Disco Elysium - The future of RPG gameplay?

Jan 13, 2020
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Disco Elysium was my GOTY, as I'm sure it was for a lot of people. I think one of my favourite things about it was its mechanics, which I've not seen before and made it feel much more in line with the old style of pen and paper RPGs.

My question is, will we see a shift towards that style over the turn-based/real time with pausing model of combat in top down/isometric RPGs? While I liked turn-based combat in the Shadowrun games I find it can be a bit of a chore, and I don't think real time with pausing has ever been fun. Will a shift away from conventional combat mechanics and skill checks breathe some new life into RPGs?
 
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SWard

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I've heard amazing things about it but not had a chance to play yet. :)

Would it be cool to combine it with the time pause mechanic of superhot? Could be super interesting, but maybe too jarring?
 
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Disco Elysium has even surpassed Planescape: Torment in terms of writing, player immersion and execution. The way it weaves the inherent meltdown that comes with facing the terrors of adult life, our political conscience and all the dirt and history we are born carrying into its detective procedural narrative, is unprecedented.

That said, I do not believe that it will have any serious impact on the industry as a whole. Its technical limitations set it apart for a very specific crowd. Yes, it's an incredible game, but you need to be prepared for the experience it offers. It's impossible to show it to a non-hardcore, non-rabid CRPG player and get any sort of reaction.

Clear GOTY 2019 and the best CRPG ever written for me, but a hell of an acquired taste.
 
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I really loved my time with Disco Elysium. I'm excited to see how ZA/UM works to improve things in the future in that engine, as I think it's ripe with possibilities.
 
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I would not go so far and say it is the future of the genre. This game is very hard to replicate. You have exceptional writers that created the game world over the course of like 10 years "before" creating a video game with it.

But what the game has shown is that you can mix things like point & click adventures with rpgs and visual novels very well "if" you care competent enough.
 

Lauren Morton

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Honestly I don't think that Disco Elysium, even despite being so praised, will be able to bend the iron will of RPGs. The approach that ZA/UM took, canning so many things that RPGs use to fill time and space with, was a huge risk. They pulled it off because the writing is just that good and the game is so densely packed with secrets and. I think MeFirst has closer to the right of it here:

But what the game has shown is that you can mix things like point & click adventures with rpgs and visual novels very well "if" you care competent enough.

If Disco Elysium will push any genre, I think it will be adventure games and visual novels. Adventure games get a lot of nostalgia love but visual novels get picked on for being not game-y enough for folks. I think Disco Elysium shows that you can trick folks into enjoying a visual novel (or a long adventure game) who otherwise wouldn't by tying in some, frankly quite lite, RPG elements.
 
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I am the only person in the universe who enjoys RTWP combat in RPGs.
I love RTWP. If it's not a 3rd person action style RPG then I really only want RTWP.

Well there you go, I suppose there really is something for everyone. I cheesed my way through Planescape Torment and vowed never again to play a game with that combat style. It's why this new generation of CRPGs has mostly passed me by, I just can't be bothered with the chore of combat.
 
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RTWP is not that bad if you only have a single or just a few characters to manage. It gets really messy and chaotic if you have to control +3 players and face even more enemies.
 
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PCG James

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Disco Elysium is too particular to signal the future of RPGs, imo. That said, I think it's going to open the floodgates for all sorts of unique settings and bespoke RPG systems. I wanna see boring, realistic settings and RPG systems applied to mundane activities. Sad Person in Modern America: The RPG.
 
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Disco Elysium was my GOTY, as I'm sure it was for a lot of people. I think one of my favourite things about it was its mechanics, which I've not seen before and made it feel much more in line with the old style of pen and paper RPGs.

My question is, will we see a shift towards that style over the turn-based/real time with pausing model of combat in top down/isometric RPGs? While I liked turn-based combat in the Shadowrun games I find it can be a bit of a chore, and I don't think real time with pausing has ever been fun. Will a shift away from conventional combat mechanics and skill checks breathe some new life into RPGs?
In terms of recent RPGs, I enjoyed Kingdom Come: Deliverance a lot more! While Disco Elysium is great, I don't think it's as timeless and legendary as Planescape: Torment, nobody touches Chris Avellone when the dude's firing on all jets.
 
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nobody touches Chris Avellone when the dude's firing on all jets.

Funny you should mention that, but even though the man's writing shaped my adolescence and fueled many a wasted student night, in recent years it feels entirely safe and cookie-cutter to me. The last sparks of greatness went into the incredible Fallout: New Vegas but in recent years he is being steadily outclassed by indie unknowns. Ilya Yanovich of 'This Is The Police' and Robert Kurvitz of "Disco Elysium' come to mind.

When you start playing it safe or copying yourself in writing, that's when the blood stops coming out on the page. That's when you know it's not as real as it can be.
 
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I hope not, because the best thing in rpgs for me is the tactical combat system.

I dont play rpgs for the story. Because you simply have an infinity of great books and movies out there to enjoy a great story.

The rpgs I play are good because of the mechanics (Pathfinder Kingmaker, Divinity Original Sin, Pillars of Eternity, Expedions: Viking, Baldur's Gate and IceWind Dale, Battle Brothers...and the list goes on).

Of course, a good story is still a necessity and I like Disco, but I hope our combat system does not go away.
 
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I just played through DE for the first time last weekend and DAMN was it ever exactly what I wanted in an RPG. I may be relatively alone in this but I feel as though "RPGs" lately have really strayed from the whole "RP" part, but DE felt so much like playing a tabletop RPG that it was hard to believe at times. I also really feel what you said here:

I just can't be bothered with the chore of combat.

That feels like it came straight out of my own mind, lol. Games with great narratives are often marred (imo) by constant, boring combat encounters that don't really matter and just exist to dish out loot and experience points. When I'm deeply engaged in roleplaying, I don't feel like pausing the story to play what feels like a second-rate real-time (or even turn-based) strategy game, and it's annoying that many video game RPGs are basically entirely built around their combat system. I hope more devs will move in this RP-focused direction in the future.

Given these frustrations I have with RPGs, I guess it's no surprise I loved DE. It's the perfect kind of game for me and we need MORE!!
 
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