Larian Studios

Interesting read, but Disco Elysium is a bad example - "balance" is mostly (this thread as well) used in context of power in combat.

But Disco Elysium is not a balanced game as well. Some skills (hand-eye coordination, authority, calculus) are vastly superior to others, if you wanna have generally positive outcomes in quests and story. Other skills are interesting too, but not as "satisfying".

Even MMOs, where "balance" is the most important, do not have it. Take WoW as an example - certain specs always pull ahead in their respective roles. And the more "balanced" WoW became over the years, the less fun it turned out to be.

As for single player games, balance is not needed. What is needed is diversity of playstyles.