So this is the Disco Elysium I've heard so much about!
I remember when I discovered these two fellas via clips from the animated series, and in that moment, a new obsession began to form... and by obsession I mean just watching more clips. It took me a while to even play one of their games, and I've finally did it, and man, they sure hit the road, I didn't think they had it in them.
I've said in various occasions when I talk about certain games that they ''oozes'' charm or that they are funny or something like that, but I might have to re-check my standards, 'cause holy mother of yeti this has to be one of the games with more personality I've ever even touched. Sam and Max are some of the most charismatic protagonists I've come across, and I don't really know if they are the only cops I would trust, or the ones I'd trust the least. The whole game game has this feeling of comical indifference and absurdity, but these two represent it the most; their interactions are pure gold, each hilarious and they roll of each other incredibly, combine that with the visual gags, most coming from Max suffering the wrath of the universe but not giving a shit, and the crisp animations and we have a pair that I wish they got a movie or something, the possibilities are endless.
While everyone's favorite sociopaths are the most bizarre beings in all of the game, the rest of the cast and locations doesn't lack in weirdness and charm either. The premise of solving a case while traversing different tourist traps and trip stops is executed fantastically, each being a hilarious parody of roadside attractions, and the originality and hilarity seems endless. All the secondary characters are funny, all the puzzles go absolutely bonkers, and even if the story never takes itself too seriously, you still are compelled to solve the mystery of the sasquatches and defeat the little turd that is the villain. I swear, I loved that country singer punk, I just wished he got more screen time, but hey, at least he even gets its own villain song! Now that's quality. It's also filled with references, that where actually pretty cool and funny, even the game does them correctly instead of being jarring or unfunny!
The originality sips into all the aspects of the game, and that includes the puzzles themselves, which while sometimes is amazing, sadly, more often than not, I found it problematic. I admit, I'm terrible at graphic adventure games, maybe I'm just dumb or maybe I haven't played enough of them, but even if I'm terrible at them and sometimes I have to looks up the solutions, I'm able to recognize when a puzzle is well done and the solution is smart and makes sense, and that's the problem, even if there are a lot of parts in this game that are really well made and communicated, others just... don't. The game feels too obtuse at places, it doesn't make it clear when you have to go and what to do, and things that you think would make sense end up being the totally opposite solution; it's a game that really suffers from the ''needs a guide'' syndrome. Combine that with the average problem of this genre of games of the 90's, like hunting for pixels or having to go back time and time again to already seen places more than six times, and you have the elements for making this game not feel as good as it could have been, all capping off in a cryptic scavenger hunt that feels more like padding than an actual important plot-beat.
But, at the end of the day, being incredibly confusing is part of the charm. I really didn't expect to laugh this hard at these monotone voiced characters and the insane world they live in... that would being the USA of course. I can't bring myself to considering it something else than good, it's just so damn creative and unique, and I'm so excited to see what other misadventures the freelance police had over the years.
So yeah, they hit the road, they sure proved me wrong, but... ain't no way they save the world, right??
I remember when I discovered these two fellas via clips from the animated series, and in that moment, a new obsession began to form... and by obsession I mean just watching more clips. It took me a while to even play one of their games, and I've finally did it, and man, they sure hit the road, I didn't think they had it in them.
I've said in various occasions when I talk about certain games that they ''oozes'' charm or that they are funny or something like that, but I might have to re-check my standards, 'cause holy mother of yeti this has to be one of the games with more personality I've ever even touched. Sam and Max are some of the most charismatic protagonists I've come across, and I don't really know if they are the only cops I would trust, or the ones I'd trust the least. The whole game game has this feeling of comical indifference and absurdity, but these two represent it the most; their interactions are pure gold, each hilarious and they roll of each other incredibly, combine that with the visual gags, most coming from Max suffering the wrath of the universe but not giving a shit, and the crisp animations and we have a pair that I wish they got a movie or something, the possibilities are endless.
While everyone's favorite sociopaths are the most bizarre beings in all of the game, the rest of the cast and locations doesn't lack in weirdness and charm either. The premise of solving a case while traversing different tourist traps and trip stops is executed fantastically, each being a hilarious parody of roadside attractions, and the originality and hilarity seems endless. All the secondary characters are funny, all the puzzles go absolutely bonkers, and even if the story never takes itself too seriously, you still are compelled to solve the mystery of the sasquatches and defeat the little turd that is the villain. I swear, I loved that country singer punk, I just wished he got more screen time, but hey, at least he even gets its own villain song! Now that's quality. It's also filled with references, that where actually pretty cool and funny, even the game does them correctly instead of being jarring or unfunny!
The originality sips into all the aspects of the game, and that includes the puzzles themselves, which while sometimes is amazing, sadly, more often than not, I found it problematic. I admit, I'm terrible at graphic adventure games, maybe I'm just dumb or maybe I haven't played enough of them, but even if I'm terrible at them and sometimes I have to looks up the solutions, I'm able to recognize when a puzzle is well done and the solution is smart and makes sense, and that's the problem, even if there are a lot of parts in this game that are really well made and communicated, others just... don't. The game feels too obtuse at places, it doesn't make it clear when you have to go and what to do, and things that you think would make sense end up being the totally opposite solution; it's a game that really suffers from the ''needs a guide'' syndrome. Combine that with the average problem of this genre of games of the 90's, like hunting for pixels or having to go back time and time again to already seen places more than six times, and you have the elements for making this game not feel as good as it could have been, all capping off in a cryptic scavenger hunt that feels more like padding than an actual important plot-beat.
But, at the end of the day, being incredibly confusing is part of the charm. I really didn't expect to laugh this hard at these monotone voiced characters and the insane world they live in... that would being the USA of course. I can't bring myself to considering it something else than good, it's just so damn creative and unique, and I'm so excited to see what other misadventures the freelance police had over the years.
So yeah, they hit the road, they sure proved me wrong, but... ain't no way they save the world, right??