Disco Elysium
2019 · ZA/UM · 30h to beat · our rating 91
Has it aged?Why ↓
Your skills are characters. They interrupt you, lie to you, and talk you into terrible decisions. Nothing else in the medium is written anywhere near this well.
Disco Elysium - The Final Cut is a groundbreaking role playing game. You’re a detective with a unique skill system at your disposal and a whole city to carve your path across. Interrogate unforgettable characters, crack murders or take bribes. Become a hero or an absolute disaster of a human being.
The publisher’s description, from its Steam store page.
What it looks like
the trailer, then the store's own shots
The verdict
The best-written game there is, and it is not especially close. Your twenty-four skills are separate voices with their own agendas, so failing a check is usually more interesting than passing one. The Final Cut adds full voice acting and is the version to buy.
by the editor91our score
Play it if
Readers. People who would happily spend an hour on a conversation, and who find a character study more compelling than a combat encounter.
Skip it if
Anyone who wants action — there is none, at all. It is also genuinely bleak, and does not offer a redemptive ending to make the bleakness comfortable.
Common questions
- Is there combat in Disco Elysium?
- No. Every confrontation resolves through dialogue and skill checks. The only dice you roll are conversational.
- Which version should I buy?
- The Final Cut. It is the complete edition with full voice acting and extra political vision quests, and it is what every store sells now.
- Can you fail Disco Elysium?
- You can die, yes — including in ways that are almost entirely conversational. But failure is usually the better story, and the game is built expecting it.
What everyone else said
we link, we don't reprint- Eurogamer3/5
Malindy Hetfeld
- Rock Paper Shotgun
Disco Elysium is an RPG, a flawed masterpiece, and worthy of sitting alongside the Planescapes and Fallouts that inspired it. Read our review.
Alice Bell
Has it aged?
How does it hold up today? Based on recent reviews, how opinions have changed since launch, player activity and updates.
% positive each month, last 4 years.
Reviews via Steam ↗Peak: 3.3k in Jul 2024.
Player counts via SteamCharts ↗A little less liked than at launch, but still well liked.
Updated within the last year, so still looked after.