Disco Elysium

I finished this game just a few minutes ago. I have to rush to get my thoughts onto the paper, before they scatter off and I stop being able to say what I want to say.


Disco Elysium is a very, very good game. It is the best Character Role Playing Game that I have ever played. It is probably the best one that I will play in a very, very long time. I have no desire to replay it— I feel like my playthrough is a snapshot in time, capturing everything that I wanted and everything I believed in. Going back and trying to do it "the right way" would somehow betray the story, to me. I made so many mistakes. And I did so many things right. Finishing this game has a terrifying sense of finality, as everything wraps up and starts pushing faster and faster towards the end. There is no room to go back. I finished the game, and now the game is finished with me.

And god, there were so many things that it had to say. Things about me, about itself, the world that we live in, the characters who could live in it, everything. This game brought me to tears. This game made me laugh so hard that I had to get up and stop playing. It's bittersweet, like a good bar of chocolate, and it doesn't stop feeling like a fun game until the very end. I never found the game taking itself too seriously, or not seriously enough. I will admit that I had Harry pining over Kim for the entire game, and I would not have it any other way. I got to do so many things, and ask so many questions, and the game just opened up in front of me without a second thought. When I was in the last section of the game, I stopped quicksaving. There are so many games where you mess up and have to stop playing— but Disco Elysium plays with that concept like a master musician, pushing the ebb and flow of the mechanics to their limits without breaking them. I never felt like I was totally in control, and I never felt like I couldn't do anything. There was always a chance.

I think that you should give it a chance, too.