The GWJ CRPG Club - Game 14: Disco Elysium

I'm in.

Hahaha. The main character is such a total mess as a human being. This is such brilliant stuff.

Spoiler:

Just called Sylvie.

RnRClown wrote:

I'm in. :grin:

Most excellent!

Had a fantastical first playthrough.

Spoiler:

Suffered a heart attack in the apartment. Game Over.

RnRClown wrote:

Had a fantastical first playthrough.

Spoiler:

Suffered a heart attack in the apartment. Game Over.

:razz:

Hahaha! Congrats! I’ll level you up.

Safe to say this one has its hooks in me, especially after...

Spoiler:

... once everyone started coming clean about how the deceased actually was murdered.

Rat Boy wrote:

Safe to say this one has its hooks in me, especially after...

Spoiler:

... once everyone started coming clean about how the deceased actually was murdered.

I'm not to that point, but it's grabbed me too. I'm taking my time, listening to all the audio, enjoying the ride. It's such a fresh and well executed game.

Tip for new players: If you don’t want to get game-overed by the numerous burn-outs (physical and mental) our world-weary protagonist can suffer, put at least 2 points in Psyche and Physique

I just started again after a tremendously fulfilling playthrough pre-final cut and ended up completely running out of sh*ts to give (game’s words, not mine) while talking to Sylvie. Think I’m going to leave it there for now and call it a satisfying and entirely in-character run too

DC Malleus wrote:

Tip for new players: If you don’t want to get game-overed by the numerous burn-outs (physical and mental) our world-weary protagonist can suffer, put at least 2 points in Psyche and Physique

I just started again after a tremendously fulfilling playthrough pre-final cut and ended up completely running out of sh*ts to give (game’s words, not mine) while talking to Sylvie. Think I’m going to leave it there for now and call it a satisfying and entirely in-character run too :D

Yes, I read that on the Internets too, specifically about points in Volition and Endurance.

The conversation with Sylvie is what really amped up my enjoyment and interest in the game.

Redherring wrote:

I’m in. I have no idea what this even is but I seem to own a copy so why not?

Three hours in. Still no idea what this even is. But I like it.

I'm not sure I've encountered a game that has so much interaction over a clipboard.

I'm about 4 hours in, going quite slowly I think because I've been listening to all the spoken lines. But... I've started to drift away from that now. There are ... a lot of spoken lines. Now that I've got the voice in my head, I'm tending to read them and press on.

Still pretty impressed with the uniqueness of the game, although I feel like I'm just scratching the surface.

But of course I rolled snake eyes on a skill check with a 97% success chance during the...

Spoiler:

Krenel vs. Hardie Boys confrontation.

I'm still early on. I may even begin anew. It hasn't gelled with me yet. I'm aware this will be partially to do with my own downbeat spiral at present, nothing from anything has managed to stick, but also the amount of spoken text, which I would probably rather read, except the voice work is great (if only there wasn't so much of it in succession).

I also cannot settle on archetype. One of the three default? My own creation? Balanced? Skewed? Closest to myself? Varied from for escapism? I don't know what I want. Nor what I don't. Bah!

RnRClown wrote:

I'm still early on. I may even begin anew. It hasn't gelled with me yet. I'm aware this will be partially to do with my own downbeat spiral at present, nothing from anything has managed to stick, but also the amount of spoken text, which I would probably rather read, except the voice work is great (if only there wasn't so much of it in succession).

I'm a bit torn as well. I feel like the pace is ... sluggish if I listen to all the voiced text. The voice acting is so good that I want to hear it all, but it's so much faster and the pacing feels better if I read the text. Listening to the voice-acting, I've played about 4 hours or so, but I don't feel like a lot has happened so far and I'm still kind of setting the scene.

But if I read the text there is a lot of reading.

EDIT: I've turned off the voice acting. I actually like this better, now that I've got the voices in my head, reading is faster and the pace feels brisker and more engaging.

Reading for me, I usually play games with the sound very low and subtitles on, and I’ve never enjoyed waiting for voice overs to finish (sorry hard-working voice over artists).

I'm still stranded at which archetype to roll with. Dabbling in the opening moments, with this one, with that one, has been interesting, but it has not swayed my decision.

Rock Paper Shotgun - Character Creation Guide

This helped! I think I'm on track now. I'll report back after pondering and tinkering a tad more.

I've been meticulously going around the starting area, the bookshop, the back area where that polite young boy Kuno is with the dead body hanging from the tree. I've just conversed with Measurehead, the big racist brute who's guarding entry into the harbour. Trying to decode his dialogue feels like trying to get all colours synced up on a Rubik's cube.

I've really enjoyed the depth of the world building & conversations so far. It really feels like you have to work to unlock important information out of characters or to get entry into the back room of the book store for example. I have 5 in Intelligence & the devs seem to have balanced the skill very well so that it can be helpful but not overpowered so that your talking rings around npc's.

I have only 1 point in physical which is on hindsight far too little. I kicked a furnace & basically died, I'm a pure weakling. I'll put an extra point into that as soon as I'm able.

I also love Kim Kitsuragi, the highly intelligent, level headed partner. He has a good amount of wit & really adds a lot to the dynamics of the investigation.

Spikeout wrote:

I have only 1 point in physical which is on hindsight far too little. I kicked a furnace & basically died, I'm a pure weakling.

Hahahahah. That's funny.

I made a bit more progress last night, picking up what feels somewhat like side quests in the main area. I'm still largely unsure of where things are going, but rather than focus on the big picture, I'm concentrating on the immediate tasks in front of me and plugging away. I figure things will become clearer as I knock off more and more of the tasks at hand.

The pacing feels better to me now that I'm reading rather than listening. It was a bit too tedious listening to everything. There is a lot of semi-interesting filler, but it was taking too long to explore one area when I was listening to it all.

RnRClown wrote:

I'm still stranded at which archetype to roll with. Dabbling in the opening moments, with this one, with that one, has been interesting, but it has not swayed my decision.

Rock Paper Shotgun - Character Creation Guide

This helped! I think I'm on track now. I'll report back after pondering and tinkering a tad more.

Awesome that you got started! I remember reading something that basically said that you don't have to worry about min-maxing things to have an effective character, that balanced works well too. Mine (4/4/2/2) is tilting very much to the physiological side of character building, and so far I haven't run into situations where I've felt stuck because I'm a physical lightweight. I'm only a few hours in though.

I got another hour in this afternoon. It's such a unique game, still feels more of an adventure game than an RPG, although the RPG elements are strong, for sure.

I feel like it rewards patience and thoroughness, too. Revisiting conversations and characters after the plot has advanced a bit is key. I mean, there are the obvious white checks you are expected to revisit, but even going back and talking to a character I'd thought I'd finished with has unlocked some good options and moved the story along.

The thing I'll need to keep reminding myself of is to not always exhausted every possible dialogue choice. I've saw that mentioned quite a few times. It seems that whilst investigating/interrogating/interviewing this old-school approach may be beneficial. Whilst general conversation is perhaps to be more considered, more natural, more focused. Relearning that video games staple is a doozy.

RnRClown wrote:

The thing I'll need to keep reminding myself of is to not always exhausted every possible dialogue choice. I've saw that mentioned quite a few times. It seems that whilst investigating/interrogating/interviewing this old-school approach may be beneficial. Whilst general conversation is perhaps to be more considered, more natural, more focused. Relearning that video games staple is a doozy.

Some of the choices are obviously not good things to say, for example the conversations you can have with the woman outside the book shop on day two about her “missing” family.

I only just had a chance to start playing last night. Went with the default thinker build. The 1 in psyche worries me, but I figure this is the kind of game where spectacular failures are likely to be just as rewarding as successes- unlike say, failing a lockpick check in Wasteland 2.

Already I can tell I'm going to really like this one. Most RPG's might surprise me with a big plot twist now and then. Although to be honest, I've been conditioned to expect them since the 90's with The Sixth Sense, The Usual Suspects, KOTOR and countless others. This feels like the type of game where something original and surprising might occur in every interaction, no matter how small. It feels very much like when I first played Planescape: Torment. Since that's one of my holy trinity of favorite old school games (along with Star Control 2 and System Shock), this bodes well.

I feel slightly sadistic because I was totally laughing and amused at the protagonist's initial plight and some of the dialogue choices. So pitiful. But I can empathize and to a small extent, identify with him.

One hint I learned along the way is to not spend skill points as soon as you acquire them. Since you can access the character sheet while in dialogue, you can spend points you've hoarded to make skill checks that come up somewhat easier. Or open up more thought boxes when you acquire new thoughts.

First death. As near as I can tell, seeing the neat professionalism with which my new partner maintained his motor carriage sent me into a downward spiral with feelings of inadequacy and despair. Quit the force and started living under a bridge.

Lesson learned. Definitely gotta save frequently.

I've been doing okay as far as deaths go by always having at least 2 points in both morale and endurance. Seems like—so far anyway—mistakes always take one point off.

I've finished the first day and just gotten started on Day 2. The "reflection" you get at the end of the day was helpful in putting some structure on the game's activity, and what to focus on the next day. Day 2 has started productively, I think. Well, if...

Spoiler:

...finally getting the dead body down and not vomiting can be called progress.

My psyche thinks I'm a combination of Sorry Cop and Communist. I let it have the Communist bit, but revolted against the Sorry Cop label. Must be Supercop!

Cracks me up that I'm walking around with a plastic bag picking up discarded bottles and cans to make money.

All in!

Edit: I mean I am in as soon as my PS4 downloads the game, so that will take... {checks status} 8 hours!?

Replaying with custom 3-3-3-3 build with Inland Empire as the special skill's been... interesting. I've been lucky that I've been landing sub-50 rolls across the board so far.

UpToIsomorphism wrote:

All in!

Edit: I mean I am in as soon as my PS4 downloads the game, so that will take... {checks status} 8 hours!?

Most excellent! I noticed it took a long time just to download the Final Cut update on Epic, so yeah, 8 hours sounds about right!

EDIT: I put in another 45 minutes or so tonight. I'm into the afternoon of Day 2. I feel like I'm lurching forward with lots of half steps. I'll probe somewhere, hit a dead end, then go somewhere else. I'm struggling to see how we're going to pass all these white checks, because I seem to be leveling up pretty slowly and there are a lot of skills and thought cabinet slots.

But the game is oddly compelling and enjoyable. The mechanics are so fresh and clever. It's the kind of game where you play and immediately wonder how things would go if you had a different set of skills.

I'll be on the road for most of this week, but I'm looking forward to getting back to this when I get back.

I've played for 5 minutes.

Are the PC gamepad controls garbage or something? Half the time, the "A" button action does nothing.

*Legion* wrote:

I've played for 5 minutes.

Are the PC gamepad controls garbage or something? Half the time, the "A" button action does nothing.

Yes and no. Well maybe more yes.

You have to highlight the things by cycling through them before “A” will do anything, which is weird. Then sometimes you have to stand in the right place first. And then sometimes there’s a tiny red flash that I assume means you can’t use that door or whatever it is. But you get used to it, I’ve played around 9 hours this way.