4.5/5 ★ – peacebrendanp's review of Disco Elysium - The Final Cut.

God, this game was such a palette cleanser compared to the last handful of games I have played. I have been curious of this game for quite some time, and was glad that I was finally able to play it. Easily one of the best written games I have ever played; this is essentially a graphic novel with player choice added into the mix. There is plenty to-do and discover over the course of a single playthrough, and I could definitely see there being great fulfillment in playing through the story more than once. There is so much variety in how you can tackle different scenarios, and to that point, a lot of variety in what kind of detective you want to be. The story had me enthralled from beginning to end, and while there are some side stories that felt a bit more un-interesting to me, the game is so well written it keeps the intrigue flowing. To this point, there is so much political and social lore in this game, it kept me fascinated with trying to understand the dynamics of different social and political groups. Even then, I often found it got deep enough for there to be a world-history, but not deep enough for me to fully grasp or understand it. This is probably a short-coming of myself, and not the game. But, I wanted to note it. Also, shoutout to Kim, he is in the top-tier list of side-kicks. All the characters are written so well. The art style is beautiful as all hell; the whole game looks like a water color painting that anyone should be proud to have hung on their wall. If I had to levy any complaints, it would be at the customization, some of the pacing, and the finale. The customization is pretty vast and varied, but because of the different buffs/debuffs, I felt like I couldn't really wear what I wanted to wear throughout 75% of my playthrough. Towards the end of the game, I finally had a detective that dressed the way I wanted him to. I do recognize this is a part of the fun of the game, and a part of the absurdity of the world that you inhabit. It's not a big gripe, just a thought. The pacing was not bad for the most part. But, there were definitely moments where I felt like I didn't have much to do before the in-game day ended. Now, during those moments, I always found things to keep time moving, even if it was just reading a book in-game. It did feel like there could have been better structure during these moments, though. This could have been specific to my playthrough, because it does seem a lot can change, depending on the player's choices. The finale left me feeling a bit unsatisfied. I don't think it was bad, in fact I think it was really wonderfully done. But, I suppose I thought something a bit more climactic was bound to happen. I actually appreciate that it was a bit more mellow-dramatic in it's unwinding. But, for some reason, I still found myself wanting a bit more. Regardless, I do appreciate it for what it is. I'm really finding writing difficult right now - just in general, I have not been super inspired to write, so I will keep this pretty short. This game is more of a book or graphic novel - one that is expertly written, and had me longing for more once the credits rolled. There are moments of suspense, eeriness, joy, and madness. There is a melancholy to this game, that is quite unique. There are some themes that I wish were explored more, especially that around the "ex-something." Just when those themes started to get more going towards the end, and I started to feel some pangs of deep emotion, I felt like the game reels away from them. Maybe that's specific to my playthrough. Maybe, that's because my detective couldn't handle the weight of it all. That's the special thing about this game; even some of my problems or critiques of the game, sort of fit into the narrative of the playthrough. Either way, I loved this game. It has some things I wish were maybe a bit different, but then again, I really loved the experience for what it was. It saddens me that the studio, to my understanding, no longer exists. Alas, this may have been the last disco, but it was a pretty-bloody-good one. Console Played On: PC (Steam) Game Played: 09/2024 - 10/2024 Review Written and Published: 10/19/2024