Disco Elysium has really caught my eye as a game I might end up buying, as it swept the BAFTA awards, which is pretty much the only legitimate game awards that still remain (at least as of 2019). However, my eyebrow was raised as I read about how the creators are from Estonia, which is a post-soviet country, from what I’ve read up on. This discussion on Reddit and this dialogue chain from the game are enough for enough for one to calmly call this a “Marxist game”.
Will I still buy it? Probably. In my eyes, this game is a literal “leftist game”, not the “SJW” pandering that we see from the likes of The Last of Us 2 and Mass Effect: Andromeda. Thoughts? Any are welcome :)
The development team went out of their way to get a voice actor from fucking Chapos rather than getting professional voice actors who mostly gonna have similar ideology anyway. That part bothered me and I didn't. it's also quite fucking expensive even with a sale, so no.
Huh, I just googled that. Quite interesting, it shows what kind of people the devs like listening to :(.
Funny for Chapo Trap House to take part in the rather capitalist process of game development.
Just shows really how principled they are. When it comes to their own money, they will abandon their ideology and go to cognitive dissonance mode.
And I pretty much explained why they chose to be moderate in pushing their ideology in their game in the previous discussion back in that sub-reddit. The development team knows the REAL gamers wouldn't like the politics shoved in their face and wouldn't buy the game, so the devs chose to play smart and kept it really subtle in having woke stuff in their game.
Have u played the game or looked into it? I’d like an opinion on the value of the game, politics not withstanding(if u want).
I have looked into it. I was interested in giving that game a go until I read the development team seems strangely chummy with Chapotrap. It's like that game Planescape Torment. I know the basic plot and the game gives you freedom where you can do whatever you want.
I see. That is unfortunate.
Perhaps if you separate the development process from the game itself, like one would excuse Kevin Spacey or Roman Polanski’s personal actions from their artistic works, you would find enjoyment in the games. To be blunt, bad people can make great art.
True but I can't help but get a bad taste in my mouth. For example I used to like listening to REM but I can't even listen to them any more or I used to like Jim Carrey movies but now I don't think I can even watch his movies.
Probably I will try the game when this cultural war is over and done with but I have so many backlogs anyway.
The ride never ends, my friend.
Ignoring the recent forced diversity they've shoved into the bafta's. They've mostly been the oscar equivalent of game awards, for the longest time now.
As for the game itself, I can't really say one way or the other. Though for the record, I don't care if the so-called politics are subtle. Especially when it, surprise surprise, more liberal beliefs being shoved into my face.
I understand what you are saying. This comment from this community really got me thinking though.
Although to be honest, if you want to make it so that video games become less “liberal”, be willing to limit yourself to games made by smaller dev teams, such as this one. AAA studios are too agenda-driven right now and trying to appeal to the ‘woke’ crowd online. There’s not much else we as consumers can do, other than lobbying.
Yes, but any group that is formed to fight back against SJW shit taking over everything, is going to be viewed and treated like Tipper Gore and the Moral Majority and the other old-school censors (even though SJWs are really the ones into outright censorship now ...) .. just saying to be prepared for that, especially if you were or would have been on the opposite side of that fence back in the day.
It ... has .... "disco" .. in it.
Hard pass right there. Lived through the disco era. Would not recommend.
Though I will admit, it's better than this modern jungledrums shit they have now.
IN DE marxism is generally portrayed as this sort of nostalgic and sad attempted revolution that couldn't occur because of outside forces bringing it down. Obviously stupid, but on the other hand not for me a game ender because the characterizations outside of the politics can be good and the writers are generally not shoving things down your throat. (for instance, they wrote a very relatable and charming old nationalist/monarchist type character that would be impossible for a sjw propagandist to write).
Most of the politics generally in DE are absurd charactures of reality, which made it hard for me to take any of them very seriously, which was a good thing. If you pick some reasonable conservative / nationalist answers the game will put points in the fascist category which is annoying. But the political ideologies are presented in such a silly and over-the-top way that it didn't end up mattering too much to me.
Sure, you could call it a lefitst game, but the core of the game (the main character's internal journey) is honest, well-written, and has nothing or little to do with politics.
Very interesting. The Reddit post I linked had a comment which mentioned how the perspective that DE offers is something that could only come from Estonia, since it was a more or less successful post-soviet country. I imagine the game’s handling of politics becomes much more bearable and fascinating when you consider who the creators are.
Personally, the game brings up very legitimate points about how capitalism has flaws, particularly in how it promotes a very hedonistic perspective toward happiness and fulfillment. However, as Winston Churchill said, capitalism is the worst economic system, except for all the others. History has made this very apparent.
Don't know, I consider it a bad game though. Bought it on a friend's recommendation and threw it aside relatively quickly. Didn't get in far enough to see a bunch of politics, did get far enough to see no worthwhile gameplay.
Disco Elysium isn't a political game in the sense that it beats you over the head with the developers' personal politics. It doesn't try to tell you what's right or wrong. It just presents the world as-is and you can make of it what you will. It's also worth noting that they go pretty hard on every political faction in the game, from the right-wingers to the fence-sitters to the communists. Everyone gets mocked.
The real meat of the game is the story, and that is squarely focused on the protagonist and his personal demons. To say more than that would spoil a lot of what makes the game great. It's also an RPG in the true sense of the term. It's in the vein of Planescape: Torment, and even rivals it in a lot of ways. I wouldn't pass up this game because the writers have different beliefs than me. Especially when it's this well-made.
Yar har, fiddle dee dee, marxists think that everything should be free. That justifies the act of piracy, if the devs are marxists.
If you see right wing anti communist propaganda as leftist you must be damn far right
Why not just go to Kotaku in action original subreddit instead of following here like some jaded attention whore if you are gonna whine about muh right wing? This is why I hate you mongs inviting yourself like dumb shit when nobody wants you. If you had substantial argument, that's one thing but you don't.
If you want me to respond with bit more thoughts, take your own fucking advice, dumbshit.
Can you elaborate on that? I’m not saying that this game isn’t critical of communism or socialism, but from what I’ve seen, it’s not given the treatment that capitalism is given in the Youtube video I linked.
It is anti-communist like Bookchin's summary of Kronstadt is anti-communist. In other words, it is acknowledging the failed communist revolutions instead of yelling, "not real communism."
Imagine following people to another fucking website just to do this piss poor trolling.
Go suckstart a shotgun