Since "Disco Elysium" is like a book, here are some recommendations: The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon, Perdido Street Station by China Mieville, Journey to the End of the Night by Louis-Ferdinand Céline and Raw Material by Jörg Fauser
Yeah Norco was brilliant, especially as a native to Louisiana, who spent time in BR, New Orleans, and Port Allen, you really can feel that the creators know what its like here, the way industry has hollowed out our home.
Playing it right now, after finishing Disco Elysium, actually. I've seen hbomberguy's video on Pathologic 1 and I just couldn't resist. Do you have any tips for my first playthrough? I'm just at the start of day 2 and it feels reasonably easy for now. (Aside from almost getting beat up to death two times and near starving at the end of the day.)
great to see china miéville being mentioned! When I played Disco Elysium for the first time I couldn't think of anything that was as similar as the city and the city, but I'd never heard anyone else make that same comparison before
I finished City and the City not too long after I finished this video, I was a *bit* disappointed with the book in the end. I don't know, I think it just got a bit over hyped by people who recommended it to me. I still really dig his writing and will check out more of his work though.
You could also watch the films Half light and Inland Empire, after which the in game skills were named... ...however many times it takes to understand a tenth of the plot
@@johannesdalseg5893 okay youre not smart enough to understand that what is described in the game as planned obsolescence is not what planned obsolescence is. thats ok be unbothered i guess
@@ash-k8c8h Planned obsolescence is not one thing with a singular straightforward definition that every company sticks to in irl either. In the game its just meant a meaningless term to act as a front for the shackling of the sleepers.
Being intentionally designed to break down, and being dependent on the company for fixes. Why doesn't that fit the definition/what definition are you guys working with?
Torment: Tides of numenera is also very good, incredible story, amnesia plot, many secrets to discover, and i think the best part is how incredible the world is, one of the last cities we visit is literally a stomach of a giant creature travelling through cosmos, inhabited by poor people who eat what he eats.
Well said. That game got a bad rap for presenting itself as a successor to Planescape: Torment while not being as good, but it absolutely rules. One of the craziest and richest settings you'll ever see in a video game.
Felvidek is a weird yet beautiful slovakian fever dream that is somehow very similiar to Disco Elysium (the protagonist is an alcoholic knight with a grin on his face and a woman who left him)
Planescape Torment is truly an incredible game, but just like Disco Elysium, most people nowadays are too brainf*cked to push through lines of dialogue. READING is too much of a task for the modern consumer.
To be fair, Planescape Torment has gameplay that kinda lives up to the game's name. I was living from text to text and suffering though the bits of fighting in-between.
I think if you like Disco you would find Roadwarden interesting. I really enjoyed the dark fantasy setting and the game has some really good writing as well as music to help immerse yourself into its world
id recommend the pathologic games as its kinda similar, you arrive in an unknown world reflecting our own as you try and decipher what is happening, covering some similar themes. One of the most profound experiences ever
There's a game named Sovereign Syndicate which released rather recently. I haven't played it yet, but it looks like a 1 to 1 copy of Disco Elysium, in a fantasy setting. I think they even use the same engine.
Played it recently, it's alright but definitely not on the same level as DE. It's essentially built on the same mechanics and puts the same emphasis on storytelling, but the writing and gameplay are far from being as deep, and it feels like a proof of concept more than anything else. It also doesn't look as good. Still solid though, the devs behind it are clearly talented, I would ultimately recommend it.
The first thing that comes to my mind when i hear "Disco Elysium-like game" is "Pathalogic 2". It has no similar mechanics with disco, it has very hard survival gameplay, but it feels like a book, but in the game, just like disco elysium. Maybe i didn't express my opinion clearly, but if tou play it you'll understand
i agree! it's the only game that scratched the same itch as disco elysium and, imo, is a better and more impactful game at least for me. definitely my favorite game of all time.
although it's in a completely different artstyle, i highly recommend pentiment! partly an early renaissance detective story, but an entirely different narrative and probably one of my favorites next to DE itself, lol.
I’m actually getting Sacred and Terrible Air printed by a company called Lulu. I can’t wait to read it. I’ve heard it gives off Blood Meridian vibes in the reading style same with house of leaves
Same. I played Citizen Sleeper and Pentiment after Disco Elysium. The first one is nice, but it is a very condensed experience that while good just doesn't reach the level of genius and complexity that DE has. Curiously enough, Pentiment is closer to what I expected DE to be before I played it. It gave me the kind of experience I thought I would have only to realize that DE blew it out of the water so hard it unfortunately caused Pentiment to feel mediocre in comparison. There's also the issue that (MILD SPOILERS) the systems in Pentiment feel a bit barebones and lacking. The story's resolution feels like it detracts from your actions taken throughout the game, since now that you know the answer, you can't help but feel like the game is holding you back to reach the right answer when it's just within reach. Like the game is at odds with its narrative. I'm currently watching a few people playing DE, and it's amazing to see how deep the thought process was behind the game, with not only the ramifications but deep exploration of the character's psyche, and it's all so tightly tied together. DE truly is a pretty much perfect game. And yeah, Joaquin Phoenix as HDB would be so good!
Also played Citizen Sleeper and Pentiment after DE, and while i really liked them both, no game has ever made me cry as much as Pentiment did. Disco is still my #1 though. Just really appreciate their qualities on their own
@@supertavio2 I enjoyed pentiment, but it does make me resent it a bit after DE because in the end the story does feel like it is about solving the crime, and not only that, it forces you to make a bad choice at every step of the mystery, which kind of sours the experience once you've already played it once. That is something that I believe DE managed to make so much better. I don't have much of an intention on playing Pentiment again, but I do feel like making a third run on DE, because the experience does feel like it matters and is much different with different builds. It also helps it greatly that the experience is fully voiced. I cannot hold that as a negative against Pentiment, but I will hold it as a positive for DE every single day.
Planescape: Torment is so much an inspiration for Disco Elysium that you may as well call Disco Elysium "Planescape:Alcoholism". DE is to PT like an amazing cover of massively influential piece of music, done in an unexpected style, but somehow even truer to the original intent than the towering classic itself was. Two recommendations to plug the void up with: The game A Night in the Woods. Another tale of a struggling, dysfunctional bag of wasted potential in a crumbling, bitter-sweet post-industrial ruin, except in the states. I came to think of it as pretty much a companion piece to DE of sorts. The Rolling Stones album Sticky Fingers. Things like Sway, Sister Morphine, and, honestly, most of the damned thing, are moreso the soundtrack to DE than the soundtrack to DE is.
Oh yeah, Night in the Woods really fucked me up. It's not as horribly dark, of course, but it hit much closer to home with its themes. Weird, I didn't even think about that game while playing DE, but now that you mention it, yeah, it made me feel as hollow as parts of Raphael's journey at certain points. I can't really think of anything else that comes close to evoking those emotions. Maybe "Longing" in Planescape, if you know you know.
@@ninjatoriumnova2483 They are remarkably simmilar in many ways. Both are moreso novels than games. Both have serious True Detective S1 vibes (Night even moreso). Both have massively dysfunctional and scarred protagonists who lost their minds facing a deeply uncaring and malevolent universe (read: Capitalism). Both games have the whole 'once a nice, hopeful, proud, exemplary place crumbling and decaying all around them' as a setting, whith both seemingly infulenced by the Wire S2 (DE more overtly). Both have an emo soundtrack that punches way above what you'd think the weight of the gere even is. And so on and so forth. Oh, and, IMO Night is actually the darker of the two, it's just done in a less grotesque visual style. I'm East European, DE is 'documentary' to me in the same way tha Night would be to an American. Hell I grew up in the port-adjecent working class neighbourhood, in the nineties, of a town that was literraly 'the other end of Baltimoore, across the pond'. So Marinaise gave me PTSD flashbacks. But Night hit me harder because it's actually even bleaker and more depressing.
This is a good video, thought you'd have more subscribers. I think this will be a big channel in YT especially if the creator chooses to talk about media in general and not only videogames
Hey thank you! Appreciate your thoughts on this. This is actually a new channel of mine where I'm experimenting with gaming content, I have another channel that is mainly film/TV/docu style stuff.
I personally have been obsessing over Slay the Princess recently, which has a similar vibe with voices in your mind arguing with each other over the proper course of action for your character.
Pretty decent list! Id also recommend the Pathologic games and Vampire the masquerade bloodlines writing wise, also The Age of Decadence to some degree. I wouldnt say combat isnt prominently featured in PS:T the game is still pretty combat heavy, it just takes a secondary role to the story.
Try Papers Please and Return of the Obra Dinn. Both great games, both philosophically driven, in the latter game you are also a detective who is trying to solve the mystery of a ship that has somehow returned to shore but with all the crew members dead. What happened on this ship? and their both also from the same guy. I would love to hear your thoughts on them.
Couldn’t leave without suggesting Stasis: Bone Totem. It’s got a unique vibe that captures spiritually the magnetic draw that Disco Elysium has. More people have got to discover this game!
I find it quite interesting how you said you didn't like Inherent Vice as much as other PTA films. I suggest you watch it again because it actually has a lot in common with Disco. Like Disco Elysium, it's a work about the struggle of coming to terms with the failure of a grand ideal (in Disco Elysium's case communism and the class revolution, in Inherent Vice's case the hippie and pacifist ideals of the 60's). In both works one of the main ways to represent this struggle is through the protagonist's consuming nostalgia and inability to let go of their love interest. Disco Elysium is a tad more explicit in this, because there is a direct superposition of Dolores Dei with Harry's ex wife. But Shasta has a very similar role in Inherent Vice: the end of her relationship with Doc coincides with the turn of the decade and the sunset of hippie ideals. More importantly, she leaves him for a rich estate builder, so this very powerfully represents the transition from the hippie inordinate and laid back lifestyle to the hedonistic and materialistic attitude of modern capitalism. I think the main difference between the two plots is that disco Elysium ties up all of its threads, surreal or weird as they may be, in a very coherent and conclusive ending. Inherent Vice leaves most of them open and unresolved by choice, Doc stumbles on useful things almost by accident but he, as us the spectators, never manages to paint the full picture of the mess that he's gotten into. But I disagree that this makes the film weaker or all over the place, it's a different way of conveying similar atmospheres and concepts and I find it beautiful in its own way.
The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans by Werner Herzog also gave me Disco Elysium vibes more so if you imagined what Harry du bois life before losing is memory might have been. He has...interesting methods...
The next narrative-based game that I was able to enjoy after finishing Disco Elysium was Divinity 2 The original sin. It has lass in common in terms of setting and style, but is also very well-written and the gameplay was so much fun
Haven't seen the movie, but you might find Inherent Vice to be much more agreeable as a novel. The structure of the plot is such that it keeps moving away from being resolved or making sense, getting wrapped up in conspiracies left and right, probably a difficult thing to capture in a time limited format.
I absolutely love Inherent Vice, my favorite PTA film. I do think it’a great, almost purposly keeps the story from you, I think its Edgar Wright that said it should be called Inherent Twice because tou have to watch it twice to get what even happened in the story lmao. Great video dude
@@Thatguydes94 it’s certainly not for everyone lmao. I just really like the whole aesthetic, and Joaquin Phoenix’s performance. Maybe the story comes out a little clearer in the book by Thomas Pynchon. But I think I’ve watched it enough times to get the story from the movie lmao.
I'd also like to add Pulp by Charles Bukowski. With the main character being a depressed alcoholic private investigator past his prime trying to solve clients cases around LA in the 90s, it's on the verge of supernatural and bizarre at times. Really funny dialogue also.
I'm reading the comic Diomedes Trilogy by Lourenço de Mutarelli. It's one of the best Brazilian comic books ever made, in 2000. Don't know if it has translation to english but it's a great parallel to a decaying policeman facing some odd investigations, passing by philosophy, humor and the decaying of society.
Not exactly a match, but "the return of the obra dinn" is an amazing game with a cool art style where you're a insurance agent trying to figure out what happened to an entire ships crew. I felt empty when I finished it because it was so good. Disco Elysium hasn't quite filled the spot it left, but it's amazing
for fantasy casting a live action adaptation id pull hard for james mcavoy as harry, purely based on him being 10/10 in Filth already portraying a drug and drink addled detective going through an identity crisis (i highly recommend it to anyone that enjoys disco elysium as another honorable mention tbf, can be a bit dark but plenty of similarly black as coal humour in it)
@Dmond94 Tkanks for the reccomendation of Kentucky Route Zero, downloading it now) About other recommendations you are mention - they are all great and feels like Disco, but sadly I already seen or played them all. My personal Disco recommendation for you - try games from russina game design studio Ice Pick Lodge - Pathologic Classic HD or Pathologic 2 (basically remake of the Pathologic made 15 years later). It will give your truly unique expirience, it's on the same level of greatness as Disco or Planescape Torment. Same insane level of details of the world, etehrworltly music, exseptioanl story. And somehow its very similar to Disco or Planescape in my mind. Maybe because of personal scope of the story in each of these games and unique settings where fantasy worlds connects with the real world in a very special way.
if you want to see a live action movie similar to Disco Elysium, watch Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (director Werner Herzog, 2009) Nicolas Cage as Harrier Du Bois
@@herecomeseveryone7562 Yes, and as an European I can tell you Revachol and Oranje are like a wierdly warped ex-soviet France and BeNeLux respectively.
Oh to me Revachol is def post Soviet Eastern Europe and the Coalition feels very similar to the EU. The authors of Disco Elysium are from Estonia and they potrayed the world in a more exaggerated way than it is but these are definitely the same vibes you have when living in Eastern Europe: failed revoultions -> "European values"(which involve a lot of bueraucracy) + corrupt local politicians + big industry lobbies + poor and hopeless citizens
Here's my list of games that don't feel hollow after Disco Elysium: BG3, planescape torment, tyranny, Age of Decadence, KOTOR 1 and especially 2, Dragon age origin, fallout 2 and NV, Life and suffering of sir Brante. All these games are similar either to a complex system of dialogues, or a complex role-playing system, or an atmosphere of alcoholic depression. You can include a stalker in the list of the latter.
I especially want to highlight KOTOR 2 with mods for content restoration, Age of Decadence and Life and suffering of sir Brante. These are extremely text-oriented games - the last one is interactive book, they have a very thick atmosphere of depression and a world on the edge of the apocalypse, these are games with their own philosophy and can give a some food for thought, and they have a lot of interesting characters.
Weirdly enough--thinking on it--I think Half-Life 2 is pretty comparable in its setting. A city that's like a collage of European influences with sci-fi elements (although Disco's are a lot lighter). It's even got a similar "hope in a desolate, depressing place" thing going on.
If you loved Disco Elysium, please give Umineko When The Cry a go. It’s more of a novel than a video game but it’s a narrative masterpiece that the creator put heart and soul into creating, like Disco, and I truly believe you’ll enjoy it 🙏
This one may not be for all of you, but 13 Sentinels is an excellent game. I will warn you that it is very much a weeb game, but it is the only game besides Disco Elysium I've ever played that felt this special. It isn't even all that similar, but it weirdly does scratch the same itch.
Garte started talking about Disco Elysium and thought no one would notice 💀💀💀
Garte with no squidward energy
I literally recommend Twin Peaks to everyone.
same stoner. same.
twin peaks in my favorite piece of media i have ever consumed and nothing has filled the hole in my heart twin peaks created better than disco.
Starting positions.
I literally hate it.
That's the best TV show I've ever watched
Since "Disco Elysium" is like a book, here are some recommendations: The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon, Perdido Street Station by China Mieville, Journey to the End of the Night by Louis-Ferdinand Céline and Raw Material by Jörg Fauser
Those are some great reccomendations. Thanks a lot man.
Oh man perdido street Station was soooo good. I need to get another copy
I second Perdido Street
Perdido Street station, Scar and Iron Council are peak of modern fantastic literature.
I can recommend Norco. It's a game with a really interesting story and a nice artstyle.
I played the demo for it a bit and it is indeed reminiscent of Disco Elysium in some ways
norco deserves more love. tremendous tonesetting and writing. accurate factually to the area as well
the weirdest and most distrubing game i've played so far...in a good way
Yeah Norco was brilliant, especially as a native to Louisiana, who spent time in BR, New Orleans, and Port Allen, you really can feel that the creators know what its like here, the way industry has hollowed out our home.
Pathologic 2. You are welcome or I am sorry, depending on how bad it hits you.
I've heard good things... I'm scared...
Pathologic is as if Dostoevsky made a video game.
Seconded
Playing it right now, after finishing Disco Elysium, actually. I've seen hbomberguy's video on Pathologic 1 and I just couldn't resist.
Do you have any tips for my first playthrough? I'm just at the start of day 2 and it feels reasonably easy for now. (Aside from almost getting beat up to death two times and near starving at the end of the day.)
Shutter Island is also a big inspiration for Disco Elysium, great detective thriller
Shutter Island is so slept on. Such an amazing film.
You’ll love what Shutter Island is based on - Memento, originally a novel by Chris Nolan’s brother
Ha, funny, for me it was the other way around.
Planescape Torment left an itch i could'nt scratch - until i found Disco Elysium.
Same, I tkink that;s because Disco Elysium is real spiritual sucessor of Planescape Torment.
Glad you mentioned Sea Power in the video. This band is my favorite band and they wrote music for one of my favorite games.
Damn right dude. They legit set the scene so well with their music. It wouldn't be the same game without it.
Sea Power became my favorite after I played Disco
great to see china miéville being mentioned! When I played Disco Elysium for the first time I couldn't think of anything that was as similar as the city and the city, but I'd never heard anyone else make that same comparison before
I finished City and the City not too long after I finished this video, I was a *bit* disappointed with the book in the end. I don't know, I think it just got a bit over hyped by people who recommended it to me. I still really dig his writing and will check out more of his work though.
You could also watch the films Half light and Inland Empire, after which the in game skills were named...
...however many times it takes to understand a tenth of the plot
I've recently watched Inland Empire, and the screamer at the end killed me. :(
Half Light with Demi Moore?
@@psibrunojusto yes.
Citizen Sleeper also scratched this itch for me as it also has this kind of broken society, but with many warm, human characters.
citizen sleeper misusing the idea of "planned obsolescence" made me quit it real quick lmao
@@ash-k8c8h i don't see how so? Also I don't know why that would ruin it for you?
@@johannesdalseg5893 okay youre not smart enough to understand that what is described in the game as planned obsolescence is not what planned obsolescence is. thats ok be unbothered i guess
@@ash-k8c8h Planned obsolescence is not one thing with a singular straightforward definition that every company sticks to in irl either. In the game its just meant a meaningless term to act as a front for the shackling of the sleepers.
Being intentionally designed to break down, and being dependent on the company for fixes. Why doesn't that fit the definition/what definition are you guys working with?
Other games that can give you the feels:
-Roadwarden
-Citizen Sleeper
-Pentiment
-Outer Wilds
True detective season 1 was so fcking good
So good
Torment: Tides of numenera is also very good, incredible story, amnesia plot, many secrets to discover, and i think the best part is how incredible the world is, one of the last cities we visit is literally a stomach of a giant creature travelling through cosmos, inhabited by poor people who eat what he eats.
Well said. That game got a bad rap for presenting itself as a successor to Planescape: Torment while not being as good, but it absolutely rules. One of the craziest and richest settings you'll ever see in a video game.
Miéville's "Kraken" is highly recommended too
Felvidek is a weird yet beautiful slovakian fever dream that is somehow very similiar to Disco Elysium (the protagonist is an alcoholic knight with a grin on his face and a woman who left him)
It may have been a rhetorical question but my vote goes to Nicolas Cage to play Harry.
RIGHT HERE ON THE SEA ICE?!
Nicolas Cage would be a very interesting choice, but I stand by Joaquin Phoenix. He has the better acting chops IMO
check out Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
Bad Lieutenant is a frequently recommended movie in this context.
@@Thatguydes94I wouldn't say he has finer acting chops than cage but cage's style of acting wouldn't fit the role
@@Thatguydes94 I think Clive Owen would be a good choice as well.
Citizen Sleeper is underrated.
i recommend Esoteric Ebb, best Disco-like game so far
Tails: Noir is a great narrative detective game
Planescape Torment is truly an incredible game, but just like Disco Elysium, most people nowadays are too brainf*cked to push through lines of dialogue. READING is too much of a task for the modern consumer.
Yeah but personally i think if the game was remastered with the same story, just a little bit polished, it could be the most amazing game ever.
To be fair, Planescape Torment has gameplay that kinda lives up to the game's name. I was living from text to text and suffering though the bits of fighting in-between.
@@loquens5060 the game is 25 years old, of course you don't like the gameplay, also, that was the fucking point tbh, lore over combat.
@@lorddante571 there are 25 year old games with much more enjoyable combat
@@loquens5060 ok name 5.
I think if you like Disco you would find Roadwarden interesting. I really enjoyed the dark fantasy setting and the game has some really good writing as well as music to help immerse yourself into its world
fantastic game and great recommandation for DE fans, but not really dark fantasy, just classical fantasy medieval world fused with materialism
*infused
Great video, I’ve had planescape on my backlog for years, so now is the time to dive in.
Thanks man. It's great dude, you can play it on the Switch now as well.
"The nice guys" is a really great and fun movie set in the 70's with a similarly pathetic but loveable detective lead
If you liked The Nice Guys I suggest checking out Seven Psychopaths.
amazing video, think i will start True Detective rn, thanks!!
Thank you! Aw I hope you enjoy it, season 1 is real special
Welcome to post disco depression, and many people think it's a myth.
id recommend the pathologic games as its kinda similar, you arrive in an unknown world reflecting our own as you try and decipher what is happening, covering some similar themes. One of the most profound experiences ever
There's a game named Sovereign Syndicate which released rather recently. I haven't played it yet, but it looks like a 1 to 1 copy of Disco Elysium, in a fantasy setting. I think they even use the same engine.
Played it recently, it's alright but definitely not on the same level as DE. It's essentially built on the same mechanics and puts the same emphasis on storytelling, but the writing and gameplay are far from being as deep, and it feels like a proof of concept more than anything else. It also doesn't look as good.
Still solid though, the devs behind it are clearly talented, I would ultimately recommend it.
The first thing that comes to my mind when i hear "Disco Elysium-like game" is "Pathalogic 2". It has no similar mechanics with disco, it has very hard survival gameplay, but it feels like a book, but in the game, just like disco elysium. Maybe i didn't express my opinion clearly, but if tou play it you'll understand
I confirm. It is so story heavy (in a literature kind of way) that shares the "animated novel" feeling of Disco
"Don't catch the fucking plague, idiot"
i agree! it's the only game that scratched the same itch as disco elysium and, imo, is a better and more impactful game at least for me. definitely my favorite game of all time.
Just read books by Thomas Pynchon (the author of inherent vice)!! Start with the crying of lot 49 or V as a taster then onto the rest.
although it's in a completely different artstyle, i highly recommend pentiment! partly an early renaissance detective story, but an entirely different narrative and probably one of my favorites next to DE itself, lol.
I’m actually getting Sacred and Terrible Air printed by a company called Lulu. I can’t wait to read it. I’ve heard it gives off Blood Meridian vibes in the reading style same with house of leaves
Dude you have great taste. House of Leaves shook me.
@@Thatguydes94 I still have no clue how I was able to understand it. Definitely reinstated my love for modern fiction
Disco Elysium for Europe is what True Detective is for America
You're gonna blow up man. This is high concept stuff.
Hey thanks man! Appreciate the kind words ☀️
5:34 - Just Jean rambling about some other case while a bored and sober Harry notices a closed bottle of bourbon waiting for be open
I can recommend the film "Naked" by Mike Leigh from 1993. A real gem of a film
Looking for something weird, avant-garde, refreshing and deep? Pathologic, though thats the kind of thing you play if you enjoy self-torture.
The movie Bad Lieutenant is really similar to disco Elysium, i really recommend it
Great vid mate!
Thank you!!
Same. I played Citizen Sleeper and Pentiment after Disco Elysium. The first one is nice, but it is a very condensed experience that while good just doesn't reach the level of genius and complexity that DE has.
Curiously enough, Pentiment is closer to what I expected DE to be before I played it. It gave me the kind of experience I thought I would have only to realize that DE blew it out of the water so hard it unfortunately caused Pentiment to feel mediocre in comparison. There's also the issue that (MILD SPOILERS) the systems in Pentiment feel a bit barebones and lacking. The story's resolution feels like it detracts from your actions taken throughout the game, since now that you know the answer, you can't help but feel like the game is holding you back to reach the right answer when it's just within reach. Like the game is at odds with its narrative.
I'm currently watching a few people playing DE, and it's amazing to see how deep the thought process was behind the game, with not only the ramifications but deep exploration of the character's psyche, and it's all so tightly tied together. DE truly is a pretty much perfect game.
And yeah, Joaquin Phoenix as HDB would be so good!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts dude!
I'm midway through a playthrough of Pentiment right now, and kind of agree with you. It's VERY good though.
Also played Citizen Sleeper and Pentiment after DE, and while i really liked them both, no game has ever made me cry as much as Pentiment did. Disco is still my #1 though. Just really appreciate their qualities on their own
@@supertavio2 I enjoyed pentiment, but it does make me resent it a bit after DE because in the end the story does feel like it is about solving the crime, and not only that, it forces you to make a bad choice at every step of the mystery, which kind of sours the experience once you've already played it once. That is something that I believe DE managed to make so much better. I don't have much of an intention on playing Pentiment again, but I do feel like making a third run on DE, because the experience does feel like it matters and is much different with different builds. It also helps it greatly that the experience is fully voiced. I cannot hold that as a negative against Pentiment, but I will hold it as a positive for DE every single day.
I would recommend LA Noire. It's not much of an RPG, but has a very similar atmosphere and a really good soundtrack
Planescape: Torment is so much an inspiration for Disco Elysium that you may as well call Disco Elysium "Planescape:Alcoholism". DE is to PT like an amazing cover of massively influential piece of music, done in an unexpected style, but somehow even truer to the original intent than the towering classic itself was.
Two recommendations to plug the void up with:
The game A Night in the Woods. Another tale of a struggling, dysfunctional bag of wasted potential in a crumbling, bitter-sweet post-industrial ruin, except in the states. I came to think of it as pretty much a companion piece to DE of sorts.
The Rolling Stones album Sticky Fingers. Things like Sway, Sister Morphine, and, honestly, most of the damned thing, are moreso the soundtrack to DE than the soundtrack to DE is.
Oh yeah, Night in the Woods really fucked me up. It's not as horribly dark, of course, but it hit much closer to home with its themes. Weird, I didn't even think about that game while playing DE, but now that you mention it, yeah, it made me feel as hollow as parts of Raphael's journey at certain points. I can't really think of anything else that comes close to evoking those emotions. Maybe "Longing" in Planescape, if you know you know.
@@ninjatoriumnova2483 They are remarkably simmilar in many ways. Both are moreso novels than games. Both have serious True Detective S1 vibes (Night even moreso). Both have massively dysfunctional and scarred protagonists who lost their minds facing a deeply uncaring and malevolent universe (read: Capitalism). Both games have the whole 'once a nice, hopeful, proud, exemplary place crumbling and decaying all around them' as a setting, whith both seemingly infulenced by the Wire S2 (DE more overtly). Both have an emo soundtrack that punches way above what you'd think the weight of the gere even is. And so on and so forth.
Oh, and, IMO Night is actually the darker of the two, it's just done in a less grotesque visual style. I'm East European, DE is 'documentary' to me in the same way tha Night would be to an American. Hell I grew up in the port-adjecent working class neighbourhood, in the nineties, of a town that was literraly 'the other end of Baltimoore, across the pond'. So Marinaise gave me PTSD flashbacks. But Night hit me harder because it's actually even bleaker and more depressing.
This is a good video, thought you'd have more subscribers. I think this will be a big channel in YT especially if the creator chooses to talk about media in general and not only videogames
Hey thank you! Appreciate your thoughts on this.
This is actually a new channel of mine where I'm experimenting with gaming content, I have another channel that is mainly film/TV/docu style stuff.
I personally have been obsessing over Slay the Princess recently, which has a similar vibe with voices in your mind arguing with each other over the proper course of action for your character.
Pretty decent list! Id also recommend the Pathologic games and Vampire the masquerade bloodlines writing wise, also The Age of Decadence to some degree. I wouldnt say combat isnt prominently featured in PS:T the game is still pretty combat heavy, it just takes a secondary role to the story.
Try Papers Please and Return of the Obra Dinn. Both great games, both philosophically driven, in the latter game you are also a detective who is trying to solve the mystery of a ship that has somehow returned to shore but with all the crew members dead. What happened on this ship? and their both also from the same guy. I would love to hear your thoughts on them.
Thanks for not spoiling Kentucky Route Zero. Have it installed, have yet to fire it up.
Of course man, I hope you dig it
Couldn’t leave without suggesting Stasis: Bone Totem. It’s got a unique vibe that captures spiritually the magnetic draw that Disco Elysium has. More people have got to discover this game!
Added it to the list dude
Great video, and shared feeling!
Glad you enjoyed it!
C'mon inherent vice is great. In fact I'm kinda addicted to this film.
You're addicted to it? You could say this film is your, inherent vice.
@@ratmessiah7223 certainlly
I need to rewatch it for sure
I've just recently started this game and after 10mins I started to realize that this game was a masterpiece.
Haha, I think I realised within about 10 minutes as well.
I find it quite interesting how you said you didn't like Inherent Vice as much as other PTA films. I suggest you watch it again because it actually has a lot in common with Disco. Like Disco Elysium, it's a work about the struggle of coming to terms with the failure of a grand ideal (in Disco Elysium's case communism and the class revolution, in Inherent Vice's case the hippie and pacifist ideals of the 60's). In both works one of the main ways to represent this struggle is through the protagonist's consuming nostalgia and inability to let go of their love interest. Disco Elysium is a tad more explicit in this, because there is a direct superposition of Dolores Dei with Harry's ex wife. But Shasta has a very similar role in Inherent Vice: the end of her relationship with Doc coincides with the turn of the decade and the sunset of hippie ideals. More importantly, she leaves him for a rich estate builder, so this very powerfully represents the transition from the hippie inordinate and laid back lifestyle to the hedonistic and materialistic attitude of modern capitalism. I think the main difference between the two plots is that disco Elysium ties up all of its threads, surreal or weird as they may be, in a very coherent and conclusive ending. Inherent Vice leaves most of them open and unresolved by choice, Doc stumbles on useful things almost by accident but he, as us the spectators, never manages to paint the full picture of the mess that he's gotten into. But I disagree that this makes the film weaker or all over the place, it's a different way of conveying similar atmospheres and concepts and I find it beautiful in its own way.
Inherent Vice is one of PTA best if not THE best I beg your pardon silly man, great video anyways ♥
Hahaha, I promise you, I will rewatch it. Had a lot of people telling me to give it another chance. Thanks so much!
Your channel has a bright future putting out videos like this. Earned yourself a sub :)
Hey thanks doomguy! Very kind
5:03 Jon Hamm , Macconaughey, Pitt, MacGregor, Gibson, C Hemsworth, Jackman, all with just a small twist of naunce and magic.
The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans by Werner Herzog also gave me Disco Elysium vibes more so if you imagined what Harry du bois life before losing is memory might have been. He has...interesting methods...
I love Herzog and this is one i haven't seen! Thank you!
Thank you!
You're welcome!
The next narrative-based game that I was able to enjoy after finishing Disco Elysium was Divinity 2 The original sin. It has lass in common in terms of setting and style, but is also very well-written and the gameplay was so much fun
Haven't seen the movie, but you might find Inherent Vice to be much more agreeable as a novel. The structure of the plot is such that it keeps moving away from being resolved or making sense, getting wrapped up in conspiracies left and right, probably a difficult thing to capture in a time limited format.
I may just pick up a copy of the book, thanks dude
You can find comfort in Pathologic 2. It's a dialogue heavy FPS. There is nothing quite like it out there. I also love eveything in Bioshock.
I absolutely love Inherent Vice, my favorite PTA film. I do think it’a great, almost purposly keeps the story from you, I think its Edgar Wright that said it should be called Inherent Twice because tou have to watch it twice to get what even happened in the story lmao. Great video dude
Haha I love that. Maybe I should watch it again, sometimes movies just don't click with you on the first watch. Thanks for watching dude.
@@Thatguydes94 it’s certainly not for everyone lmao. I just really like the whole aesthetic, and Joaquin Phoenix’s performance. Maybe the story comes out a little clearer in the book by Thomas Pynchon. But I think I’ve watched it enough times to get the story from the movie lmao.
But it seems you didn't quoted David Lynch, main inspiration to the mood of the game
I am glad I stumbled upon this video.
Welcome!
I'd also like to add Pulp by Charles Bukowski. With the main character being a depressed alcoholic private investigator past his prime trying to solve clients cases around LA in the 90s, it's on the verge of supernatural and bizarre at times. Really funny dialogue also.
I like Bukowski, will check this out thank you
I'm reading the comic Diomedes Trilogy by Lourenço de Mutarelli.
It's one of the best Brazilian comic books ever made, in 2000.
Don't know if it has translation to english but it's a great parallel to a decaying policeman facing some odd investigations, passing by philosophy, humor and the decaying of society.
Citizen Sleeper and Pentiment are good options
Genuinely curious, what do you think of Sovereign Syndicate and Thaumaturge?
Both seem to be good games of a similar nature
I haven't heard much about them tbh, but I will take a look
Baldur's Gate 3 is a pretty good game to jump to. I did.
I broke this with that new persona 3 remake
Have heard very good things, I need to check it out
Soverign Syndicate is good too
No pentiment????
I hadn't played it at the time!
Not exactly a match, but "the return of the obra dinn" is an amazing game with a cool art style where you're a insurance agent trying to figure out what happened to an entire ships crew. I felt empty when I finished it because it was so good. Disco Elysium hasn't quite filled the spot it left, but it's amazing
You can try 1 more game - firewatch, maybe you gonna like it as i did after disco elysium
Firewatch is great, such a sad game
Twin Peaks is an absolute must
for fantasy casting a live action adaptation id pull hard for james mcavoy as harry, purely based on him being 10/10 in Filth already portraying a drug and drink addled detective going through an identity crisis (i highly recommend it to anyone that enjoys disco elysium as another honorable mention tbf, can be a bit dark but plenty of similarly black as coal humour in it)
Oh wow, I watched Filth years ago and I completely agree. That film gets DARK
i think Suzerain is another game that falls into this category, ultrafocused on politics and definitely made for people who read Wikipedia for fun
For an expertly written murder mystery game, I enjoyed Pentiment even more than Disco Elysium.
@Dmond94 Tkanks for the reccomendation of Kentucky Route Zero, downloading it now) About other recommendations you are mention - they are all great and feels like Disco, but sadly I already seen or played them all. My personal Disco recommendation for you - try games from russina game design studio Ice Pick Lodge - Pathologic Classic HD or Pathologic 2 (basically remake of the Pathologic made 15 years later). It will give your truly unique expirience, it's on the same level of greatness as Disco or Planescape Torment. Same insane level of details of the world, etehrworltly music, exseptioanl story. And somehow its very similar to Disco or Planescape in my mind. Maybe because of personal scope of the story in each of these games and unique settings where fantasy worlds connects with the real world in a very special way.
Pathologic is on my list, heard VERY good things! Hope you enjoy Kentucky Route Zero!
There is an old game called Sanitarium, graphics are super outdated, but the story will break your heart
Disco Elysium is the goat
great video i will be your 78 suscriber
if you want to see a live action movie similar to Disco Elysium, watch Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (director Werner Herzog, 2009) Nicolas Cage as Harrier Du Bois
If you can push through lines of dialogue, I recommend Sunless Sea, though it is quite different from DE.
The world of Dysco Elysium is like how americans see Europe
It was made by Europeans
@@herecomeseveryone7562 Yes, and as an European I can tell you Revachol and Oranje are like a wierdly warped ex-soviet France and BeNeLux respectively.
Oh to me Revachol is def post Soviet Eastern Europe and the Coalition feels very similar to the EU.
The authors of Disco Elysium are from Estonia and they potrayed the world in a more exaggerated way than it is but these are definitely the same vibes you have when living in Eastern Europe: failed revoultions -> "European values"(which involve a lot of bueraucracy) + corrupt local politicians + big industry lobbies + poor and hopeless citizens
@@DankestTonk Fair enough
Here's my list of games that don't feel hollow after Disco Elysium: BG3, planescape torment, tyranny, Age of Decadence, KOTOR 1 and especially 2, Dragon age origin, fallout 2 and NV, Life and suffering of sir Brante. All these games are similar either to a complex system of dialogues, or a complex role-playing system, or an atmosphere of alcoholic depression. You can include a stalker in the list of the latter.
I especially want to highlight KOTOR 2 with mods for content restoration, Age of Decadence and Life and suffering of sir Brante. These are extremely text-oriented games - the last one is interactive book, they have a very thick atmosphere of depression and a world on the edge of the apocalypse, these are games with their own philosophy and can give a some food for thought, and they have a lot of interesting characters.
Dude this is a comprehensive list, I appreciate the recommendations!
Have you heard of 'The Thaumaturge'?
Never! What is it?
@@Thatguydes94 A video game. Google it. Perhaps it will strike a chord.
OG Deus Ex is also a good option, kinda funny kinda political sci-fi RPG with combat and stealth
Ok well now I want a DE movie starring Joaquin Phoenix
They're not crpgs but I highly recommend the Remedyverse games like Alan Wake, Alan Wake 2, Control, Quantum Break, etc.
Weirdly enough--thinking on it--I think Half-Life 2 is pretty comparable in its setting. A city that's like a collage of European influences with sci-fi elements (although Disco's are a lot lighter). It's even got a similar "hope in a desolate, depressing place" thing going on.
I totally agree. Half Life 2 is one of my favourite games of all time, I'm gonna do a video on it when I can!
Beautiful game ❤
Suprised Hotline Miami doesnt get a mention.
Gameplay and artstyle completely different, but the vibe is similar I think
Please, do a video of the Book. Please pretty pleaaase.
Please someone : how can I find a way to read the best english translation of the Kurvitz's novel ?
Search reddit, you can find it easily on there
check out roadwarden fellas
There isn’t a single game in any way similar to Disco and there probably never will be
@@ericgarcia3231 I fear that this is true
If you loved Disco Elysium, please give Umineko When The Cry a go. It’s more of a novel than a video game but it’s a narrative masterpiece that the creator put heart and soul into creating, like Disco, and I truly believe you’ll enjoy it 🙏
This one may not be for all of you, but 13 Sentinels is an excellent game. I will warn you that it is very much a weeb game, but it is the only game besides Disco Elysium I've ever played that felt this special. It isn't even all that similar, but it weirdly does scratch the same itch.
_inhales_
um actually, Sigil is pronounced with a hard G, as in "Great"
Ok?
@@Thatguydes94 great vid. im going to play planescape torment now
Pathologic!