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🦉 WE READ 521 OWNER COMMENTS

Disco Elysium: what owners actually say

Owners widely consider Disco Elysium an artistic masterpiece with incredible writing, but many warn it's slow, political, and decidedly not for everyone.

LEMMY · 395 YOUTUBE · 55 HACKERNEWS · 53 REDDIT · 11 PRODUCTHUNT · 7

What owners complain about

  • Too preachy/political SOME

    Multiple owners felt the game became overly political as it progressed, with some finding it explicitly ideological. One user said it 'lost them' once the political content ramped up and wished they had 'done away with all the political stuff.'

  • Slow pacing, no action SOME

    Players report the pacing is too slow for their taste. One owner explicitly stated they 'like a little more action in RPGs' and that the pacing wasn't for them personally.

  • Walls of text SOME

    The game requires reading extensive dialogue and narration. Owners compare it to Planescape: Torment and note that 'if you are into the walls of text then it works but if that isn't your thing it doesn't.'

  • Misleading marketing FEW

    One owner felt the game was oversold as 'open world... let you do almost anything' when the reality is a more constrained experience with a defined character backstory.

  • Intentionally obscure FEW

    Some players found the game designed to be 'obscure and difficult to follow,' with the amnesia opening making it intentionally disorienting.

What owners love

  • Artistic masterpiece

    Multiple owners call it a masterpiece, placing it in their 'top 10 most immersive experiences.' One said it was 'the last single player video game that I got fully absorbed into.'

  • Worldbuilding and writing

    The worldbuilding and conversation mechanics are praised as 'top tier.' The writing depth rewards multiple playthroughs, with one owner discovering entirely new dimensions on a second run by choosing different dialogue options honestly.

  • Comedy from stat systems

    Unusual stat distributions create unique comedic outcomes. One player with minimum Intelligence and Physique but maximum Motorics described it as 'the ultimate hangover' with 'special comedic outcomes when your stats are really bad.'

  • Kim Kitsuragi relationship

    The partnership with Kim Kitsuragi is highlighted as a core emotional anchor, with one highly-upvoted comment simply stating the game is about 'making Kim Kitsuragi respect you.'

  • Passion project authenticity

    Owners repeatedly praise it as a vision-driven work made by people who 'actually care about their product,' contrasting it with corporate, committee-designed games.

Surprising patterns

  • Multiple owners actively encourage pirating the game rather than buying it, because the original creators were ousted in what commenters call a hostile takeover by the financier. One stated 'it is morally correct to pirate Disco Elysium.'
  • The political content is hotly debated: some read it as endorsing communism, while others argue the post-communist ruin setting actually portrays leftism unflatteringly. Owners disagree fundamentally on what the game is saying politically.
  • Failing stat checks can produce the most entertaining content — low stats unlock unique comedic dialogue and scenarios that high-stats players never see, making bad builds genuinely rewarding rather than punishing.

WHO SHOULD SKIP IT

Players who want action, fast pacing, or who are put off by heavy reading and political themes in their RPGs will likely bounce off this, as multiple owners explicitly warn it's not for everyone.

8.7/10 GYIBB verdict
Full review → Buy on Amazon →

Synthesised from 521 real owner comments across 5 platforms. Every point is grounded in the comments — no marketing, no AI guessing. How we do it →