In Disco Elysium, you play as a cop going through a midlife crisis, assigned to a murder in the poor district of Martinaise, where in an alcoholic binge he lost all his memories. This gives us a blank canvas to shape his immediate future and core beliefs.

I played as a sweet-talking centrist superstar/boring cop with no extreme political opinions and the game still found a way to poke fun at my expense. A doom-monger, communist, bodybuilder type cop is up next :).

Lt. Kim Kitsuragi is our crime solving partner; he’s the voice of sanity and professionalism that this investigation needs. He’s also one of the best written characters you’ll ever come across.

The real stars of the show are undoubtedly your skills; they act as your mental coach throughout the game. During a conversation with a NPC, multiple skills can interject clever remarks, cajole you, and berate you, sometimes all at the same time. Skills like Inland Empire, Suggestion, Drama, Electro-chemistry, to name just a few, are so fleshed out and have so much depth, that you’ll laugh at the attempt to create engaging companions in a lesser rpg. Voice acting is a plus, and a great addition that really adds a lot of flavour to the copious amounts of texts you’ll read.

Robert Kurvitz and his small development team based in Estonia have created an unforgettable game that will hopefully inspire other developers to take up the baton and make their own Disco Elysium, because frankly we need more games like this.

Reviewed on Feb 18, 2022


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