Disco Elysium - Insane Drunken Cop Simulator RPG GotY 2019

[SteelPlatedHeart]

You character can literally adopt conflicting political ideologies, I don’t think the game is trying no to preach either one as “good”. You’re in weird alternate timeline with elder god shit going on anyway.

 

[vulg]

Measurehead is specifically based on renown poster Hakan Rotmwrt (who is a very elaborate racist who knows like 9000 different races instead of like 5, and thinks that australian abos are the most powerful race)

Hey interesting. Him and "bronze age pervert", apparently. I'm not familiar with either of them.

off topic but how legit were Rotmwrt and Bronze Age Pervert, I always admired their enthusiasm and esoteric knowledge but I could never tell if they were really 7ft 250lb gigachads or fat groveling lorry drivers in reality.

I do appreciate that they approach even absurd ideologies dryly and without explicit mockery, although I wasn't a big fan of taking him out with a flying roundhouse kick and would've appreciated something more grounded and dry.

A lot of the humour in the game felt like teenagerish invader zim lol randomz xD, which I felt was generally a disservice to the game's setting and undermined it's wit.

 

[Lemmingwise]

although I wasn't a big fan of taking him out with a flying roundhouse kick and would've appreciated something more grounded and dry.

ha ha of course there is a scripted "punch a nazi" moment.

I had to look it up

 

[vulg]

ha ha of course there is a scripted "punch a nazi" moment.

I had to look it up

it’s gay, and a means to awkwardly subvert the “punch a nazi” meme.

really, a situation like this should only be resolved through violence, measurehead sees you for the scum you are and should be disgusted by your presence. Even if his reasoning is incorrect his conclusion is still right.

I feel the best resolution to this confrontation would’ve been an Indiana Jones style gun vs. scimitar situation, where all his rhetoric is cut through by a degenerate westerner with a gun.

 

[Lemmingwise]

it’s gay, and a means to awkwardly subvert the “punch a nazi” meme.

Subvert? It's just the punch a nazi meme. It's wish fulfillment. And I get it, that's what games are about.

They just have odd wishes.

 

[vulg]

Subvert? It's just the punch a nazi meme. It's wish fulfillment. And I get it, that's what games are about.

They just have odd wishes.

If you try to outright "punch" him, he'll crush your hand and beat the shit out of you in return. As he should, you're a late stage alcoholic and he's a genetic anomaly in his prime. But if you choose to roundhouse kick him, you'll succeed.

it's subverted by pulling an absurd and fantastical maneuver on him.

In a sense it puts the obese/frail losers spouting "punch a nazi" in their place for being so unprepared for truly facing violence (like the character), I suppose the response of round house kicking him is a reflection of the absurdities of the game, but still would've appreciated a more dry response to violence.

 

[SteelPlatedHeart]

ha ha of course there is a scripted "punch a nazi" moment.

I had to look it up

I feel like you’re really reaching with some of this stuff, man.

It’s completely fine if you don’t like the game, but you seem like you’re trying to invent reasons rather than just having an actual one.

Like @vulgar said, the fair more likely scenario of attacking the guy ends with you losing bad. The over-the-top roundhouse kick is supposed to be ridiculously over the top. And if you even manage to pull it off, it’s treated as such.

 

[Violence Jack]

Doesn't matter if you care about it or not, it's obviously some of the themes of the game.

The thematic use of politics is used to show that it doesn't offer all the answers. That's why people who define themselves as such are shown to be broken people propped up by ideology. Anyone using this game as a political litmus test is missing the point. The character doesn't suddenly pull themselves out of their funk by regurgitating talking points to get past the racist. The political options are ineffectual in game on purpose, you don't convince anybody of the moral superiority of your stance by debating them or opening their eyes. They live in a slum all they care about is whether they can put food on the table. The microcosm of different political spheres highlights the fact that politics is a thinly-veiled excuse to manipulate people into betraying their own interests or causing others to do so for you.

 

[Justtocheck]

ha ha of course there is a scripted "punch a nazi" moment.

I had to look it up

You haven't played the game? Don't you know there's a phrase called "Welcome to Revachol!" which in game is a racist comment (you basically tell "foreign looking people" in Revachol Welcome! as a way to signal that they don't belong)

And as you fucking roundhouse Measurehead, and he falls, you can say "Welcome to Revachol!" to him, meaning you can be a fucking racist and do the equivalent ofcalling him a nigger in game.

Way to go, know-it-all Dutchman. Play something before being a sperg with your biases.

 

[Lemmingwise]

The thematic use of politics is used to show that it doesn't offer all the answers

You haven't played the game? Don't you know there's a phrase called "Welcome to Revachol!" which in game is a racist comment (you basically tell "foreign looking people" in Revachol Welcome! as a way to signal that they don't belong)

And as you fucking roundhouse Measurehead, and he falls, you can say "Welcome to Revachol!" to him, meaning you can be a fucking racist and do the equivalent ofcalling him a nigger in game.

Way to go, know-it-all Dutchman. Play something before being a sperg with your biases.

I've said I played it for a couple of hours. In this discussion I feel like I'm staring at the distorted mirrors at a carnival.

Politics isn't a top 5 theme apparently, yet there are numerous political thoughts to complete. The idea of "politics doesn't have all the answers" is a political position too. So which one is it? Are there political themes or not?

It's like saying planescape doesn't have existential themes because you're trying to kill yourself.

And yes the fact that the game's universe treats the phrase "welcome to .." as racist also exposes a specific kind of worldview.

I get that you think it's very vogue, but it takes a very strong no borders mentality to even write a statement like that as a sardonic racism.

I don't mind that you like it, I'm not trying to get the game censored; I am pointing out its biases and why it was part of the reason the game didn't work for me.

do the equivalent ofcalling him a nigger in

Antiracists have no problem being racist either; that ideological blindness is pretty common.

Take this for an easy example:

 

[HonkyTonk]

Dude, near the end of the game you meet a legit communist who's not in the least bit sympathetic. To say that Disco Elysium plays favorites is patently absurd.

 

[Affluent Reptilian]

While the game takes digs at ideas on both sides of politics I think people are kidding themselves by not recognising the game at least leans left. Eg there's a point in the game where you can say something in favour of traditional gender roles. In response, the most no-nonsense and competent character in the game, Kim, will say 'Statistics show that female police officers in Revachol actually perform better. If not for bigoted attitudes like these, the gap would be even larger.' And no, this wasn't a parody of an 'Um, actually' internet guy. Another eg is the pains taken to depict any notion that there are racial differences beyond the most purely superficial as pseudoscientific.

It's a great game and I enjoy even its political content despite being right-wing, but I'm not going to pretend like it's not a political game or is scrupulously fair-handed just because of how much I appreciate the product on the whole.

 

[Lemmingwise]

Dude, near the end of the game you meet a legit communist who's not in the least bit sympathetic. To say that Disco Elysium plays favorites is patently absurd.

I mean, it's like saying stone toss isn't right wing. He makes comics making fun of right wing people too! He may make fun of right wing people, but you can still tell it is written from a right wing perspective. One might still appreciate some of the humor, but I imagine it's far less enjoyable to read through the archives for a left wing person. It's the same for disco elysium, except left wing.

Also...:


During the speech for their second win of the night, ZA/UM, the team behind Disco Elysium gave a special thanks to Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the authors of The Communist Manifesto.

https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/12/d...arx-and-engels-in-game-awards-victory-speech/

 

[Violence Jack]

Politics isn't a top 5 theme apparently, yet there are numerous political thoughts to complete. The idea of "politics doesn't have all the answers" is a political position too. So which one is it? Are there political themes or not?

It's like saying planescape doesn't have existential themes because you're trying to kill yourself.

I interpreted it as turning away from politics was the answer. Just like running away from your Karma is ultimately what kicks off the events of Planescape. Although I dig the chestnut of "being apolitical is a political statement" as much as the next person it always smacks of a false equivalency meant to shame people into participation. Thinly-veiled Jack boot tactics an all.

That being said I am glad people are willing to point out bias despite the relative popularity (is this game popular?). I just saw it as a far more personal story than a politically driven one. That being said even I can admit the game has a left-wing bent to it. Could it have been balanced better? Sure. Was some of the game bankrolled by Chapo Trap House? Uhh, most likely I mean they did voice work for it. Did that chick from that totally "natural" viral video sailor socialism voice the femme fatale in this game? Yes.

 

[Lemmingwise]

Did that chick from that totally "natural" viral video sailor socialism

What's that, then? Link?

----

I interpreted it as turning away from politics was the answer. Just like running away from your Karma is ultimately what kicks off the events of Planescape. Although I dig the chestnut of "being apolitical is a political statement" as much as the next person it always smacks of a false equivalency meant to shame people into participation. Thinly-veiled Jack boot tactics an all.

I was saying two different things; that one can choose to agree or disagree with independantly. One: The game is written from a certain political perspective. Two: that politics is one of the themes of the game. It certainly was a goal of the designer to take a kind of politically neutral position, he says in interviews that perhaps he went too far with it (trying to make it too neutral).

But he also says that as a lead, he tried to make it everyone's game (everyone in the dev team). And he also said in another interview that everyone who worked on the game was left wing. So I just don't think he fully succeeded in making it politically neutral. How could anyone with the deck stacked like that? @Affluent Reptilian gives one example. I noticed numerous such things, but I don't recall them all.

It's just like during a christmas dinner or business dinner, there is a risk of tackling politics in your game. I like it when people take that risk (look how much I like talking about it; perhaps more so than playing this particular game). I also recognize it's a kind of cancer, like the guy at a concert comparing it to the previous concert by the same group. But it's the kind of cancer you attract when you make a game with political themes.

Finally it's less "being apolitical is a political statement" and more "when politically minded people try to make something politically neutral, they might not succeed, particularly not if they all belong to the same political perspective."

And that of course is the most charitable interpretation.

 

[Rich Evans Apologist]

I imagine it's far less enjoyable to read through the archives for a left wing person.

An oversensitive left-winger that desperately needs what they think heccin' validated in media they consume, sure. And maybe that's a lot of them, yeah, but I think that's a lot of people.

Stonetoss started out rough, but improved over time to the point where he's genuinely sharp and funny most of the time. Like, I don't necessarily agree with the take he's got in this one, but the setup and contrast is funny. Some don't land, but I think that's more the setup-payoff than the content itself, 'least to me.

 

[Violence Jack]

What's that, then? Link?

I'm not allowed to link videos anymore cause I would send people albums to listen to lmao.

The video was an infowars section where the interviewer walked up to a girl in a salior girl outfit who totally owned the infowars lady asking questions. Turns out that girl was Dasha Nekrasova, one half of the podcast Red Scare who featured on Cum Town sporadically. As mentioned she voiced Klassje Disco Dancer in the game.

 

[Lemmingwise]

The video was an infowars section where the interviewer walked up to a girl in a salior girl outfit

ha ha okay I found it, I remember that video:

Wait, does that mean you think the video was staged?

 

[Berrakh]

I'm not allowed to link videos anymore cause I would send people albums to listen to lmao.

The video was an infowars section where the interviewer walked up to a girl in a salior girl outfit who totally owned the infowars lady asking questions. Turns out that girl was Dasha Nekrasova, one half of the podcast Red Scare who featured on Cum Town sporadically. As mentioned she voiced Klassje Disco Dancer in the game.

trying to find the clip where Dasha discusses how she lost track of her body count.

 

[Lemmingwise]

trying to find the clip where Dasha discusses how she lost track of her body count.

Here you go. Fear my google fu

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