Disco Elysium's newest update makes the game more accessible

Disco Elysium is one of my favorite games of all time. I love recommending it to anyone who will listen, but something I forget is just how text-heavy that game is. I'm an avid reader, but for others, the game's script, which clocks in at over a million words, can be pretty intimidating. The good news is, though, that the developers at ZA/UM are well aware of this fact, and have made a bunch of great changes since the game has come out to help make the game accessible to as wide of an audience as possible. Disco Elysium: The Final Cut introduced a fully-voiced experience, but the newest addition is yesterday's free update ?that adde??d dyslexia-friendly fonts.

The font used for most languages is called OpenDyslexic, which was designed to mitig?ate common reading mistakes that those with dyslexi?a can make. The great thing is that the font's creators made it open source, so that anyone can use it if needed.

In Disco Elysium spe?cifically, OpenDyslexic is used for the English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese-Brazilian, and Polish versions of the game. Other languages have also been accounted for �the Korean version uses a font called Nanum Square Round, while the Russian version uses Adys.

ZA??/UM also stated that they're still investigating options for both t?raditional and simplified Chinese.

The devs shared their thoughts in Steam blog post that announced the update: "It’s important, especially for a game with over ??a million words, that we continue to make improvements to ensure everyone can have the best user experience during their time in Revachol."

It's great to see yet another studio taking down as many barriers to entry as they can -- it feels like the games space is only becoming a more thoughtful and co??nsiderate space (for the most part).

The dyslexia-friendly font update is available to download now, wherever you can play Disco Elysium.

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Giving some small indie games a chance

In recent years, I haven't branched out as much as I'd like when it comes to my gaming taste. I did venture away from exclusively playing AAA games, but the indies I played were the huge titles that may as well be AAA at this point just based on their ubiquity, like Hades, Disco Elysium, Stardew Valley, and so on.

I really love AAA games, but when I sit down to play one, I pretty much know right away what to expect in terms of the overall experience. When I got to thinking about everything that's releasing in 2022, I found myself feeling less enthused than usual. Don't get me wrong, there are some huge, genuinely really exciting games coming out this year, like Horizon Forbidden West, Elden Ring, and God of War Ragnarok, but none of them have me counting down the days u??ntil their r??elease.

That got me thinking, is there anything I'm excited about when it comes to games ?this year? Well yeah, of course there is. I wouldn't write about them for a living if that wasn't the ca?se. As I started thinking about it, I realized I'm more excited for the games I don't know about than the ones that I do.

[caption id="attachment_303920" align="alignnone" width="1600"] _{[Image Source: Common Sense Media]}[/caption]There are so, so many games out in the world, and a vast majority of them won't get a fraction of the attention even lesser-known indie games will receive. The thing is, though, these super small indie games are often the ones doing some of the most unique and interesting things to push games forward. They tell the stories we wouldn't otherwise hear, and they incorporate experimental mechanics that ??would never make the final cut of a triple-A game. Without all t?he corporate red tape, small games really get to shine, and show off the endless potential of what the interactive medium can do.

Most of these super-small games won't even get trailers �you kind of have to hear about th?em through word of mouth, or just actively seek them out. While I wish many of these types of games would get more of a chance, there is something cool about coming across a passion project someone worked really hard on but didn't expect anyone to see. When you take away the business side of any art, yo?u know you're getting someone's vision, pristine and undisturbed, for better or for worse.

[caption id="attachment_303926" align="alignnone" width="1920"] _{[Image Source: Overland on Steam]}[/caption]My plan this year is to just be on the lookout for anything and everything that piques my interest. When I see someone post about their game on?? Twitter that's finally out, I want to take a look, or really listen wh?en my friends tell me to check out a game they liked.

There are tons of amazing indie festivals and conferences that showcase these types of projects. Reddit is home to some great indie communities where devs post their progress, so I'll be scouring those, too. Organizations like WINGS and GLITCH are invested in funding and publishing diverse indie voices. I also have one of those massive it??ch.io bundles that I bought last summer that I haven't even?? looked through yet, so I know there's gonna be a lot of good stuff in there, too.

With all of the huge games that are constantly coming out of bigger studios, it can be easy to forget how much of the gaming industry is little games made by single people or small teams, simply because they love them. Open source tools, and websites like itch.io have made it easier than ever for people to share their work, so at this point I really have no excuse. Now I'm looking forward to 2022 being the year that I really immerse myself into the indie scene, because although indies make up most of my "favor?ite games of all time" list, there is still so, so much to see. Looking forward, I think it's a pretty safe bet to say that my favorite game of 2022 will be one I haven't even heard of yet.

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A purchase for the ultimate fan

It seems like there are more Collector's Editions than ever these days. Just in the past few months, I've covered the release of Disco Elysium and Spiritfarer's special editions alone, and there are tons and tons more that seem to be cropping up all the time. This was usually the kind of thing you'd we'd only see with AAA titles, but now our favorite indie games are getting special treatment too, and rightfully s??o.

If you're buying a physi?cal copy of anyt?hing these days, you're usually going out of your way to do so because of how prevalent digital-only sales have become. It can already feel special to have that case sitting on your shelf, but for those diehard fans, the Collector's Edition is the way to go. The price can be a bit of a sticking point, however, because these packages can run hundreds of dollars, depending on the game.

Even if you're a bit skeptical, though, the studios usually always do a really good job of making sure you're getting a good bang for your buck. The contents of these super special (and expensive) releases usually come with a range of all kinds of goodies, from art books to statues to real-life replicas of in-game items. Some of the coolest items I've seen included are to-scale helmets from Doom Eternal or Fallout 4, a mini version of the house from Resident Evil VII, or the replica loot chest that came with the Collector's Edition of Borderlands 2.

Despite how cool some of the goodies are that come along in these editions, I think I'd only be willing to shell out the cash for the games that are most special to me. The only one available right now that's tempting me is indeed Disco Elysium, considering?? it's in my top three favorite games of all time, but I'm still on the fence about whether I want to sp?end that money right now.

As we continue to lean into digital-only purchases, it seems that this rise in Collector's Editions is a way to get more players to buy physical copies �and spend more money in the process. I don't have a problem with this at all, especially since studios often make their special editions feel like love letters to fans. However, you also have to be wary of less-than-satisfactory bundles, like that of Fallout 76 or The Witcher 3, for example.

Thankfully disa??ppointing Collector's Editions seem like less common occurrences, but after being burned in the past, I'm definitely skeptical when I'm going to spend tha?t much money. That is why reviews and unboxing videos exist after all, which I have to remind myself before I get consumed by the hype.

So now I arrive at the questions du jour: how much are you willing to dole out for a Collector's Edition? Do you have any, and if so, what was your criteria for the purchase? Did it have to do with the game/prop??erty itself, or what items were actually included in the edition?

_{[Image Credit: twistedsymphony]}

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It's Jamais Vu all over again

If you're jumping into Disco Elysium today, you might find something new waiting for you. Studio ZA/UM has announced the "Jamais Vu" update for Disco Elysium, which seems to add some mysterious new content.

The developer discusses it in a new Steam blog, which has a few cryptic hints towards what's been added. Disco Elysium is, after all, a detective story. Walking the players right to the new content might not fit with the whole vibe. So instead, ZA/UM has some helpful hints for finding the right threads to pull in the Disco Elysium update:

• Perhaps it's worth stopping a while to admire the scenery
• The cold coastal waters are known to wash up the lost
• Knock, knock, lieutenant

There's also an image with some helpful hints to jog your detective brain. It has been a whi??le for some of us, after all. It's not easy being the best-worst investigator on the force.

And if you're new to the mysteries of Disco Elysium, well, it's also on sale as part of the Steam holiday sale. Disco Elysium: The Final Cut is slashed down to just $17.99. And also, ZA/UM has teamed up with Remedy Entertainment and publisher 505 Games to make a special Control x Disco Elysium bundle for the sale, too. That's two very good games for a very good price.

Disco Elysium is still a game I think about, regularly. Whether for its beautiful world??, the way it turns your inner cacophony of thoughts and ideas into a role-playing system, or just that trumpet ringing out over the water as you walk outside, it lingers. It's still easily one of the most compelling role-playing game experiences you can find on a PC, and a small sense of Jamais Vu might be a ?good enough reason to go back. I've yet to play a high-action muscle cop playthrough.

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It's about time

With all these games getting remastered and rereleased these days, you'd think I'd be tired of it by now. However, there is one exception to this. Disco Elysium is truly one of my favorite games of the last few years, if not of all time, so I was over the moon to hear we were getting yet another ve??rsion of the game, it being a ??physical copy this time around.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ7OQXDM3OU

That's right, we're getting hard copies of the game's extended edition, Disco Elysium - The Final Cut, just in time for the holiday season, courtesy of ZA/UM and iam8bit, with Skybound Games helping out with the distribution. The game is available now for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and is also compatible with PlayStation 5 and? Xbox Series X consoles via a free next-gen upgrade.? It'll run you $39.99 wherever games are sold, and each retail copy will also include an 18" x 24" foldout poster and a code giving you access to a digital artbook, which features over 190 pages of content.

Maybe you're a super fan, and this standard physical copy still isn't filling the Disco Elysium-sized void in your life. Well, they've got you covered with the Collector's Edition that is also available for pre-order exclusively on iam8bit.com. This $249.99 option will come in a "Layers of the Id" premium box, and will include a hand-painted 'Mid Totem' vinyl statue, a hardbound version of the previously mentioned artbook, and a physical PS5 edition?? of the game with a reversible cover. I don't know about you, but the preview p?ictures basically have me ready to sell a kidney to get my hands on it.

If you're still holding out for the physical Switch version of The Final Cut, don't worry, we have confirmat??ion that it's coming sometime in 2022.

Disco Elysium - The Final Cut offers fully-voiced dialogue, new quests, areas, and characters, so even if you've played it before, it's definitely worth picking up agai?n. Plus, you're getting a poster and an artbook along with it �?what could be better than that?

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The physical version will go up in November

Xbox owners who have been patiently waiting to be the absolute worst disaster of a detective possible will soon get their chance. Disco Elysium: The Final Cut is coming to Xbox in October, and a physical version is followi??ng soon after.

Developer ZA/UM confirmed on Twitter today that The Final Cut will digitally launch for Xbox on Oct. 12. The physical edition, meanwhile, will arrive on Nov. 9. Pre-orders for the Collector's Edition on Xbox, as well as PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch, are live over at iam8bit too.

//twitter.com/discoelysium/statu??s/1442519733673226241

The surreal murder-mystery has been working its way onto various platforms since its launch back in 2019. ZA/UM recently confirmed The Final Cut is coming to Switch on the same date as Xbox, on Oct. 12. Earlier this year, Disco Elysium also made its way onto PlayStation.

Disco Elysium: The Final Cut includes the main game, as well as some additional content including fully voiced dialogue and some brand new quests. And that's all good, because it basically makes an already good game that much better.

Disco Elysium remains one of the highlights of 2019, and one of my favorite RPGs in recent memory, possibly ever. It's a brilliant story about a man who just can't seem to get life right, and how he tries to either put it all back together or let it all fall to pieces. And as nice as the redemption story can be, watching things fall apart because of a bad roll is also pretty fun. If you haven't yet checked out Disco Elysium and you've got an ?Xbox, I'd recommend you mark th?e date.

Disco Elysium: The Final Cut hits Xbox consoles on October 12, 2021.

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Fully optimized edition of the award-winning RPG

During last night's Nintendo Direct, indie outfit ZA/UM offered up a release date for the Switch edition of its multi-award-winning RPG Disco Elysium: The Final Cut. Having already brought its cynical? ways to PC and PlayStation platforms, the graphic adventure will launch digitally on the Nintendo platform October 12, ?priced at around $35.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKpT3Gut4HA

Originally released in the fall of 2019, Disco Elysium quickly became a darling of both critics and fans with its evocative and sleazy tale of a brilliant but down-and-out detective stumbling through a murder c??ase in a grim, post-war society. Taking many players by surprise at launch, the title was heralded for its unique universe and top-tier storytelling?, offering up an engaging and expertly written tale of intrigue for both sci-fi and neo-noir fans.

ZA/UM has been quick to point out that this edition of Disco Elysium is no mere slap-dash port, and has been instead meticulously redesigned for the Switch platform, offering a redesigned U.I., font scaling options, and improved legibility across the board in order to make the story-heavy title viable not only for handheld users but also those experiencing its strange, nihilistic universe on the go. This is all in addition to The Final Cut's own tweaks, which include fully voiced char?acter in?teractions, brand new Political Vision Quests, and a fresh run of balance tweaks and bug stomps.

Disco Elysium: The Final Cut launches on Nintendo Switch October? 12 and is available now on PC and PlayStation platforms.

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Pre-orders now live at iam8bit and other retailers

One of the most highly acclaimed releases of recent years, ZA/UM's Disco Elysium, is preparing to make its grimy presence felt once again, as the physical edition of Disco Elysium: The Final Cut comes crawlin' to PS4 November 9.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5vyZ04MNrQ

Originally launched on PC back in 2019, Disco Elysium is the down-and-dirty tale of a brilliant but world-worn detective, attempting to solve a murder mystery with a sleazy and dangerous dystopian future. The game was highly praised by critics and fans for its decadent art style, excellent writing, and ruthless approach to storytelling. Disco Elysium would go on to bag numerous end-of-year awards, with the expanded "Final Cut" edition arriving in March of this year.

Boutique publisher iam8bit will release a standard boxed edition of the noir RPG for around $40 USD, which includes a poster, digital art book, and a free upgrade to the PS5 edition. In related news, the premium PS5 Collector's Edition is now available to pre-order on the iam8bit store. This princely set includes a physical PS5 copy of Disco Elysium in exclusive packaging, a hardback 190-page artbook, slickly designed "Layers of the Id" packaging, and �the set's centerpiece �a hand-painted "Mind Totem??" vinyl sculpture. The Ps5 Collector's Edition will?? run die-hard fans a princely $250.

Disco Elysium: The Final Cut is available now on PlayStation, PC, and Stadia. Xbox and Switch editions are also i?n?? the works.

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A spoiler-free look at the beloved RPG's new content

So good but so, so buggy.

Disco Elysium: The Final Cut (PC, PS4 [reviewed], PS5)
Developer: ZA/UM
Publisher: ZA/UM
Released: March 30, 2021
MSRP: $39.99

When I first heard about Disco Elysium's re-release, I was ecstatic, and checking social media and news outlets for a release date became a normal part of my routine. I had played the game on PC for the first time last year, but as someone who usually prefers playing on my consoles, I was also looking forward to seeing how it would fare on my PlayStation. Disco Elysium is already one of my favorite games due to its masterful storytelling and innovative gameplay, and I was intrigued to revisit a game that addresses grief, loss, and mental illness in the midst of the pandemic, hoping it could give me some new insights into my own experien??ce.

On that front, it certainly delivered. Disco Elysium is so unafraid to embrace how raw and painful the human experience can be that it's sometimes tough to get through. In a way, such an unflinching depiction of difficult subject matter is really refr??eshing �there's beauty in its messiness and chaos. It certainly helps that all of the writing is so stunningly gorgeous, too. Tommy the Lorry Driver says it best: "It makes it all easier to bare. If the words are pretty."

Sometimes remasters can feel kind of superfluous, but for a game like Disco Elysium, it's fitting, almost necessary. On my first playthrough, I found myself struggling to understand it, but its deviation from the norm, and its focus on embracing failure and experimentat??ion, are what make it truly special.

Subsequent playthroughs only make the game better, because from the start you already understand its more unconventional mechanics like the thought cabinet, which allows players to "internalize" certain thoughts and reap permanent bonuses/penalties from them, or white versus red checks, an elegant solution to the "I could just keep trying until I pass" problem of systems like Dungeons & Dragons. Disco Elysium's RPG?? system isn't that complicated, but being familiar with it makes for a more complete experience. It's one of those games that the more you put into it, the more you'll get out.

In addition, so much of what makes the game special, and better on a replay, is how robust its world is. Some stories just focus on a rich internal characterization (think The Last of Us) while others focus on worldbuilding as the main conceit (think Suzerain). There are few stories that are able to simultaneously do both, and Disco Elysium is certainly one of those stories.

Again, on my first time through I had a hard time taking it all in because not only was there so much content, but it was all really good. Any of the insane worldbuildi?ng stuff they throw at you isn't just flavor (although it's so well written it certainly could be), but always seems to come back to the central conflict and characters in interesting ways. It's all connected, and I'm so endlessly impressed by how every single line of dialogue or bit of information feels vital to the picture this game is painting.

As you go along exploring and letting the story unravel, you realize it's not a story about solving a murder, it's so much more t??han a typical crime procedural �it's a portrait of a broken, sorrowful man, and the dying remains of a world?? that once believed it could be better.

Naturally, an indie ga?me that's this beloved was going to get a port to consoles, and I think it was a great choice to add more content and further flesh out the experience. If players are already going to have to buy the game again on their consoles, it's really nice that they get something new out of it, too. PC players, congrats, you got it for free.

The inclusion of the new quests are almost hard to spot sometimes, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The storylines feed so well into the base game, it almost feels like content that was originally ?intended to be included, but couldn't make it in by the time they were ready to ship. Regardless of speculation, it makes the game feel like a more rounded experience, with small threads feeding back into larger ones, and making the already complex world feel even more consistent and reali??stic.

On top of new content, other changes l?ike the fast-travel mechanic were welcome additions. I usually don't love fast travel, but when it can take so long to get to the other side of a mostly linear map to do the one task you need to progress??, it can be nice. The idea of a fully voiced game was great too, which can really add to immersion, but more on that in a second.

For as good as the game is, it breaks my heart all the more to have to tell you all about the not-so-great part of the Final Cut: the bugs. Under any circumstances, it's impossible to play a game as long as Disco Elysium: The Final Cut (30+ hours) and not encounter a bug at some point. If you played a game like this and didn't see a bug, I guarantee it's because you just didn't notice. My first time around, I remember Disco Elysium being a ti??ght, mostly bug-free experience. The game could certain?ly be rough around the edges, with small animation jitters abound, but at its center it always felt sturdy and lived-in, much like the fictional world it inhabits.

This time around though, not so much. Mind you I was playing on my PS4 Pro, and a lot of the bugs came from the fact that it was a port to consoles. Smaller issues ranged from inadvertently using healing items while trying to navigate menus to having to click on interactable items/places/people more than once to get them to trigger. Although not necessarily a bug, another more minor issue worth mentioning is that the load times are pretty long, which can get tedious if you're going in and out of buildings freq??uently. These problems were annoying, but I could live with them. Others I couldn't.

For example, in the first thirty minutes of my playthrough, I saw the UI to select something floating in mid-air. Thinking this might be a new piece of content awaiting me, I clicked it �only to start a con??versation with a character who had already l??eft the room, which locked me in place and caused me to have to restart my save file.

The most glaring problems, though, were those that halted progression on some of Disco Elysium's most? prominent storylines. A major scene from one of the most important quests is entirely broken, which is already a bummer in and of itself. However, it's also preventing players from progressing the main storyline. There's still plenty to do in the game while we wait for fixes, but it can put a damper on things if you want to binge through it quickly.

Remember how I said I loved fast travel and the fully voiced dialogue? Yeah, those w?ere broken too. I couldn't fast travel at all during the latter half of my playthrough, and the voice acting played so inconsistently (sometimes not at all) that I gave up hope on it within the first couple of hours.

There would be sections of the game when I wouldn't encounter too many bugs, and I'd think I was in the clear, only to run into one of the broke??n quests that would instantly kill all of my momentum. It took the wind out of my sails, to the point where I didn't want to finish my playthrough at some points because I was so disappointed.

The reality is that the Final Cut was released before it was ready to go for consoles, for reasons I can't understand as an outsider. It's such a complete bummer because it basically makes the game unplayable, and it makes me afraid that it could deter new players from experiencing what I consider to be one of the best games of all time. According to ?a friend who played?? on PC, many of the issues plaguing consoles are missing from the PC version, so at least there's that.

The 1.2 patch just went live, but console players are still reporting that it's not fixing a majority of the problems, especially progression blockers. Unfortunately it seems like a situation we'll have to wait out, and just hope that ZA/UM is able to fix the issues. This game really is a must-play for anyone who loves storytelling or the RPG genre �that is if you're on PC, or if you can wait for subsequent patches for console versions. In spite of everything though, Disco Elysium's twisting, tumbling adventure is one worth waiting for??.

This morning, ZA/UM posted an up?date about further patches on their Twitter??.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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Failure isn't (always) the end

_{[Narrated by Dan Vincent]}

Disco Elysium opens with you on the floor. Your character, whoever they are or whatever might be left of them, is face-down in a nondescript hotel room. You are surfacing, breaching the plane? between the void and the living only to find yourself harboring the grand-daddy of al??l hangovers.

This is the introduction to the character you'll inhabit through Disco Elysium. They are many things, and can become even more: calculating, feeling, thinking, judging, determined, or remorseful. But in t?his moment, you are a??t a low, possibly the lowest of low.

Moments later, you can die trying to get your tie off the ceiling fan. Th?e headline reads "Cop Suffers Final Heart Attack," and boy, does the word "Final" do a lot of work.

Some people might be picking up Disco Elysium for the first time right now, as it just received its Final Cut update and made its way to consoles. To some, that moment might be pretty frustrating—to go through the entire character creation process, only to die of a heart attack while trying to recover a piece of clothing. But I'm here to tell you: embrace t?hose moments.

There are a lot of ways you can die in Disco Elysium. Very few of them are noble or dignified??. You can die kicking a mailbox, by getting into a fight you have no business starting, or even just suffer intense mental damage from seeing your own face in the mirror.

Disco Elysium's moments of failure aren't all terminal, either. Right at the beginning, if you've managed to weather the gauntlet of waking up and getting some clothes on, you can gather your composure and step out??side, only to be face-to-face with a beautiful woman. With intense, potentially unearned confidence, you could attempt to flirt with her. And the words that spill out can be the eloquent "I want to have fuck with you."

In other games, failure can feel really bad. Getting that big, all-caps FAILED marker means a piece of content might have just been locked off. Disco Elysium is okay with failure, though. It's written to embrace fai?lure. And you really should do the same.

Take the flirting example: after your detective has mustered the will to speak and st??ill fa?iled, the woman—Klaasje—laughs. She even asks you to say it again. It's a humanizing moment that can even lead your character down the path of defining themselves, as someone remorseful and always saying things they regret.

In this moment, you've learned more about one of Disco Elysium's key characters, while also potentially establishing an identity for your own character. After all, your cop has just come up for air from a cataclysmic bender; maybe they are apologetic for all ??their misguided decisions, or at le?ast they should be. Those thoughts can fester until, eventually, you are the Sorry Cop.

This route opens up through failure, and can continue to inform dialogue throughout the game, because that's the kind of story Disco Elysium weaves. Failure can be a game over state, potentially, but trying to play in some kind of "perfect" way means you?? can miss a lot of t?his world.

The failures feed into shaping your narrative, because let's face it, your cop is not Sh?erlock Holmes. With enough points, they might be able to muster the Visual Calculus and Logic to imagine crime scenes in real-time, to discern boot size from prints in the mud and then calculate the number of people present when a murder occurred. Oh that's right, a murder happened—ostensibly, your character is in the district of Martinaise to figure out why there's a body hanging in the yard behind the hotel.

Yet often,?? you can fail to complete a task a theoretically good inspector might be able to. It's a struggle to even move the body, a task that becomes the crux of the early game. Every attempt can result in your character simply heaving over, unable to stomach the task. Your failures aren't just fatal mailboxes and word? fumbles, but as you learn, your character has been in Martinaise for some time. Your ever-present companion, Lt. Kim Kitsuragi, is here not just to help you, but to ensure the task at hand is finished, because it's likely that you're not up for the job anymore.

It might feel bad to fail a check and watch the health meter trickle down, or simply face humiliation. It might lose you some crucial early-game cash, or it might just make the path forward a little more difficult. But if you're playing Disco Elysium for the first time, I can't?? stress this enough: embrace those moments.

Failing?s can end up defining your cop, and you by extension, and makes your playthrough feel more like your own. Losing one option makes the next opportunity to progress all the more dire—I didn't like that I had to literally beg the corporate negotiator Joyce for money just to have a bed for one more night, but I had to, because there was no source of income left. In a brief moment, I had to set my morals aside just to stay warm one more night, because I had so catastrophically failed during the day, and so many times before that.

It's not just your character, either; many of the people in Martinaise have their own shortcomings. They might struggle to understand one another, or be beholden to their old lives to a fault, or simply be bad people. One of my favorite moments sees Kim Kitsuragi, a shining glimmer of a human being, say something incorrect during a brainstorming session and instantly realize it. As you see th??is internalized realization and correction, clashing against the anxiety of admitting the error aloud and comm??itting it to record, you can allow him that moment to reflect and correct.

It is a small miscalculation with no critical narrative consequences, but it is a small kindness you can grant, as someone?? whose mistakes run much deeper than a simple inaccuracy. As the guy Kim is currently trying to drag out of the abyss, it's the least you can do.

Disco Elysium is molded by those failings, and so I seriously urge you to embrace them. I'm as guilty of save-scumming as the next guy, but the writing of Disco Elysium feels like it rewards those who aren't afraid to fail. Every lost check adds more to your character as much as it takes away, and it makes their own plight feel like your own. S??ure, yes, you died trying to get a tie off a ceiling fan, but you—the player—were also the one urging your character to keep trying.

Failure can end up creating some of the most memorable moments in your time with Disco Elysium. It might mean you end up playing the sorriest excuse for a detective to ever wash up in Martinaise, ??but at least that's rarely a boring person to be.

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It's time to wake in fright, detective

In annoying but not particularly surprising news, ZA/UM's upcoming release Disco Elysium: The Final Cut has been refused classification in Australia, effectively "banning" the twisted graphic adventure from sale within continental borders. The new release will therefore not be making its console debut in that territory on PS4 and PS5 on March ??30.

The Australian Classification Board stamped Disco Elysium: The Final Cut with an "RC" or "Refused Classification" rating yesterday, March 18. Disco Elysium's listing on the ratings board's official website reads as follows:

"The computer game is classified RC in accordance with the National Classification Code, Computer Games Table as computer games that 'depict, express or otherwise deal with matters of sex, drug misuse or ?addiction, crime, cruelty, violence or revolting or abhorrent phenomena in such a way that they offend against the standards of morality, dec??ency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults to the extent that they should not be classified.'"

Disco Elysium is available to purchase on PC, and owners of the original edition will be afforded a free download of The Final Cut's content - including full voice acting for all characters, customizable controls, and an extra environment which houses a selection of all-new Political Vision Quests. But for console owners from Down Under, it appears that Australia's notoriously stringent censor has unfortunately struck once again.

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Xbox and Switch editions to follow this summer

It's time to wake up once again, detective. Developer ZA/UM has announced that its amazing, award-winning RPG Disco Elysium is getting ready to enthrall adventure fans all over again with the release of expanded edition Disco Elysium: The Final Cut, which will launch on PS4, PS5, PC, and Stadia on Marc??h 30. Xbox and Nintendo Switch editions will follow at some point this summer.

The Final Cut is described by the developer as the "definitive edition" of the abstract 2019 graphic adventure, which sees a beat-up, amnesiac detective on a brutal murder case, set against the backdrop of a dilapidated civilization, struggling to press forward in the aftermath of a nightmarish war. Upon its original release, Disco Elysium received rave reviews across the board for its fascinating universe, excellent writing, and inventive conversational style. It would go on to win numerous end-of-year awards, and was even? chosen by TIME magazine as one of the previous decade's best? releases.

The Final Cut features the original game in its entirety, bolstered by full voice acting for the game's expansive cast of characters, expanded language options, full controller customization and, perhaps most notably, a selection of original Political Vision Quests, set within an all-new environment. Players who own the original PC edition of Disco Elysium will receive all of this new content as a free download o??n release day, so there's no need to double-dip if you fancied taking another go-around at this unique release's immersive, wry, sleazy, weird, and worryingly resonant ride.

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