Disco Elysium - The Final Cut Review

00:00:02.150[Music]

00:00:04.480this must be the infernal machine

00:00:06.879that toy from oblivion the caprice

00:00:09.599kinema

00:00:10.320motor carriage in the cabin you are

00:00:12.639welcomed by a set of steering levers

00:00:14.639a radio microphone on a hook a pull-out

00:00:17.119toolbox under the seat

00:00:18.880and a scent of leather work and heavy

00:00:21.279fuel oils

00:00:22.240washes over you

00:00:27.039the white suede feels luxurious under

00:00:29.439the touch

00:00:30.240and the metal clutch handle so very

00:00:32.239familiar in your palm

00:00:33.680as you tap on the gauge disco elysium's

00:00:37.120launch back in 2019

00:00:38.719may not have been preceded by an awful

00:00:40.480lot of fanfare but it didn't take long

00:00:42.719after it released for everyone to

00:00:44.160realize what a special game it was

00:00:46.800widespread acclaim truckloads of awards

00:00:49.039and accolades and excellent word of

00:00:50.640mouth combined to make the industry sit

00:00:52.480up and take notice

00:00:53.920and those who played the unique off-beat

00:00:56.000rpg realized that this was the sort of

00:00:58.480game that would be recognized as an

00:01:00.160instant classic in a giant of the genre

00:01:02.559for years to come

00:01:04.159now with disco elysium the final cut

00:01:06.880developer zom has brought the seminal

00:01:09.040rpg to wider audiences outside the pc

00:01:11.840ecosystem

00:01:12.799and made several improvements to the

00:01:14.320game in the process the result

00:01:16.479is an excellent achievement that

00:01:17.759improves upon what was already clearly

00:01:19.840a great game before we go ahead a

00:01:23.040quick request we upload new videos every

00:01:25.520single day

00:01:26.159and your subscription matters a lot so

00:01:28.560please consider subscribing and enable

00:01:30.320all notifications by clicking the bell

00:01:32.079icon

00:01:32.880with that out of the way let's begin

00:01:36.400disco elysium's biggest strength is its

00:01:38.799setting and the fantastic

00:01:40.079world building that breathes life into

00:01:41.920that setting on the surface it tells the

00:01:44.159story of a detective with a tragic past

00:01:46.079who is recovering from complete amnesia

00:01:48.159but finds himself leading an

00:01:49.280investigation into a violent and

00:01:50.799mysterious murder

00:01:52.159thanks to that setup and the way it

00:01:53.520unfolds and progresses the story is

00:01:55.439enjoyable even on that surface level

00:01:57.360discovering new pieces of the puzzle and

00:01:58.960then putting them together as you

00:02:00.159attempt to get to the heart of the

00:02:01.200mystery is captivating

00:02:02.560and made even more so by the excellent

00:02:04.320characters that serve as the main

00:02:05.680players in the story

00:02:07.200even so that initial narrative drive

00:02:09.039ends up taking a back seat to the larger

00:02:10.959stories

00:02:11.599disco elysium tells in and through its

00:02:14.000world

00:02:15.520the game takes place in martinez a

00:02:17.520district in the city of revishal which

00:02:19.520has a long

00:02:20.319and violent history of revolutions

00:02:22.080failed governments and violence and

00:02:23.760currently teeters on the edge of chaos

00:02:25.360under the control

00:02:26.239of a coalition of governments disco

00:02:28.480elysium leverages its setting in

00:02:30.080incredible ways to tackle complex themes

00:02:32.560it keeps asking players fascinating

00:02:34.160questions in ways that feel

00:02:35.760organically tied to the story and to its

00:02:38.080world

00:02:39.040revishall has a rich and fascinating

00:02:41.200history the people of martinez that you

00:02:43.200meet throughout the game are all

00:02:44.239delightfully bizarre

00:02:45.519and full of personality and it feels

00:02:47.360like no matter where you're going or

00:02:49.040what you're doing you're constantly

00:02:50.800uncovering new details to deepen your

00:02:52.720understanding of disco elysium's world

00:02:56.160what helps of course is the consistently

00:02:58.239excellent writing

00:02:59.200which is a good thing because disco

00:03:00.879elysium is heavy on text

00:03:02.959and reading through it is how you're

00:03:04.480going to spend the bulk of your time

00:03:05.920while playing this game

00:03:07.360the game constantly strikes the perfect

00:03:08.959balance between showing and telling

00:03:10.959between being subtle and being explicit

00:03:13.120between being funny and being gruesomely

00:03:15.040dark

00:03:15.760in the final cut every single written

00:03:17.519line is also fully voiced

00:03:19.599that in and of itself is an impressive

00:03:21.440accomplishment given the fact that

00:03:22.560there's over a million written words in

00:03:24.400this game

00:03:25.200but that achievement is made that much

00:03:26.959more worthy of praise

00:03:28.239thanks to the excellent quality of voice

00:03:29.920work every character has a unique voice

00:03:32.159that seems to suit their world and their

00:03:33.920personalities perfectly with the

00:03:35.599narrator in particular being the star of

00:03:37.519the show here

00:03:39.440but of course disco elysium doesn't just

00:03:41.680succeed in terms of storytelling

00:03:43.519writing and world building it is an

00:03:45.519excellent role-playing game as well

00:03:47.680it's incredibly unique and goes about

00:03:49.599doing familiar things in very off-beat

00:03:51.519ways

00:03:52.080and executes those ideas perfectly the

00:03:54.799game is completely lacking

00:03:56.159in combat and is instead centered first

00:03:58.400and foremost around

00:03:59.439skill checks there are two dozen

00:04:01.680different skills that you can invest in

00:04:03.519and depending on how you choose to build

00:04:05.040your character throughout the course of

00:04:06.239the game

00:04:06.799you can be anything from a walking

00:04:08.400repository of endless knowledge

00:04:10.319to a brute who solves problems with his

00:04:12.319fist from someone who seeks to

00:04:14.159understand the pain of people

00:04:15.599to a detective with a keen eye and a

00:04:17.440brilliant mind who never misses any

00:04:19.359detail

00:04:20.880add to that more role-playing mechanics

00:04:22.800in the form of things such as the

00:04:24.479thought

00:04:24.880cabinet where you internalize new

00:04:26.479thoughts to earn various boosts

00:04:28.000and buffs or even equipping new pieces

00:04:30.160of clothes to

00:04:31.040buff up various stats and what you have

00:04:33.520is a game with impressive build variety

00:04:35.919the sheer variety and breadth of options

00:04:37.600available in how you want to progress

00:04:39.280your character and interact with the

00:04:40.400world

00:04:41.040is staggering granted it's no divinity

00:04:43.520original sin 2 in that regard but

00:04:45.440in relation to the game's size and scope

00:04:47.440it's enough for more than just a few

00:04:49.040replays each wildly different from the

00:04:50.960other

00:04:52.240how your detective behaves responds to

00:04:54.479people and reacts to situations

00:04:56.320also helps define their character a big

00:04:58.560part of which is what political ideology

00:05:00.639they subscribe to

00:05:02.080you can choose to be someone who is

00:05:03.360seeking to incite a revolution

00:05:05.440someone who just wants to keep the

00:05:06.639status quo going someone who wants to

00:05:08.800keep the corporations and those in power

00:05:10.960in charge or even someone who would

00:05:13.039rather just watch it all play out from

00:05:14.800the sidelines

00:05:16.160these choices not only further enrich

00:05:17.919the excellent world of disco elysium

00:05:19.919they also contribute significantly to

00:05:21.520the aforementioned variety

00:05:24.160disco elysium the final cut however does

00:05:26.720have a few issues and many of these are

00:05:28.880exclusive to the final cut

00:05:30.880most are strictly technical for instance

00:05:33.440often the audio for lines doesn't play

00:05:35.759and every once in a while i'd go through

00:05:37.199bits and pieces of conversations or

00:05:38.800internal monologues

00:05:40.000where the voice acting would completely

00:05:41.840disappear meanwhile during my time

00:05:44.320playing the game on a ps5 i also

00:05:46.160encountered a couple of crashes

00:05:47.680granted a couple isn't too many but both

00:05:49.520of them did cost me a decent amount of

00:05:51.199progress since my

00:05:52.000last autosave so they were definitely a

00:05:54.240source of frustration

00:05:56.560the user interface in disco elysium the

00:05:58.560final cut is also far from perfect

00:06:00.960scrolling through all of the

00:06:01.919interactable objects with the right

00:06:03.360stick feels unintuitive

00:06:04.880and inaccurate often i would try

00:06:07.199interacting with highlighted elements

00:06:08.639but the game wouldn't read

00:06:09.759that i'd pressed the x button until i

00:06:11.360moved around a little and did it again

00:06:14.160walking around can also be a bit of a

00:06:15.759hassle at times specifically when you're

00:06:17.759navigating around confined and

00:06:19.199claustrophobic

00:06:20.080areas there are a few other issues as

00:06:22.160well such as the readability of a few

00:06:23.759elements in the game's menu

00:06:25.360none of these are game breaking issues

00:06:26.880by any means and a few are definitely to

00:06:28.720be expected when playing a game like

00:06:30.240this

00:06:30.639on a controller but put them together

00:06:32.880they do lead to moments of annoyance and

00:06:34.560clunkiness

00:06:36.639minor issues aside though this is a game

00:06:38.960that rpg fans absolutely should not

00:06:41.440miss disco elysium was already an

00:06:44.080excellent game when it first launched

00:06:45.600and with the final cut it's made

00:06:46.960even better the new changes and

00:06:48.880improvements breathe even more life into

00:06:50.720a world that was already brimming with

00:06:52.240personality

00:06:53.199and though the flaws are not

00:06:54.479non-existent they're easy to forgive

00:06:57.120anyone who hasn't played this game

00:06:58.479before needs to experience it for

00:06:59.919themselves and

00:07:00.800anyone who has now has the perfect

00:07:02.960excuse to jump back in and play through

00:07:04.800an even better version

00:07:06.000of it and that brings us to the end of

00:07:08.479the video

00:07:09.280a quick request before we conclude we

00:07:11.520upload new videos

00:07:12.639every single day and if you like what

00:07:14.400we're doing please consider subscribing

00:07:16.319it really really helps us out also don't

00:07:19.199forget to enable all notifications by

00:07:21.280clicking the bell icon

00:07:22.479so you can receive daily video updates

00:07:25.120thanks for watching