Disco Elysium is a game I love wholeheartedly. From its artistic design to its grim and grounded, yet whack and witty writing. Every moment in that world has gripped me in a way that nothing else has before.
Despite this, – and I’m ashamed to admit it, – I’ve never actually finished the game. But there is something to be said of the kind of magic that, without having the chance to reveal itself, lingers. Like a sweet and longing aftertaste. Like a craving you can’t place.
Disco Elysium is able to masterfully capture the absurdity of complex topics, like addiction, and explore the contrast between the internal and external world. There is a quest where your necktie begs you buy formaldehyde from a random man in a gutter, insisting that this is your endgame, this is everything you’ve ever worked towards.
Following the cancellation of the proposed Disco Elysium 2, a new studio believes it can. Formed from a number of former ZA/UM developers, as well as talent from Brave At Night, Bungie and Rockstar, Longdue has tasked itself with the overwhelming challenge of filling the shoes of the cancelled Disco Elysium sequel.
The unnamed cRPG looks to be a spiritual successor, leaning into many of the same, complex elements that the first explored. A teased ‘psychogeographic’ mechanic aims to allow for decisions to make an impact both on the world, and the characters within it.
However, I’m skeptical. This kind of talk around choice in video games is nothing new. The idea of a narrative which rewards player decision making is something that games have promised for decades now. While many do provide something to that effect, those that over emphasize this feature often rob players of the uncertainty of their action, the mystique.
Like a trace of vapor you exhale one spring morning as a child.
– Shivers, Disco Elysium
A meaningful choice is one that I don’t, or can’t know the outcome of. A decision which leaves you with doubt. Resident Evil 4 is not a game often associated with choices, but players are constantly asked to make them: how to organize their inventory, whether to use a knife or fire a bullet, or if it’s worth spending money on a weapon you’re unfamiliar with, or doubling down on ol’ faithful.
This problem is why I’m skeptical of this promise. Not because I don’t believe the team can deliver it, but because I worry for the kind of decision making Longdue plans to implement.
Much of the beauty of Disco Elysium is found in the tension of complex conversations with people who know more than you, who are stronger than you and who threaten you.
When speaking with Evart Claire, the head of the union, ‘choice’ becomes more about where your priorities lie than if you’re doing the right or wrong thing.
The union has made it clear they don’t like you being there, and yet Claire’s words are friendly and welcoming. So the conversation carries with it an unshakable tension. Where will this go? You’re one wrong move away from something very serious. And the chair you’re sitting on is literally trying to kill you. It’s the little choices made under tension that feel like they matter.
But what may be much even hard to overcome is the scale of the mountain that Longdue plans to climb. Following the disappointment of the cancelled Disco Elysium sequel, fan expectations are high. What’s more, the lead Designer and Writer, Robert Kurvitz and Artist, Aleksander Rostov will not be involved. These were people at the very core of Disco Elysium.
The game is not just a game, something that someone one day sat down and decided to make. It is an adaptation of a TTRPG game. A game steeped in personal experience. A crumbling world brought to life by artistic direction unlike any other. It is an exploration of the complex relationship victims have with idealist beliefs.
As such, Longdue has issued itself a challenge. To create a spiritual successor to, not just a game, but a story built over a lifetime feels insurmountable.
My hope is that the team has fun with it. I hope Longdue ignores audience expectations. I hope it lets the freak flag fly and offers something as bold and unique as Disco Elysium; to run as far in the opposite direction as possible and show us what strange lightning crashes on other planets.
I really hope that this game succeeds and I wish the team the best of luck in creating something incredible. But what do you think? Am I being too harsh on an up and coming studio? Will fans ever be satisfied by these kinds of games? Let us know down below in the comments.
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