ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies

ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies is tense espionage, political dread and arcane philosophy wrapped up in a beautifully crafted CRPG package. The freedom to develop your spy in whatever faculty and fashion you wish is fun to engage with, and the narrative had me hooked from the moment I stepped foot onto the scene.

The second game from Disco Elysium studio ZA/UM, this text-heavy, dice-driven RPG is an exquisitely constructed take on consumerism, empire, nostalgia and beyond.

Zero Parades: For Dead Spies is a narrative masterpiece that, despite clearly drawing inspiration from its spiritual predecessor, flourishes with its own maturity and originality. Despite some inconsistencies, it is a true RPG and a masterclass in writing. It is a remarkable experience throughout, surely to provide a beautiful lens looking into its world and characters.

Despite inevitable comparisons to Disco Elysium, ZERO PARADES stands as a significant step forward for the RPG genre. It is a bold, sincere, and terrifyingly gripping spy thriller that should not be missed. Especially now.

ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies is a triumphant spy thriller that may be slow to start, but ramps up into an unforgettable espionage adventure by the time the credits roll.

Yet once again, ZA/UM Nouvelle Version delivers a genuinely staggering adventure, where the depths of a soul seeking redemption intertwine with the Invisible Hand, expanding empires, and spies fighting to survive amid it all. Making a brilliant game is one thing; avoiding the sophomore slump and doing it twice in a row is something else entirely.

Zero Parades: For Dead Spies is weird, beautiful, and dense with characters that I wanted to understand. It plays with its choices and narrative threads with confidence, allowing foundational elements to rot and die in service of the paths the player is willing to take.

The sensation is that of standing before a project which—had it emerged from any other software house on the planet, and under any other circumstances—would have effortlessly transformed into an instant cult classic. Unfortunately, however, the name on the cover reads ZA/UM; it was crafted using tools that were already well-proven, and it is compelled to endure a comparison that is simply impossible—much like the redemption of Hershel Wilk.

Zero Parades: For Dead Spies is a great, character-driven narrative RPG. The city-state of Portofiro is a well-fleshed-out place offering deep characters and a plethora of interesting quest lines. The systems at play might seem complex, but if you play this game like a tabletop RPG, letting the dice and the story guide you, you’ll get lost in the story and become Cascade yourself. You will need to set aside plenty of time because there are so many people to talk to and places to explore, but if you can put aside hours for long gaming sessions, this might be the game for you.

Zero Parades consistently questions the homogenization of media and capitalistic control of art – how we wring the towel dry to get every little drop we can from “franchises” and “IP.” It raises questions on how the very nature of capitalism and artistic expression are opposed, and when you look at what happened to Disco Elysium and its creators, it’s impossible not to see it within that context. There’s no easy way to look at Zero Parades, but through it all, maybe the sheer act of considering the questions it raises, with a sufficient helping of skepticism, is enough.

Zero Parades understands its position within gaming culture. Like the protagonist, Hershel Wilk, it’s weighted down by a complicated past, but willing to move forward. The game is at best when ZA/UM’s trying to do new things, both with its mechanics and its writing. With the latter, it triumphs. However, while I still deeply enjoy its mechanics, both new and familiar, a part of me wishes that the game was bolder and willing to differentiate itself even more from its predecessor.

ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies is a fantastic RPG with great writing, a phenomenal cast of characters, and an interesting setting.

Zero Parades: For Dead Spies is not an easy game, and within that difficulty it explores interesting themes related to media, ideas, curiosity, and the danger of drive. It digs deep to find its own identity while also being built on the foundation of previous work from developer ZA/UM, and does so successfully.

Zero Parades is a worthy descendant of Disco Elysium’s tradition. Social awareness and artistry put into every word of narration, along with great voice acting, make Cascade’s journey to self-forgiveness a gripping and highly enjoyable experience.

CASCADE cannot escape her past; it’s been haunting her long before she returned to Portofiro. But with the spectre of it looming over her, she pushes forward. The developers that remain at ZA/UM have done the same, and in so doing crafted a worthy follow-up to one of the greatest RPGs of all time.

Zero Parades: For Dead Spies establishes a strong identity for itself with its deep understanding of human nature and political philosophy, plus plenty of twists on the standard CRPG formula. The story is slow, and some elements don't quite live up to their potential, but it's still one of 2026's essential games.

ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies is a fantastic, dark, but also funny sci-fi spy story that hooks you and doesn’t let go. It gives you a lot of room to solve situations and build your own Sick Crew, for better or for worse. The new action sequences keep you on your toes and every narrative turn locks you in for the ride. ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies proves ZA/UM can still create meaningful, deep experiences.

ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies is a demanding game that requires patience and attention, but those willing to engage with it on its own terms will find something truly special.

Zero Parades: For Dead Spies arrives with high expectations following the success of Disco Elysium. It must not have been easy for ZA/UM to live up to the immense anticipation surrounding its latest work, especially given the complicated production circumstances. The spy story starring Agent Cascade is intriguing and offers approaches that are as varied as they are entertaining and absurd, but you can sense the meticulous attention to detail in both the narrative and artistic aspects. A few too many bugs might raise an eyebrow during your playthroughs, but they certainly won’t detract from one of the most interesting experiences of recent times.

Zero Parades requires you to work your way through a lot of text and complex themes before it turns into a captivating spy thriller.

ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies takes the classic structure of narrative adventure games—multiple dialogue options, locations to explore, and items to retrieve—and grafts it onto a surprisingly deep RPG system, featuring psychological stats, customizable builds, perks, and dice rolls that can radically alter the course of events. "Dramatic Encounters" heighten the tension with turn-based sequences that simulate the most intense action scenes. The appeal is immense for those who love cerebral spy stories, dense writing, and freedom of choice; however, the colossal amount of text might deter players seeking a faster pace, and the strong resemblance to Disco Elysium inevitably deprives the experience of that "wow factor" that made the first installment so surprising.

This masterfully crafted CRPG evolves the foundation laid by its predecessor through a chillingly paranoid narrative and a sophisticated skill system. Although the initial abstraction and dense political jargon may intimidate, the transition to Unreal Engine 5 delivers a vivid, postmodern world where information remains the ultimate power.

Much like the game that came before it, Zero Parades is dense and only works if you’re willing to sit with its long conversations and rather slow buildup. It does a lot of what its predecessor does, but it still manages to be its own thing once you get past the comparison. It doesn’t always feel smooth or easy to follow, but it often rewards your patience with truly glorious moments.

Zero Parades: For Dead Spies feels deeply human at times, with a more anchored and centralised narrative than ZA/UM’s previous title.

Zero Parades is a dense and, at times, exhausting RPG, but one that weaves an excellent narrative in a world brimming with richly explored subtext. Although it remains somewhat in the shadow of its predecessor, the story of Cascade’s quest to right past wrongs stands on its own and offers one of the best narrative experiences in the genre.

While not for everyone, those that carefully plan things out will enjoy their time as CASCADE in ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies - just be mindful of that anxiety.

Disco Elysium may be impossible to replicate, but Zero Parades: For Dead Spies successfully carries over some of its most compelling qualities and turns them into a genuinely strong experience of its own. At times, it can feel a little too trapped within the framework established by Disco Elysium, yet the sheer amount of high quality writing and a fairly engaging story are more than enough to make fans of this genre feel like they have finally been given something they have been starving for.

Zero Parades: For Dead Spies lives in the shadow of something bigger, and it never quite manages to escape it. Its biggest flaws come from a lack of confidence in itself, and when it speaks with its own voice, Zero Parades is truly special and memorable.

Zero Parades is not Disco Elysium 2, nor does it attempt to be. It is, however, proof that—even after the rift that rocked ZA/UM—there are still people within the studio capable of writing video games that are profoundly strange and tremendously fascinating, capable of transforming Portofiro into one of the most artistically magnetic settings seen in recent years. Whether or not to give it a chance, however, is a roll of the dice left entirely up to the players.

ZA/UM emerges from a dark, uncertain period with a notable game that proves the studio still has talent, vision and a future ahead of it.

ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies delivers a dense and engaging narrative experience, standing out through its strong writing, memorable characters, rich world-building, and the freedom it gives players to approach challenges in different ways. Its unconventional take on espionage stories, combined with a melancholic atmosphere, striking visuals, and Hershel’s distinctive personality, creates a captivating adventure from beginning to end. However, the experience is held back by an overreliance on luck, occasionally vague progression, under-explained mechanics, and a sense of familiarity in some of its ideas and structures. Even so, despite living in the shadow of its predecessor, the game proves it has enough identity and quality of its own to deserve recognition and appreciation.

A psychological agent thriller, that doesn't live up to it's full potential, but still manages to hook you up and offer excitement.

Zero Parades: For Dead Spies can’t escape comparisons to Disco Elysium, but even so, ZA/UM has managed to infuse its new game with a lot of personality, proving that there’s still plenty of talent out there and many stories left to tell.

While unlikely to strike the same chord as Disco Elysium, Zero Parades: For Dead Spies is still an interesting and engrossing title. Running at around twenty hours, potentially less, for a full playthrough, there’s lots to uncover in the game, alongside a lot of scope for replayability, particularly if players spend their first attempt taking what the dice gives (and takes away from) them. How long it remains in the memory in the future remains to be seen, but its strong world-building and interactive mysteries keep players engaged in an ultimately very satisfying experience.

Does Zero Parades occasionally feel like a "bootleg" version of Disco Elysium ? Yes. But one can easily argue that it's the entire point. An engrossing spy thriller in a brand-new universe, Zero Parades makes salient points about culture, its staunchest and most unsufferable guardians, or the industrial elites who seek to weaponize mass entertainment for their own nebulous, sometimes borderline-religious purposes. While the writing does falter in places, the new gameplay systems are strong enough to compensate, and the overall presentation remains astoundingly beautiful.

I didn’t think Zero Parades: For Dead Spies would turn out as good as it actually did. The only real downside is that it constantly lives in the shadow of its big brother and the genre’s master, Disco Elysium, the game that, in a way, redefined the modern CRPG genre.

Despite initial difficulties, Zero Parades: For Dead Spies is a great RPG adventure that particularly shines in terms of quest and world design.

Zero Parades may never be free of the endless Disco Elysium comparisons, but it’s an exceptionally compelling game in its own right. Look beyond the shadow cast by its predecessor, and you’ll find many reasons to stay.

Ultimately, Zero Parades: For Dead Spies does manage what looked unthinkable: it stands on its own, turbulent development cycle aside. It was never going to completely step out from the monolith that is Disco Elysium, but viewed strictly on its own merits, it emerges as a very intricate, atmospheric espionage RPG.

Zero Parades: For Dead Spies is a great RPG experience that manages to explore the espionage angle in an interesting way in its narrative and gameplay systems. The world manages to provide a fascinating context of decay, political intrigue and despair. While it may be a little complicated as a starting point in the genre, it’s a must-play for those looking to dig deeper into what the genre can offer.

All in all, Zero Parades has that ever-elusive quality of convincing you to keep playing: to find out what happens next, to unravel the narrative, to keep experiencing Portofiro. There's something about games that try to capture the collective human experience that just speaks to my very soul. Zero Parades is the kind of game that makes you ponder our shared existence; the immutable mechanisms of existing in a society you have no control over. I'm ecstatic to announce we have another fantastic narrative RPG in the world. Bravo ZA/UM.

While Zero Parades: For Dead Spies does feel like a spiritual sequel to Disco Elysium, its narrator doesn’t quite have the same spark as its predecessor. Given that she whispers in your ear for the entire game, her rough-and-ready accent quickly becomes droning, with skill voices melding into one instead of being unique, exciting personalities. Thankfully, both the dramatic encounters and Exert systems make up for some of the game’s less interesting moments, breaking up the text’s monotony while raising the stakes. Zero Parades, in many ways, feels even more TTRPG than Disco Elysium, and in my book, that’s a win.

It's these systemic enhancements that most notably separate Zero Parades from Disco Elysium. It struggles in other areas, often feeling like a pale imitation of the studio's predecessor--dangerous territory when the likelihood of reaching the same heights is marginal at best. But even with these hiccups, this is still an excellent RPG, with varied and mostly well-defined characters, a fully realized setting encompassed by insurmountable depth, and an endlessly captivating narrative that offers myriad ways to maneuver through its fantastic twists and turns. It might not capture the same rarified magic, but it's well worth venturing into Zero Parades: For Dead Spies' clandestine world.

Zero Parades is neither a disaster nor another Disco Elysium. Instead, it succeeds in the impossible by being its own rough, unpolished, and fascinating thing. Not all the ideas are fully formed yet, but for fans of smart and challenging thrillers, Zero Parades is an essential experience.

Zero Parades: For Dead Spies often feels like it's shouting "Look, we've still got it". A sentiment that applies as much to its protagonist as it does to the development team, which has crafted an intricate and compelling adventure populated by a colorful and eccentric cast. The gameplay is excellent and remains engaging from start to finish, but the story never fully lives up to its ambitions. While the characters are certainly memorable, the game's excessive self-indulgence weighs down the narrative with an overwhelming amount of unnecessary detail. Fans of Disco Elysium will likely find plenty to enjoy in ZA/UM's latest effort, but they shouldn't expect the same brilliance.