil May Cry, but without the actual campy coolness and -- especially -- the engaging fluidity of control and movement; it also tries to be a "young adult fiction" video game, with all the cringe that entails, and this seems to be the only thing it does manage to be. So, if you enjoy that kind of media, Devil's Hunt might be for you. If, on the other hand, you don't really care about (or downright dislike) YA fiction media, there's absolutely nothing in this game for you. It takes itself too seriously when the story and characters are either too cringe-inducing or way too bland. The voice acting doesn't help, as it feels very amateurish, and the writing is some of the poorest I've come across since the "Engrish" days. I can't bring myself to rate it one star, even though I wanted to, because I've honestly played way worse games, and, like I said, if you do enjoy young adult fiction, this game might have something in it for you. Do bear in mind, though, that the kb+m controls are appalling, movement and combat feel extremely clunky, there seems to be a very noticeable delay from the moment you press a key and see the action played out onscreen. The gameplay itself isn't very engaging, you're better off just picking up a Darksiders or DMC title -- yes, even Ninja Theory's DmC is WAY better than this.
Now, if you disliked The Cat Lady and Downfall (especially the great Redux remake), Lorelai isn't going to change anything for you. Nor should it. If you get annoyed by the themes, the imagery, if you think the gameplay is lackluster and not that special, Lorelai follows in the steps of its predecessors. And that's fine. Rem Michalski is making games for the fans of his games, and that's what he excels at. Characters in his games do feel absolutely real, human, which is more than I can say for any BioWare game (or any RPG, for that matter). I kind of feel like removing a star from this review just because the game is not well optimized at all (come on, a game that looks and plays like this shouldn't have to require such high specs out of our PCs; killer7 looks arguably better, while still being extremely "artsy", and my PC can run the Steam version just fine, while it struggles to run Lorelai), but the writing is so awesome, the art style is so... peculiar, the ambiance throughout the title is so amazing and captivating, that I'm more than willing to look past that and pass it off as "minor". Sure, this is not a game for everyone. No game is. I think Heroes of Might & Magic III is probably a superb game, but I'm never playing it, because it's just not a game for me. And that's OK. Lorelai is definitely niche, and the people it appeals to are not that many. But if you feel somewhat interested in what you see, if you liked any of Rem Michalski's previous games, you owe yourself a playthrough of this title. It's just... extremely good, if you know what you're getting yourself into. (Also, as a side note, the game DOES have several warnings as you boot it up: epilepsy, photosensitivity, gore, violence, adult themes -- namely, suicide --, nudity, etc. So, yeah... be warned if you get "triggered" by any of these)
That other review is trying to sell this game as being written by Wadjet Eye's Dave Gilbert, but that's not the case. As with Kathy Rain, which was these guys' previous game, Dave Gilbert DIRECTED the voice acting, he has nothing to do with the 4,000+ lines of dialogue. As for my rating, I guess I'm a bit tired of all the AGS games "paying homage" to the classics of old. And while I loved Kathy Rain to bits, I'm pretty positive "Sci-Fi Nordic Noir" is not something I care about in the least. Just... please, start trying to do other stuff, we get it, we all love Wadjet Eye (even though their best games aren't even developed by Wadjet Eye), but this shameless emulation of a formula that works is getting kind of tiresome.
