Disco Elysium Video Interview, Preview

Thanks to its strong presence at the recent PAX East and EGX Rezzed events, ZA/UM Studio’s detective RPG Disco Elysium, that at one point used to be No Truce With the Furies, has been getting its fair share of media attention. For example, here’s a video interview with ZA/UM’s community manager Dani Woodford and art director Aleksander Rostov courtesy of Gamereactor, where the two of them attempt to explain Disco Elysium in layman’s terms, in the process likening it to the cult classic Planescape: Torment and confusing the interviewer even more. Check it out:

And as far as previews go, the editors over at PC Gamer felt like the game deserved more than one. Their original one from back in early April offered a general overview of the hands-on demo that was playable at the events, while their new one calls Disco Elysium the most original RPG of the year. An excerpt:

Samuel Roberts, UK editor-in-chief: “Making a mockery of yourself is a recurring theme in Disco Elysium,” is what Lauren Morton said in her preview of the game earlier this month. I agree. I’m not sure about you, Tom, but my time spent with it so far mostly involved trying and failing to achieve certain things in the line of duty: being too pathetic to lift some dumbbells, injuring myself by trying to barge open a heavy door and mostly being mocked while questioning potential witnesses.

Of the four ‘characters’ you can select at the start of this early build—there’s logician, sensitive, predator and detective—I picked the last one. An all-rounder, but great at nothing. And that’s how I felt. I’ve spent two hours wandering around the city of Revachol, looking into mysteries and little sidequests, and not achieving much. I sense this is a valid way of playing the game, though: not taking the time to rush everything, but to speak to every NPC, to investigate each detail, and to see who you can annoy in different ways.

Occasionally, though, I’ll have a breakthrough moment where I’ll convince a shopkeeper to let me investigate the ‘cursed’ part of her store that’s supposedly been the scourge of many businesses before this one, by convincing her I’ve previously investigated ‘paranatural situations’ even though I’m lying. I feel like I’m an idiot detective who’ll sometimes happen across a break in a case by accident, because I got a lucky dice roll. And I quite like playing as a character like that.