Doesn't find new innovative ways of taming the branching narrative game design hydra, but executes the style at a very high level of craftsmanship. The competing voices residing in the player character's head, growing more or less dominant depending on your skill distribution, are Disco's most clever idea, but they do ultimately reveal themselves to be a bit of an infinity mirror: in an organic playthrough, you can never gauge how cavernous these mechanics truly are and are forced to accept whatever cards you're dealt. My signature, most-developed skill (11 points) was Drama, and yet its actual presence in the conversations I experienced felt very muted, and the negative side effects the game teases for when you've developed a skill too far (in Drama's case, intense paranoia,) never manifested in my playthrough.
Disco also relies on many of the narrative/progression contrivances you'd expect: what revealed itself to be the murder case's crucial lead is something I discovered incredibly early into the story, yet you're not actually allowed to follow up on it until a specific late-game event trigger. In my playthrough it was extra bizarre in that I was told about this lead again by a different character, which then prompted the ability to further investigate, as if I hadn't already found the necessary clue myself fifteen hours earlier.
All of this adds up in a way where my actual agency in the plot is incredibly opaque, which in turn makes it difficult for me to fully invest myself in the experience. Yes, the stats and dice rolls literally matter in that they have direct, observable, mechanical effects, but it's hard to gauge how exactly they matter to me when the corresponding outcomes are ultimately still scripted and often somewhat unpredictable. It's hard to know how to feel when a skill check passes or fails because the outcome ultimately wasn't up to me: to put it uncharitably, rather than fully participating in and shaping the story, I'm sorta pressing buttons and seeing what happens.
Where Disco succeeds is in crafting situations that aren't necessarily "morally grey," as if that were the most compelling thing a CRPG could do -- the game is explicit about its leftist, socialist values and thankfully never succumbs to wishy-washy centrist mush -- but instead test your ability to remain resolute in your beliefs while also being sensitive and empathetic toward the world around you. It's a game that encourages you to embrace those voices in your head and not be afraid to be a little embarrassing or off-putting if it ultimately means doing the right thing. Don't let these fascists cramp your style!!
Disco also relies on many of the narrative/progression contrivances you'd expect: what revealed itself to be the murder case's crucial lead is something I discovered incredibly early into the story, yet you're not actually allowed to follow up on it until a specific late-game event trigger. In my playthrough it was extra bizarre in that I was told about this lead again by a different character, which then prompted the ability to further investigate, as if I hadn't already found the necessary clue myself fifteen hours earlier.
All of this adds up in a way where my actual agency in the plot is incredibly opaque, which in turn makes it difficult for me to fully invest myself in the experience. Yes, the stats and dice rolls literally matter in that they have direct, observable, mechanical effects, but it's hard to gauge how exactly they matter to me when the corresponding outcomes are ultimately still scripted and often somewhat unpredictable. It's hard to know how to feel when a skill check passes or fails because the outcome ultimately wasn't up to me: to put it uncharitably, rather than fully participating in and shaping the story, I'm sorta pressing buttons and seeing what happens.
Where Disco succeeds is in crafting situations that aren't necessarily "morally grey," as if that were the most compelling thing a CRPG could do -- the game is explicit about its leftist, socialist values and thankfully never succumbs to wishy-washy centrist mush -- but instead test your ability to remain resolute in your beliefs while also being sensitive and empathetic toward the world around you. It's a game that encourages you to embrace those voices in your head and not be afraid to be a little embarrassing or off-putting if it ultimately means doing the right thing. Don't let these fascists cramp your style!!