This might seem odd to people whose experience with RPGs only come from games where having enough skill points in a certain skill means a certain success, but for us pen and paper enthusiasts, this is a really refreshing mechanic that gets things more interesting and unexpected.

Without any spoilers, there’s a lengthy scene at the end of the game that I’ve reloaded about 8 times because there are many dice rolls and mine were being unlucky, meaning something undesirable was always happening. Eventually, I decided that I’d accept whatever fate the dice would give me and go with it. It made the outcome extremely more interesting since I stopped being in complete control of the situation. Whatever happened in the situation seemed to be unavoidable and even more impactful.

Story — Worldbuilding

The adventure is set in the year of ’51. That’s it, that’s all you get. 1951? 3051? There’s no way to tell. The countries’ names don’t reflect any real country either. So you just can’t tell if it’s a game set in an alternate history, a futuristic setting or in another dimension. There are certainly many parallels with our world, but enough to say that Disco Elysium is set in a world of its own.

That said, it’s a very rich and deep world with its own unique history, politics and natural phenomena. As you play, you get to learn how the city you are in was shaped by wars and political events. And it’s all done superbly.

As for natural phenomena, I’ll avoid spoilers and only say that I’d love to play a game entirely focused on the concept of the pale. Now for what the pale is, I’ll give you nothing.

It’s worth mentioning that Disco Elysium takes place in the same world as “Sacred and Terrible Air”, a novel by its lead writer, Robert Kurvitz. Unfortunately, it’s not available in English yet, but ZA/UM said it might be released later this year. I’ll surely read it.

Story — Characters

Not only the world in which you’re in has great depth, but also do its inhabitants. The ensemble of characters is big, but some of them you’ll get to know more than others.

For these ones, I highlight Klaasje, Titus, Ruby, Kitsuragi and Cuno. Again avoiding spoilers, I’ll only say Ruby is a very important character to the plot and has one of the best voice acting in the game, which made me really happy when I met her.

Now Kitsuragi is your partner who keeps following you around throughout the game. You can wait for him to go to sleep to talk to other characters, but apart from specific situations that you really need to be alone, I’d advise against it. Kitsuragi often brings incredible insights into conversations.

Kim Kitsuragi (Source)

Art

I’ll admit that the first videos and screenshots I saw of Disco Elysium made me sneer at the art style. However, when I started playing and was immersed in it, I started really appreciating it. It feels as if it comes from an impressionistic painting and it most definitely fits the loss of identity theme. If you still haven’t seen any video about the game, check out its trailer below.