The structure is also extremely open-ended, letting you pursue the murder as doggedly, or not, as you like. Kitsuragi, your partner, who is a kind of moral centre for the wild and unpredictable protagonist.įreedom in Disco Elysium isn't just limited to shaping your character. And I love the soft, calming voice of Lt. The sleazy, rasping delivery of your ancient reptilian brain, which regularly emerges to taunt you, sounds wonderfully evil. There's partial voice acting too, although it varies wildly in quality. But it's also incredibly good, with an anarchic literary flair that makes even the most matter-of-fact conversation hugely entertaining.
Typically the writing is funny, subversive, and, admittedly, a little self-indulgent at times. It's a lavishly realised setting with acres of history and culture to discover, although occasionally, in some optional conversations, I felt like a mountain of rather dull, long-winded lore had been suddenly dumped on my head. People making the most of a bad hand, struggling against an uncaring world.
But there are flickers of warmth and humanity, too. Martinaise is a horrible place filled with horrible bastards. Many of the people you meet say disgusting, offensive things, which is entirely justified by the grotty bleakness of the setting. The writing is funny, subversive, and, admittedly, a little self-indulgent at times A vividly described autopsy made me feel genuinely queasy. But it's filthy too, which is relayed mainly by that gloriously rich, evocative writing. It's gorgeous, with a stylish, painterly aesthetic, expressive characters, and detailed backgrounds. Plagued by poverty, crime, corrupt unions, and scarred by a violent revolution, it's exactly the kind of place you'd expect to wake up after a three-day drug binge. The game is set in the fictional city of Revachol specifically a dreary, forgotten district called Martinaise. Every person who plays Disco Elysium will have a different experience as a result of the frankly audacious depth of its role playing. You can create a highly empathetic communist disco music enthusiast, a self-deprecating artist who punches first and asks questions later, a deluded rock-and-roll cop with a passion for democracy, or a drug-addicted feminist psychic. The result of all this is one of the most preposterously malleable characters in RPG history. And the more thoughts you develop, the more complex your character becomes. You're limited to three thoughts to begin with, but skill points can also be used to unlock more. Some of these have a major effect on your character's mental state, while others are more frivolous and largely played for laughs. As you speak to people you'll reveal thoughts that can then be slotted into your brain and developed over time, unlocking stat buffs and fascinating, insightful nuggets of story. You might start out physically weak, but stick enough points into the appropriate skills and you can become a force of nature.Īnd I haven't even mentioned thoughts yet.
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But as you play you earn experience points that let you upgrade any skills you like, allowing you to sculpt your character further. Your base stats are intellect, psyche, physique, and motorics, which make you better or worse at certain things. When you create a character, your starting skills are determined by the stats you roll. The more thoughts you develop, the more complex your character becomes So if you want to have the superhuman insight of Sherlock, but also be a self-destructive mess like The Wire's Jimmy McNulty, Disco Elysium lets you. All the defining traits of the best fictional cops are in there, but importantly, the worst are too. There are some more esoteric skills too such as inland empire, which lets you pluck inspiration from dreams and talk to inanimate objects.Ĭonversely, a character with low perception can miss case-breaking clues floating right in front of their face, while a low endurance cop will struggle in even the most trivial physical trials. A high logic character can divine truth from a clear-headed analysis of a crime scene. A character with high authority might find it easier to pressure a timid witness into spilling their guts. There are 24 in total, ranging from logic, perception, and reaction speed to endurance, conceptualisation, and authority.