This is correct and also might finally explain why I have gradually soured on disco elysium since it came out
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After my post last week, I put the time in to finish a playthrough of Esoteric Ebb. I don’t disagree with anything tulpa said about the game’s strengths and weaknesses, but I was too tickled by how closely the game mirrored my old GM’s priorities in building a campaign, from the kinds of monsters we’d encounter to the types of magic items we’d obtain—to the numerous opportunities we’d get to embarrass ourselves in front of exceptionally powerful entities. Having to decide which of three or four different eldritch beings from when the world was young to ask a favor of before telling them how I think they should vote in the upcoming election is still a pretty good time.
I have one disappointment: like many of these games, Esoteric Ebb presents choices that appear as though they are mutually exclusive, but I feel like it doesn’t hide its tracks very well when the outcome is the same either way. I’m thinking here especially of character creation, in which you get to pick one “background” that describes an episode from your upbringing which affects your stats, but all of those episodes are always simultaneously true. I suppose it’s for the best that only a few decisions lock you into a particular narrative track, but I’m starting to lose interest in the DE-style protagonist who can be anything to anyone and loses little through such inconstancy.
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This is all the best parts of the game, I agree. I read in an interview with the game’s author that a lot of characters and setting details were pulled from his home campaigns. That explains a lot of the strength of the setting, it was something conceived of independent of the disco elysium influence, and it as a whole feels the most organically written part of the game
Overall I would love to play a ttrpg with the game devs.
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After finishing the game once I went through a second time to see what the story would look like if the cleric was apolitical and never actually went into the tea shop or talked to darrow, its really good to know that it is possible to avoid the entire plot if I want to. You can play EE with utmost incuriosity, as an almost pure dungeon crawl and finish the game successfully
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oh wow that is earlier than I expected I am really excited
I’m very uncritical of this and Esoteric Ebb, I absolutely adored both, I’m really glad that people are managing to ship Discolikes like this
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i was wrong, i’m completely apathetic about it
2019 was a long time ago and mediocre games are a crowded field, who has the energy
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Are the three released DE-likes now DE itself, Esoteric Ebb, and Zero Parades? Can’t really afford to try ZP yet, but I liked the demo.
While it looks more visual novely in presentation this is explicitly based on the conversation mechanics and aesthetics of Disco Elysium, at least it’s supposed to be. I haven’t actually started it yet but it’s on the Long List
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There’s also Rue Valley.
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I guess I finally have a game starting with the letter Z in my Steam library now. I only just realised that the game’s subtitle, For Dead Spies, is actually like, a continuation of the title? Why coudn’t they just call the game that? Long video game titles are cool…
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The question is will a Disco-like VTM rpg finally have the chance to be gay as fuck?
there’s yet to be a bad Discolike, I devoured Ebb and Zero Parades, seems to be a virtuous cycle where the template attracts designers who can do great things with it
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There’s that one steampunk disco like that no one played because its some steampunk shit
Sovereign Syndicate
I bet that one is pretty bad
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