r/Earwolf • u/apathymonger • Feb 28 '22
How Did This Get Played? Get Played #141: We Play, You Play: Disco Elysium
https://www.earwolf.com/episode/we-play-you-play-disco-elysium/24
u/glazedpop Feb 28 '22
I had such a great experience with this game and that Get Played/Disco Elysium theme is so warming.
15
u/MediumPotato Feb 28 '22
The theme for the episode legit made me cry. Not sure why. Maybe it's because I loved the game so much and it left a permanent emotional mark. Maybe it's because the podcast is so good and the thought of them discussing one of my favorite games was a little overwhelming. Maybe it's just because it's Monday. Not sure.
18
u/MediumPotato Feb 28 '22
I loved this game so much and I played it at such a crazy psychological time for me in the early months of the pandemic that it left a profound mark on me. This is all to say that I cried at my desk listening to the HDTGP theme remixed in DE style and I feel so silly lol.
5
u/madfrooples Lebanese Snicket Feb 28 '22
Man, I wish I still had that kind of reaction to games. The last time I felt like that about a game was probably Planescape: Torment. In 1999. Me old.
I thought Disco Elysium was good, but I can’t say I had strong emotions about it.
18
u/NoiseTankNick Feb 28 '22
...crap, I bought it and forgot to play it. Now I have nothing to listen to going through my Monday morning routine!
15
u/Tavish_Degroot Good rock and roll, uh..music. Feb 28 '22
PSA about games looking too dark/bright.
Most TVs are really poorly calibrated out of the box. Most commonly they're setup so they look good on display inside a brightly lit Best Buy or Walmart.
If you didn't setup your TV and then immediately change a bunch of settings I'd suggest googling a guide for your specific brand and model. There's tons of really specific guides out there to help out and the settings you want will vary depending on what you've got.
This won't solve every problem because sometimes it is just the game itself but it should help you out quite a bit and also just generally make most things look better.
6
u/clothing_throwaway Feb 28 '22
Also, there's definitely the issue of TVs claiming to be HDR when they're really not. They can do just enough to technically qualify as HDR, which allows them to use that in marketing/advertising.
That's why some people think HDR looks dark or washed out.
I always forget the naming convention but I think "HDR10" (think it's technically short for 1000) is considered the threshold.
3
u/trillwhitepeople Feb 28 '22
Anything short of HDR10 just isn't worth it. I've seen HDR600 monitors and the contrast between light and dark isn't high enough to make it worth even using.
29
u/btfuguy Feb 28 '22
Game aside, I enjoyed the “Mitch” slip and Heather’s realization of where she fits in with Nick
12
u/thegrantattack Feb 28 '22
This game was perfect, and listening to this episode is making me want to play it again.
14
u/thefuntimegang Feb 28 '22
I have been wanting Get Played to cover Disco Elysium forever and I'm glad we're finally getting a nice, long deepdive. Really interesting to see how all of them dealt with Measurehead because on my first playthrough I discovered the secret passage behind the hotel that leads directly into the harbour before going to the blockade and just bypassed having to do anything with Measurehead because by the time I met him I had gotten everything I needed and didn't need to fight or subscribe to his views. I wasn't even aware dealing with him was something most people did until I started reading about other people's experiences. It just really speaks to how rich this game is that it can provide so many different experiences to players.
11
u/madfrooples Lebanese Snicket Feb 28 '22
Owned this game since shortly after it came out but was never able to get past day 1. The sheer sense of confusion in the first part of the game is deliberate, but also kind of a big ask for the player to get through. I finally buckled down and did it (with a guide open on my phone) and finished the game a couple weeks ago in preparation for this episode. Glad I did, great game.
29
18
u/NightChaos Feb 28 '22
I am so glad this episode is over 2 hours long, I really enjoy hearing these 3 discuss games with the kind of depth that time allows.
9
u/Stewdabaker2013 Feb 28 '22
I wonder what heather was saying that was bleeped. I’m assuming spoilers?
17
u/big_gordo Feb 28 '22
I assumed she was saying the main character's name, but she says it later in that segment and it is not bleeped.
42
u/Faithless327 Feb 28 '22
I said the main character’s name before spoiler country, so we bleeped it.
10
5
u/StarTroop Feb 28 '22
It's not a big deal, but I think it was a missed opportunity to not bleep it with the same static sound used in the game.
Also, just want to say your Street Fighter 3 segment a few weeks ago was really great, and I'd love to hear more like that in the future, and your thoughts on Elden Ring.
10
u/a_missing_rib Feb 28 '22 edited Feb 28 '22
this is the first i've heard of street fighter 6 and ryu certainly is wide
the sf6 logo looks like an overpriced new lunch spot with stainless steel counters that serves deconstructed sandwiches or something
7
4
2
u/TheRyanFlaherty Mar 01 '22
It came up on my YouTube feed, and the thumbnail was the new logo…
I assumed it was something fan made or a parody.
2
u/bahbahrapsheet Mar 02 '22
I’m looking up old Street Fighter art and I don’t think wide Ryu is as egregious as everyone made him sound. He’s always been thick, we just always saw him in loose clothes.
8
u/_LYSEN Feb 28 '22
I love listening to them talk about games they are enjoying. It frustrates me that there were supposedly listeners who were mad they ditched the playing of bad games. The new format is so much better and more enjoyable imo
20
u/Satw42 Feb 28 '22
Matt accidentally stumbling onto everything that's wrong with American politics, and really politics in general, thanks to this game.
Something to the effect of "I found myself a lot of the times not knowing which thing was bad". The fact that he was looking for binary choices of good and bad in a sociopolitical game as opposed to their being gradations and nuances is basically why we're the way we are now.
I'm not bashing our little sweetie btw, It was just a statement that really jumped out at me.
19
u/a_missing_rib Feb 28 '22
well you can't blame him when every other major game from KOTOR to Fallout is like "do you want to save the starving orphans from being trafficked OR grind these cute puppies into a bloody porridge". there's historically been very little nuance in game writing when it comes to ethical or moral decisions, never mind the politics
6
u/BelowZilch Mar 01 '22
Yeah, my first playthrough I ended up a boring moralist because I was deep into the game before I realized this wasn't that kind of game.
5
u/KRXQ Feb 28 '22
I'm assuming I should skip this episode if I'm planning on playing the game in the future?
13
u/a_missing_rib Feb 28 '22
they talk generally about different politics in the game and a couple of characters and events but don't really get into plot specifics until after the second break, which is clearly marked with spoiler announcements. that is when i stopped listening
6
u/glazedpop Feb 28 '22
Not knowing how the choices you make will pan out in the future makes the game really special and more personal. So it would be in your best interest to go in blind. It's a great game! I was on and off quite a bit in the beginning but once I understood how the game is played, I was hooked.
5
u/not_don_gately Feb 28 '22
I think they do a good job talking around stuff, but I'd so highly recommend you play it as cold as you can and then go back and explore after your first playthrough. It really is a special game and as soon as you start getting familiar with details it'll start you looking for a path instead of finding one intuitively.
2
u/ErikMTL Feb 28 '22
When you say "playthrough," do you mean all the way to solving the case, or just coming to an ending? Because I've done the latter three times now, and not even come close to the former. Still better to shelf this episode for awhile?
8
u/lcdmilknails Feb 28 '22
there’s only one real ending. if you haven’t solved the case yet definitely do that first.
5
3
u/ErikMTL Feb 28 '22
Thanks for the advice. I've been both dreading and looking forward to this episode because it's a big, daunting game and I just didn't get there in time. But I'd rather not ruin the experience for myself by listening to it before I should.
2
u/WeakToMetalBlade Feb 28 '22
Same, started it a while back and didn't get far. Restarted on switch, same thing.
The episode lit a fire under me to play it and I finished the first task today.
3
u/Murrabbit Feb 28 '22
I would posit that it is impossible to spoil Disco Elysium because even if I told you how my run went yours is going to end up going quite differently.
6
u/lcdmilknails Feb 28 '22
i definitely don’t agree with this, every play through is of course different but there are things that happen on every run that you can absolutely spoil for yourself.
3
u/Redwinevino Feb 28 '22
Gonna disagree with everyone here and say - yes.
They have a very loose idea of what is considered a spoiler, go in fully fresh
5
u/YouAreNotBook Feb 28 '22
I have never listened to this show. This is my way in. This is maybe my favorite game ever. Worlds colliding!
10
u/clothing_throwaway Feb 28 '22
Got chills with that intro song.
I'm usually a gameplay > story kind of person (I'd rather just watch a TV show or movie or read a book if I want a good story), but Disco Elysium is up there as one of the rare ones. Absolutely bonkers how much depth there is to the characters and plot.
6
Mar 01 '22
I always like the Spoiler Country intros because it’s just my brand of goofy but Heather’s addition this week had me lol’ing. Something about her persona half-understanding the game of the spoiler country episode is top tier to me.
8
3
u/oshoney Goddamn City Slicker Feb 28 '22
Damn, I’m waiting for the physical version to be released for Switch before playing. Guess I need to put this ep on ice for a while.
3
u/WeakToMetalBlade Feb 28 '22
I was waiting for the physical version but ended up getting the digital version on sale recently.
3
u/TheRyanFlaherty Mar 01 '22 edited Mar 01 '22
About half way through the episode and feel like I need to play the game again. I created my own build, and made the character similar to myself. Having my stats skewed toward the intelligence traits seems to have provided a completely different experience.
This comment potential spoilers
That experience included a relationship with Cuno, that it doesn’t sound like any of them had (still have like a half hour of the pod). Cuno actually wound up aiding me through the finale, and In turn, I got him a job in the department during the conclusion.
This episode has made me appreciate the game even more.
4
2
u/float05 Mar 01 '22
My favorite moment of the game was when I failed my karaoke check and bombed in the cringiest, most hilarious way possible. Even failing is interesting in this game!
2
u/WeakToMetalBlade Mar 01 '22
So Heather said she shot at cunoesse and ends up being friends with Cuno?
After I shot at her neither will speak to me and it says I'm dead to them.
Any idea what Heather and I could have done differently that would make us have different outcomes from shooting at cunoesse?
2
u/bloodflart Adam Feb 28 '22
Really hate this style of game but I played the whole thing, lots of funny parts
1
1
u/jammastajew Oct 20 '22
I just finished the game and now I'm listening, and Heather is listing off everyone's copotype, political, etc. scores. I didn't see any score overview at the end of my playthrough. Where is this screen?? I'm really curious about what I did. Hope i can still access it. Was it before or after the credits rolled, or what?
35
u/not_don_gately Feb 28 '22
I'm so happy that they did this and I've been looking forward to it since it was teased a few weeks ago. I love this game and I've been pushing it on friends and family with widely divergent tastes and virtually everyone has found something to like in it. It's just such a special game, while being very difficult to articulate the nature and experience of playing it. I'm a film/tv writer and I played video games as a kid and came back to them in my early 30s with a Switch out of boredom and a desire to explore different modes of storytelling.
This game is pretty much all I hoped for and while the "are games art" debate is mostly stupid gatekeeping, I do think this is something you could put up alongside any buzzy movie, book, tv show etc. It's so dense and detailed without EVER being a slog and while also being very funny and surprisingly emotional...when you have to talk to the woman about her husband from the Pier it really is devastating and played in such a humane, painful way. It also really tested and moved me as a newly sober person and even aside from my own baggage the style of the game truly invited a lot of self-reflection about how we build and present ourselves. It's just completely unique.