The past year has been such an amazing time for RPGs that I had almost forgotten about No Truce With The Furies, a surreal ‘procedural cop RPG’ that claims Planescape: Torment and Kentucky Route Zero as equal inspirations.

Studio ZA/UM reckon that the title – weird as it was – didn’t stand out quite enough, so they’ve officially rebranded the game as ‘Disco Elysium‘. I am baffled, but I can’t help but like the sound of it. It’s a satisfying title to say, and a lot easier to type.

There’s also a shiny new trailer for the game, dense with ideas, style and weirdness.



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I don’t know about you, but I’m excited. Torment: Tides of Numenera gave me a renewed taste for combat-light but systems-heavy RPG gameplay, and the distinct world, aesthetic and concepts behind Disco Elysium are an intoxicating and exciting mix. It’s also interesting seeing violence used in the trailer to dramatic effect, rather than something that just plays out on a combat grid over a series of turns.

The game was originally due out around the end of 2017, but with a suite of amazing ideas as dense as what Alice reported on here, it’s no surprise that it slipped to an undetermined point in 2018. The official press materials mention that on top of rearranging your own character’s internal mental makeup, your choice of clothing will have effects on how the world reacts to you. I’ve not seen that used in an RPG to any real degree outside of the venerable old Arcanum, so it’s nice to see the concept returning.

Also, that is probably the gruffest trailer narration ever, but that’s neither here nor there.

Disco Elysium has a Steam page now, and you can wishlist it to be kept abreast of any developments. Or you could just keep an eye on RPS, because we’re watching this one like hawks.