By the way, I apologize for the two parts that ended up being badly mixed (far too loud), it wasn't intentional. Premiere lifted the decibel-lock on audio tracks recently, and it sounded fine in the editor and in the rendered file on several sources, yet after TH-cam's re-compression it became too loud and I didn't catch that before releasing. Sincerely sorry if that ended up being unpleasant for some viewers! I'll certainly be more careful with that in the future, thank you for the feedback.
I think you covered one reason why this game is amazing. But there are so many other reasons, it would take numerous video essays to cover. For me personally i think it tackles addiction and mental illness in am interesting way.
the scab leader is not a communist-small note, you probably already know but that bit of the video irked me, but he's literally an anticommunist and a fascist in the service of the ultraliberals.
The moment the game gave you the choice to CONVINCE A DOOR TO OPEN and I succeeded an almost impossible skill check and got to talk to a guy who's so rich that light bends around him and managed to scam him into giving me money for my "investment plan", I knew this was one of the best games off all time.
What I love even more is the fact that in another area you have a discussion about different scientific theories. One of them is the crackpot theory that large sums of capital actually affect physical reality, implying that the reason the guy has energy fields around him is because of his money.
"I want Disco Elysium to be the game that instigates the long overdue semantic RPG Revolution. I want this game to be the example that people bring up to argue that the Role Playing Game, in the context of video games, should not anymore refer to progression systems and XP-bars shoehorned into genres that have nothing to do with the origin of the word. I want it to reclaim the term RPG to, once again, describe videogames in which you *actually roleplay* " What a good fucking quote. I'll be using it aplenty.
@@makmakg242 a game can still be great even if it has light rpg elements while not being an rpg. Thr quote is referring to how every game today is being called an rpg when they're not. This game is a real rpg unlike gta, red dead,division etc that try to call themselves rpgs
"What a good fucking quote. I'll be using it aplenty." -> Don't. It's a stupid quote. You cannot invoke "origin" of something as general as the term "role playing". If you can choose multiple roles - it's role playing. It's like saying don't call cars - cars, because "cars" were originally horse carriages. Stop with the old debates and irrelevant childish semantics and focus on the meat of that new thing, even if that thing is something as meaningless as - games.
@@autopilot3176 you're kinda pushing it but yeah, it's actually that great a point. obviously calling everything an RPG because it has stat progression is making the term pointless since it's too broad but roleplaying isn't actually core to RPGs, despite what some people would have you believe. plenty of people out there who play pen and paper and completely ignore anything that isn't skill checks and dungeon crawling and claiming they aren't playing an RPG is very silly.
The origin of RPG is DND, the oringin of Dnd is war games. RPG was never a game of people who wanted is in the theater and failed. Roleplay comes because of is a WARGAME that people roleplay their char.
"DE is a game that fully embraces the joy of a bad roll" - You hit the nail on the head. I also love that the developers weren't afraid of ridiculous and chaotic/creative choices (like the excessive nodding leading to neck injury lmao or the molotov tie). Those moments are unforgettable and make the game great.
Something I was surprised about that the game keeps track of: At the end of day 1, I had a talk with my partner about the past day. He brought up the fact that I've been running everywhere. Told me it tired him out
Miracles like this happen every once in a blue moon, and then corporate psychopaths steal a group of people’s life work out of them with their own hard-earned money. Everyday, this world seem more and more horrible.
The game and you both nailed the idea of "a great GM makes a bad roll not bad", which was an idea I didn't understand until the first time I ended up flipping the double-bird to the bartender at the whirlin-in-rags. After that, it just... Clicked. This game has changed how I run my tabletop RPGs.
I'm not even into this kind of RPGs, or at least I wasn't before, and I couldn't put this game down. An absolute masterpiece. Gotta play Planescape now.
Torment Tides of Numenera is a fantastic story based cRPG where you read a lot like here, and you get to fight here and there as well :-) I loved that game even tho people expected a combat heavy rpg like the original Planescape Torment and therefore the game doesn't have great reviews but trust me if you enjoyed this game and reading a lot doing skill checks, you will like Numenera. Torment is also very outdated.
The title is not clickbait, this game truly is insane and blew everything out of the water this year. Also, Ragnar, congrats for covering this it really deserves a lot of attention.
As far as interactive narrative goes this game is absolutely groundbreaking, there is literally no other role playing game out there even come close to the depth it have.
I watched this video and thought "alright, I'll play. It'll probably be pretty good." GUYS. It's *SO* much better than pretty good. I can't even describe it
I was watching this video when my husband came into my room and started watching it too. After about 5 minutes he goes away (I figured he had gotten bored), comes back shortly and says "you bought me that game for Christmas". So thanks for helping me with my Christmas shopping!
This game resonated with me simply because of the character's internal conflicts. They are so colorful and realistic. I feel like in life people aren't just STRICT vs RELAXED. They could be both. They could struggle with the concepts of either trait, any personal trait. They bicker and argue within themselves... and come out some mixmash of things that's truly unique.
I found it overly pompous and pretensions. Politics are presented in the most bold and basic way I have seen in awhile. When the first line a character spit is "I'm a Nazi" are you also a Nazi (dice roll) you know the game is at least shallow enrobed in fancy clothes.
@Susuya Juuzou if you play games to look at the cool pictures then sure that's fine. Just don't say The Name of the Wind is shit because you can't look at words for longer than 30 seconds without needing a picture break. Some people actually want substance and human interaction in their stories not just a picture book.
Shame there’s no combat and the whole game is walking from one place to another talking to people, there’s barely any investigating crime scenes, criminals, lack of death scenes, not to mention lack of voice acting as well, philosophical nonsense, and once again, no combat, no danger, there’s barely any gameplay, gameplay is just clicking on texts and doors. But people then shit on cod, fortnite, uncharted, tlou, death stranding saying they ain’t games they movies, bunch of idiots, this “game” if you can call it that it’s just trash
@@ReviewPimpUSA - It's not "trash" it's just a game you don't like. Casuals seem to think that game play is combat. But you can always play COD and Fortnite since those seem to be your type of game.
@@ReviewPimpUSA Bro, I'm a sociology student and have been living with a philosophist for the past 3 years, learning whatever I can with him. One thing I can assure you of, is that this game does not have any "philosophical nonsense". You can tell that the people who created it studied HARD to make this game.
@@shaokhan4421 I like this one, too. For a start, the whole "Art Cop" idea is just kinda funny. The writing for the thought is genuinely entertaining. And the benefits are great if you have a high Conceptualisation skill.
SPOILERS My absolute favorite moment of this game was at the end when confronting the manifestation of my Ex, and my Suggestion suggested I kiss her. I did and it was fucking miserable. After which my Suggestion basically told me: "Brother, I'm sorry. I fucked up bad and you shouldn't listen to me. Line me up against a wall because that was a terrible idea," in that exact tone. I was laughing so fucking hard. This game reminds me A LOT of LISA the Painful in terms of tone. How it can bounce from one extreme to the other effortlessly, and instead of creating a rift, it binds the whole thing together.
I did something I’ve never done before and bought this game completely blind, based solely on the title of this video (I didn’t even watch the video itself until playing through the game). My faith in your opinion was well deserved. This game is such an amazing experience and I think I enjoyed it so much more going in without knowing the first thing about it.
I genuinely find it amazing how expressive you're within your videos, to the point in which i end up purchasing or have a very high interest in the games you talk about. For example your Love Letter to the series Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines, having bought that and played through it, it was honestly one of the best gaming experiences i've ever had. 10 minutes into this video and Disco Elysium will be another one of those purchases. It's criminal how you only have 179k subscribers when you genuinely deserve a lot more. A work of art is what i tell my friends when recommending your channel, keep up the amazing work Ragnar !
@@Andyilmatto yes, I suppose there are alternative ways to play it. I never even heard of the game before RagnaRox. He just makes it sound so interesting, like the op was saying in general
Agreed. I’ve been extolling this game’s virtues to anyone who’d listen. I don’t know if it’s perfectly written or it’s just perfect for me but this game went in my top five within hours of starting it.
I've never played one of these games, don't even know what the hell you're talking about most of the video... Now I suddenly have an overwhelming urge to dive, head-first, into this piece of art! Bravo, good sir. Bravo.
Got to say that this is likely to scratch an itch I haven't been able to scratch since finishing Bloodlines. That was my first experience of being able to solve disputes through dialogue rather than always relying on combat, so having a full game that not only removes combat but reacts to practically everything you say and think looks incredible. Definitely going to check this game out. Also, very subtle with the plug for Pathologic 2 there. I almost didn't notice it :P
I love this game so much, my favorite part is when I got a thought that would take 20h to research. During that thought it gave some terrible debuffs, then when I finally completed it it gave even more debuffs. It played with my expectations so much and made me love it to death. This is my favorite RPG of all time
What I love about this game is all the little tiny voices in your head vying for your attention and you talk back to them. Be they there to help point out important details or looking to entertain themselves by convincing you to do or say something. That and they all have their own little quarks and personalities. Like playing with a full party of players that in whole is just the protagonist and his partner.
gosh, I still have to replay trying to fail as much as I can... but this one is one i fail in my first play-thought and would not want to do ever again even if I would role-playing the worst guy ever... good thing that from what I know from the little bit of save scam i've done the first time, Kim would probably not be around anymore at that point, and I don't care as much for Cuno
I really missed this kind of an old school rpg. On top of the fantastic story and narration, the game does look really good and plays well. It's an instant classic and demands more playthroughs using various builds to get a grasp of the variety of scenarios available. Simply brilliant.
What i like is its old school without being a copy, it's got a unique style while also taking the best elements from crpgs and making it a part of the gameplay, it's all about dialogue, not half baked combat.
Seriously people, go and buy this masterpiece. Saying that this is one of the best roleplaying games is totally accurate and the developers should really be commended for this!
Oh thank God; from the first 15 minutes (well, honestly, first moment) I started playing this game, I was hoping someone would cover it. I think I want to write something about this some day, but I'm not even done -- I'm not even done day *two*, and I think I've played like 7 hours already. It's so dense. It's so good. God I love this game. I know I'm making a comment before I've even watched the video but I just have to thank you for making it, because I want everyone to love this game. I don't even know my whole feelings on it. The game literally makes me ill; every time I sit down to play it I get an actual headache. But this game deserves to be discussed, to be known and recognized and ripped apart and understood and misunderstood. I know right now no matter what I think of it as a whole, or in details, or what anyone else thinks, it's a damn good thing this game was made.
I devoured it. I share your love for meaningful RPGs and games in general. It was dense, meaty, bloated with wit and character. And was one of few games that were able to brought me to ecstatic (or maybe I should say ORGASMIC) tears.
You could. Or, in the true spirit of the game, you could also attempt to steal it, threaten/persuade someone into buying it for you, appeal to the better nature of whoever's selling it and get it for free, etc. Keep in mind that all of these will require skill checks.
@@percher4824 Think of it like a book, except it's like, half-book and half-game. If you can get into a good book then you'd probably be able to enjoy this.
Disco Elysium is a game with such incredible world building and it's so amazingly writen I almost forgot to breath at times with how much I was immersed in the character's inner monologs.
Thank you so much for this video. You've convinced me to get this game not even halfway thru the video. I'm a huge D&D nerd and to see and hear the pure passion and love you have for this game and the excitement of wanting to share how amazing it is is infectious and I can't wait to start playing. I wish I'd have seen this earlier before my school break is about to end but eh. I can't wait to pour hours into this game.
14h in, I've laughed and I've cried! It's text heavy but not like other rpg's. Here you want the text, like in a good classic; a psychological pessimistic philosophical horror novel. It's me going back to swedish tabletop rpg's like "Kult" and "Chill". Those were the days. These guys (devs) could pull off a rendition of "Kult", if any. To me that is the highest praise in terms of psychological depth.
The entire time I was in my playthrough of Disco, I was hypnotized. It was beyond anything I'd played before, and I'm so excited to play the game again. Maybe in a year? I want to keep it fresh, by not beating it into the ground with multiple playthroughs in a single moment.
I barely started and got to the point when your character was supposed to autopsy the body of a victim and had to pass a roll to endure the degrading corpse bile smell but I failed the roll on it due to my low points into the stat needed to pass it so I ended up not being able to stand anywhere near it. I had to get ammonia to what I presume was to help with the rolls the second time around which failed horribly and ended with my partner telling me to get my shit together with a tooltip telling me to work on getting a perk called "Get My Shit Together" which I'm assuming is a bonus endurance perk to support rolls for the individuals who couldn't autopsy the body on the first 2 rolls, I failed the roll after that horribly and my partner roasted me for it saying he can't possibly believe I failed to hold in the vomit and bile that many times even after getting the perk. Fuckin loving the amount of depth to this game. Shortly roundhoused kicked a buff racist dude on a bridge shortly after that point bypassing it with an amazing roll.
i've played disco elysium twice now, and im gonna play it a third time for that hardcore mode, and i cant stop thinking about it, it really is the best rpg thats come out of late
It genuinely feels like i've been waiting twenty years for this game to release. When i finished Planescape back in '99 i was filled to the brim with excitement and wonder at all the vast possibilities that gaming as a narrative medium with its own unique advantages could make manifest, followed by two decades of gradually lowering expectations, disappointment, and an encroaching realisation that artistic expression wouldn't really exist alongside the practical realities of releasing mass consumption games for a modern market. Even legitimately inspired works like Pathologic marred their own integrity and initial vision by, let's say for example, including a stupid difficulty slider to achieve wider appeal, forgetting that any work of art is inherently niche and it is more valuable to appeal to the audience that your work is made for than hammering your product into a more inoffensive glob for every rando yahoo that opens up Steam and sees it on the front page. And then this beauty comes along, elevates gaming as a medium and delivers its uncompromised, deeply intelligent, multifaceted and empathetic narrative and leaves me reeling, reminding me why i cared so much about videogames as a storytelling medium in the first place. Hopefuly it won't be another twenty years before the next one...
I would say Pathologic 2 regardless of difficulty slider is worth your attention, if you haven't played it, please give it a shot. It is a wonderful experience, and I think you will like it.
When you mentioned the skill checks and dice rolls, I smiled so hard. I’ve been looking for a game like this for so long, I had fumbled around with Divinity for a while but it wasn’t the same. I no longer have time to play D&D so I look for video games and content to fill that missing void. I’m completely sold on this game I can’t wait to sink my teeth into it over the Christmas break.
I remember having succeeded an invisible Drama check that told me to lie about a certain serial number in the game. I didn't even notice that it could be failed until I died and had to reload and the option wasn't there anymore. This game is amazing in so many ways
The best game I've played in a very long time. Devilishly good writing, beautiful world-building, great mechanics, art style and design...I love this game so much. Going for another play through soon.
That last scene, as they climb into the police car, and the end credits theme kicks in... "when the time comes, he will side with the people"... What a game.
I loved the voice, the way you speak and describe things, video editing, and much more. Well done and thank you for the pleasure of enjoying that masterpiece! One of the best TH-cam videos I've ever seen.
I can't wait to get a chance to dig into this. I love the idea that if some of your stats are TOO high then things can get wacky in your head real quick. You can really make yourself a total nutbar.
This is one of the best gaming experience of my life (PC gamer since 1994). I was also playing table-top RPG as a teenager. But I do NOT like fantasy RPG anymore.. that's why Disco Elysium so gorgeous. Wasteland 3 also promising.
I just started another go through this game a few days ago, which is rare for me since my pile of shame doesn't stop growing. But Disco Elysium is such a masterpiece, i just love it. Bought it because of this video back then, never regretted it. The world needs more games like Disco Elysium.
In my early teenage years, my big bro and I made a tabletop RPG. The rules and ways to play were basically mixing stuff from both Vampire The Masquerade and Deadlands. It was a 40s-50s noire detective type of game, as I am obsessed with that genre (and Horror too but that's the the point). I've been waiting for years and years to finally find a RPG video game with a detective setting. And it looks like I've finally found it...I know what I'm getting on Steam sale now!
Dude that opening took me by surprise. Sikth is one of my favorite bands and I recognized Mikee Goodman's voice instantly. I'm already sold on this game.
I want to use these ideas to DM a game. The last time I DM'd I did something similar, but still planed on a fight, but it was just a fight the players chose the side of: kill the king during the parade, stop another group trying to assassinate the king during the parade, or simply choose to not pick sides and see what turns out. I had players debating for 25 minutes just on that, without me saying a word. I want more of that!
It boggles my mind that you got me interested in a game like this. But according to your description, it might scratch the itch that I've been longing for for years
Hey since your comment is from only a week ago maybe I have a chance that you'll reply, so here goes: The exact same avatar you have keeps popping up all over TH-cam and I can't figure out if it's just a meme or what. I know it's a character but why does everyone keep using it?? Lol
@@doctor_owl the picture is of JC Denton, the main protagonist from the PC video game released in 2000 called 'Deus Ex'. A popular streamer encouraged his fans to change their avatars to this picture last year (i am not sure who or of the details why). I just loved the game when it came our 20 years ago. Hope that helps.
everant claire was indeed a boss fight - his secret weapon was this damn chair .. so hard to pass if you only have 1 health and dedicated your further life getting sober ..
Gonna buy this in the next winter sale, starting 19.12. thank Ragnar for another long and great video. Your Style of Videos, combined with your voice and choice of words is awesome.
Thank you so much for eloquently putting into words my same feelings about Disco Elysium. II haven't shut up about it, or stopped playing it, since it came out. I haven't been able to sum it up so nicely, instead going: "I'm roleplaying a consciousness exploring this brief experience as a human, but once everything is over, I'm going back the the void, where it's nicest. People around me think I'm a self-destructive lunatic since I'm constantly killing myself and talking about killing myself. My cop type is Suicide Cop with a bit of Apocalypse Cop. My necktie and I have conversations. It's brilliant." Comparing it to a good Tabletop RPG in the way it reacts to everything is so perfect. Great content!
I absolutely LOVE rich and branching story based games. I'll admit I've never played a table top game but I've for sure played many RPGs. This looks like everything I've been waiting for in a game, so thank you for bringing this onto my radar!
I loved this game, but it bummed me out so much by the end. A lotta the stuff with mental health and depression the character goes through all hit close to home. Gonna be hard to find any game that will top the experience I had with this one. I only wish the ending was a bit better.
Thank you! I almost watched your video before playing and decided to play it first. And I have to say it is one of my favorite games of all time now! Truly a masterpiece♡
God, if only this team was able to release another game. They once mentioned that a sequel could've happened in Jamrock. Sucks that ZA/UM ruined it all.
Very well made video. Great job. :) I am watching this while trying to avoid too much spoilers of this game while waiting on the console port so I can play this snuggled up in my sofa.
plus all the semi flavour text you can get just by walking through the envoirnment, with your skills commenting on even small things you sometimes hear
Thanks bro. Ive been looking at this game for a long time and you convinced me to finally buy it. And oh my god i was i hadnt waited so long. Its insane.
Wow....I was just thinking the after nearly two decades of playing games where violence is the solution to solving every quest, it would be nice to play a game where you talk and role play to solve problems....
One of the things I love about this game is summed up in this story. Submitted to the wiki with the list of endings are a few that were found only with code searches. No method to reach them was listed, assumed impossible. ... over on TV tropes somebody found one of them, much latter. It's possible to DRINK the spirit bomb, after you light it.
![Judicial Opinions: What Makes Disco Elysium a Modern Classic? [Full Spoilers]](/img/n.gif)
By the way, I apologize for the two parts that ended up being badly mixed (far too loud), it wasn't intentional.
Premiere lifted the decibel-lock on audio tracks recently, and it sounded fine in the editor and in the rendered file on several sources, yet after TH-cam's re-compression it became too loud and I didn't catch that before releasing.
Sincerely sorry if that ended up being unpleasant for some viewers!
I'll certainly be more careful with that in the future, thank you for the feedback.
I think you covered one reason why this game is amazing. But there are so many other reasons, it would take numerous video essays to cover.
For me personally i think it tackles addiction and mental illness in am interesting way.
Imagine a grim political drama in this game design style, but in the setting of Vampire: The Masquerade. I'd play the shit out of a game like that.
@@BrotakuDon I hope Bloodlines 2 is as well written as this
@@baronsengir187 I am apprehensive but very curious how that will turn out.
the scab leader is not a communist-small note, you probably already know but that bit of the video irked me, but he's literally an anticommunist and a fascist in the service of the ultraliberals.
The moment the game gave you the choice to CONVINCE A DOOR TO OPEN and I succeeded an almost impossible skill check and got to talk to a guy who's so rich that light bends around him and managed to scam him into giving me money for my "investment plan", I knew this was one of the best games off all time.
If you're almost sure to fail coming up with a successful investment plan, just fail at coming up with a bad investment plan! *_Genius!_*
In 4 playthroughs I've still never managed to pass that check. 😅
Of*
What I love even more is the fact that in another area you have a discussion about different scientific theories. One of them is the crackpot theory that large sums of capital actually affect physical reality, implying that the reason the guy has energy fields around him is because of his money.
I did that when i was almost going to get softlocked on day 2 because i couldnt pay the hotel fair, so amazing
"I want Disco Elysium to be the game that instigates the long overdue semantic RPG Revolution. I want this game to be the example that people bring up to argue that the Role Playing Game, in the context of video games, should not anymore refer to progression systems and XP-bars shoehorned into genres that have nothing to do with the origin of the word. I want it to reclaim the term RPG to, once again, describe videogames in which you *actually roleplay* "
What a good fucking quote. I'll be using it aplenty.
Well GTA San Andreas borrowed few RPG elements despite not an RPG game and it manages to be the best game of its time (probably in decades)
@@makmakg242 a game can still be great even if it has light rpg elements while not being an rpg. Thr quote is referring to how every game today is being called an rpg when they're not.
This game is a real rpg unlike gta, red dead,division etc that try to call themselves rpgs
"What a good fucking quote. I'll be using it aplenty."
-> Don't. It's a stupid quote. You cannot invoke "origin" of something as general as the term "role playing". If you can choose multiple roles - it's role playing. It's like saying don't call cars - cars, because "cars" were originally horse carriages. Stop with the old debates and irrelevant childish semantics and focus on the meat of that new thing, even if that thing is something as meaningless as - games.
@@autopilot3176 you're kinda pushing it but yeah, it's actually that great a point.
obviously calling everything an RPG because it has stat progression is making the term pointless since it's too broad but roleplaying isn't actually core to RPGs, despite what some people would have you believe.
plenty of people out there who play pen and paper and completely ignore anything that isn't skill checks and dungeon crawling and claiming they aren't playing an RPG is very silly.
The origin of RPG is DND, the oringin of Dnd is war games. RPG was never a game of people who wanted is in the theater and failed. Roleplay comes because of is a WARGAME that people roleplay their char.
Disco Elysium is the greatest book I’ve ever played.
it's the greatest game you've ever read
Exactly a book not game
@@AintPopular an awesome book with a little bit of dice.
Same
"DE is a game that fully embraces the joy of a bad roll" - You hit the nail on the head. I also love that the developers weren't afraid of ridiculous and chaotic/creative choices (like the excessive nodding leading to neck injury lmao or the molotov tie). Those moments are unforgettable and make the game great.
Something I was surprised about that the game keeps track of:
At the end of day 1, I had a talk with my partner about the past day. He brought up the fact that I've been running everywhere. Told me it tired him out
The old Jamrock shuffle. Running about erratically, mostly towards containers.
@@14rick88 lol that's me. I don't even know how to run on the first day.
@@14rick88 Ohhhhhhhhhhh Thank you. I don't even know quick slot exists
I didn't realize I didn't have shoes on until Kim told me that I had been running all day with no shoes
It's something relevant in the end of the game, i don't think it's tracked either
As soon as I got "Sorry cop" I immediately fell in love with this game.
I was the sorry art cop the whole way through lol
I AM THE LAW
Sorry Boring Cop... Gee Thanks brain, real cool
i played it like i do planescape torment. so he was a sorry cop. his political leaning however was all over the place.
@@megamike15 Nice xD That's the fun thing when you have that option.
This is the kind of game we need to start seeing more of. I want more games to focus on smaller worlds with more intricate, believable detail.
Nah let's make huge empty worlds that are also buggy lol
@@Talking_Edhaha.
Miracles like this happen every once in a blue moon, and then corporate psychopaths steal a group of people’s life work out of them with their own hard-earned money.
Everyday, this world seem more and more horrible.
Smaller worlds is where it’s at. Like games back in the day with great story!
The game and you both nailed the idea of "a great GM makes a bad roll not bad", which was an idea I didn't understand until the first time I ended up flipping the double-bird to the bartender at the whirlin-in-rags.
After that, it just... Clicked.
This game has changed how I run my tabletop RPGs.
It clicked for me a little when I started shit with Cuno and got absolutely humiliated. But failing the karaoke roll really sold it for me
I'm not even into this kind of RPGs, or at least I wasn't before, and I couldn't put this game down. An absolute masterpiece. Gotta play Planescape now.
Best story in video games, hands down. Although the last third is a bit of a slog, the ending more than makes up for it.
Planescape:torment is both very similar as different than disco elysium. But it's still amazing if you can get past the dated graphics and mechanics!
@@TheCivildecay i have a Halloween talking skull i keep on my desk ....his name is Morty LMFAO
Torment Tides of Numenera is a fantastic story based cRPG where you read a lot like here, and you get to fight here and there as well :-) I loved that game even tho people expected a combat heavy rpg like the original Planescape Torment and therefore the game doesn't have great reviews but trust me if you enjoyed this game and reading a lot doing skill checks, you will like Numenera. Torment is also very outdated.
Me too, I never into this genre thought it was interesting and hell i've spend 15 hours already and feels like a lot more to go. fucking amazing
The title is not clickbait, this game truly is insane and blew everything out of the water this year. Also, Ragnar, congrats for covering this it really deserves a lot of attention.
The release of Disco Elysium feels like an important juncture in video game history.
Didn't like this point and click at all.
@@kpjlflsknflksnflknsa WTF, really??
As far as interactive
narrative goes this game is absolutely groundbreaking, there is literally no other role playing game out there even come close to the depth it have.
@@None38389 How come? Thanks!
IT'S HARDCORE!
@LAW the question is: what is the question?
@LAW To the MEGA!
YEAAAAAAAAAH, FEEL IT, FEEL IT IN YOUR INTERIOR AND EX-TERIOR.... TRANSFORM!
THIS DISPLAY OF WEAKNESS MAY APPEAL TO OLDER WOMEN, WITH A STRONGER MATERNAL INSTINCT -- BUT IT IS A LIABILITY, HERE ON *BATTLEFIELD MARTINAISE*
YEKOKATTA
We need a "No Truce With the Furies" special edition of this game. That name should NOT be wasted
you get to call the anodic dance music club that so not entirely wasted
@@SomeSunshineOutsidethey reject the name
It's a line in a poem by RS Thomas, so it's definitely not been wasted.
So glad they’ve released the ‘working class’ update, so I can finally experience this on my laptop
I watched this video and thought "alright, I'll play. It'll probably be pretty good." GUYS. It's *SO* much better than pretty good. I can't even describe it
I was watching this video when my husband came into my room and started watching it too. After about 5 minutes he goes away (I figured he had gotten bored), comes back shortly and says "you bought me that game for Christmas". So thanks for helping me with my Christmas shopping!
@Schnake Eyes Nope, he just went and bought it for himself and said it was a gift from me lol.
Savas Vania. Thanks for clearing that up, i was confused from the first comment lol
@IhateECHOES someone is surely looking for some number 3 based action. Lol
... Well that escalated quickly.
I think I know who her subscriber is
This game changed my life. It IS the best game I've ever played. And I've played more than a 1000+ games in my 30 years lifetime.
A hyperbole?
P.S. DE RULES!
@@AlexGorskov Smart man
This game resonated with me simply because of the character's internal conflicts. They are so colorful and realistic. I feel like in life people aren't just STRICT vs RELAXED. They could be both. They could struggle with the concepts of either trait, any personal trait. They bicker and argue within themselves... and come out some mixmash of things that's truly unique.
I found it overly pompous and pretensions. Politics are presented in the most bold and basic way I have seen in awhile. When the first line a character spit is "I'm a Nazi" are you also a Nazi (dice roll) you know the game is at least shallow enrobed in fancy clothes.
OP: I think that’s why I like it too. It just feels REAL and like it’s covering themes I never see covered.
@@OjoRojo40 Don't remember that.
@@ahmedamine24 Weird, it's all over the game.
@@OjoRojo40
r/imverysmart
Man, this is one of those games that we’re only gonna see once in a decade, huh?
Oh look its 20% off!
@Susuya Juuzou were you even alive in 2001? You sound 12
@Susuya Juuzou If you think so, it's your opinion, nothing's wrong with that. You're just.. pretty alone with it. :)
Maddy Leaman I agree I hope we see more from the developers.
@Susuya Juuzou if you play games to look at the cool pictures then sure that's fine. Just don't say The Name of the Wind is shit because you can't look at words for longer than 30 seconds without needing a picture break. Some people actually want substance and human interaction in their stories not just a picture book.
fucking amazing game communism and cyptids
halfway though the video and you've already convinced me. this looks fantastic. i've been CRAVING a deep engaging roleplay
This game is unlike anything I've played.
Shame there’s no combat and the whole game is walking from one place to another talking to people, there’s barely any investigating crime scenes, criminals, lack of death scenes, not to mention lack of voice acting as well, philosophical nonsense, and once again, no combat, no danger, there’s barely any gameplay, gameplay is just clicking on texts and doors. But people then shit on cod, fortnite, uncharted, tlou, death stranding saying they ain’t games they movies, bunch of idiots, this “game” if you can call it that it’s just trash
@@ReviewPimpUSA - It's not "trash" it's just a game you don't like. Casuals seem to think that game play is combat. But you can always play COD and Fortnite since those seem to be your type of game.
Papa Pimp Small brain, small pp
@@ReviewPimpUSA Bro, I'm a sociology student and have been living with a philosophist for the past 3 years, learning whatever I can with him. One thing I can assure you of, is that this game does not have any "philosophical nonsense". You can tell that the people who created it studied HARD to make this game.
My favorite thought is "real art degree"
robert lol why
@@shaokhan4421 I like this one, too. For a start, the whole "Art Cop" idea is just kinda funny. The writing for the thought is genuinely entertaining. And the benefits are great if you have a high Conceptualisation skill.
YES
"Hands shaking from how shit it all is"
Nothing beats hobocop tho lol
SPOILERS My absolute favorite moment of this game was at the end when confronting the manifestation of my Ex, and my Suggestion suggested I kiss her. I did and it was fucking miserable. After which my Suggestion basically told me: "Brother, I'm sorry. I fucked up bad and you shouldn't listen to me. Line me up against a wall because that was a terrible idea," in that exact tone. I was laughing so fucking hard. This game reminds me A LOT of LISA the Painful in terms of tone. How it can bounce from one extreme to the other effortlessly, and instead of creating a rift, it binds the whole thing together.
Dude you gotta put a couple lines of space between the word SPOILERS and the actual spoiler
"I hope this game turns some heads"
*Goes ahead and wins all 4 awards it was nominated in*
Yeah I think people are paying attention.
I love how no matter what political ideology you choose the game will make fun of you constantly
This game looks so cool!
You look so cool!
I love your content!!!!
The thirst is so real here hahahaha
I think your comment made TH-cam recommend this video to me, and in turn lead me to buy and play this game. Thank you both so so much!!!
Suzi!!!
4:23 The music in the background starts to play
My body: "Re-install VTM:B and play it for the 14th time!"
God damn.. me and all my friends, started reinstalling it because of your comment! Thank you!!!
@@l.e.b.3541 I KNOW. YOU CANT CONTROLL IT. I CANT. HELP!!!!!!
@@eldiablosoundtracks6760 I'm about to do it too
On it!
@@severinsilmedin2588 Same ;p
I did something I’ve never done before and bought this game completely blind, based solely on the title of this video (I didn’t even watch the video itself until playing through the game).
My faith in your opinion was well deserved. This game is such an amazing experience and I think I enjoyed it so much more going in without knowing the first thing about it.
OK, it's sold. It was sold when you mentioned it to me, but now I'm HYPED.
Hola furro
I genuinely find it amazing how expressive you're within your videos, to the point in which i end up purchasing or have a very high interest in the games you talk about. For example your Love Letter to the series Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines, having bought that and played through it, it was honestly one of the best gaming experiences i've ever had.
10 minutes into this video and Disco Elysium will be another one of those purchases. It's criminal how you only have 179k subscribers when you genuinely deserve a lot more. A work of art is what i tell my friends when recommending your channel, keep up the amazing work Ragnar !
He is very good at what he does.
I've only seen 2 of his videos, but I already agree! What is his accent though? It's like a blend of Irish, Southern, and English. I'm stumped lol.
And I still think about rule of rose but I will never be able to get one 😭
@@quantaplusplus I guess you can just emulate it? Actually, I think I'm gonna do that: I've been fascinated by that game for a while, now.
@@Andyilmatto yes, I suppose there are alternative ways to play it. I never even heard of the game before RagnaRox. He just makes it sound so interesting, like the op was saying in general
Agreed. I’ve been extolling this game’s virtues to anyone who’d listen.
I don’t know if it’s perfectly written or it’s just perfect for me but this game went in my top five within hours of starting it.
It's not you. It might be among the best writing ever done in video games. The writing isn't just good "for a game." It is just good.
I've never played one of these games, don't even know what the hell you're talking about most of the video... Now I suddenly have an overwhelming urge to dive, head-first, into this piece of art! Bravo, good sir. Bravo.
Did you? Tell me about your experience if so!
How did it go?
I'm American so I immediately forgot about this game and started playing Dark Souls...😔
@@fukcg00gle95 Still time 😉
Hell yeah dark souls
Finally, one of my favourite TH-camrs is talking about Disco Elysium. It is truly such a great game. Thank you very much!
Got to say that this is likely to scratch an itch I haven't been able to scratch since finishing Bloodlines. That was my first experience of being able to solve disputes through dialogue rather than always relying on combat, so having a full game that not only removes combat but reacts to practically everything you say and think looks incredible. Definitely going to check this game out.
Also, very subtle with the plug for Pathologic 2 there. I almost didn't notice it :P
undertale
What is Bloodlines?
I love this game so much, my favorite part is when I got a thought that would take 20h to research. During that thought it gave some terrible debuffs, then when I finally completed it it gave even more debuffs. It played with my expectations so much and made me love it to death. This is my favorite RPG of all time
What I love about this game is all the little tiny voices in your head vying for your attention and you talk back to them. Be they there to help point out important details or looking to entertain themselves by convincing you to do or say something. That and they all have their own little quarks and personalities. Like playing with a full party of players that in whole is just the protagonist and his partner.
“failing checks will lead to fun and interesting events” you obviously didn’t fail the one asking Kim to dance with you :(
gosh, I still have to replay trying to fail as much as I can... but this one is one i fail in my first play-thought and would not want to do ever again even if I would role-playing the worst guy ever...
good thing that from what I know from the little bit of save scam i've done the first time, Kim would probably not be around anymore at that point, and I don't care as much for Cuno
I really missed this kind of an old school rpg. On top of the fantastic story and narration, the game does look really good and plays well. It's an instant classic and demands more playthroughs using various builds to get a grasp of the variety of scenarios available. Simply brilliant.
What i like is its old school without being a copy, it's got a unique style while also taking the best elements from crpgs and making it a part of the gameplay, it's all about dialogue, not half baked combat.
Seriously people, go and buy this masterpiece. Saying that this is one of the best roleplaying games is totally accurate and the developers should really be commended for this!
Bakinator
Agreed, this is basically the spiritual sequel that Planescape Torment deserves.
Unfortunately my lappy is crap but will make sure I get the console release when it arrives.
Litrpg meh
southparkking2 for my surprise this game requires a decntely beefy pc to run well
Condemned?
Oh thank God; from the first 15 minutes (well, honestly, first moment) I started playing this game, I was hoping someone would cover it. I think I want to write something about this some day, but I'm not even done -- I'm not even done day *two*, and I think I've played like 7 hours already. It's so dense. It's so good. God I love this game. I know I'm making a comment before I've even watched the video but I just have to thank you for making it, because I want everyone to love this game. I don't even know my whole feelings on it. The game literally makes me ill; every time I sit down to play it I get an actual headache. But this game deserves to be discussed, to be known and recognized and ripped apart and understood and misunderstood. I know right now no matter what I think of it as a whole, or in details, or what anyone else thinks, it's a damn good thing this game was made.
I devoured it. I share your love for meaningful RPGs and games in general. It was dense, meaty, bloated with wit and character. And was one of few games that were able to brought me to ecstatic (or maybe I should say ORGASMIC) tears.
This game broke my brain, my heart and also my body - I have been sitting behind my computer playing it for the last 10 days.
Just played it for the first time. Trying my best not to jump immediately back into it with a different build
I never in my life was so involved and thrilled playing a game. Revachol is my home now.
Thank you for explaining how similar the game is like tabletop RPG. Now I understand HOW much The Disco Elysium is FUCKING beautiful.
I love you Ryan Hollinger. Sorry, Super Eyepatch Wolf.
You mean Errant Signal?
I feel like I've missed something here?
Lmao
@@nekiddo ELL OH ELL
@@o.602 EL ay em oh
Oh god I’m going to have to buy it now, aren’t I....
Yes. And you're gonna love it.
Already did!
You could. Or, in the true spirit of the game, you could also attempt to steal it, threaten/persuade someone into buying it for you, appeal to the better nature of whoever's selling it and get it for free, etc. Keep in mind that all of these will require skill checks.
I kinda feel like buying it, but uh...
My track record with RPGs and the like isn't exactly stellar. I really don't know if I can get into it.
@@percher4824 Think of it like a book, except it's like, half-book and half-game. If you can get into a good book then you'd probably be able to enjoy this.
A darkly beautiful, unbelievably well-written masterpiece of roleplaying.
I loved how rewarding playing through the game embracing every inland empire thought was; That final scene just validated it all
Disco Elysium is a game with such incredible world building and it's so amazingly writen I almost forgot to breath at times with how much I was immersed in the character's inner monologs.
I played this game having never played an RPG knowing nothing about the game.
It’s one of my all time favorites now.
This game will stick with me for the rest of my life. It honestly is that incredible. The art work and music alone are worth the price of admission.
Thank you so much for this video. You've convinced me to get this game not even halfway thru the video. I'm a huge D&D nerd and to see and hear the pure passion and love you have for this game and the excitement of wanting to share how amazing it is is infectious and I can't wait to start playing. I wish I'd have seen this earlier before my school break is about to end but eh. I can't wait to pour hours into this game.
14h in, I've laughed and I've cried! It's text heavy but not like other rpg's. Here you want the text, like in a good classic; a psychological pessimistic philosophical horror novel. It's me going back to swedish tabletop rpg's like "Kult" and "Chill". Those were the days. These guys (devs) could pull off a rendition of "Kult", if any. To me that is the highest praise in terms of psychological depth.
What is this kult, you're talking about
The entire time I was in my playthrough of Disco, I was hypnotized. It was beyond anything I'd played before, and I'm so excited to play the game again. Maybe in a year? I want to keep it fresh, by not beating it into the ground with multiple playthroughs in a single moment.
23:36 : "To top it all off, Disco Elysium also brings the *T H O T system* "
I barely started and got to the point when your character was supposed to autopsy the body of a victim and had to pass a roll to endure the degrading corpse bile smell but I failed the roll on it due to my low points into the stat needed to pass it so I ended up not being able to stand anywhere near it. I had to get ammonia to what I presume was to help with the rolls the second time around which failed horribly and ended with my partner telling me to get my shit together with a tooltip telling me to work on getting a perk called "Get My Shit Together" which I'm assuming is a bonus endurance perk to support rolls for the individuals who couldn't autopsy the body on the first 2 rolls, I failed the roll after that horribly and my partner roasted me for it saying he can't possibly believe I failed to hold in the vomit and bile that many times even after getting the perk. Fuckin loving the amount of depth to this game. Shortly roundhoused kicked a buff racist dude on a bridge shortly after that point bypassing it with an amazing roll.
this comment made me turn the video off and immediately buy the game lmao
Disco do be the kinda game where:
Endurance check 83%= failed
Physical instrument check 17%= success
@@anafu-sankanashi8933 Either you failed at failing or you success miserably.
@@unknownguyindo4356 also the 3% composure check
nonsense
i've played disco elysium twice now, and im gonna play it a third time for that hardcore mode, and i cant stop thinking about it, it really is the best rpg thats come out of late
It genuinely feels like i've been waiting twenty years for this game to release. When i finished Planescape back in '99 i was filled to the brim with excitement and wonder at all the vast possibilities that gaming as a narrative medium with its own unique advantages could make manifest, followed by two decades of gradually lowering expectations, disappointment, and an encroaching realisation that artistic expression wouldn't really exist alongside the practical realities of releasing mass consumption games for a modern market. Even legitimately inspired works like Pathologic marred their own integrity and initial vision by, let's say for example, including a stupid difficulty slider to achieve wider appeal, forgetting that any work of art is inherently niche and it is more valuable to appeal to the audience that your work is made for than hammering your product into a more inoffensive glob for every rando yahoo that opens up Steam and sees it on the front page.
And then this beauty comes along, elevates gaming as a medium and delivers its uncompromised, deeply intelligent, multifaceted and empathetic narrative and leaves me reeling, reminding me why i cared so much about videogames as a storytelling medium in the first place. Hopefuly it won't be another twenty years before the next one...
I would say Pathologic 2 regardless of difficulty slider is worth your attention, if you haven't played it, please give it a shot. It is a wonderful experience, and I think you will like it.
When you mentioned the skill checks and dice rolls, I smiled so hard. I’ve been looking for a game like this for so long, I had fumbled around with Divinity for a while but it wasn’t the same. I no longer have time to play D&D so I look for video games and content to fill that missing void. I’m completely sold on this game I can’t wait to sink my teeth into it over the Christmas break.
I remember having succeeded an invisible Drama check that told me to lie about a certain serial number in the game. I didn't even notice that it could be failed until I died and had to reload and the option wasn't there anymore. This game is amazing in so many ways
The best game I've played in a very long time. Devilishly good writing, beautiful world-building, great mechanics, art style and design...I love this game so much. Going for another play through soon.
That last scene, as they climb into the police car, and the end credits theme kicks in... "when the time comes, he will side with the people"... What a game.
I loved the voice, the way you speak and describe things, video editing, and much more. Well done and thank you for the pleasure of enjoying that masterpiece! One of the best TH-cam videos I've ever seen.
I can't wait to get a chance to dig into this. I love the idea that if some of your stats are TOO high then things can get wacky in your head real quick. You can really make yourself a total nutbar.
This is one of the best gaming experience of my life (PC gamer since 1994). I was also playing table-top RPG as a teenager. But I do NOT like fantasy RPG anymore.. that's why Disco Elysium so gorgeous. Wasteland 3 also promising.
32:47 when "Tribunal" track starts, oh man the FEELS. The most culminatory culmination I ever had in a videogame...
I just started another go through this game a few days ago, which is rare for me since my pile of shame doesn't stop growing. But Disco Elysium is such a masterpiece, i just love it. Bought it because of this video back then, never regretted it. The world needs more games like Disco Elysium.
In my early teenage years, my big bro and I made a tabletop RPG. The rules and ways to play were basically mixing stuff from both Vampire The Masquerade and Deadlands. It was a 40s-50s noire detective type of game, as I am obsessed with that genre (and Horror too but that's the the point).
I've been waiting for years and years to finally find a RPG video game with a detective setting. And it looks like I've finally found it...I know what I'm getting on Steam sale now!
Dude that opening took me by surprise. Sikth is one of my favorite bands and I recognized Mikee Goodman's voice instantly. I'm already sold on this game.
the pathologic to disco elysium fan pipeline is so REAL
the way you narrated with actual thoughts and emotions earned my sub.. well done. beautiful content
I want to use these ideas to DM a game. The last time I DM'd I did something similar, but still planed on a fight, but it was just a fight the players chose the side of: kill the king during the parade, stop another group trying to assassinate the king during the parade, or simply choose to not pick sides and see what turns out. I had players debating for 25 minutes just on that, without me saying a word. I want more of that!
This is the best in-depth analysis I have seen of this game. Congratulations!
This game looks so good! Closest thing I've play to it was Fallout New Vegas, but I'm definitely getting it now. This video has convinced me to
Have you played it? If so, and liked it even, you might want to give Vampire:The Masqeurade Bloodlines a try.
It boggles my mind that you got me interested in a game like this. But according to your description, it might scratch the itch that I've been longing for for years
Watching The Game Awards, this won a few awards but I've never heard it until now.
It's infectious seeing you gush about this game, because I love it so much as well, and you've only reinvigorated my love for Disco Elysium.
Incredibly well written and delivered breakdown of the GOTY 2019! Seriously impressed!
Hey since your comment is from only a week ago maybe I have a chance that you'll reply, so here goes: The exact same avatar you have keeps popping up all over TH-cam and I can't figure out if it's just a meme or what. I know it's a character but why does everyone keep using it?? Lol
@@doctor_owl the picture is of JC Denton, the main protagonist from the PC video game released in 2000 called 'Deus Ex'.
A popular streamer encouraged his fans to change their avatars to this picture last year (i am not sure who or of the details why). I just loved the game when it came our 20 years ago. Hope that helps.
@@lurox5183 Thank you so much!! It's been driving me bananas for the last several months so now you finally solved the mystery for me! :)
One of my favorite games. The atmosphere and artwork are breathtaking, somehow gave me this "lovecraftian" feeling towards the end. Loved it.
What can I say, having conversations with your own organs, clothes and random objects has a certain charm.
Your tone is so infectiously passionate. Subscribed and checking other vids now!
everant claire was indeed a boss fight - his secret weapon was this damn chair .. so hard to pass if you only have 1 health and dedicated your further life getting sober ..
Gonna buy this in the next winter sale, starting 19.12. thank Ragnar for another long and great video. Your Style of Videos, combined with your voice and choice of words is awesome.
Thank you so much for eloquently putting into words my same feelings about Disco Elysium. II haven't shut up about it, or stopped playing it, since it came out. I haven't been able to sum it up so nicely, instead going:
"I'm roleplaying a consciousness exploring this brief experience as a human, but once everything is over, I'm going back the the void, where it's nicest. People around me think I'm a self-destructive lunatic since I'm constantly killing myself and talking about killing myself. My cop type is Suicide Cop with a bit of Apocalypse Cop. My necktie and I have conversations. It's brilliant."
Comparing it to a good Tabletop RPG in the way it reacts to everything is so perfect. Great content!
I absolutely LOVE rich and branching story based games. I'll admit I've never played a table top game but I've for sure played many RPGs. This looks like everything I've been waiting for in a game, so thank you for bringing this onto my radar!
I loved this game, but it bummed me out so much by the end. A lotta the stuff with mental health and depression the character goes through all hit close to home. Gonna be hard to find any game that will top the experience I had with this one. I only wish the ending was a bit better.
The ending is so hopeful though.
I just finished the game, about to play it again right away. Your video put into perfect words why I loved it so much. What an experience.
8:12 the nodding scene seems like a *nod* to the HBO show The Wire
The 'fuck' scene?
Thank you! I almost watched your video before playing and decided to play it first. And I have to say it is one of my favorite games of all time now! Truly a masterpiece♡
God, if only this team was able to release another game. They once mentioned that a sequel could've happened in Jamrock. Sucks that ZA/UM ruined it all.
Very well made video. Great job. :)
I am watching this while trying to avoid too much spoilers of this game while waiting on the console port so I can play this snuggled up in my sofa.
I think the environments being so detailed and gorgeously rendered also helps with making the locations seem bigger than they are.
plus all the semi flavour text you can get just by walking through the envoirnment, with your skills commenting on even small things you sometimes hear
The stained glass window scene alone sold this game for me
This game is great; it brings me back to the KOTOR games from back in the day!
Kotor games are actually games, this is just a book lmao
@@ReviewPimpUSA At least its much better written than KOTOR
Thanks bro. Ive been looking at this game for a long time and you convinced me to finally buy it. And oh my god i was i hadnt waited so long. Its insane.
Can confirm, bought recently, already started a third playthrough.
Bought this game based on this review and it was the best leap of faith that I have made. Excellent review!
Wow....I was just thinking the after nearly two decades of playing games where violence is the solution to solving every quest, it would be nice to play a game where you talk and role play to solve problems....
One of the things I love about this game is summed up in this story.
Submitted to the wiki with the list of endings are a few that were found only with code searches. No method to reach them was listed, assumed impossible. ... over on TV tropes somebody found one of them, much latter. It's possible to DRINK the spirit bomb, after you light it.
Loved it. My GF loved it. My friends loved it. we all had different experiences, all weird
I really LOVE your work here. Got exited for THE FINAL CUT so I had to watch your video again