Brady in the first episode: I dont realy like politics Brady 56 episodes later: proletarians of the world, unite, you have nothing to lose but your chains
People who don't like politics and think things arent as bad as they are tend to try to shy away from explaining them for themselves with politicking answers, because such things inherently cause strife and worry. But reality exists as it is, despite. And capitalism still leads to annihilation, as always.
On a more practical level, yes, but I feel like it really says something that Volition is the *one* voice that argues for it, Volition being the voice that always has your back and is always trying to keep you afloat, keep you holding onto hope that you *can* improve yourself, that you *can* make things better. Rather than just "keeping Harry too busy to drink or do drugs or spiral into depression", Volition in particular arguing for communism *despite* it being "impossible", *despite* it being a failure, over and over again, throughout history, has a very "Rage, rage against the dying of the light" vibe to it to me. Like Rhetoric said, "They've built it before. You've built it before. Hasn't really worked out yet, but neither has love. Should we just stop building love, too?" This being a big metaphor for his ruined relationship with Dora making him feel worthless and like no one can ever love or be loved by him again, when Volition tells him he should build communism, it's basically telling him not to give up on life in general--not to give up on the idea that things could change for the better, that YOU could make things change for the better (including yourself). Building communism in this game particularly is basically looking into the rubble of your dreams and hopes for your own life and the world and saying that you refuse to let it lie in disrepair; that you refuse to admit defeat; that you are going to rebuild it however you can and you are going to KEEP rebuilding it, even if storms come to tear it up over and over again. Volition telling Harry to build communism is telling him to live. And not just to live, but to believe he can have, he can MAKE, a life worth living. And that he can help others to do so, too.
@@AutumnGracy Volition isn't arguing in spite of it being impossible, it's arguing BECAUSE it's impossible. Volition is the drive to stand even when it's easier to lie down, to stay the course and fight even when it's infinitely easier to give up, no matter the odds, no matter the success rate. If achieving communism in this world was possible, Volition wouldn't be interested.
@@imetacrab I didn't say it was necessarily possible to achieve. Not everyone can get a happy ending, but it is still necessary to keep on living and have something to believe in and hope for, something to work towards. Even if it might never work out. Otherwise we succumb to the despair and purposelessness and are left feeling bitter and apathetic and burnt out. Which is how Harry starts the game.
@@AutumnGracy Solid take. The author's own political convictions shine through here despite mostly successful efforts to make the game politically diverse.
I guess we won't see him saying "I really am a communist. I have communist thoughts in my head." Or seeking out Boy Child Communism & Girl Child Revolution. I think he's suppressing his communist thoughts... I'd like to talk with a therapist about this...
YES! I wholeheartedly applaud your for diving in. You said you needed community help and I've got some for you! I think the communism thread in this game is important for reasons that transcend all the stilted fictional politics. My advice would be to enjoy the political stuff through a thematic / character-based lens, if it helps take the edge off all the Mazovian socio economics. Consider this: Both Harry and the game's developers grew up in a newly post-communist country. Childhoods spent in the rubble of a dream. Learning how their parent's generation tried to do something radically new, and the whole world turned round and said no. Whatever you think of communism, I think that upbriging has got to.. do something to a person, on a character level? Both for Harry, and the game's themes of failure, nostalgia, and daring to still imagine a kind of redemption - a way out, a return from the pale.
To me the dev angle isn't so much about how the world turned round and said no to eastern block communism, but rather how as self-admitted communists the devs channel a feeling of melancholy from wanting a dream to believe in but having to face the fact that the soviet project was a moral and practical failure they can't stand behind, but there's no new attempts happening either. All the communists Harry meets in the game share traits with the kind of communism they can't stand behind. Corruption of the ideal and return to capitalist practices in one end, totalitarian conservatives who live by a strict ideological doctrine in the other end. Theres even a line at one point where Harry tries to tell an old school totalitarian communist that theyre the same, only to be told that Harry is "just a liberal". To me the communist path is mostly melancholy for a lost cause, not redemption. You're not REALLY building communism. Harry just desperately needs to think hes going to do it, because to give up and let go is too painful. This theme works for Harrys relationship and how a lot of modern liberal leftists feel, including the devs i think, from how so much of the communist satire ingame is about coping with not having achieved much
@@happyhunterfish harry might not be building communism, but I don't think the game is making the message that communism is a lost cause. I don't think the creators believe that. speaking as a Marxist, part of being a communism is believing that it can work.
@@capn_toad Marxism has utterly failed despite achieving dominance over half the world for a significant portion of the 20th century. It's dead and will never come back. Any future anticapitalist liberation project worth anything will come from somewhere else.
@@happyhunterfish I was trying to keep my point simple so it'd get across, but I totally agree! It's not clear-cut at all. There's a ton of nuance, irony, communist self-deprication and soviet-skeptic satire beneath my simplistic take. And absolutely - I think it's not so much about nostalgia for communism, as nostalgia for a cause, nostalgia for hope, even. "Some magical fourth option", perhaps. I want to question your entirely pessimistic takeaway, though? I do believe the game has a hopeful message to impart to the frustrated leftist. Sort of. But making that case would be ending spoiler hell, so this is probably not the place for it... I love that this game can inspire this sort of discussion though! Always good to see :)
Volition says "you should build communism because it's impossible" because Volition is on board with everything that implies a strong willpower, and persevering through a noble but impossible quest is a perfect example of this
I’m not going into more specifics because of spoilers but I think that’s kindve one of the main messages of the game. The communist vision quest really solidifies this as well
something i find really fascinating about this game is how kim is written in such a way that you can interpret things he says differently depending on how far you are in the game. you could have exploring this district be the first thing you do after meeting kim, and all of his dialogue makes perfect sense as someone who wants to focus on the hanged man. but since you're later in the game and know him a bit, you can very reasonably suspect his disinterest is a facade, and that he's also very interested in the district mystery. you can also succeed in the check that directly tells you that fact, but i like that it's written in a way that lets you interpret that idea anyway.
Brady! I finally found the perfect game for your therapeutic walkthrough (it almost as good as Disco Elysium, but much shorter) "What remains of Edith Finch" I strongly suggest to take a look at it. And for sure, if you decide to play, I will watch all the episodes. The game is about people, their decisions and the consequences. P.s sorry for bad grammar, not my native lango
@@FireheadLazzo Yeah, I regard PST as the best RPG that has or will ever be made, with DE as a VERY close second (and tbh some of that is just bc of the magic and uniqueness of that world/setting, like many of the characters, and the tattoos for example, also that the whole multiverse thing wasnt really a big deal anywhere back when that game was mostly being played, so that felt very unique as well).
Remember also, when harry thinks or Politics, what he really is thinking is some kind of "if I build a perfect utopia she will come back, if I become strong like the king she will come back, if i am more normal and reasonable she will come back, if i am rich she will come back", or that is how i see it after doing every political quest.
Also I'll say that this kinda fits really well with what you were talking about with prayer and what it does for people. Politics isn't just something that Harry uses to hide his emotional problems (though it is absolutely also that), it's very religion like for him. No matter what political path you choose it will be a way that Harry makes the world make sense and make him feel important. For Communism that's the reason that rhetoric was getting all into the idea of you vs the world, the idea of being the revolutionary who saves the world and makes a utopia is very appealing to Harry. He's not exactly rich and living in Revachol, especially Jamrock can be quite depressing, so sure it makes sense why he might disagree with capitalism and want to make a better world, but the idea of him being someone who can accomplish an impossible task that makes things better is what in my opinion made him a communist. If he can fix the world, then surely he can fix himself.
If you follow this communism questline, you can find an interesting group of people, being well-studied in their ideology. But these very people (that I won't spoil too much about) have some pretty interesting subjects to talk about in a psychological sense too!
You can also get some dialogue where someone looks at Harry and Kim and then goes, "we're a *very open-minded* group" and the implication they give off couple energy is funny but what's even funnier is Kim doesn't correct them on it.
The thought about communism you got is just a thought, not really a quest. You can unlock it if you want but all you really get is just a bonus and maybe a comment here and there - the usual. There are political vision quests in the game, but you've missed the opportunity to unlock them (since the only time you can pick one is when you go to bed on day 3). They all have some specific requirements though, so in order to even get them you would have had to heavily lean into politics early.
The fact Volition gives you a second chance to opt in to communism really says a lot about the developers lol. I love it, and your eventual buckling under the pressure. 😂
It's on point though, considering opting in to every other ideology is far easier since real frameworks and models already exist in the game's world and ours. Building a communist system which works and provides takes a tremendous amount of willpower as developing and testing its framework has been swiftly stopped by the other powers with different or conflicting interests.
short communism crash course: for marx, history is propelled by class conflict. plebeian and patrician, peasant and nobleman, capitalist and worker, constantly in contradiction with each other, driving the development of society (he borrowed a lot of these ideas, which he called "dialectical materialism", from hegel). marx expected that these contradictions would eventually be resolved (or "synthesized"), and he called this final form of society "communism". he imagined communism as a stateless, moneyless society without class distinctions. he obviously wasn't the first person to imagine a classless society, but he was one of the most rigorous and influential. all considered, marx didnt spend very much time thinking about communism. instead, he was mostly interested in understanding, describing, and critiquing capitalism. the class conflict which he observed within capitalism has its basis in the ownership of capital (capital is a thing which can be used to make sellable goods and services, usually things like factories or tools), between those who don't own any capital and sell their time and labor for money ("proletariat"), and those who do own capital and hire workers to do labor with that capital ("bourgeoisie"). marx wrote a pretty long book with his thoughts on all of this (maybe you've heard of it), but simply put: marx thought that all value originates from labor, and thus, the capital owner, in order to generate profit for himself and get a return on his investment, needs to be paying the workers he has hired less than the actual worth of their labor. marx also identified several other negative side effects of selling ones labor for money, such as marx's theory of alienation, which would be pretty on topic for this channel. the conclusion marx arrived at was that in order to stop this exploitation and bring about communism, each worker needs to realize the existence of this fundamental class conflict (achieve "class consciousness") and put themselves in control of the capital that they use to perform their work, i.e. the workers need to collectively control their means of production. this fundamental idea has been implemented in several different ways over the last century, some good, some decent, and some horrific. (if someone wants to correct anything i've said, i'd be more than happy to hear you out. i'm not a scholar of these things, or anything really.)
I'm not sure what I did different on my playtrhough but I find it kind of hilarious that Brady was talking about the political realities of the Doomed Commercial District to use but the options did not appear for Harry to bring any of that up, while when I played it ages ago my Harry had the option to immediately bring up that she's been paying the electric bill for the abandoned ice cream factory the entire time she's been there.
Its skill check. Same for me, never get to say that. Thers a lot of that small things you get to say if you have enough skill point or done something before talking to someone
Comrade Brady ! Your contribution to the cause has not gone unnoticed and you will be rewarded as all the working man shall. Rejoice for you are among friends Comrade Brady! All joking aside I really needed to see this today you have absolutely exceeded expectations and made my day ! Much love Brady! ❤
I always find the bit about yelling into the central furnace, getting an answer and the introduction to Neha curious. She sounds genuinely puzzled about how Harry and Kim got inside, but quickly moves on saying it doesn't matter. As if she's not the one who answered or opened the safety door/curtains. Additionally and alternatively (minor spoilers about dice) she's a person able to craft literally the game world altering instruments (=dice) and you get A Precarious World thought from her, which just makes her seem like an entity, apparition or trickster spirit to me.
Neha was curious how you got into the building, not her furnace-room. She presumed Harry entered through the east entrance by the Whirling, but she didn't have to open the door for him (as the only business remaining that uses that entryway).
@@TheFrothyBrew That may be, or it may be not. I've considered it as a possibility, albeit unlikely in a Sophianic work such as DE is. If you know, you know.
@@TheFrothyBrew Apt quote from the game, but perhaps you haven't considered its context or why it was written. It highlights the difference in perception and the self-imposed limitations people give themself to satisfy their current state of mind's framework. There's power within and without words, but isolating them from their source only serves to delude you and others - I know this through my work every day. Just to be clear what you quoted is not there to divide and categorize any phenomena. I'm afraid I can't help you much more than that. ALL is about perception - on every sphere of influence, system of control and structure of power. Good luck out there.
The problem is there is endings for all 4 ideologies (communism, fascism, moralism and ultra-liberalism) BUT they only unlock if at the end of dream sequence of third day if you have thought of one of said ideologies and choose right dialog option, which as i saw didn't happened
The finish line is in sight. One final push, Brady. I'm so happy for you to have something precious you've found in this game. Soon you'll have a beautiful memory you can always look back on.
Also should be pointed out about the games politics that Harry has a very juvenile view on the ideologies. He was born yesterday and is clinging to surface level details of politics as a coping mechanism to understand a world he doesn't recognise. The communism path is great for the games themes of failure as well, and some really funny writing is in that guestline.
The thing that I'm reading is that although you arent feeling that communist, harry is extremely easily convinced by rhetoric cause it's appealing to his ego and his insecurities about being a failure and also being the only thing that can correct the failure, especially with how rhetoric brought up how "love hasn't worked out but should we stop building love?" His own damage making him want to invest into politics to give himself the feeling of being able to fix the world and becoming consumed by it like many people in the world have been. People who feel alienated from the world because of how our jobs and schools either purposely or accidentally make our labor feel less impactful on our "tribe." A person working a dead end job at walmart being paid minimum wage will not feel control over themselves because their labor is so abstracted. They aren't doing anything with a real impact on their environment. Comparing that to someone who is a construction worker or an architect who will see their building be completed and that becomes their impact on the world. They have build a home for people to live in safely. We as people may be self interested (i think self interest and selfish are different terms) but we still do want to help others. A pharmacist helping someone get their medications i assume has a far better outlook on themselves because their work is able to directly impact their tribe (community). I'd love to hear you talk about the psychology of why some people become enraptured by extremist ideology because i feel like thats exactly what is happening with harry when he falls to an ideology in disco elysium. He's falling onto it to find a place to be in the world. I was super excited to see you be more open to engage with this. Sadly im pretty sure you missed out on a quest that you get on day three if you internalized a political thought. Again though I'm excited for this opportunity and to see what goes on and i think it would be very interesting to hear what you think of politics, not your positions but why people get into them. Apologies for the long ass comment. Do have a nice day!
Important to note that Rhetoric isn't Suggestion... Rhetoric will use any dirty trick to win the argument in the moment. It's the worst "debate" impulse that will say or do anything to win the argument, to convince Harry to do something.
Im terrible at analysis, but previous ones Ive real suggested that he goes political to distract himself from the suicidal path he is on from the love of his life being permanently done with him, or some fleeting hope that if he manages to actually rebuild communism it will be enough to actually really win her back.
The Last Communist bit is really funny as a communist. Believing that you alone can create something that, by definition, takes organized and communal effort is a fun little bit. Especially when you know the writers are marxists.
Some of the writers are Marxist, and everyone who actually made the game hated them because they took the credit without doing any work, which is why the communists in the game are all either evil, self made social pariahs, or stupid. Which is ironic.
Hiya, Brady! Longtime viewer of the series and self-proclaimed "Disco Elysiologist" here. I promise not to spoil anything, just to give you some context on this game's fairly opaque "Political Vision Quests". By opting into Rhetoric's pitch on communism, you have not fully committed to the questline, but have received the option to internalize Mazovian Socio-Economics from your thought cabinet. Internalizing that thought will then initiate the vision quest, leading you to interactions with NPC's you would not have access to in a fully-centrist playthrough. From what I can tell of my admittedly narrow glance at your personality, curiosity, and reactions to the game so far, I believe this questline would be very insightful and fascinating to you as someone who views political ideology from the outside-in and also as someone more primarily concerned with human behavior and its tendency to create concrete meaning from the abstract. That said, if you would rather not engage with this questline for the sake of finishing the series before New Years, I would be a fool to blame you. Your insight into this game has been nothing short of inspiration to me and others, and I thank you sincerely for sharing your journey with all of us. Have a nice day, sir.
you may have missed the chance to get the political quest if you want to explore it, you need to have a political thought internalised by day 3 to be able to follow through with it
@@Dimdariusz that's only up to day 3 though, you get a prompt during a dream to opt in to whatever politics you are following, if you dont have any by then you lose your chance, kind of a weird design decision but it is what it is
It's interesting... your discussion on your experience doing cross-cultural therapies reminded me a lot of the materialist framework a lot of leftist politics is built around. It's so easy to get bogged down in the rhetorical and metaphysical aspects of the subject, but there are immediate physical symptoms (material conditions) that need to be remedied independent of the specifics of that discussion. It also makes me wonder about what cultural differences there might be in how people manifest or perform anxiety-reducing techniques, which I assume are innate at some level re: having to do with the nervous system.
Your trepidation about having a political opinion is pretty funny since you’re so self aware about it Don’t feel pressured to pick one in particular, just do whatever feels right
I just want to say as a viewer, I'm not anxious about how much time the series is taking. I enjoy it whenever an episode pops up. So long as you're getting something out of it, it's good.
as to why the game says that communism is about failure: if you believe marx's idea of history, communism is sort of inevitable, yet it feels like we are further from it than we have ever been. history is littered with failed communist projects, and the more you learn about each of them, the less achievable true communism seems. virtually half the countries in the world have had some form of socialist revolution, and each of those has crashed and burned more spectacularly than the last. some were squandered, some betrayed, some were lies from the start, and some were crushed by the overwhelming force of global capital. identifying as a communist in the 21st century forces one to confront this reality, and people cope with it in different ways. some turn around and unconditionally defend any moderately successful political project with a red flag and the word "people's" in its name, some grow cynical and divest from politics completely, and some bury themselves in abstract philosophy and political theory to convince themselves that they are accomplishing something. no matter what, the most important part of being a communist is having hope that the world can move beyond capitalism. it might not happen in our lifetime, and the result might not be orthodoxically marxist, but a better world is possible. that is why volition chimes in in endorsement. radical optimism in the face of abject failure. that's what disco elysium is all about.
I really hope you finish off the Church quest - it really ties together everything you've learned about the Curse and the Pale and why Martinaise is what it is.
Ok ok now that you are interested in the politics of the game at least enough to be comfortable talking about them (kind of) I have to tell you *AGAIN* (AND I KNOW THIS MAY BE ANNOYING BUT...!) to recommend you reacting to the fascist quest after finishing the game. Believe me when I tell you, *is very interesting* Fingers crossed! You could do the same for all of them really, cause they are in general funny, add lore, new characters and expands Harrys psyche, though I still place the fascist one above all of them because is just amazing
So much hidden Rhetoric in this game. Maybe having been an aspiring writer in my past life I catch it more, but..."it's a *disease* eating away at the very foundation." right after finding the two massive freezers *in the basement* and the game explicitly saying "The power bills must be enormous." And Kim's disapproval, scratch that, even just questioning your actions somehow led you to keep two empty freezers plugged in, *literally* sucking the energy out of the building. Uh...the "life force" maybe... Uh... like a curse or something, because why else could my goddamn power bill be so high? It's as simple as that, in my mind. Plaisance just has magical thinking as to why all these businesses failed - she's too scared to go behind that door, to the creepy abandoned backroom and basement, so it MUST be a curse! Hell, even Kim was uneasy down there, and he's as solid as a rock. On top of those weird noises coming from the chimney...Neha doesn't pay rent after all, she probably also doesn't see the power bills. Also, I love that Rhetoric is the one who brings up the Communism thought, and that same Rhetoric works extremely well to confuse most people, with big words and big ideas. Be careful of who's speaking to you in your head Brady ;) Volition wants an impossible task, to flex that resistance and volition despite the odds. You can also not internalize the thought, just a flash in the pan so to speak. That whole thing was just to gain a thought you can ruminate on, or NOT, you're right. It says (Opt In) but even after internalizing the thoughts you still have choices. You could just be a communist in your soul, but present the moralist cop to people in dialogue. The game won't force you into anything! Maybe there's a bonus to feeling Kraz Mazov in your heart, even if you never let him speak for you.
We shall help comrade Brady to achieve peak comunism one day, but for now your old friend The Horrific Tie asked us to tell you to hurry and meet this The Pigs character and find your gun. Do not worry, you still have time and the clock does not go forward unless you're interacting with something.
it's so fucking funny to hear you list the levels with the delusion. around 1:09:00. Also there's a bit of a weird sound displacement going on during parts of the video. if it is not my hardware (but i doubt it as i only found it on this video). Also political vision quest! I think this one would be a real interesting one for you, well let's see if you end up going into it. :3
Playing through this slowly in small bites over such a long time has allowed some detailed insights, but at the cost of connecting the dots on plot points from earlier chapters.
No ghosts, no curse, no demons or all kinds of cool supernatural shenanigans. Just sad, gray, deeply rooted societal issues like addiction, no network of support and homelessness. :(
1:00:50 not to start a big debate in the comments, but as far as I knowthe people who are practicing a religion (so more likely to pray) are also more likely (on average) to give to charity or volunteer for charity. If you want to think about psychologically, maybe thinking about helping people in one way makes it more likely you will try to help them in another way.
I wonder how Brady would do in Shadowrun, where you really _do_ have a vision beast in your drug visions that empowers your spirit. In cyberpunk Seattle.
Well, if you like games that acknowledge your weird player decisions and let you try to justify them within the fiction, may I recommend a little game called Slay the Princess? Also, if Volition does drag you deeper down the communism path, in order to not get bogged down by your concern over politics, it's probably best to treat Harry's idea of communism as a blanket stand-in for whatever vaguely defined left-wing social policies you think would improve the lives of the Cunos and Frittte girls of the world. I guess maybe its a little bit like phenomenology? The precise definition of communism doesn't matter as much as what the term "communism" means to Harry. His desire for a better world.
Reminder that one thing Cuno said about Cunoesse when he described how he met her was that he thinks Cunoesse was doing some "dark shit [...] snuff radio shit",
Disco Elysium in and of itself is about communism and what happens to a city after a communist revolution fails. The writers definitely intend to talk about communism and I think trying to avoid talking about it is doing the story and yourself a disservice. I think you'll find you'll have a lot to discuss if not about how Harry or yourself view communism then how the Disco Elysium writers view communism and how they talk about it. It is very much about a love for the idea of communism and the communism vision quest reflects that. Even in this episode the skills talk about how communism is about failure but it is as important as love. Hope you'll give it a chance as itll be important for the ending of the game as well as for understanding earlier statements like the hanged man telling you that communism killed him but love did him in :]
Im so glad you opted into the communist thought Brady!! Of course its up to you how much you want to do with it, but I really dont think you should be scared about "not getting" the politics. Of course I'm saying this as a death communist myself, but the communist quest really is one of my favorite parts of the game, and I think you would get quite a lot out of it even from a psychological standpoint. What "building communism" means in this context is simply building a better world. A world where all the resources ARENT in the pockets of baby killing billionares. Is it possible? Is it feasible at all? Probably not, but just as rethoric is talking about the communists you meat in this game focus more on how you need to believe that it is, or as rethoric says. Should we just stop believeing in love too because it fails? I've never seen the line from volition when you try to opt out before, but I think it's also quite telling. You need something to hold on to. The world is dark and horrible and things rarely go well, but it COULD be better. We could MAKE it better. There is no fundamental rule saying the world HAS to be like this, so we can and must change it. The only other option is to give up, and that is giving in to the despair, or as the opt out option says "lay down and let the water carry you downstream". Volition recognizes this, and wants you to have something to fight for, a dream that something else is possible.
OH MY GOD YOU ACTUALLY UNLOCKED MARXISM??? I am very proud. Honestly, this is one of my favorite play-throughs of disco Treat political quest as an oppotunity to actually confront the concept of failure and an oppotunity to meet new characters on the way, it doesnot have to reflect your personal belief, just an exploration 💖 I love, personally, what being a communist in the game opens out to you as a player, so cant wait to hear your take on it, not from the political, but from the psycological perspective! Thnx for great work!!
Welcome comrade Brady! You are loved. Together we can rebuild society and the economy into a democratic bottom up system, free of exploitation and suffering.
I love brady's nuanced social commentary for 56 episodes, then rethoric says "get the firing squads ready" like, obscure controversial political discourse stuff that's complicated to explain. "I don't know what that means!!" he says, immediately being unequipped to deal with weird political stuff... nightmare.
LoL! Harry enjoys challenges, and Volition knows this. Better a "challenge" than a drunk. I love how the game is "fighting" you ALL THE TIME. -and lol that "ambivalence" line. So you know, you are a centrist for the most part, but your job kanda demands you "be" a centrist, but keep in mind, YOU ARE NOT YOUR JOB. I think you're internalizing your work needs into your person, and I do see why. :-)
I did not know volition did that that's hilarious. This was truly the perfect storm of conditions to get this you to accept it. I don't mind if you don't do the quest at all, just this last interaction here was fun and if you feel like communism doesn't fit this Harry I think that's a perfectly fine decision to make, one of the best parts of this playthrough has been your dedication to making roleplay decisions and it's paid off (you were right that your friendship with Kim feels much more earned now that you were initially cold to him).
We are about to make the mother of all omelettes here, Brady. And then we gonna feed it to the working class... or not... And yes, it will give you some additional interactions and characters to interact with later. Or at least it should.
In another Disco Elysium Timeline: "The calamity that befell the Doomed Commercial Area is often heard in whispers in schoolyards and raucous retellings in bar rooms. Should you perk your ear up and listen in on one of these tellings-of-tales you'll find that no two people have the same tale-to-tell. Under the gym bleachers it's told in hushed tones: 'Amphetamine Occultists invested so much of their imagination into a game that their reality began to manifest onto ours - and cancelled each other out.' Over at the bar there's a simpler explanation - ghost cockroaches. At least that's what you think may have been an explanation as it's the last two words the man uttered before passing out." "The truth may be as equally strange. The Commercial Area appended Doomed to its name after one evening someone somehow managed to lure an actual fucking polar bear onto the property. The polar bear, having no grasp over economics whatsoever, then proceeded to kill and goddamned eat anyone who didn't flee the building. A commercial area with an apex predator prowling its halls tends to get less customers, not that the stupid bear would know anything about all that."
FWIW I was totally on board for you not opting in to the communist route. What a wild journey that whole thought was! I hope I'm wrong, but I do think you're right that you're gonna be a little lost if you follow that quest line. A lot of the humor in it is easier to understand if you know a few actual communists. All the political content is basically designed for you to bring your own political biases into the game and then when you follow the quest lines associated with your irl politics, the game roasts you for all the faults in your political ideology. (some ideologies get more roasted than others; the fascist route is downright *painful* to play which is reflected in the game play; you need to constantly chug magnesium because basically every fascist choice in the game kills your morale, and worst of all Kim ends up hating you)
Honestly, I'd say keep going with your "boring cop" playthrough. I would recommend later on, after you finish the game, that you watch the political side stories on youtube. Not necessarily because of the political views they present, but more because of how you can see Harry using them as a way to cope with his present situation (especially the fascist route)
Funny how your Harry doesn’t notice some interactable objects because of having poor Perception. In my next playthrough I’m going to max that - just to understand how many clickable things the game has =)
Brady in the first episode: I dont realy like politics
Brady 56 episodes later: proletarians of the world, unite, you have nothing to lose but your chains
Brady our new favorite breadtuber
Interesting to see another giurgiu guy here
"Oh yeah! Get the firing squads and the animal wagons ready!"
Many such cases!
People who don't like politics and think things arent as bad as they are tend to try to shy away from explaining them for themselves with politicking answers, because such things inherently cause strife and worry.
But reality exists as it is, despite. And capitalism still leads to annihilation, as always.
"I'm clicking on every little thing... this is a theme park for my character" Brady has truly embraced the Jamrock Shuffle
Brady: "This is a long and rambly episode."
Me, sick and wrapped in a blanket, my dog in my lap: "My prayers have been answered."
1:25:56 maybe Volition wants you to have a long and complicated forever project that'll keep your mind off self-destruction
On a more practical level, yes, but I feel like it really says something that Volition is the *one* voice that argues for it, Volition being the voice that always has your back and is always trying to keep you afloat, keep you holding onto hope that you *can* improve yourself, that you *can* make things better. Rather than just "keeping Harry too busy to drink or do drugs or spiral into depression", Volition in particular arguing for communism *despite* it being "impossible", *despite* it being a failure, over and over again, throughout history, has a very "Rage, rage against the dying of the light" vibe to it to me.
Like Rhetoric said, "They've built it before. You've built it before. Hasn't really worked out yet, but neither has love. Should we just stop building love, too?" This being a big metaphor for his ruined relationship with Dora making him feel worthless and like no one can ever love or be loved by him again, when Volition tells him he should build communism, it's basically telling him not to give up on life in general--not to give up on the idea that things could change for the better, that YOU could make things change for the better (including yourself). Building communism in this game particularly is basically looking into the rubble of your dreams and hopes for your own life and the world and saying that you refuse to let it lie in disrepair; that you refuse to admit defeat; that you are going to rebuild it however you can and you are going to KEEP rebuilding it, even if storms come to tear it up over and over again.
Volition telling Harry to build communism is telling him to live. And not just to live, but to believe he can have, he can MAKE, a life worth living. And that he can help others to do so, too.
@@AutumnGracy Volition isn't arguing in spite of it being impossible, it's arguing BECAUSE it's impossible. Volition is the drive to stand even when it's easier to lie down, to stay the course and fight even when it's infinitely easier to give up, no matter the odds, no matter the success rate. If achieving communism in this world was possible, Volition wouldn't be interested.
@@imetacrab I didn't say it was necessarily possible to achieve. Not everyone can get a happy ending, but it is still necessary to keep on living and have something to believe in and hope for, something to work towards. Even if it might never work out. Otherwise we succumb to the despair and purposelessness and are left feeling bitter and apathetic and burnt out. Which is how Harry starts the game.
@@AutumnGracy I feel like I've written your exact comment many many times, but never so eloquent. Thank you.
@@AutumnGracy Solid take. The author's own political convictions shine through here despite mostly successful efforts to make the game politically diverse.
The mask of ambivalence is indeed strong on this comrade
I guess we won't see him saying "I really am a communist. I have communist thoughts in my head." Or seeking out Boy Child Communism & Girl Child Revolution. I think he's suppressing his communist thoughts... I'd like to talk with a therapist about this...
YES! I wholeheartedly applaud your for diving in. You said you needed community help and I've got some for you!
I think the communism thread in this game is important for reasons that transcend all the stilted fictional politics.
My advice would be to enjoy the political stuff through a thematic / character-based lens, if it helps take the edge off all the Mazovian socio economics.
Consider this: Both Harry and the game's developers grew up in a newly post-communist country. Childhoods spent in the rubble of a dream. Learning how their parent's generation tried to do something radically new, and the whole world turned round and said no. Whatever you think of communism, I think that upbriging has got to.. do something to a person, on a character level? Both for Harry, and the game's themes of failure, nostalgia, and daring to still imagine a kind of redemption - a way out, a return from the pale.
To me the dev angle isn't so much about how the world turned round and said no to eastern block communism, but rather how as self-admitted communists the devs channel a feeling of melancholy from wanting a dream to believe in but having to face the fact that the soviet project was a moral and practical failure they can't stand behind, but there's no new attempts happening either.
All the communists Harry meets in the game share traits with the kind of communism they can't stand behind. Corruption of the ideal and return to capitalist practices in one end, totalitarian conservatives who live by a strict ideological doctrine in the other end. Theres even a line at one point where Harry tries to tell an old school totalitarian communist that theyre the same, only to be told that Harry is "just a liberal".
To me the communist path is mostly melancholy for a lost cause, not redemption. You're not REALLY building communism. Harry just desperately needs to think hes going to do it, because to give up and let go is too painful. This theme works for Harrys relationship and how a lot of modern liberal leftists feel, including the devs i think, from how so much of the communist satire ingame is about coping with not having achieved much
@@happyhunterfish harry might not be building communism, but I don't think the game is making the message that communism is a lost cause. I don't think the creators believe that. speaking as a Marxist, part of being a communism is believing that it can work.
This is perfectly put.
@@capn_toad Marxism has utterly failed despite achieving dominance over half the world for a significant portion of the 20th century. It's dead and will never come back. Any future anticapitalist liberation project worth anything will come from somewhere else.
@@happyhunterfish I was trying to keep my point simple so it'd get across, but I totally agree! It's not clear-cut at all. There's a ton of nuance, irony, communist self-deprication and soviet-skeptic satire beneath my simplistic take. And absolutely - I think it's not so much about nostalgia for communism, as nostalgia for a cause, nostalgia for hope, even. "Some magical fourth option", perhaps.
I want to question your entirely pessimistic takeaway, though? I do believe the game has a hopeful message to impart to the frustrated leftist. Sort of. But making that case would be ending spoiler hell, so this is probably not the place for it...
I love that this game can inspire this sort of discussion though! Always good to see :)
This title led to the fastest click ever
LET'S GOOOOOO
Volition says "you should build communism because it's impossible" because Volition is on board with everything that implies a strong willpower, and persevering through a noble but impossible quest is a perfect example of this
Volition is obviously an imperfect voice, which is what makes it so interesting
I’m not going into more specifics because of spoilers but I think that’s kindve one of the main messages of the game. The communist vision quest really solidifies this as well
"Stay the course. You will make it someday."
Mesurehead's Semen Retention Society is another example. Volition is into that too and, hilariously, made Electrochemistry look like the sane one xD
something i find really fascinating about this game is how kim is written in such a way that you can interpret things he says differently depending on how far you are in the game. you could have exploring this district be the first thing you do after meeting kim, and all of his dialogue makes perfect sense as someone who wants to focus on the hanged man. but since you're later in the game and know him a bit, you can very reasonably suspect his disinterest is a facade, and that he's also very interested in the district mystery. you can also succeed in the check that directly tells you that fact, but i like that it's written in a way that lets you interpret that idea anyway.
Brady!
I finally found the perfect game for your therapeutic walkthrough (it almost as good as Disco Elysium, but much shorter)
"What remains of Edith Finch"
I strongly suggest to take a look at it. And for sure, if you decide to play, I will watch all the episodes.
The game is about people, their decisions and the consequences.
P.s sorry for bad grammar, not my native lango
I second this, but also, don't look up too much about it first! Spoilers ruin it.
Edith Finch would be a fantastic series. Also Planescape Torment would be another good year-long series with a lot to chew on.
@@FireheadLazzo Yeah, I regard PST as the best RPG that has or will ever be made, with DE as a VERY close second (and tbh some of that is just bc of the magic and uniqueness of that world/setting, like many of the characters, and the tattoos for example, also that the whole multiverse thing wasnt really a big deal anywhere back when that game was mostly being played, so that felt very unique as well).
Edith Finch is very good, and it’s movie length. And it’s free, I think
Im probably not the first to tell you this but the content you offering us is really really good, i never followed a playthrought so much. Thanks man
Remember also, when harry thinks or Politics, what he really is thinking is some kind of "if I build a perfect utopia she will come back, if I become strong like the king she will come back, if i am more normal and reasonable she will come back, if i am rich she will come back", or that is how i see it after doing every political quest.
that's certainly part of it but i dont think its the full picture especially in regards to the communist vision quest
@@mazovist Depends if you fail or pass the rethoric check
Also I'll say that this kinda fits really well with what you were talking about with prayer and what it does for people. Politics isn't just something that Harry uses to hide his emotional problems (though it is absolutely also that), it's very religion like for him. No matter what political path you choose it will be a way that Harry makes the world make sense and make him feel important.
For Communism that's the reason that rhetoric was getting all into the idea of you vs the world, the idea of being the revolutionary who saves the world and makes a utopia is very appealing to Harry. He's not exactly rich and living in Revachol, especially Jamrock can be quite depressing, so sure it makes sense why he might disagree with capitalism and want to make a better world, but the idea of him being someone who can accomplish an impossible task that makes things better is what in my opinion made him a communist. If he can fix the world, then surely he can fix himself.
If you follow this communism questline, you can find an interesting group of people, being well-studied in their ideology. But these very people (that I won't spoil too much about) have some pretty interesting subjects to talk about in a psychological sense too!
We really need him to see this! It's such a beautiful quest.
Those guys are right up his alley lol.
Though, and no offense to Brady, I think some of the friendly jabbing might be lost in translation.
You can also get some dialogue where someone looks at Harry and Kim and then goes, "we're a *very open-minded* group" and the implication they give off couple energy is funny but what's even funnier is Kim doesn't correct them on it.
unfortunately that will not happen. you can only start that on day 3, and it's day 4
Too late. He missed his chance on Day 3.
The thought about communism you got is just a thought, not really a quest. You can unlock it if you want but all you really get is just a bonus and maybe a comment here and there - the usual.
There are political vision quests in the game, but you've missed the opportunity to unlock them (since the only time you can pick one is when you go to bed on day 3). They all have some specific requirements though, so in order to even get them you would have had to heavily lean into politics early.
"You'll think of something. You always do." love this line
"This is kind of a long and rambly episode" - me, pausing the video to top off my tea and get cozy.
The fact Volition gives you a second chance to opt in to communism really says a lot about the developers lol. I love it, and your eventual buckling under the pressure. 😂
It's on point though, considering opting in to every other ideology is far easier since real frameworks and models already exist in the game's world and ours. Building a communist system which works and provides takes a tremendous amount of willpower as developing and testing its framework has been swiftly stopped by the other powers with different or conflicting interests.
short communism crash course:
for marx, history is propelled by class conflict. plebeian and patrician, peasant and nobleman, capitalist and worker, constantly in contradiction with each other, driving the development of society (he borrowed a lot of these ideas, which he called "dialectical materialism", from hegel). marx expected that these contradictions would eventually be resolved (or "synthesized"), and he called this final form of society "communism". he imagined communism as a stateless, moneyless society without class distinctions. he obviously wasn't the first person to imagine a classless society, but he was one of the most rigorous and influential.
all considered, marx didnt spend very much time thinking about communism. instead, he was mostly interested in understanding, describing, and critiquing capitalism. the class conflict which he observed within capitalism has its basis in the ownership of capital (capital is a thing which can be used to make sellable goods and services, usually things like factories or tools), between those who don't own any capital and sell their time and labor for money ("proletariat"), and those who do own capital and hire workers to do labor with that capital ("bourgeoisie"). marx wrote a pretty long book with his thoughts on all of this (maybe you've heard of it), but simply put: marx thought that all value originates from labor, and thus, the capital owner, in order to generate profit for himself and get a return on his investment, needs to be paying the workers he has hired less than the actual worth of their labor. marx also identified several other negative side effects of selling ones labor for money, such as marx's theory of alienation, which would be pretty on topic for this channel.
the conclusion marx arrived at was that in order to stop this exploitation and bring about communism, each worker needs to realize the existence of this fundamental class conflict (achieve "class consciousness") and put themselves in control of the capital that they use to perform their work, i.e. the workers need to collectively control their means of production. this fundamental idea has been implemented in several different ways over the last century, some good, some decent, and some horrific.
(if someone wants to correct anything i've said, i'd be more than happy to hear you out. i'm not a scholar of these things, or anything really.)
You embraced love
I'm not sure what I did different on my playtrhough but I find it kind of hilarious that Brady was talking about the political realities of the Doomed Commercial District to use but the options did not appear for Harry to bring any of that up, while when I played it ages ago my Harry had the option to immediately bring up that she's been paying the electric bill for the abandoned ice cream factory the entire time she's been there.
Its skill check.
Same for me, never get to say that.
Thers a lot of that small things you get to say if you have enough skill point or done something before talking to someone
Hidden skill checks don't indicate they're skill checks, the dialog just pops up. That's probably a logic check or something.
Comrade Brady ! Your contribution to the cause has not gone unnoticed and you will be rewarded as all the working man shall.
Rejoice for you are among friends Comrade Brady! All joking aside I really needed to see this today you have absolutely exceeded expectations and made my day ! Much love Brady! ❤
I always find the bit about yelling into the central furnace, getting an answer and the introduction to Neha curious. She sounds genuinely puzzled about how Harry and Kim got inside, but quickly moves on saying it doesn't matter. As if she's not the one who answered or opened the safety door/curtains.
Additionally and alternatively (minor spoilers about dice) she's a person able to craft literally the game world altering instruments (=dice) and you get A Precarious World thought from her, which just makes her seem like an entity, apparition or trickster spirit to me.
Neha was curious how you got into the building, not her furnace-room. She presumed Harry entered through the east entrance by the Whirling, but she didn't have to open the door for him (as the only business remaining that uses that entryway).
@@TheFrothyBrew That may be, or it may be not. I've considered it as a possibility, albeit unlikely in a Sophianic work such as DE is. If you know, you know.
@@Silent_Depths "Why reach for a supernatural explanation, when a mundane one will do"
@@TheFrothyBrew Apt quote from the game, but perhaps you haven't considered its context or why it was written. It highlights the difference in perception and the self-imposed limitations people give themself to satisfy their current state of mind's framework. There's power within and without words, but isolating them from their source only serves to delude you and others - I know this through my work every day.
Just to be clear what you quoted is not there to divide and categorize any phenomena. I'm afraid I can't help you much more than that. ALL is about perception - on every sphere of influence, system of control and structure of power. Good luck out there.
1:26:20 And Brady finally embraces the true essence of Disco! Volition comes in with the save!
we're 55 parts in??????
I can believe that. Everytime I've heard something like "I'm not going to give a lecture, BUT" or "I'd have to make a separate video on X"
Building communism takes time.
We are getting there... to the DAY OF THE RECKONING!
I'm so looking forward for what it is to come, and for Brady to share his experience.
I can’t believe it’s been almost a year. Watching you since episode 2 maybe. It’s pure joy. Thank you ❤
The problem is there is endings for all 4 ideologies (communism, fascism, moralism and ultra-liberalism) BUT they only unlock if at the end of dream sequence of third day if you have thought of one of said ideologies and choose right dialog option, which as i saw didn't happened
The end of the communism quest is very cool and worth seeing
Neha's (dicemaker) soundtrack is missing, I suppose because of streamer mode. Its a shame because its beautiful
I think it's just muted for the youtube video and he could actually hear it. You can hear snippets at some points when he talks or the game talks
"this is a long and rambley episode" yeah man, I know what I clicked on. Let's get rambling
Haha, honestly, this is fine. You won't be a Communist unless you finish the Mazovian Socio-Economics thought. It's still optional.
It’s all been building up to the Mask of Ambivalence bit. The most called shot ever.
Over an hour in, "Let's ask about the murder real quick." Never change Brady, you absolute gem
The finish line is in sight. One final push, Brady. I'm so happy for you to have something precious you've found in this game. Soon you'll have a beautiful memory you can always look back on.
Also should be pointed out about the games politics that Harry has a very juvenile view on the ideologies. He was born yesterday and is clinging to surface level details of politics as a coping mechanism to understand a world he doesn't recognise.
The communism path is great for the games themes of failure as well, and some really funny writing is in that guestline.
That fridge would be where you may store the body for later examination, back when you do the initial autopsy.
Happy to be 56 episodes in! You're nearly there comrade! 😅😂
The thing that I'm reading is that although you arent feeling that communist, harry is extremely easily convinced by rhetoric cause it's appealing to his ego and his insecurities about being a failure and also being the only thing that can correct the failure, especially with how rhetoric brought up how "love hasn't worked out but should we stop building love?" His own damage making him want to invest into politics to give himself the feeling of being able to fix the world and becoming consumed by it like many people in the world have been.
People who feel alienated from the world because of how our jobs and schools either purposely or accidentally make our labor feel less impactful on our "tribe." A person working a dead end job at walmart being paid minimum wage will not feel control over themselves because their labor is so abstracted. They aren't doing anything with a real impact on their environment. Comparing that to someone who is a construction worker or an architect who will see their building be completed and that becomes their impact on the world. They have build a home for people to live in safely. We as people may be self interested (i think self interest and selfish are different terms) but we still do want to help others. A pharmacist helping someone get their medications i assume has a far better outlook on themselves because their work is able to directly impact their tribe (community).
I'd love to hear you talk about the psychology of why some people become enraptured by extremist ideology because i feel like thats exactly what is happening with harry when he falls to an ideology in disco elysium. He's falling onto it to find a place to be in the world. I was super excited to see you be more open to engage with this. Sadly im pretty sure you missed out on a quest that you get on day three if you internalized a political thought. Again though I'm excited for this opportunity and to see what goes on and i think it would be very interesting to hear what you think of politics, not your positions but why people get into them. Apologies for the long ass comment. Do have a nice day!
Important to note that Rhetoric isn't Suggestion... Rhetoric will use any dirty trick to win the argument in the moment. It's the worst "debate" impulse that will say or do anything to win the argument, to convince Harry to do something.
Im terrible at analysis, but previous ones Ive real suggested that he goes political to distract himself from the suicidal path he is on from the love of his life being permanently done with him, or some fleeting hope that if he manages to actually rebuild communism it will be enough to actually really win her back.
The Last Communist bit is really funny as a communist.
Believing that you alone can create something that, by definition, takes organized and communal effort is a fun little bit. Especially when you know the writers are marxists.
Some of the writers are Marxist, and everyone who actually made the game hated them because they took the credit without doing any work, which is why the communists in the game are all either evil, self made social pariahs, or stupid.
Which is ironic.
starting to pray RIGHT THE FUCK NOW for Brady to get into the communist vision quest
Don’t think he can, he already slept the 3rd day
Hiya, Brady! Longtime viewer of the series and self-proclaimed "Disco Elysiologist" here. I promise not to spoil anything, just to give you some context on this game's fairly opaque "Political Vision Quests". By opting into Rhetoric's pitch on communism, you have not fully committed to the questline, but have received the option to internalize Mazovian Socio-Economics from your thought cabinet. Internalizing that thought will then initiate the vision quest, leading you to interactions with NPC's you would not have access to in a fully-centrist playthrough. From what I can tell of my admittedly narrow glance at your personality, curiosity, and reactions to the game so far, I believe this questline would be very insightful and fascinating to you as someone who views political ideology from the outside-in and also as someone more primarily concerned with human behavior and its tendency to create concrete meaning from the abstract.
That said, if you would rather not engage with this questline for the sake of finishing the series before New Years, I would be a fool to blame you. Your insight into this game has been nothing short of inspiration to me and others, and I thank you sincerely for sharing your journey with all of us. Have a nice day, sir.
He cant get the questline on day 4, so he can safely cabinet the thought without it extending his game time immeasurably.
you may have missed the chance to get the political quest if you want to explore it, you need to have a political thought internalised by day 3 to be able to follow through with it
Ah yeah I didn't internalize it then. Still, we can finish things out being a bit commu-curious 👁
@@eurobradyyou don't need to internalize it, only opt in. You will have the option at the the end of the day. And this quest is beautiful
@@Dimdariusz that's only up to day 3 though, you get a prompt during a dream to opt in to whatever politics you are following, if you dont have any by then you lose your chance, kind of a weird design decision but it is what it is
@@gafitastonti9744 Ahh that's unfortunate. I feel like he would've had a lot to say about those characters if he got to meet them.
I assume the background music was purposely dampened to avoid the TH-cam algorithm? What a shame, the soundtrack of Disco Elysium is amazing
The music in the dicemaker's room is truly a trascendant piece of music
Always have been
It's interesting... your discussion on your experience doing cross-cultural therapies reminded me a lot of the materialist framework a lot of leftist politics is built around. It's so easy to get bogged down in the rhetorical and metaphysical aspects of the subject, but there are immediate physical symptoms (material conditions) that need to be remedied independent of the specifics of that discussion. It also makes me wonder about what cultural differences there might be in how people manifest or perform anxiety-reducing techniques, which I assume are innate at some level re: having to do with the nervous system.
Your trepidation about having a political opinion is pretty funny since you’re so self aware about it
Don’t feel pressured to pick one in particular, just do whatever feels right
I just want to say as a viewer, I'm not anxious about how much time the series is taking. I enjoy it whenever an episode pops up. So long as you're getting something out of it, it's good.
as to why the game says that communism is about failure: if you believe marx's idea of history, communism is sort of inevitable, yet it feels like we are further from it than we have ever been. history is littered with failed communist projects, and the more you learn about each of them, the less achievable true communism seems. virtually half the countries in the world have had some form of socialist revolution, and each of those has crashed and burned more spectacularly than the last. some were squandered, some betrayed, some were lies from the start, and some were crushed by the overwhelming force of global capital.
identifying as a communist in the 21st century forces one to confront this reality, and people cope with it in different ways. some turn around and unconditionally defend any moderately successful political project with a red flag and the word "people's" in its name, some grow cynical and divest from politics completely, and some bury themselves in abstract philosophy and political theory to convince themselves that they are accomplishing something.
no matter what, the most important part of being a communist is having hope that the world can move beyond capitalism. it might not happen in our lifetime, and the result might not be orthodoxically marxist, but a better world is possible. that is why volition chimes in in endorsement. radical optimism in the face of abject failure. that's what disco elysium is all about.
I really hope you finish off the Church quest - it really ties together everything you've learned about the Curse and the Pale and why Martinaise is what it is.
Ok ok now that you are interested in the politics of the game at least enough to be comfortable talking about them (kind of) I have to tell you *AGAIN* (AND I KNOW THIS MAY BE ANNOYING BUT...!) to recommend you reacting to the fascist quest after finishing the game. Believe me when I tell you, *is very interesting*
Fingers crossed!
You could do the same for all of them really, cause they are in general funny, add lore, new characters and expands Harrys psyche, though I still place the fascist one above all of them because is just amazing
Thanks Comrade!
This series is so god damn good. Thanks, Brady.
So much hidden Rhetoric in this game. Maybe having been an aspiring writer in my past life I catch it more, but..."it's a *disease* eating away at the very foundation." right after finding the two massive freezers *in the basement* and the game explicitly saying "The power bills must be enormous." And Kim's disapproval, scratch that, even just questioning your actions somehow led you to keep two empty freezers plugged in, *literally* sucking the energy out of the building. Uh...the "life force" maybe... Uh... like a curse or something, because why else could my goddamn power bill be so high? It's as simple as that, in my mind. Plaisance just has magical thinking as to why all these businesses failed - she's too scared to go behind that door, to the creepy abandoned backroom and basement, so it MUST be a curse! Hell, even Kim was uneasy down there, and he's as solid as a rock. On top of those weird noises coming from the chimney...Neha doesn't pay rent after all, she probably also doesn't see the power bills. Also, I love that Rhetoric is the one who brings up the Communism thought, and that same Rhetoric works extremely well to confuse most people, with big words and big ideas. Be careful of who's speaking to you in your head Brady ;) Volition wants an impossible task, to flex that resistance and volition despite the odds. You can also not internalize the thought, just a flash in the pan so to speak. That whole thing was just to gain a thought you can ruminate on, or NOT, you're right. It says (Opt In) but even after internalizing the thoughts you still have choices. You could just be a communist in your soul, but present the moralist cop to people in dialogue. The game won't force you into anything! Maybe there's a bonus to feeling Kraz Mazov in your heart, even if you never let him speak for you.
You'd better hurry to the pier if you want to do that gun quest.
I'm like 30 episodes behind but I HAD to click seeing that title hahahahaha
So excited to catch up!
Don't forget that you came to the Doomed Area for a hidden filament for Soona.
1:24:21 the hero denies the call to adventure
Today Euro Brady became Comrade Brady. Welcome aboard, bratan
"the mask of ambivalence" wheeze
We shall help comrade Brady to achieve peak comunism one day, but for now your old friend The Horrific Tie asked us to tell you to hurry and meet this The Pigs character and find your gun. Do not worry, you still have time and the clock does not go forward unless you're interacting with something.
Oh jeez... I looked up from listening in the background and forgot Harry shaved and stopped the expression... Quite a shock
shout out to volition
Haven’t watched the episode yet but the answer to the title is always yes.
I’ll have to make a note to come back to this episode and compare it to what is to come soon
it's so fucking funny to hear you list the levels with the delusion. around 1:09:00. Also there's a bit of a weird sound displacement going on during parts of the video. if it is not my hardware (but i doubt it as i only found it on this video).
Also political vision quest! I think this one would be a real interesting one for you, well let's see if you end up going into it. :3
Disco Elysium sucessfully confused Brady into a communism.
Haha, it kinda guilt tripped him, and he was already somewhat cognitively dissonant about it, tbh.
Playing through this slowly in small bites over such a long time has allowed some detailed insights, but at the cost of connecting the dots on plot points from earlier chapters.
Ah yes became a communist because you were... peer presured by volition?
(Fantastic playtrought as always =D)
Guilt tripped, and had prior cognitive dissonance to cope with.
No ghosts, no curse, no demons or all kinds of cool supernatural shenanigans. Just sad, gray, deeply rooted societal issues like addiction, no network of support and homelessness.
:(
Thank you daddy Volition.
1:00:50 not to start a big debate in the comments, but as far as I knowthe people who are practicing a religion (so more likely to pray) are also more likely (on average) to give to charity or volunteer for charity. If you want to think about psychologically, maybe thinking about helping people in one way makes it more likely you will try to help them in another way.
I wonder how Brady would do in Shadowrun, where you really _do_ have a vision beast in your drug visions that empowers your spirit. In cyberpunk Seattle.
Well, if you like games that acknowledge your weird player decisions and let you try to justify them within the fiction, may I recommend a little game called Slay the Princess?
Also, if Volition does drag you deeper down the communism path, in order to not get bogged down by your concern over politics, it's probably best to treat Harry's idea of communism as a blanket stand-in for whatever vaguely defined left-wing social policies you think would improve the lives of the Cunos and Frittte girls of the world. I guess maybe its a little bit like phenomenology? The precise definition of communism doesn't matter as much as what the term "communism" means to Harry. His desire for a better world.
Brady on Slay the Princess would be incredible
I like how you start to care about a game more and more as you play. :)
Reminder that one thing Cuno said about Cunoesse when he described how he met her was that he thinks Cunoesse was doing some "dark shit [...] snuff radio shit",
I think I read elsewhere that she got trafficked into it.
Disco Elysium in and of itself is about communism and what happens to a city after a communist revolution fails. The writers definitely intend to talk about communism and I think trying to avoid talking about it is doing the story and yourself a disservice. I think you'll find you'll have a lot to discuss if not about how Harry or yourself view communism then how the Disco Elysium writers view communism and how they talk about it. It is very much about a love for the idea of communism and the communism vision quest reflects that. Even in this episode the skills talk about how communism is about failure but it is as important as love. Hope you'll give it a chance as itll be important for the ending of the game as well as for understanding earlier statements like the hanged man telling you that communism killed him but love did him in :]
Im so glad you opted into the communist thought Brady!! Of course its up to you how much you want to do with it, but I really dont think you should be scared about "not getting" the politics. Of course I'm saying this as a death communist myself, but the communist quest really is one of my favorite parts of the game, and I think you would get quite a lot out of it even from a psychological standpoint. What "building communism" means in this context is simply building a better world. A world where all the resources ARENT in the pockets of baby killing billionares. Is it possible? Is it feasible at all? Probably not, but just as rethoric is talking about the communists you meat in this game focus more on how you need to believe that it is, or as rethoric says. Should we just stop believeing in love too because it fails?
I've never seen the line from volition when you try to opt out before, but I think it's also quite telling. You need something to hold on to. The world is dark and horrible and things rarely go well, but it COULD be better. We could MAKE it better. There is no fundamental rule saying the world HAS to be like this, so we can and must change it. The only other option is to give up, and that is giving in to the despair, or as the opt out option says "lay down and let the water carry you downstream". Volition recognizes this, and wants you to have something to fight for, a dream that something else is possible.
OH MY GOD YOU ACTUALLY UNLOCKED MARXISM???
I am very proud.
Honestly, this is one of my favorite play-throughs of disco
Treat political quest as an oppotunity to actually confront the concept of failure and an oppotunity to meet new characters on the way, it doesnot have to reflect your personal belief, just an exploration 💖
I love, personally, what being a communist in the game opens out to you as a player, so cant wait to hear your take on it, not from the political, but from the psycological perspective!
Thnx for great work!!
Oh no its day 4 🥲🥲🥲🥲
wow that's the funniest interfacing line I've ever seen
Welcome comrade Brady! You are loved. Together we can rebuild society and the economy into a democratic bottom up system, free of exploitation and suffering.
Ladies and gentlemen, we got our "in".
I love brady's nuanced social commentary for 56 episodes, then rethoric says "get the firing squads ready" like, obscure controversial political discourse stuff that's complicated to explain. "I don't know what that means!!" he says, immediately being unequipped to deal with weird political stuff... nightmare.
LoL! Harry enjoys challenges, and Volition knows this. Better a "challenge" than a drunk.
I love how the game is "fighting" you ALL THE TIME.
-and lol that "ambivalence" line. So you know, you are a centrist for the most part, but your job kanda demands you "be" a centrist, but keep in mind, YOU ARE NOT YOUR JOB. I think you're internalizing your work needs into your person, and I do see why. :-)
This episode was great. This game is so tragically hilarious
I did not know volition did that that's hilarious. This was truly the perfect storm of conditions to get this you to accept it. I don't mind if you don't do the quest at all, just this last interaction here was fun and if you feel like communism doesn't fit this Harry I think that's a perfectly fine decision to make, one of the best parts of this playthrough has been your dedication to making roleplay decisions and it's paid off (you were right that your friendship with Kim feels much more earned now that you were initially cold to him).
The fridge could have been used earlier in the game to store the body for examination in case you were wondering.
We are about to make the mother of all omelettes here, Brady.
And then we gonna feed it to the working class... or not...
And yes, it will give you some additional interactions and characters to interact with later. Or at least it should.
In"sects DO have brains" 🤯👀👀👀
It never ceases to amuse me how individualist the pitch of communism is. I'm a simple guy; present me with some irony and I do a sensible chuckle.
Spoiler
The fridge is used for storing the body. If you wait until kim is gone, you can steal the boots.
Kim can comment on it
The body is gone, he had kim send it to the station.
@@thegoodrevbadandyarr4272 I know, was saying that that was the purpose of it
The game doesn't go further than this, but I'm pretty sure Cunoesse was a survivor of that "glass repair shop"
If Volition is not telling you what you want to hear, then it's kind of doing it's job
In another Disco Elysium Timeline: "The calamity that befell the Doomed Commercial Area is often heard in whispers in schoolyards and raucous retellings in bar rooms. Should you perk your ear up and listen in on one of these tellings-of-tales you'll find that no two people have the same tale-to-tell. Under the gym bleachers it's told in hushed tones: 'Amphetamine Occultists invested so much of their imagination into a game that their reality began to manifest onto ours - and cancelled each other out.' Over at the bar there's a simpler explanation - ghost cockroaches. At least that's what you think may have been an explanation as it's the last two words the man uttered before passing out."
"The truth may be as equally strange. The Commercial Area appended Doomed to its name after one evening someone somehow managed to lure an actual fucking polar bear onto the property. The polar bear, having no grasp over economics whatsoever, then proceeded to kill and goddamned eat anyone who didn't flee the building. A commercial area with an apex predator prowling its halls tends to get less customers, not that the stupid bear would know anything about all that."
FWIW I was totally on board for you not opting in to the communist route. What a wild journey that whole thought was!
I hope I'm wrong, but I do think you're right that you're gonna be a little lost if you follow that quest line. A lot of the humor in it is easier to understand if you know a few actual communists. All the political content is basically designed for you to bring your own political biases into the game and then when you follow the quest lines associated with your irl politics, the game roasts you for all the faults in your political ideology. (some ideologies get more roasted than others; the fascist route is downright *painful* to play which is reflected in the game play; you need to constantly chug magnesium because basically every fascist choice in the game kills your morale, and worst of all Kim ends up hating you)
Comrades, we got him!
The communism dialogue is so hilarious. Can't make an omelette without breaking a few million eggs!
The fastest click in west revachol.
Honestly, I'd say keep going with your "boring cop" playthrough. I would recommend later on, after you finish the game, that you watch the political side stories on youtube. Not necessarily because of the political views they present, but more because of how you can see Harry using them as a way to cope with his present situation (especially the fascist route)
I was really disappointed when he didnt do the fun furnace ash stuff. :( I called him boring cop out loud.
It's happening!
Funny how your Harry doesn’t notice some interactable objects because of having poor Perception. In my next playthrough I’m going to max that - just to understand how many clickable things the game has =)