Why I Played Disco Elysium 2½ Times
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 มิ.ย. 2024
- Donate: ko-fi.com/scraptakes
CW // suicide, hanging, gun violence.
Thumbnail artwork by cardo_de_comer:
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Additional Voiceovers:
Chris Lynch - www.fiverr.com/thechrislynch
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Hope you enjoyed this incoherent video essay on a video game giving me Vibes. I probably got some stuff wrong about the game/political terminology, but at some point you just have to call a video "finished".
Let me know in the comments if you want more/less/the same of this sort of thing! - เกม
![Disco Elysium, Acid Communism, and Revolutionary Art [SPOILERS]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/-DQcMRuKqRg/mqdefault.jpg)
It’s been a few years since this review, and all I’d like to mention is if you want to play this game, don’t buy it. Pirate it.
If you haven’t heard, an estonian businessman seized control of ZA/UM and kicked the creators out of the company. It’s being puppeted by scum. Which, is incredibly ironic given the content of this game.
Pinning this for the time being. As far as I know there's still some lawsuits to happen that might change things but I don't know when that would be
I don't buy any game
CRAP I BOUGHT IT
@@Cakeses It's ok haha, I'm addicted to sugar so I'm making multiple unethical purchases on a daily basis. I think you get a pass
@@ScrapTakes it still sucks ;-;
My only ideology was protecting Kim at all costs because he is precious and innocent and deserves good things
As much as I agree with you, something magical can happen if Kim gets shot and youve built up a relationship with a certain fowl mouthed child
Funny part is, he's not, he's just Some Guy™, but he's OUR Guy™
Literally the only time I save scummed was to save Kim (I had a 95% chance to save him too, I just rolled a critical failure.) I could not let that happen to him.
@@ColossalRay if youve been going for 100% i recommend trying just once. i was stunned by how much that specific ending tugged my heartstrings (also kim can get shot and still live)
Based ideology.
Also my personal highlight was dancing with the kiddos and Kim... in a strange, holy place. The Shivers activation in that moment brought me near to tears. I love DE.
Such a great moment, Kim is the best! I failed the skill check on the playthroughs I recorded for this video unfortunately :(
Yes!!! Mine too. I had to reload after a bad dice roll hurt me and Kim.
Young Adults more like.
dudeeee the shivers check in that moment for me was especial it got me suddenly I undertood what was all about
@@ScrapTakes I hate to derail, but this is the only comment I can directly reply to. Where can I find the covers of the DE OST you used in this video?
You hitting that 3% check at 9:54 gave me second hand satisfaction
Your calling Kim a twink icon made my hand click the like button of its own volition before I'd even finished the video. Love your description of The Pale as discourse. I have heard The Pale described as a world built upon something other than power and capital, a world we cannot imagine because we accept the world around us (Martinaise) as the natural state. Anything other than this is spooky scary sci-fi to be afraid of. What a great video, I cannot personally be mean to Kim as it hurts me in the feels and gives me the big sad and kills my vibes. You are a trooper for even getting halfway through that playthrough.
> I have heard The Pale described as a world built upon something other than power and capital, a world we cannot imagine because we accept the world around us (Martinaise) as the natural state.
That twist is tickling my funny bone and wrinkling my brain. It's a beautiful, poetic and very funny satirical jab towards people like me, and is only partly dismissed by me because it feels slightly more on the nose than what Disco Elysium usually throws around.
@@SuperHipsterGamer more on the nose than a giant sympathetic stick bug? Or building 0.00001% of communism?
although the pacing is a little slow, the editing , jokes and style and absolutely sublime and its one of the best videos ive seen all year
Shivers: you feel a nice warm feeling on your chest. It raises your hair on the back of you're head. Revachol calls
Empathy: there's passion on his words. He means it
Suggestion: you should consider subscribing
Authority: No, you should subscribe
Logic: it's the obvious choice.
Limbic system: subscribes*
This comment is so good I'm tweeting it out
@@ScrapTakes Healed Morale 1+
Empathy [legendary:success]: He means it. It was a true genuine compliment
Shivers[low:passed]: A warm comfy feeling is taking over your body. you feel a sense of gratitude while reading his response.
Conceptualization [medium:fail]: I got nothing witty to say. You could just thank him for his video and response?
Volition [medium:passed]: that would be better response
Logic: make it short
Ancient Reptilian Brain: you put the Disco in my Elysium baby
Electrochemistry : Oh yeah, feel that sweet dopamine rush from hitting that subscribe button! You should donate too, that'll *really* get you going!
One of the greatest moments was when I was fangasming to the guy with a cigarette and Kim could barely keep his laughter.
Also when I had internalized Wompty Dompty thought with high Encyclopedia stat. Since then I was swimming in money and XP.
Another part of the *vibes* that goes underapprecited (except by jacob geller) is the shivers skill.
Just really leaning into the vague sense of this cold dying world around you and the other people trying to live in it.
20/10 extremely disco.
Shivers has some of the best skill checks in the entire game, except maybe my boy inland empire
This channel is criminally underrated. The quality of these videos exceeds most of TH-cam's heavy hitters, and I hope this channel blows up some day
Thanks very much! Yeah I'm trying to enjoy the perks of being a small channel and focus purely on production quality so its really nice to see people appreciate that 😁
This is my favourite game of all time. I am on my 5th play through, 160+ hours into the game and still discovering new dialogue options. I have consumed every bit of disco elysium content on TH-cam and your video essay is a great addition. I love your take on the game and the editing is superb. Thank you for your contribution sir! The day that ZAUM announce a new game or DLC in this incredible fictional universe cannot come soon enough! Liked and subscribed!
Much appreciated, means a lot from someone who obviously knows a lot about the game 😁
Agreed
On my playthrough of getting the achievment "Get to the lowest point with Kim" I had to stop because, when he gave me an ace's high, I declined and felt so bad I stopped playing.
I will literally mow people down without remorse in GTA, but Kim being disappointed in me is way too far
Funny to hear someone else’s story recap when it’s different from mine!
I found out that Klassje was on the run from our conversation and let Ruby go so she never killed herself. DE is so great at choices impacting the rest of the story without the “Everyone will remember that” type handholding
related to the final part: the devs, especially one of the main devs robert kurvitz is a huge communist, lenin bust on his work desk kind of thing, and it's really interesting to see how he characterizes his own ideology in the game.
Like you said the ideologies do not give happiness to the people who espouse them, and you can clearly see that through how communism is described in the game, one quote that stuck with me is "communism is about abject failure", not because of any flaw with the economic theory (marxist economic theory of value and labour is still used today by capitalists even) but it's more about how it gave hope, only to watch that hope get stamped out, bombarded by artillary fire, crushed by the personification of the status quo, the moralintern. The "solution" description for communism itself talks about how you realize the enormous impossibility of a communist revolution under the oppressive moralintern, and how the dreams that kraz mazov gave you now create nothing but pain, as you can see a better world that is impossible to reach.
At the same time though, another quote that really stuck out to me was the one by the communist student Steban in the communist political vision sidequest, "In the dark times, should the stars also go out?". where Ioseph stands for regret, hopelessness and the glorifying of a past revolution so much so that it attains a golden untouchable status, to the point that theres no more chances for another revolution, Steban instead is the opposite: there's still hope out there as long as there are stars, and the stars will always shine.
Bang on. This is exactly what the game is about. It's about failure - both grand and personal.
What a masterpiece.
The game also outright tells you it’s theme if you ask rethoric if communism is love when you get the thought.
Communism and love share one thing, they have both horribly failed in Martinaise, but that doesn’t mean that we should give up
At the same time, the hopeless idealism of the communists has lead them to believe in crazy things like them basically accumulating communism mana to become Saiyans. Idealism that makes those Mazovians kinda irrelevant (or effectively backing the Samarans - North Korea) as the Social-Democratic unions actually do stuff for workers.
There's a lot of focus on what could have been. The sheer weight of the bright future that was stamped out in its crib. But in the end I think that future can never be killed, only returned to its slumber over and over. But the misery that will awaken it will never go away while it sleeps. Sooner or later it will awaken for good. Maybe in our lifetime, maybe long after. But at some point.
@@PristianoPenaldoSUIIII throughout history, the one thing that has always been true, is that things always change. For that we're lucky, inevitably one day something better will arise
I can’t exactly explain why, but this game gave me a new perspective on love. Harry spends the game stressed about people leaving, about things changing. I’ve spent a good portion of my life not experiencing things because I know it will end one day. This game sort of put a good spin on that “everything ends eventually” mindset. If Harry and Dora had stayed together, one of them would’ve died eventually. Everyone ends up alone, somehow. And that’s ok. What matters is if you cherished the time you ere together or not. Then you can find new people in your life- like Kim. Idk if this makes any sense but that’s just how I feel. As a person with an anxiety disorder, this depressing game somehow made me not as scared of change, and I commend it for that.
You’ll probably never see the speed freaks, Cuno, Lena, or any of the other people you helped again. But at least you got to bond with them.
This was great. I've watched a dozen video essays, because I just can't get enough of Disco Elysium but you are the first one to go at it with actual humor and normal observation. Love it.
Thank you! I tried not to go too deep into dense academics without dumbing it down too much, so hopefully it's a good middle ground 😁
@@ScrapTakes Perfect middle ground! Not focusing solely on the emotional aspect, not bringing out the Theory Bible(tm) to explain a blown up statue, but talking about the game's politics and how they made you feel
I feel that Disco Elysium is like reading a book, a really good one that you can see the imagines exactly like your imagination point on and this is something that i never experienced in anything, this is something powerful and extremely rich, vivid to the core of it's creation, it's magic, what Disco Elysium did was magic and everybody should at least once in your life as enjoyer of video game should try it because will got you good.
GOD tier editing and AMAZING video. I'll be sending this to all my friends, hope you get the views you very much deserve
Thanks so much 😁
You begin to forget yourself the more you argue about who you are. What you believe becomes murky and confused. It's a sort of loss, who you are now, is not who were or who you will be. You are thousands of forgotten selves. Poetry is how those first expeditions staved off the forgetting of selves, long enough to see the Insulindian Miracle. Art, Poetry, music and passion are how humans beat away the Pale, how we remember that we are more than what we believe. More than an ideology.
I've only managed to play it once. It was so powerful an experience I think it gave me Stendhal Syndrome, and now hearing a single tidbit of the soundtrack is enough to overwhelm me.
Brilliant. I teared up at the last part about human connection being the only time you feel like you've affected the world in any meaningful way. I also *loved* your metaphor about being born into this world, and quickly being told that you must discover what to believe. Thank you for a Disco Elysium video essay that says something new and profound. :)
Disco Elysium Political Compass alignment chart:
Moralist: Lawful Neutral and successful
Communist: Chaotic Good and depressed
Ultraliberal: Chaotic Neutral and successful
Fascist: Lawful Evil and depressed
I can't believe you managed to get everything across without having to mumble for 30 minutes haha
This video was a joy to watch! The editing is really funny, and I found myself nodding a lot, but also smiling and laughing while I listened. Thank you so much for your work!
This was a pleasure to watch! Loved the text, delivery and visual humor. I hadn't exactly watched many DE essays yet, just a few reviews, which mostly described how choosing stuff is fun and the crazy variability (or a disappointing lack of it). It was immensly satisfying to hear how you highlighted the role that Kim as a character and the choice between disappointing him and making him trust the detective played in the experience. Because damn it played a huge role for me. I really enjoyed your take on how the ideologies were presented in the game and on *what was the point*. And the cherry on top is the beatiful versions of the DE ost on the background. Thank you for making this video!
Defintely the best DE video essay i’ve watched so far! Snappy and fun editing with a super tight, well paced script. Just awesome job!
disco is my favorite game of all time and i loved how u interpreted the pale! its hard to encapsulate what disco means to me and what its about through words (as its so much more of a 'feeling'), and this video was the perfect balance of vibes and also "big brain" thought moments, lol. also the music in the background was lovely!
Man, this video is on another scale of effort that was put in its creation, this is insane, you deserve a million subscribers.
This is one of my favorite DE video essays I've watched. Very nice!
This game is savagely well written, especially the political quests. Even though the devs are socialists themselves it was really fun to see them poke fun and deride the short comings of their own politics as well as all the other possible factions in the game. I probably fall in the ultraliberal camp in my own politics and almost laughed a lung up when I found that shipping container. Especially when I realised I can bump the magical avatar of rampant capitalism for 100 real 😂
Disco Elysium is by far my favourite game of the last few years because of the writing. I really hope they expand the universe in some way. I’d love to play a sequel or another game in the universe but a book or anything in that world would be so awesome.
really great editing, also a really well done Bill Wurtz style history! I listen to your versions of the soundtrack almost every day, they're fantastic. You should really consider making more of those, you seem to have a knack for it.
Thanks so much, I think you're the first one to catch the Bill Wurtz bit! Yeah, blown away by the response to the soundtrack, just a shame that no other game has a soundtrack as strong as Disco Elysium's
@@ScrapTakes Hmm, maybe the soundtracks of Pyre or Transistor are up your alley, but those are just my suggestions. Have a good one, cheers!
Great job mate, definitely sticking out to see your future projects.
What a wonderful essay. Very creative editing. Thanks!
The quality of this writing/editing is insane considering your sub count. I wish i was making videos this well at 2k subs!!! Keep up the great work, fantastic video!
Absolutely underrated this video & your whole channel is- spectacular editing & then some along with a great script
Brilliant video! Thank you for making it!
Fantastic vid and hilarious editing! Stoked about your next playthroughs. Also my human harry highlight i think is when you, kim, and the bartender guy at the hotel are all just nodding at each other it cracked me up
Thank you! I am nodding my head reading your comment. So is Kim. So is the bartender. We are all nodding.
the formatting and editing is a++. love the variety between the different sections.
commenting so hopefully the algae-rhythms smile upon you ^^
Awesome, thank you! :D
I love the editing and narrative you made for the video
loved you video. the theories, analysis and the overall production quality. thanks for your fantastic work.
This was a really well made video and probably one of the more interesting videos in regards to Disco Elysium, Good work bro.
Great work this is really a work of passion on boths sides!
Great video. I enjoyed hearing your personal take on what was presented and appreciated that you stated your personal leanings beforehand so we could better understand the lense that you viewed the game through. Was legitimately surprised to see your subs and only a few videos as the quality standard of this video was so high I expected to see you'd been at it a lot longer. Keep it up.
One of the best video i have seen this year, well done friend !
Great video man, the editing was really good
this was by far the best video about disco elysium i've seen, good job! You're going places if you make more content like this!
You're very kind, thanks :)
Editing is brilliant. Keep going, you've got something good here.
The editing and writing is top notch man, nice work
I just found your youtube channel and I gotta say, you're doing a great job. Keep it on.
Didn't even finish the video and had to sub, your editing style is immaculate and hilarious hope you grow as a channel because you definitely deserve it!
Came up twice in recommended, tried it the second time. You capture an excellent confluence of school of life and game reviewers like mandalore and Seth. Quality vid, great writing.
AMAZING VIDEO! Perfectly conveys my feelings on the game as well as presented some new experiences I appreciate! Love your delivery and humor too keep up the great work!
Holy shit, I love this video. It needs more views, I love the editing and all the references!
Best one I've seen so far. Great work
This video is a piece of art. Well done dude!
so so excellent, would love to see this channel pop off !!!
Loved the covers!
Masterfully done. I am so glad to stumble on the video though it and the game are seemingly made for a niche audience. I admire the production value of the video and your analysis resonated with my experience. Thank you man! Keep the dream alive! 👍
Amazing editing! :D
I’ve seen so many Disco Elysium essays and yet I’m still coming across new ones I love, like this one.
spectacular editing, humor, and commentary :)
Great video. Loved the creativity
it's criminal the fact that you don't have at least 100k subs, seriously this video overall quality is stunning!
WHOA this animation and editing is out of this world... liked and subbed :D
Considering the editing quality of this video, I look forward to seeing this channel blow up or, at the very least, watching it gain more success.
incredible video! subscribed as soon as it was done
LOVED THIS! Best take on the game I've seen so far. This game is so hard to pin down, but your commentary along with your editing has done it the best from all the DE analysis videos I've watched. Just the right amount of intellectualizing + Vibes™. What a fantastic game, I wish everyone would pick it up.
Such a good edited video! Very nice
Thanks very much 😁
Your channel is so underrated. I hope that in near future you blow up. The quality of your presentation as well as very well thought of structure of your essay really deserves recognition
Thanks very much! Yeah I'm taking a lot of time between videos to try and make them as slick as possible, which is slow but hopefully worth it 😁
@@ScrapTakes Quality over quantity
Hell yeah, I'm glad I got to see this video in my recommended. Cheers mate.
Am astonisted about how underated this video is . Keep up the good work !
That's very kind, thank you 😊
Bro this is S tier video editing wtf, what an underrated video and channel
loved your video. watched it the whole way through. it was really entertaining to watch, and yes disco elysium is one of my fav games of all time.
Great video, thank you! I like your editing and points of view.
Also the interesting thing is - you kinda reminding me of Roy and Gart at the same time. This fact is making the whole DE vibe of this review even greater.
I came across your video after I finished the game for the second time. It was the best review video not only for Disco Elysium but for any game, both in terms of text and visual-editing. I don't know what to say, great job, thanks, you should produce more content.
I am so surprised by how well made this video is!!!! keep it up!!!! you definitely have a new subscriber here
I’m so grateful to have found your video, your final summary is magnificent describing how the history of mankind is unknown until the moment we’re born and the push to “pick a side” is forced upon us within such a sliver of time our lives inhabit.
You have a wonderful sense of humour and your even-handed interpretation was very much needed for a hefty game like this. Subscribed!
Also very lovely visual editing. I look forward to seeing what else you upload in the future
1:42 Brain mediocrity, baby you are a centrist of the two polars
Incredible video
I had done a playthrough back in 2019
Played it a second time in 2022, after Covid, during the war, I finished my studies. I have never feared death and the future as much as in the past few days playing this game. It is a masterpiece, but it can be hard on you.
11/10 would recommend.
Your video really put words on what I was feeling. I felt miserable the past few days even though I was enjoying how masterful this game is. I might have underestimated the impact it was having on me.
A game I will probably never forget. Even more after a second playthrough.
This is a great video! I love the brief shift from almost Pythonesque cutout animation to Bill Wurtz-flavoured history-telling, an the song-covers are amazing. Subscribed!
Thanks very much 😁
This video is so well made for how few views it has! Seriously, well done!
Great job!
The fascist ideology is also not meant to let you finish the game
If you internalize the fascist thought you will loose moral every time you pick a fascist dialogue option
Which is a shame from a gameplay freedom standpoint, albeit completely justified (see spoilers). I would've loved to hear what Kim has to say to your superiors about you having become a fucking ultra-nationalist.
SPOILER TALK: The "Nationhood" thought makes you depressed and hopeless because nobody is capable of committing the atrocities necessary to establish an ethnostate. Just like "true" communism it's a thought experiment, a fever dream that cannot come true in the real world. This turns you into a bitter, depressed drunk and you lose morale every time you bring up nationalism again.
i never tried but im sure you can off set it with art cop
Best disco vid imo. Great work!
Can’t wait to see what more you produce.
brilliant essay :)
Great stuff! One of the best video essays on DE I've seen. Earned yourself a sub mate!
Thanks very much!
The worst thing I did in this game was shave off my mutton chops. Even worse than becoming a massive racist so measure head would let me into the harbor.
But the mutton chops are the source of Harry's power!!!
Hey, I just wanted to drop in and say that I really, really enjoyed this review. I like your style so I subbed, hoping for more content. This video really just hit a perfect spot for me.
this is great. well done. thank you
Greaat video and very well edited!!
I gotta come back and watch it after I finish. But I gotta say, the first 3 minutes were very charming. you’ve got mad style comrade.
How do you only have 500 subs with this kind of editing? That Bill Wurtz segment was genius!
thanks for your video, it's really touching me ))
This video is really high quality! I thought you had like 100k subs lol until i checked! Dont worry you will get there soon! You should upload more!
This video is really well written. I had a great time watching it.
I laughed out loud and my boss gave me a weird look at the edits in this video. Incredible stuff.
More people need to see this video dude, congrats. beautifully explained. I'm gonna recommend Disco with it. Keep it up!
Thanks! Tbh I was just glad it didn't get stuck with 0 views, anything else is a bonus lol
Thank you so much for this video, added a whole new depth to a game that I had just finished and deeply adored. I don't think any other game could ever resonate with me as much and knowing the message and what to really take out of that resonation makes it all the more worth it.
Thanks very much ❤ agreed, no game has given me quite as many Feelings as this
Just finished my second playthrough and here I am. Great video!
I can sense this video’s genealogy. The vibes are reflection of what I love about TH-cam. I’m happy that I was born at the right time to watch this. Disco Elysium is dear to me, and this video essay makes me love it even more. Thank you for your effort.
It’s okay, I think, if you forget us when you’re famous. As long as the cozy vibes persist.
Thanks very much - I promise I will try to maintain coziness for as long as physically possible!