https://x.com/JamrockHobo/status/1799090939966947689 Bonus question: what game would you consider as COMMUNIST as disco elysium?
IMO, Disco Elysium is an example of a trend I wish more games would follow. The majority of games are focused on creating VAST worlds that are shallow as hell rather than something like DE that has a narrow scope, but has so much depth and reactivity to the player that it feels real and lived in.
I think DE is alone in its specific micro-genre of RPG, the blend it offers hasn’t been replicated before or since. There are many games that do parts of DE as well as or better (except for writing), but nothing that has the full package.
As for COMMUNIST, none. Plenty of games have leftist themes if you analyze them (Mother, Red Faction Guerilla, hell Dark Souls/Bloodborne), but I can’t think of another one that has such a firm grasp on theory and translates it into the game.
I found Pentiment, while a much smaller game, to be quite well-written and ultimately deal with similar themes of loss and a world that is changing toward an uncertain future. Both settings have a sense of mourning for a time and way of life that is already past, and just clings on here and there in the backwater.
It’s also absolutely gorgeous with great attention to detail in how the characters are portrayed and speak and how that relates to their age and social position. In general, the game is a bit of a love letter to the early modern period (go figure, it’s Josh Sawyer) and it is rather charming to inhabit a pretty well-realized rendition of that; to see what everyone is eating, what they wear, what their lifeways are.
So if you want some more of that rather wistful coziness that Disco has, it’s pretty good for that. Also it’s also a detective game, but like Disco, that sometimes takes a backseat to the setting.
Hellblade: senuas sacrifice. Gameplay wise it may be lacking but the atmosphere and story and themes pulled me in hard.
Haven’t got a chance to try the second yet.