/ga/ - Games

Overrated.

When more game devs realize that you can only do so much narratologically without ditching the concept of "winning".

Disco Elysium rewards failure and experimentation with *different* consequences as opposed to exclusively bad/worse ones. In real life, fucking up can change a lot in your life and not always strictly for the worse either. In most "story-driven" games though, the inherent connection between narratological progress and gameplay progress sort of inevitably steers you towards becoming a god among men instead of a person with vulnerabilities, insecurities, etc. In Disco Elysium the fact that this connection isn't present to the same degree is strengthened even more by the fact that the "choose-your-own-adventure" model of modern open-world games is rightfully reined in in favor of a more pre-defined character. At the start of the game, Harry already has a backstory, a past and a reputation that you have no agency over. This is good because it forces you to empathize with a type of character you wouldn't have "molded" otherwise; most people just self-insert as much as possible, and if there is a story for the player to create for themselves it can't possibly be nearly as deep or interesting as something that experienced and talented writers such as those of DE can cook up.

This got really rambly as usual but that's how I feel about it. Aside from the obvious choice that, as marxists, the writers provide a coherent, materialist, and well-written critique of capitalism in a well-built, unique and interesting fictional world, both of which are sadly terribly underrepresented in modern popular culture.

>>10382
Not sure I really agree that you can't self-insert as Harry, even if he's technically an established character with a backstory, you know almost none of it for 80% of the game and can just make him act however you like.

>>10377
Game? Closer to visual novel. It was allright.

>>10382
>Disco Elysium rewards failure and experimentation with *different* consequences as opposed to exclusively bad/worse ones.
Which ends up as being mostly cosmetic consequences of your choices.

>>10382
Also, it seems a bit much to say 'there's no better or worse choices in DE', you can get to the end of the game pretty much whatever you do, sure, but there's definitely 'better' and 'worse' outcomes

>>10380
Ok, fren, what did you think of it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtMM1VFr9Ik

>>10380
no u

>>10391
I didn't hate it. I actually really enjoyed my time with it. However, I would say it's massively overrated online.

My main problem is that the main story is mostly bad and filled with out of nowhere nonsequiturs (Such as the underground bitch with the radio, secret old commie ending, the conflict between Union and wild pines ends with a shootout). Which makes it feel very unsatisfactory as a mystery game. Further, the endings of the main story have pretty much no influence as a result of your choices.

Other than that the political dialog is not particularly interesting or funny after the initial start. Mostly political compass meme tier shit.

On this topic, the writing is good for games but not unbelievably amazing as its made out to be.

Further to this, the game ends too quickly IMO, without really diving into most of its stories or providing resolution for its characters.

Btw this is not to say the game is not good, or better than the vast majority of RPGs. It's just not the medium-altering masterpiece it's made out to be. If people said , its an 8 or a 9 fun play I would of agreed. But people will say it's a 10/10 masterpiece best RPG EVA!!! Which I don't think is true

>>10397
Oh also while I like the mental voices, some of the writing for it (Especially the nighttime, or waking monologues) super cringe and poorly written.

>>10397
>(Such as the underground bitch with the radio, secret old commie ending, the conflict between Union and wild pines ends with a shootout)
Yeah none of these are nonsequiturs

>>10404
They have no pre basis in the story. With the exception of the shootout.

one can hope

>>10387
Yeah, there's a balance which is cool. It'd hardly be an RPG if they'd lock you into certain role but discovering Harry's past that obviously impacts the way people perceive him as you get through the game is a huge part of the experience as opposed to other RPGs, even when they try to do something similar (Fallout games, Mass Effect to some extent).

>>10389
What does this mean? Of course it's going to be a cosmetic difference. It's a video game. People living or dying, loving or hating you, helping you or getting in your way, it's all cosmetic if you want to look at it that way.

>>10390
>you can get to the end of the game pretty much whatever you do, sure, but there's definitely 'better' and 'worse' outcomes
That was my point. Being able to "get through it" despite some major fuckups is painfully absent from most games. Pathologic, Deus Ex and to a veeery small extent Mass Effect are the only franchises I've encountered that really strive to make failure a part of the narrative instead of just hitting you with a Game Over and having you try again. Maybe I'm forgetting some or I'm just not as well-versed in RPGs as I think but it never hit me with such a feeling of immersion as while playing through those 3 series.