"Disco Elysium Review" Worth every Dollar

 

    Man, where do I even start with this game? Disco Elysium is a daunting game to begin sure. I, like probably so many others, bought this game because it was on sale for around 3 dollars Canadian, and because anyone who comes across this game seemingly comes around with such glowing reviews. And then, you wait, it just lies in your Steam library and you think about playing it and these thoughts start to pop up. "Ooh, but I heard it's a very political game I don't know if that's what I want to play right now," "I heard there are so many ways to play this game it's kind of daunting," and it's all true. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't play it, it just means that it's a lot, and you should give it the respect it deserves.

    Then you start up the game and it's a lot. I'm not saying I can't read, or don't mind it, but this game is very much like a choose your own adventure book, it takes the name "visual novel" to heart, especially if you get the encyclopedia perk, which I would recommend since it helps you immerse yourself in this world around you. The 2.5D style might not be everyone's cup of tea, it doesn't feel as engaging as other RPG's with their third person or first person controls. HDB trudges quite slowly along this beautifully illustrated map, even when you're running, and it can be annoying trying to figure out where the boundary begins and the map ends. But what you need to do is power through it, commit to this game, and you'll just fall in love with it. Let's talk about it.

    This game is demanding, not graphically, but in the sense that you can't just half ass it. I tried it randomly, then dropped it randomly. You simply cannot do that with this game, but I promise investing into it the time it deserves is well worth it. If you try to do everything in one run, as I have, a single run will probably run you around 30 hours. I don't think I quite agree with the people saying you need to do multiple playthroughs just to try out different builds. Like there are different ways to achieve things, but just by investing points into white skill checks I needed, I never really felt like I was locked out of content. Like I am definitely curious in the ending in which you bring Cuno with you, or the other moralist ending. I think you can safely do one playthrough and then just watch the extra things you missed on YouTube, but that's also because I practically explored every nook and cranny of the map, which isn't as big as it might seem.

    The only major thing I missed was the dream in the third night to become a communist (or the other stuff). I was just starting off in the game and hesitant to commit to anything, only for the game to give me the centrist (ew) achievement because I was hesitant to accept anything early. Frankly, it's quite disorienting, and a part of me would love to play it again, but part of the appeal in the game is the mystery. I was quite convinced Ruby actually had something to do with the murder, only for her to briefly appear and disappear just as quickly. The deserter was pretty interesting too, I'm usually not the biggest fan of endings where the real perpetrator is completely missing from the narrative the entire time, but the story had enough interesting characters I didn't mind. Plus the whole revolution has such strong undertones the entire time as you wander through this city that is still struggling to find itself even after all these times. 

    It's pretty funny that the advice people give is try playing the game as if you were actually Harry because I simply think the game gives too many funny and absurd actions for me not to try it. I mean I did play as a good person but I was absolutely flabbergasted when I yelled at Elizabeth and the game asked me if I wanted to be a fascist, only for me to check my stats and realize my two highest by the end were communism and fascism. I think play the game the way you want to, which is in my case just like any other game in which I try to do literally every other thing. The only quests I even missed were the ones about starting up the drinking again, because I indeed did feel bad about making Harry become a druggie. I mean I started off the game with the impression that Harry was actually just a half-dead corpse that would collapse once he finished his case or something, which is why he looked so ugly and had the expression plastered all over it.

Final Score: 90/100

    I don't want to reveal much more about the game to be honest. I think just play it. it's short enough that at most it takes like a week's commitment anyways, The art style is great, and perfectly fits the atmosphere of Martinaise that the game is trying to present. It's full of great characters, and despite being a much smaller game than you'd think, Disco Elysium still feels like it's teeming with all of these little lives you wish you had more time to learn about. I think it's lived up completely to the hype, and more. I didn't think I'd find a 2.5D game that riveting, especially when my favourite genre to play are large, open world RPG's, but I must admit Disco Elysium succeeded in proving me wrong. It stuck around for just the right amount of time, before they'd just be packing it with too much and making it drag a tad too long for the size/length of the game. Bravo.