this man actually worked through a splitting headache to get this video out. You are an absolute champ man.

Making failure interesting is really a big feature in this game.

The only game that actually made me too scared to pick an option.

The way Disco Elysium approaches politics is unparalleled in games honestly. It's such a beautiful, painful meditation on what it feels like to live in a place where a revolution failed. The physical scars decay of the city echo the political rot that led to their oppression, as well as the emotional turmoil wreaking havoc on your main character's mind. Disco Elysium is pure art, and one of the best games of all time. Great to see you review it.

One of the things I love most about this game is how failure isn't just a game over or a penalty to the player, it often leads to a new outcome, which could be just as interesting as if you had succeeded. Granted, I did die early on from trying to get my tie down from the fan at the start of the game so failures does sometimes result in death hehe.

"Kim truly trusts you" is one of the few times a video game made me cry a little bit

Blue tinged shades and Ibuprofen.. yup, you played Disco Elysium alright :P

if a giant not-discovered-before-spider-looking creature in the game tells u that u should get over ur ex then u probably should...

I love this game. It is funny, it's dark and ultimately, it's a *vibe*. It's disco, man. The world is so well realized, my memory of playing it feels like a memory of when I went to visit a physical place. The voice acting is so good too, the narrator (Lenval Brown) is fantastic. Kim is a legend, hardcore is life and most of all, Cuno doesn't give a fuck.

On blue light glasses, you can cancel all the blue light on Windows by kicking on "Night mode" which will turn off all the blue light from the source

Thanks for including the chapter time stamps on this video - Really helps! Great review!

One of the most significant rpg’s of the last decade imo, up there with say, baldur’s gate 2. Nowhere near as big in scale but the overall quality is off the charts both in terms of writing and gameplay, this is an rpg that feels like rpg in the word’s actual meaning

the game is ...weird, its not your typical character level progression, what i love most about what they ve done is the fact that if you level one 'ability' too much it starts to... take over your personality, all the problems you encounter, your mind tries to solve them using that ability, which is often not the correct solution! Brilliant imo! too bad you didn't like its art style, you would have enjoyed it more otherwise i think!

You've inspired me to dive back in! Thanks for the great review.

I love how the game handles all the political ideologies. Whatever you chose, game scorns you for it, either marking you a boring person, an idiot, an aggressive ape or something else. Insulting the player on purpose is something i dont think ive ever seen and i love it. UPD just wanted to say that i love artstyle and music in game very much as well. Also lore concept is very interesting to me - combining this sorry bleak reality with analogue technologies, and practically magic stuff and then MAKING it a sorry reality. Just love it

Wonderfully done, really appreciate your review. This was the motivation I needed to finish the game.

My colleagues in work officially adapted "volumetric shit compressor," as serious point of reference when doing business stuff.

I cannot believe I didn't post a comment under this review! I'm one of those mentioned by Mortismal who requested it, and this is maybe my favorite video game of all time. For sure it's the most interesting and surprising I ever played, indeed. One thing for those who still didn't play this game, who're watching this review years later: the main driving of the narrative is solving the murder case, yes. But there are at the very least a couple of "side quests" alongside the investigation proper, which are even more central to the game itself. When the whole thing, no matter what drives the things you do as a player in it, is ultimately a way through which you will discover who you are in Disco Elysium, and what actually is Disco Elysium's world itself. Thanks for your reviews and videos!

Hey mate, been following you since I think, 10k subs? Been rooting for you ever since! So proud of you and your work. You're articulate, balanced, and wholesome. I really enjoy hearing your opinions on games, and especially when it's a game I've already played!

I quit early because Cuno pissed me off. I should probably pick it up again.

Happy you liked this game, though it is far from being the standard for your average audience. Few words about the game: 1. it is much more about investigating who you are than who killed the poor man. 2. it has a way of breaking expectations of "standard" RPG players in several ways: for example, your skills can actually hurt you if you invest too much in them by taking over your thoughts and reactions. having a "special" dialog due to high skill is not allays good (but usually extreemly interesting and funny). 3. looking forward to your build guides for Disco Elysium, same as Pathfinder. Please start with the Hobo Cup and Art cup builds :) As usual, great content.

This was a review that I have been waiting for. I also had the similar thought, about the dialog system, that I would love to see it in other games. A Dune based game would probably benefit from it for example.

This is one of my favourite games for sure. Absolutely fascinating world and story.

Really great game, and great review! Would love a game with this much entertaining narrative depth, but with Divinity Original Sin style combat. Or Wasteland 3 combat. That would be epic.

I love how well you made this review, you just gained a new subscriber

it's unfortunate about the game's presentation and its effect on you, but just think of it as an element of immersion as your actual brain gets to feel like the character's brain when waking up from a crazy bender. =) great content as always and congrats on an amazing July!

One of my favorite games of all time that I hold in very high regard, because it's very close in writing prowess and narrative to my 1# which is Planescape Torment. Thank you for the review Mort!

Love your vids. Keep it up ( healthily ).

Getting Kim to cut some shapes on the dance floor, is genuinely one of the most enjoyable moments I've ever had from a video game.

Starting my first playthrough now. Starting build is a electrochemistry shivers main, with heavy focus on endurance and half light with hopes it will let me live a drug fueled psy-detective run 🍄🕵‍♂️🍺

You're absolutely right that I was only watching the video to see what you think about it, and you were very successful in burying your final recommendation until the end. Loved the video

First video from this creator I’ve seen. Worth a subscribe.

Nice one! Really loved this game even though I'm not huge fan of games centered only in narrative side. The writing in this one is so phenomenal and I only wish that I could play it again for first time as its so memorable it makes it hard to replay with same magic as first time around.

Been waiting on this!

Can't believe I missed the premier for this. The game is amazing, glad you liked it. That headache thing is weird though!

Don't know why I've been so hesitant to pick this one up. Guess I gotta give it a try now 😀... Great review brother!

Great video but it fails to answer the most pressing question; Does Cuno fucking care?

Bought it on release, full price (or with a release window sale, don't remember), and it was definitely worth it. The highlight of the past few years for me, as far as new releases go. Most of my day1 purchases have been huge disappointments lately and this fact alone makes Disco Elysium stand out for me. I finished the game over a single weekend and even shed a tear during a particularly relatable scene. Definitely goes into the "I wish I could forget everything about this game so I could play it blind again" tier.

The games isn't 100% based on the book, whilst they occur in the same world, the book takes places on a different continent (isola) and with completely different characters and plot.

Definitely the go to channel for reviews. Getting dicey out here nowadays with games on a downhill decline

Just got this on the Steam Summer Sale 2024! Thanks for introducing me to this game. Excited to try it.

Empathy: He got headaches doing this review, you should at least write a comment

One of my favorite games of all time! I didn't want to start a 'hardcore' mode right away after my 1st playthrough... but there was no voice acting back then either. In a few years, I hope I can relive that amazing adventure once again, but even better.

Great review man, thanks!

I still can’t believe how quickly you got through the game. I’m still on day 3 and I started in February.

My brother has been pushing this one on me for a while, think I’ll take a look once I’ve cleared a couple more things from the backlog

so few experiences like this that this has to be 10/10, yet so many ways to develop this genre/story/atmosphere further, hopefully other devs can jumpstart new projects based on this success and we'll see even better stuff soon

I had a lot of fun with it. I played through twice when it came out but haven't played the final cut yet. Inland Empire is one of my favorite "skills" always pretty funny

i tried going full drugged up super star on my first playthrough, but when i realised i had disappointed kim, i couldn’t carry on. kim made me a better man.

Probably my favourite game of all time. It's stuck deep in my heart and thoughts.

In terms of art direction, Disco Elyiusm is miles ahead of Borderlands. Much more refined.

I'll never not be amazed by Mortems ability to 100% all these games. Ty for your service!

The skill menu looks so horrifying.... And I got a minor headache halfway through the video.

You did it!!!!

I want to thank you first and foremost for suffering thru discomfort to play this masterpiece of gaming. Thank you for this Mortismal!

a masterpiece gets reviewed by mortismal, it's a good day

great review

Blue Light Glasses, Ibuprofen and Breaks - that's dedication Mortismal!

Great work sir! A true gamer effort =)

I just finished this recently. Absolutely love it! I started Planscape Torment a few days ago. I am loving that game as well. I'm looking forward to eventually getting around to Tides of Numenera and another game I became aware of recently that seems to be in the same vein, Gamedec. If anyone has any suggestions for other similar story-driven, dialogue-heavy games, please let me know! :)

Great vid

Citizen Sleeper uses those mechanisms to some degree, with quite good results too!

I have this game on download while watching this review and it's made me want to play it so much more now lol !!! hurry up and download already! good review thanks dude 👍

Things you would never forget? Hardcore!

I love this game. It took me a while to really get into the story, but once you get to know the different characters and their backstories it becomes totally engrossing. By the end, I was genuinely sad to leave this strange city with its decaying buildings, windswept beaches and that beautiful melancholic soundtrack. The scene at the end involving the plasmid was the cherry on the cake, it brought tears to my eyes ! An incredible experience.

you made me redownload it, i quit early just because of the high checks in the tutorial, gonna give it another chance

We waited, and you answered.

I was sat on the toilet earlier today and this game popped into my head. Now a few hours later this video is on my feed! Sorry to hear the art style didn’t agree with you as I absolutely loved it!

I think this type of game puts emphasis on the role playing in "role playing game", rather on micro managing stats for a build in an action game (which is a lot of fun too, but a different thing). I'd love to hear your thoughts later on how this story and text heavy game compares to Planescape Torment. I hope there will be more games that make failure interesting. A passed or failed check could open different unique branches in the story. For a game like this I wish there was an anti save-scumming mode, to protect people like me, from ourselves. It could maybe hide the dice rolls, and make it unknown (unless obvious) if I passed a check or didn't, one save per character with autosave only, and maybe the thoughts in thought cabinet shouldn't be actively internalized, but rather "forced" upon you, depending on the events you do to trigger their availability. Since one can't anticipate their positive/negative effects (unless looking up on the Internet), one gets apprehensive of choosing a thought to internalize, and spends points on skills instead, which is a shame. Maybe also somewhat less of hauling crazy wardrobes for stat bonuses. Maybe one could even hide stat bonuses, and let the player guess, or a even some of the skills hint at, a reasonable outfit for a particular task.

I never made it past the first day or so, just couldnt get into it. I need to go back and give it another shot someday.

Oh, you forgot about your trusty tertiary companion - talking (if you awaken it) Horrific Necktie!

Having a constant headache would actually kinda put you in character for Harry though.

You could have made the video twice as long! really enjoyed this one

Disco Elysium is a niche masterpiece, but it is just as niche as it is masterful. Some people just won't get it and that's okay.

Never played this type of game, but this one intrigues me. May have to pick it up

Something I noticed now for the first time, and I don't think I've heard anyone mention before, is how there is one wall with the same pattern as the floor in The Shining. It's a very distinct pattern so it is likely intentional. I assume it has something to do with madness. Before I ever played the game or knew anything about it the art style of the opening menu made me think of Van Gogh, causing me to guess that madness is a theme in the game, which is stort of accurate actually.

This is exactly what I've been waiting for, this is exactly and I don't mean to sound to like Katt Williams, but this is exactly what I've been waiting for.....

I like how you can put the dead guy on the fridge on my 3rd playthrough, still finding new combinations/things to finish the whole game

You can also choose to spend a skill point to forget a thought youve internalized

You should review Geneforge mutagen

I saw you playing yesterday! I was wondering how you liked it!

I got to Day 9 on my playthrough but I only did because I made a lot of mistakes early on and right at the end. Basically I made a "custom class" that soft locked me of a lot of stuff that would have made the game go much faster (like getting into the docks) and I didn't fix it with the level ups, so it took me 6 days to find Ruby. And when I did, due to some mistakes I was very low in health and had no health items (I didn't buy any at that point and I called Dora so much I was nearly dead when I found Ruby) so I was basically forced to leave because I couldn't get through that encounter the way I was. And because I left and the ending seemed near I decided to do as much as I could before facing Ruby, which ultimately lead me to getting into the docks that night and finally getting the dead body down early in day 7 (which makes Kim leave so I couldn't/didn't want to face Ruby without him). Although to be honest this was for the best because those two extra days helped me finally find my gun, which seemed kind of important during the shootout and the final portion of the game, and I ended up getting the best ending.

Bout to play this on my deck. Seems like a game thats perfect for it. Specially since theree VA now

I played with high Physique and it was amazing. My signature skill was Shivers because it gives you so much extra info about the city and what going on in wider world. Rest I put to motoric and Psyche. I had no regrets playing this way. Your skills sometimes even mislead you or contradict each other so you have to think and chose accordingly. This game is really great roleplaying experience. I've built my character like I would like to be myself. And the game is so well written it let's you actually do that. I was blown away. Of course there's linearity but on your first playthrough it's not so obvious. I would wholeheartedly recommend this to anybody who loves roleplaying.

100% a game while battling a headache during? I salute you. May YOU wander in wisdom and have an amazing day

Yes, you are right, the game is awesome, we already played it and we just want to hear your opinion. Hopefully their next game is one that doesn't give you headaches.

Hardcore, yeaaaahhh!

High points into Inland Empire makes for a very different experience; much more Lynchian/Twin Peaks surreal vibe.

A game where i died when failing the first ever check: a game to my taste! I'll have to dive again in the title to finish it, but i had a blast when playing it.

Is there a term for this headache from video game art style condition? I’m extremely curious about this and didn’t find anything in a quick Google search.

You low-key sound like you were underwhelmed by the game. I absolutely loved it and it's the best game I've ever played.

I do love the voice acting in game, I'm just terrified of the cost that comes with for an indie studio like this.

I finished on day 8. I think there were two days when I had absolutely nothing to do but wait for Kim to come back, so I read books and waited on benches.

I didn't have a problem with politics as they didn't come across preachy and one sided where I felt I was getting a lecture. The world is really messed up and a large part of that involves politics. This is reflected in real life as much as it is in the game. There were quite a few times the subject matter hit close to home where I was thinking it was sorta creepy though.

One of the best games I've ever experienced

I loved the game. I got it when the voice acting wasn't complete, finished the game, got the Final Cut, and played through again. I want to try Hardcore mode. Also the writers loved the band Scooter. It's why one of the characters is named Call Me Manana, and Egghead talks like HP Baxxter (lead singer of Scooter) It is a very unique role playing experience.

I like how these absolutely extreme political parodies manage to make a world that is so cohesive and well built. The world building also leaves a huge window for more games in this universe. Loved it.

*Make failure interesting* First playthrough, dies by trying to grab a tie from the fan in 5 min Second playthrough, dies by turning on the light in 5 min

i had to actually spend a lot of time reading freaking cockatoo book :) (cuz of the freezer melting situation) that was frustrating. I finished all the side missions, i reloaded game when i failed the white checks, eventually hitting good rng. because otherwise i have to read books again to pass the time. Yeah so time management was bad in this game, it needed a witcher 3 type clock. i liked the game and recommend it, game really opens up after day 3 so be patient and go thru with it. My fav missions were around the old church. I think physique is the least fun and useless section. Motorics are important in very dire situations. My fav skills are empathy, rhetoric, volition, authority. Don't forget to change your clothes to get through your checks.

In my second playthrough I was able to softblock myself quite early in the game. I had a single morale / volition point and I was able to jump to grab my jacket on top of Cunos shack. After that only way forward was to talk to Evrart which drained at least 2 morale points before you get the key from him to return back to docks. Of course if I had more magnesium, I would have survived this block but in my case I didn't have any.