He bought Disco Elysium back in 2020, shortly after he had also purchased a shiny, new laptop computer. The game’s system requirements appeared to be surprisingly low, meaning that his laptop -- which boasted no graphics card -- *should* be able to run it.
INTERFACING [Medium: Failure] – The laptop *could* run it. Not well. But it could.
Disappointed but still happy to support independent developers making overtly political games, he promised that he would someday have a gaming rig to play the title.
Maybe he would finally get around to building such a PC himself. He had only been talking about doing it for the past four years.
……
Two years later.
He finally has a device which can play the game: a Steam Deck.
The game consumes time. One or two conversations can easily take up an hour or two of real-time.
It’s easy to get lost, even though the setting is fairly small. He struggles to make progress; he worries that he’s not making the best choices.
LOGIC [Trivial: Success] – He’s not making the best choices.
CONCEPTUALIZATION [Easy: Success] – He really should have watched someone else play the game for a little while to get the hang of it. Too late.
He is at the end of the game and he finally understands how to plan ahead for success.
The writing is incredible.
COMPOSURE [Godly: Failure] – And difficult to emulate.
Those who have not yet tried the game should be aware that, at the end of the day, it should be viewed as an interactive story. There is no combat.
……
There’s nothing else quite like Disco Elysium out there. Perhaps there will be someday. There seem to be enough fans of the game.
Unfortunately, there was some reason why there may not be a sequel (spiritual or otherwise) any time soon. He tries to remember…
DRAMA [Trivial: Success] – Oh yes. The people who actually *made* the game have lost control over its future. At least for now.
INLAND EMPIRE [Medium: Success] – The game wants to be free; free from the greedy cretins who had no part in its development.
For the time being, those who enjoyed getting lost in the world of Elysium should read the novel called A Sacred and Terrible Air written by Robert Kurvitz. Kurvitz is the lead designer and writer of the game.
EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] – You know. The writer who was forced out of the organization that made the game.
This book is also set in the world of Elysium. Upon its release nearly ten years ago, it apparently sold a mere 1,000 copies. In some ways, the game only exists because the novel failed.