Who me? I love Disco Elysium, it's the future more than DOS2 could hope to be.
Originally Posted by Sozz
I'm not sure DOS2 is really an innovative entry into the cRPG canon
I was saying in the three ways I typically measure cRPGs: Story, Rules, and "Combat"/ Scenarios, most of the new cRPGs we've been getting in this post-Bioware era rarely have very interesting stories(though some interesting premises), the rules they use are reworks or responses to D&D 5e, which is fine but rarely innovative (and with the MMO-ification of things often regressive). Which leaves making interesting combat scenarios, DOS2's use of environment interaction did a lot to make its combat more interesting, and Kingmaker had some nice old-fashioned dungeons and monster puzzles, but their story and mechanics still were more a secondary concern. Unlike the Obsidian Bioware spin-offs that sold themselves as story forward companies, but didn't really deliver on what Rpgs stories should be working towards.
Disco Elysium is certainly my favorite RPG to come out in a long time, I like a classless skill based system, I liked how the skills interfaced with the story, I like how skills reacted to min-maxing, and I liked how it supported role-playing. I've heard people quibble with the 'mystery' at the center of the game but it was pretty clear to me early on the game wasn't really about solving a murder, even if that is your raison d'etre. I'd say Disco is the reverse of what I find lacking in the above, it's a story first game, with a innovative rpg system, the scenarios on the other hand, they're all bespoke, I still haven't made up my mind about it really.
Disco Elysium makes me wonder where the line between visual novel and cRPG is, especially in the wake of recent criticism of Bioware's stories being "Choose Your Own Adventure" games with a combat system to carry you from choice to choice.
