• Publisher: ZA/UM
  • Release Date: Oct 15, 2019
User Score
8.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1436 Ratings

User score distribution:

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  1. Fuz
    Oct 21, 2019
    10
    A masterpiece.
    Don't be fooled by the camera angle, this is more a P&C adventure than a RPG. Oh, there's *a lot* of roleplayng there, there's an extensive stat/skill system, but there is no real combat system and most of the game is resolved through dialogues and skill checks. And this is where the game shines. The characters, the story, writing are *stellar*. I haven't seen a game so
    A masterpiece.
    Don't be fooled by the camera angle, this is more a P&C adventure than a RPG. Oh, there's *a lot* of roleplayng there, there's an extensive stat/skill system, but there is no real combat system and most of the game is resolved through dialogues and skill checks. And this is where the game shines. The characters, the story, writing are *stellar*. I haven't seen a game so well written in decades. I'm really impressed and it can be pretty damn powerful at times.

    Again, a masterpiece. Buy it.
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  2. Feb 8, 2020
    10
    This was definitely one of my best gaming experience in a very long time.
    This game is incredibly well written, the gameplay is innovative, all characters are well fleshed out and have a distinct and unique personality. This was like a great book you just can't put down.
    I want to thank the developers for this masterpiece: I really hope you make more of such quality level, I'll be there for it!
  3. Nov 21, 2019
    10
    Bukowski meets Dirk Gently, not only theme-wise but also on the level of writing. Oh, and they also invented a completely interpretation of RPG-skill-system, but hey, why not, while you are at it doing completely new things and have invented a fresh world from scratch anyway, complete with its own lore/history?
    Absolutely, utterly brilliant and game of the year for me.
    Caveat: You will
    Bukowski meets Dirk Gently, not only theme-wise but also on the level of writing. Oh, and they also invented a completely interpretation of RPG-skill-system, but hey, why not, while you are at it doing completely new things and have invented a fresh world from scratch anyway, complete with its own lore/history?
    Absolutely, utterly brilliant and game of the year for me.

    Caveat: You will read. A lot. If you do not like reading or are bad at it, this might not be for you.
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  4. Oct 15, 2019
    10
    This game has the best written dialogue since Planescape Torment. It's a crazy, unique, philosophical, hilariously funny isometric narrative RPG unlike anything you've seen since PsT came out. A strong game of the year candidate and a definite sleeper hit.
  5. Oct 17, 2019
    10
    Bizzare, lots to read (yes you have to read, the horror!), multiple choices affect just the tiniest game play, you can be racist cop, compassionate cop, dirty cop, horny cop, empathy cop, crazy John Mclain cop. I just died an hour in because I wanted to punch a kid and I missed, then died of a heart attack. I told a pretty blond I wanted to have sex with her and just kept banging on herBizzare, lots to read (yes you have to read, the horror!), multiple choices affect just the tiniest game play, you can be racist cop, compassionate cop, dirty cop, horny cop, empathy cop, crazy John Mclain cop. I just died an hour in because I wanted to punch a kid and I missed, then died of a heart attack. I told a pretty blond I wanted to have sex with her and just kept banging on her door to freak her out. It's an amazing world. Expand
  6. Aug 5, 2020
    10
    The writing is amazing and the main character is relatable. I have never laughed so hard playing a video game since Portal 2!
  7. Nov 7, 2019
    10
    Truthfully I'd rate this game a 7 or 8, but the amount of people rating it a 0 with the justification that this text-based, role playing game has too much text means I have to do my part to signal boost something that's actually different in a world where those same people constantly complain about things being the same.
  8. Oct 28, 2019
    10
    I don't expect anyone to read this, but I want to bump up the number of reviews this game has, because it absolutely deserves all the praise it is being given.

    Games like these don't come often. If you played Planescape: Torment, Tyranny, Kotor 2 for the plot and decisions, this game delivers the same in spades. Set in a brilliant mundane alternative world, with just enough weird
    I don't expect anyone to read this, but I want to bump up the number of reviews this game has, because it absolutely deserves all the praise it is being given.

    Games like these don't come often. If you played Planescape: Torment, Tyranny, Kotor 2 for the plot and decisions, this game delivers the same in spades. Set in a brilliant mundane alternative world, with just enough weird elements to make it familiar but slightly weird and even eerie.

    This game is not only a serious contender for game of the decade, but it will either be remembered as the most criminally underrated cult-classic or the strongest debut of a rising game company since Black Isle made Fallout 1.
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  9. Feb 7, 2020
    10
    He got everything I knew about RPG games and subverted making it one of the best experiences I've ever had with a game, when a started I was completely lost and thinking the game wasn't such a great one, but after some time playing and finally understanding that every interaction, every conversation and every decision was crucial to another event made me realize de uniqueness of it.He got everything I knew about RPG games and subverted making it one of the best experiences I've ever had with a game, when a started I was completely lost and thinking the game wasn't such a great one, but after some time playing and finally understanding that every interaction, every conversation and every decision was crucial to another event made me realize de uniqueness of it. Nowadays a lot of games looks the same but Disco Elysium took me to a journey I'll never forget. Expand
  10. Oct 28, 2019
    10
    Hands down best writing since Plancescape. More important is how the game re-invents the way the writing is conveyed to the player. Truly magnificent!
  11. Nov 12, 2019
    10
    Disco Elysium is the most flawed masterpiece I ever played but dear gods, isn't it a masterpiece nevertheless.

    It's one of the best written, most touching and beautiful games I ever played. Its' excellent dialogue, razor-sharp writing, astonishingly well constructed setting, serious themes (politics, culture, philosophy, art, violence and power projection, imperialism, nationalism,
    Disco Elysium is the most flawed masterpiece I ever played but dear gods, isn't it a masterpiece nevertheless.

    It's one of the best written, most touching and beautiful games I ever played. Its' excellent dialogue, razor-sharp writing, astonishingly well constructed setting, serious themes (politics, culture, philosophy, art, violence and power projection, imperialism, nationalism, class struggle, disco music) and its' ability to treat the player as an intelligent, mature person who knows who Karl Marx was and why was he so funny are a sight to behold.

    I never thought I would see such sophisticated tone in a video game: At surface level it's absurd and grotesque, but, on a closer inspection, intelligent and reflective, full of critical, witty nostalgia and sorrowful reverie. All of it is perfectly accented by the wonderful soundtrack and excellent art design.

    Unfortunately, the longer you play the more you see the game is bursting under its' own weight. At the end of it all, it's both too big (mechanically and conceptualy) and too small - Including the ending which comes out of nowhere in a point that I could have sworn was the 2/3rds of the story. Too many gameplay mechanics are not fully thought out, not playtested enough, you can feel the game is missing a lot (especially when it comes to the duration of the main story as well as the amount of side content). At the same time, some other gameplay elements are almost absurdly blown out of proportion despite not adding much to the experience, and sometimes even detracting from it.

    And yet, if you love good RPGs, drop everything you're doing and play this game NOW. Despite its' flaws, it flatout blows all the other post apocalyptic-fantasy-retro-crap-pseudo-RPGs out of the water. Still, I feel the true magnum opus of this studio will be the sequel to this game, if (or rather: "when") it releases.

    Because when Disco Elysium is good, it's astounding. Unfortunately, it can't manage to be astounding all of the time. Still, a 10 despite the flaws because it's a transformative tite for the entire genre, you don't get those often.

    PS. VAGUE SPOILER ALERT, but I give the game bonus points for featuring a murder mystery where the perpetrator turns out to be communism itself. Absolutely delightful twist, it's a shame the game literally ends on the next screen without giving the plot any sort of meaningful resolution.
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  12. Aug 31, 2021
    10
    Just play this game.
    The freedom on how you can shape your character and how your decisions echoed throughout the story, this is a true RPG. Don't check trailers, just jump into it so you don't get any spoilers. It's gorgeous! I'm usually must more towards FPS and typical RPG like Fallout & Mass Effect, and this game just wow'ed me.
  13. Dec 6, 2019
    10
    Very interesting and very unique game. The story is stereotypically, but plays out uniquely enough that it doesn't even feel cliche.
  14. May 18, 2020
    10
    A flawed masterpiece, but aren't they all?

    + Dark tone. It's like Baldur's Gate if the main character was schizophrenic and the main bosses all lived inside his head. You're often fighting yourself more than the environment. + Great setting. This is a dreary, almost Lovecraftian streampunk take on post- World War 2 France. There are early instant cameras, automobiles, the supernatural
    A flawed masterpiece, but aren't they all?

    + Dark tone. It's like Baldur's Gate if the main character was schizophrenic and the main bosses all lived inside his head. You're often fighting yourself more than the environment.
    + Great setting. This is a dreary, almost Lovecraftian streampunk take on post- World War 2 France. There are early instant cameras, automobiles, the supernatural horrors all live in the main character's mind. Or do they?
    + Great accidental humor. There are a lot of laugh-out-loud moments. My character just convinced himself he's a murderer and he feels so guilty he tried to blurt it out to strangers and beg forgiveness. Dialog options will be like "1. Hello. 2. Nice day. 3. Oh God I am so sorry I killed that man!". It really is like I'm controlling a psycho who's on the verge of a breakdown. It's great.
    + So many game design lessons. The skill/persona system turns the CRPG genre on its head. It's so inventive and thoughtful. Game designers will be learning about this game for years to come. In short: your skills aren't necessarily good for you. Becoming a meathead who's impervious to pain may also give you a short temper and cause you to seek out danger. This is wonderfully complex.

    - Politics. There are a lot of areas where you can easily tell the political bent of the authors. The authors make it clear you're either a card-carrying Communist, or you're a fascist white male virgin with a tiny penis. It's very cringey.
    - Very unforgiving. Personally I'm loving this, but a lot of people are turned off by the large opportunities for failure in the game. You can - quite literally - end up with a Game Over because you tried to ask a girl out and she turned you down, and you're out of pills to take to make you feel better, so you give up and quit being a cop. I'm not even kidding. That can happen. To me that's hilarious and great. Some people, especially people who like to 100% games, will hate it since it's basically impossible to see everything.
    - Bugs. I haven't had any yet, but almost everyone reports bugs. Save often. This is pretty common in CRPGs, so I can barely ding them on it.

    A lot of people complain about "all the reading" ... this game has no more reading than Baldur's Gate or Pillars of Eternity. It's a lot, but in this case it's all about the main character's inner turmoil and the city you're in. My eyes glazed over during a lot of Pillars of Eternity's text because they mention so many distant kingdoms and historic events that I have no idea what is or isn't going to be related to the main story. I never have that problem with Disco. Every bit of Disco, from the main character's turmoil to an old war hero's ramblings about the city you're in, really do further the story in a tangible way.
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  15. Mar 15, 2020
    10
    Truth is: you never knew what Disco is. «Disco Elysium»: why really the best game of 2019 is so disco (spoiler free)

    Disco Elysium is a unique detective RolePlayingGame experience on genres edge between ComputerRPG and adventure game (mostly known in Russia as quest), revealing itself practically as social RPG, because whole game run in open world map and dialog tab. In the
    Truth is: you never knew what Disco is. «Disco Elysium»: why really the best game of 2019 is so disco (spoiler free)

    Disco Elysium is a unique detective RolePlayingGame experience on genres edge between ComputerRPG and adventure game (mostly known in Russia as quest), revealing itself practically as social RPG, because whole game run in open world map and dialog tab.

    In the industrial city named Revachol strike blows, then murder occurs and moreover here comes you – professional and broken detective to decide Revachols fate. But first, you need some devastating realty lay-down, therefore you are amnesiac – and why are you may turn out one even bigger case to solve.

    Disco Elysium would mostly appeal to those who can appreciate narrative passages and immersive reflection in videogames. That to say it is a Game of the Year for script and writing due to The Game Awards 2019 (actually leading in it also by number of awards in total with four) and many others. And it has completely no fighting system whatsoever, just very few in-fight dice-roll checks as to any other reliable action in the game. You heard it, Disco Elysium brings dice-rolls from broad games to the game once again.

    What so good about the game can be shown in it’s just first hour. It’s really innovative for player to feel, like as if you are experiencing this deep down drown of human being yourself. Characters of Disco can make you feel uncomfortable, pity and weak or smashing and hustling, but mostly just pity and weak.
    Within first hour you will be presented to all of its unprecedented features. Mechanically first of all it’s the Thought Cabinet where you along your amnesiac hero can learn the world, reality and yourself in it. Thought Cabinet lets you pick which of the thoughts generated by game encounters you will proceed with (yeah, I know, just like in real life!). It’s you formulate the thoughts by your actions precisely, then the thoughts you pick to internalize will formulate you (just like in real life, yeah?!).

    But most importantly it is the immersive psychologism in it. Oh boy it does psychologism on you. Frankly putting you in constant fight with your psyche (yeah, I know…). Where most of the game is you speaking to your more or less prescribed appearances (skills) in head – like logic, empathy, perception, endurance or less conventional conceptualization, drama and some esprit de corps (which is nevertheless really just cop discourse and level of your professional deformation). There was one, okay maybe a few more, times in game where I felt like I’m some beta-omega **** myself in real life because of the level of writing in its games NCP’s and how their rhetoric was slaughtering me at the moment.

    Disco Elysium is this unique game that delivers the joy of crushing learning like in childhood. Then continues it with your teen existential crisis. And finishes with more of it. So not to say to your good. Cas once the learning is over game suggests you will be haunted with the case. But the case turns out to be substantially aesthetic mystery…
    Never to say it is bad, but finishing it was hard enough via games native speaking English (though its Estonian developer) – so to say it is very good to strengthen your English – but also case progresses like there is no you involved, so as far as you good with proceeding at handling world and your psyche, case feels just not as much sensually important, always to far from you till games very end.

    Nevertheless increment ends, the game is abnormal at its core features that makes you feel just so involved with character, which gives Disco Elysium status of one of the best role playing game there is to be. Highly recommend for big, smart and sensual narrative.
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  16. Mar 29, 2020
    10
    tl;dr- You are a burnt-out, alcoholic, and amnesiac cop sent to solve a hanging case. There to help you are your innermost thoughts that constantly yell over each other to tell you what to do, uncooperative townspeople that don't acknowledge your authority, and another cop from a rival district that holds the title of world's most patient man.

    Disco Elysium strikes an incredibly fine
    tl;dr- You are a burnt-out, alcoholic, and amnesiac cop sent to solve a hanging case. There to help you are your innermost thoughts that constantly yell over each other to tell you what to do, uncooperative townspeople that don't acknowledge your authority, and another cop from a rival district that holds the title of world's most patient man.

    Disco Elysium strikes an incredibly fine balance between "video game" and "visual novel." I won't pretend this is a game for everyone- it's extremely wordy, lacks traditional combat encounters, and is closer to a point-and-click adventure than it is to most modern RPGs. It is however brilliantly written, refreshingly original, and beautifully portrayed.

    Like traditional RPGs, you level up, and can allocate points into your skills. Unlike traditional RPGs, these 24 skills range from simply "Endurance", which determines your physical health, to the less conventional "Espirit de Core", which determines how well you understand cop culture. Also, they talk to you- each skill occupies occupies the mind of the main character and are constantly telling you what to do, to the point where you'll probably be hearing from them more than anyone else. They all have possess different personalities and goals; Encyclopedia is a know-it-all and at high levels encourages you to share your favorite bar trivia with the world whether they want it or not, while conversely your Pain Threshold is a glutton for punishment that only becomes more masochistic as you level it up, telling you to hurt yourself just to see how it feels. What type of cop, and more important, what type of person you are depends on which skills you choose to indulge.

    While the game has a health system, and you can game over, there isn't combat as you'd expect from an RPG. The game is similar to a point-and-click adventure in that while some things will hurt you, there aren't random encounters or boss fights. You have two healthbars, Wellness and Morale, that can be damaged in dialogue by failing certain checks. Fall trying to climb some debris? Unless your Pain Threshold is mighty, that's gonna smart. Lose an argument to a child? Oof, that's not great for your self-esteem.

    The game also doesn't slack in the graphical or audio department. Character and skill portraits are vibrant expressionist paintings. The scenery is all hand-drawn from an isometric viewpoint. The UI is cleverly designed as to not obscure the scene while simultaneously giving you reams of dialogue. The music is varied and perfectly accentuates the intended tone, from the Whirling-in-Rags catchy, upbeat muzak to the brooding, depressing tunes backing the main character's nightmares.

    Disco Elysium is a once-in-a-lifetime, genre defining game, comparable to Papers Please or Hypnospace Outlaw. There hasn't been a game like this before, ever, and anything going forward from this is going to use it as the standard. At $40, some are going to be put off by its rather steep price for an indie game, but I implore you to try it if you're interested- if the game doesn't hook you in the first two hours, you can safely return it, but if it does, you're not going to regret it.
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  17. Oct 15, 2019
    10
    A unique Game of a kind, that revolutionize the RPGs with a level of writing rarely achieved elsewhere.
    True Detective plus Bukowski meets Pixar’s Inside Out where your thoughts and psyche are your skills and they talk to you.
    Just a masterpiece.
  18. Apr 30, 2023
    10
    Best game ever, loved it. All it's character are so deep and we'll written.
  19. Feb 14, 2020
    10
    I cannot describe how amazing this game really is.
    I'm not that kind of person which would enjoy too much dialogue and/or long cutscenes,but this,my f**king god...surpasses anything i have ever seen in my 15 years of gaming.The skills are fun to mess around with.The characters are unique and fun.The dialogue is fun.The main character is fun AND hilarious.Its so packed with content its
    I cannot describe how amazing this game really is.
    I'm not that kind of person which would enjoy too much dialogue and/or long cutscenes,but this,my f**king god...surpasses anything i have ever seen in my 15 years of gaming.The skills are fun to mess around with.The characters are unique and fun.The dialogue is fun.The main character is fun AND hilarious.Its so packed with content its unbelievable.I have just fallen in love with this game and truly believe it deserved to at least be nominated for GOTY.
    BUT..because of the diverse selection of vocabulary used in the script of the game,i could not understand some parts of it(I'm iranian) which is not really the games fault anyway,I just had to google some words so I could find out their meaning.The game overall is perfect with great artstyle,a somewhat strategic approach to dialogue and interaction with the environment,and an interesting story that will hook you in until you finish it.
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  20. Nov 1, 2019
    10
    Best RPG and probably best game i ever played. Absolutely fantastic piece of art. I would love to see this type of game and mechanics in low medieval fantasy or D&D type of setting...
  21. Apr 7, 2020
    10
    It is a best RPG game since PT and Fallout 2. More in genre of interactive book with no action.
    But it is an absolute masterpiece and GOTY.
  22. Feb 16, 2020
    10
    This game has probably the best writing I have seen in a game this decade. It is so goddamn intelligent it is actually rediculous. And it covers so many subjects without mucking it up either. Topics like, politics, racism, depression, alcoholism, mortality, greed and a bunch more to boot. This game can literally be heartbreakingly tragic, and **** hilarious without there being massivelyThis game has probably the best writing I have seen in a game this decade. It is so goddamn intelligent it is actually rediculous. And it covers so many subjects without mucking it up either. Topics like, politics, racism, depression, alcoholism, mortality, greed and a bunch more to boot. This game can literally be heartbreakingly tragic, and **** hilarious without there being massively bad tonal shifts. This game knows exactly when to be serious and when not to take itself seriously. The choices you have for yourself really truly make you feel like you are forging your own character, youre own path. Whether you're trying to do the right thing and solving cases, or if you're being a corrupt bastard yelling at everyone and taking advantage of people, or you're a superstar communist cop who won't stop telling people hes a super star cop and also a communist. The dialouge choices you have are seemingly endless and for sure endlessly entertaining. And since your dialouge is based on the stats that you choose at the beginning on the game, there is a fair amount of room for replayabilty.
    The story is fantastic, and nearly all of the side quests you can do have some level of depth to them making nearly all of them worth doing. Soundtrack is solid, voice acting is a mixed bag though. Sometimes its really good, sometimes its fine, and sometimes its straight up bad. At the very least, the straight up bad ones have strong writing to back them up and also not every single line in disco elysium is voice acted.
    Warning though, there is no combat in this game, its all dialouge choices and rolls of dice on encounters, I adored this game, but I couldn't play it for more than 1-2 hours at a time, since about 80% of what you're doing in this game is reading. If you can handle that, then this game should just straight up floor you. Its my favorite game I played in 2019 and a #P4P great!
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  23. Dec 8, 2019
    10
    Great writing, great worldbuilding. Finished this in 3 days. Easily my game of the year 2019.
  24. Jun 16, 2020
    10
    The most poetic game I've ever played. A psychedelic dream breathed through language spilt onto the canvas of a video game. Beautifully thought provoking, political, existential, hilarious, and empathetic. A writer's game. An old school tabletop RPG with some modern ingenuity. The game magically feels universal and inherently specific to your own journey at the same time. If you don'tThe most poetic game I've ever played. A psychedelic dream breathed through language spilt onto the canvas of a video game. Beautifully thought provoking, political, existential, hilarious, and empathetic. A writer's game. An old school tabletop RPG with some modern ingenuity. The game magically feels universal and inherently specific to your own journey at the same time. If you don't mind reading and you are a reflective person you will love this gem. Expand
  25. Nov 7, 2019
    10
    One of the most unique RPG's I have ever played. It is very text heavy, but the writing is superb. One of the coolest aspects of the game in my opinion is the dialog that takes place inside your own characters head and how your skills and choices impact that dialog. You really feel like you are playing out a fleshed out character and impacting their development. This isn't a traditionalOne of the most unique RPG's I have ever played. It is very text heavy, but the writing is superb. One of the coolest aspects of the game in my opinion is the dialog that takes place inside your own characters head and how your skills and choices impact that dialog. You really feel like you are playing out a fleshed out character and impacting their development. This isn't a traditional RPG with combat and what not, so don't expect that. However, if you are into mystery/detective games, and old school tabletop/text based RPG's then give this a whirl. You won't be disappointed. Expand
  26. Oct 17, 2019
    10
    Best game of the year - hell, it's probably the best CRPG I've ever played. Still have to finish it so I can say with certainty.
  27. Aug 30, 2020
    10
    Love it..................................................................................................................................................................
  28. Aug 7, 2022
    10
    There are enough excellent sentences written in Disco Elysium script, no need to add anything to it. Stop reading this review and go play this gem!
  29. Nov 21, 2019
    10
    This game shot from "what the heck is this and why should I care?" to "This is one of the best examples of games as art" within an hour. It went from there to "This is one of my favorite games ever," within 10.
    A true triumph of risks, polish, and care, that in my opinion stands as one of the best of the decade.
    That said, it's not for everyone. Its dialog can be a bit abstract, and
    This game shot from "what the heck is this and why should I care?" to "This is one of the best examples of games as art" within an hour. It went from there to "This is one of my favorite games ever," within 10.
    A true triumph of risks, polish, and care, that in my opinion stands as one of the best of the decade.
    That said, it's not for everyone. Its dialog can be a bit abstract, and there's certainly a LOT of reading. I can see why there are people who wouldn't like it.
    I just really, really do.
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  30. Oct 17, 2020
    10
    De los mejores juegos y RPGs que he jugado en mi vida, totalmente recomendable te guste o no el RPG y las historias interactivas, JUEGAZO
Metascore
91

Universal acclaim - based on 64 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 63 out of 64
  2. Negative: 0 out of 64
  1. Apr 10, 2020
    100
    A murder mystery set in a rich, fictional setting, Disco Elysium is told with sweeping profundity and hilarious absurdity. With no combat to impede story progression, this is a choice-driven role-playing adventure that deftly raises the bar of quality for the medium.
  2. Mar 28, 2020
    95
    Disco Elysium is a very special RPG that most of your time will be spent on reading. It features a well-written detective story, various tricky skill trees, and memorable characters. This game might be the best one of its kind. But if you can't stand reading for a long time, just don't try it.
  3. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Feb 28, 2020
    80
    Unconventionally conceived adventure game with excellent visuals and world worked out to the smallest detail. But it will satisfy only those of you who are not afraid of the huge amount of English dialogue, because it makes up the vast majority of gameplay. [Issue#299]