Disco Elysium: The Final Cut is a unique and extraordinary RPG experience that defies many conventions. It delivers an intensely narrative-driven game where dialogue and player choice replace traditional combat mechanics, making it one of the most memorable role-playing games in recent years.

Pros

• 🗣️ Exceptional writing with witty, profound, and often legitimately hilarious dialogue
• 🧠 Deep character systems including talking skills and Thought Cabinet mechanics
• 🎭 Rich, immersive world with distinct characters and complex social dynamics
• 🎨 Distinctive art style that perfectly complements the tone and setting

Cons

• 📚 Heavy reliance on text and dialogue may overwhelm players not used to extensive reading
• 🕹️ Gameplay lacks traditional combat and can feel static to some players
• 🚪 The game’s ending kind of falls flat

Disco Elysium puts you in the shoes of a broken, amnesiac detective tasked with solving a murder in the decaying city of Revachol. The game abandons traditional or even any form of combat entirely, instead relying on skill checks and branching dialogue trees that affect both the story and the protagonist’s fractured psyche. The unique mechanic where your skills argue with you adds a rich layer of personality and unpredictability. It's a literal traditional RPG in a sense, while also being a novel, packaged in video game form.

What I loved the most about the writing was the dark humor, It’s the rare game that can make you laugh out loud while pondering existential themes, and this game does just that regularly. It's been quite a while since I literally laughed out loud so many times playing a single game.

Gameplay centers around skill checks governed by a complex web of 24 distinct character skills, ranging from physical prowess to emotional insight and perception. These skills often “talk” to you, creating an internal dialogue that influences your decisions and perspective, making each playthrough feel uniquely personal. Although it does feel quite confusing at first. What does this and what does that, as the names of the character skills aren’t as straightforward as typical RPG games where you have Strength, Ailty, Intelligence, etc. Here in Disco Elysium, you have Visual Calculus, Encyclopedia, Savoir Faire, Electrochemistry, etc.

Graphically, the game adopts a painterly style that feels both surreal and grounded. The city of Revachol feels alive and broken, with hand-painted environments that echo the narrative’s themes of decay and despair. This visual aesthetic enhances the game’s moody atmosphere and complements its themes of decay and political unrest. It looks particularly good and I would say timeless.

Exploration is rewarding; the world is filled with hidden lore, side quests, and interactive objects that deepen the story and encourage curiosity. It’s a point-and-click game for keyboard and mouse players, but the game adopts a different control scheme for controller users by letting you control character movement directly. However, the experience is quite clunky, especially the pathfinding when interacting with the environment and characters. Its point-and-click nature still shows.

The narrative of Disco Elysium is a rich, layered exploration of identity, memory, and morality set against the backdrop of a decaying post-industrial city in a fictional world or universe sprinkled with bits of both science and fantasy. As a deeply flawed detective grappling with amnesia and personal demons, you unravel a complex murder mystery that combines political intrigue, social commentary, and existential profound questions. The story is told through very dense, evocative dialogue and player-driven choices that shape your character’s personality and the world around you, creating a uniquely immersive and emotionally resonant experience that challenges players to confront both external and internal conflicts.

Due to the sheer volume of text and dialogue even in the most simplest forms of action in the game, the narrative can be overwhelming , which might not appeal to players who prefer faster-paced gameplay. This is even more evident in the original release which was only sparsely voice-acted, requiring players to read most dialogue. However, the ‘Final Cut’ now features a complete voice-over.

While the plot itself is a conventional murder mystery and not especially unique, the game’s true brilliance lies in its execution. The minute-to-minute delivery of the characters’ thoughts and dialogue elevates the simple premise into something profound and substantial. This momentum carries through until the ending, which unfortunately falls flat in my opinion (the last five minutes). Nevertheless, it remains a uniquely great experience overall.

Conclusion

Disco Elysium is a landmark RPG that challenges traditional notions of gameplay and storytelling. Its masterful writing, innovative mechanics, and distinctive art style create an unforgettable experience that will be forever etched in your memory, even as its protagonist struggles to recall his own. While its very heavy text/dialogue focus may not suit everyone, it remains a must-play for fans of narrative-rich, thought-provoking games (or novels).