So the two discolikes, zero parades and esoteric ebb, anyone else feel weird about them?I didn't like them. Am i being unfair or weird about not liking any of the disco likes? Ebb I feel is so easy to know the DNA of it, that you feel you know how it was approached to make it not disco elysium, I know which skills and elements it wants to lift but I am not interested.Zero parades just feels off and uninteresting? It feels like catching a movie that you don't care about, it's headache inducing. The skills and everything there.Both games really want to cast and have Harry but they just can't sell it. I don't feel like both characters are justified in trying to copy Harry, the so random and pathetic options don't come across as honest. It's dollar store Harry. I just don't know why. The skills and settings are uninteresting, the quality of writing is inferior.When i played DE, I was in from moment one, I just liked it and kept playing. I replayed it over and over. The copies dont grab me like that
the problem with making a narrative non-combat "rpg", in reality a digital gamebook, is that the game relies entirely on the player liking the writing and characterization.
>>3938091Yes, I know.Both of these are uninteresting. One is standard D&D and the other one is trying so hard to be enigmatic, like a shitty spy movie.Disco Elysium really had something special to it.
>>3938096do you know? you asked a very very dumb question.>Am i being unfair or weird about not liking any of the disco likes?
>>3938100It's not entirely dumb, I refuse to give them a shot, I played like 20 minutes of each and had to stop. At that time, Disco Elysium is at best to Garte and Kim. I was hooked. I just don't know why here I was so against them, am I tainted by knowing what happened to the original team?
>>3938101it's just a book game, bro, you're acting like the form or style is sacred or imparts something, maybe the devs of these games are too. some books don't grab you, some are aping other authors too much, some settings aren't your vibe.i think a lot of people for some reason expected disco elysium to be a revolution of design in the "crpg" space but it was also a product of being in the right time and place and hitting a certain generation. could the exact team replicate it? probably not, not many authors produce multiple great works.
>>3938087Mate. Your arguments are "I don't like it".
>>3938165I know, I just want to know if anyone else feels that way. My argument is that it's impossible to make a disco elysium like honestly
>>3938087>twohold on to your butt. zero parades is one of these five.
>>3938087>Am i being unfair or weird about not liking any of the disco likes?Please stop crowdsourcing your opinion. You're allowed to dislike things even if they're "objectively" good.That being said, I've tried the Ebb demo, never even of heard of the other one. I didn't actively dislike it, but I found it a bit boring/uninteresting. I like the idea of actually having combat, but it wasn't enough to hook me. It ended up reminding me of why DE's skills are so fun; as well made as the skill system is it wouldn't have been nearly as enjoyable without unconventional skills. Being able to spec into Conceptualisation, Electrochemistry or Inland Empire is great. The skill list feels tailored to the game they're making, and the character of Harry. Using regular DnD stats isn't as impactful IMO.
>>3938087>anyone else feel weird about them?I'll say the same thing I said before, DE was an attempt to copy Torment and it failed at that, so copying DE is lazy. They are obviously doing it for a quick buck, not because there is something in DE worth copying.
>>3938096>Disco Elysium really had something special to itBut the writing sucked.
>>3938203>DE was an attempt to copy Torment and it failed at thatretarded takealso DE >>> PST both as an artsy project and plainly as a playable game
>>3938236didn't even realize Ebb came out today. anyone play it?
>>3938087It's literally sovl vs sovlless
>>3938594I played the demo and I don't get the hype, I also never played Disco Elysium so maybe that's why.You always get those voices in every conversation but it's just bloat and it seems you can do everything out of order but there are no gameplay consequences.Two examples:- You can find out the guy in the morgue in the beginning is actually a lich, which is a big deal since they are outlawed or something, yet you can't tell him that you know.- You can find out more about the guy fleeing from the scene you need to examine before you even meet your first companion but there is no way to give him that information during the first conversation the suspect comes up or later by talking to him.I could go on, but I don't think that's good writing or good interactivity.Since you don't know anything about this fantasy world when you start the game but your character is expected to know some fundamental things, there is also too much explanation for every fucking detail, e.g. if you really want to understand more about the politics in relation to the fantasy races. I think I've talked to this one hobbit half an hour to absorb all information, but was it worth it in the end? I don't think so, that's when I uninstalled the demo.
>>3938594I got it. It's fun if you've ever stopped to think about the metaphysical and societal ramifications of various DnD tropes and spells. I think you really need a background of dnd TTRPGs to really "get" it.
>>3938087DE is not a cRPG. It’s a point and click adventure game. Hope this helps.
The problem with the games you listed is that they attempt to be something else. That's exactly why Disco Elysium is peak soul, because it didn't just try to be the spiritual sequel to Planescape: Torment.
>>3938087I played the Ebb demo, and it has the same problem a lot of soulslikes have - misunderstanding the thing they copy.The guy liked DE because of talking skills, he said as much in his dev posts, but instead of making something he himself finds interesting or fun, he just copies DE or takes straight from D&D where he's unsure what to do. We got politics, straight man sidekick to idiot MC, the skills are BLATANTLY copied (Con is just Shivers, Dex is H&E coordination etc.), and the MC has to have amnesia even though there's really no good narrative reason for it (the reason is the admittedly cool intro). The most interesting part of the demo was talking to the imp lawyer, simply because it was something not copied.DE works mostly thanks to the relationship between Harry and Kim, instant hook of a murder mystery and intriguing, internally coherent world. Political dressing and the quirky shit is just a bonus and jingling keys for the normalfag audience. Ebb dev decided to just copy the keys.I'll pirate and see whether he improved things from the demo or is it still just as uninspired. Art is nice I guess.
>>3938662Yeah, I'd say that DE was made with true love of PS:T, which means an awareness of its flaws, and a desire to say something to the world. These games are made with the mind to cash in on a "style".
Having extremely low strength in Esoteric Ebb is pretty funny
>>3938696>imperial vs metric "humor"Kurvitz would never
Ebb has a strong presence of cute girls and I like that.
>>393869650" = precisely 1.27 meters
You're not the boss of me, gameI'm not setting foot in that fucking tea shop
>>3939729>roleplaying with a DM who thinks too highly of himself simulatorinnovative
>>3939708can you make fuck with them?
>>3938087What made DE work was good writing and interesting, unique worldbuilding. Ebb and ZP just copied surface-level elements instead:-talking skills-quirky dialogue options-stylish presentation-dice rollsalso the narration in the ZP demo might be the worst voice acting I've ever heard in a video game lord almighty
You guys voted for the Freestriders, right?
>>3940226I'd rather vote for an azgalist gnome than for these jews
>>3940226When it came to a fair and nuanced portrayal of capitalism and liberalism, my expectations for a 2026 game that takes after Disco Elysium and modern D&D were basically nonexistent. Still, I pumped DEX and sided with the Freestriders at almost every opportunity, expecting to roll my eyes at caricatures of greedy fat cats in top hats. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Revolutionary Freestriders actually do have the potential to be the best choice for Norvik.First of all, look at their competition. Doing both the main quest and the Norvikian Resistance side quest will show you that the nationalists were entirely compromised by the Freestriders before the elections even began. If you talk to Snurre, he'll tell you that the Azgalists have sold out the revolution to be respectable suckdem reformists. The Arcanists and the Greens aren't real. The Freestriders basically win by default.Now, you could say that it's the game's way of portraying the overwhelming nature of capitalism that subsumes and perverts all alternatives as per Mark Fisher, but the Freestriders aren't portrayed as simply the only option – the game frequently portrays them as the GOOD option. Hell, their origins lie in opposition to warmongering magocrats who nearly wiped out all of humanity. You have to perform some pretty impressive mental gymnastics to believe that that the Freestriders were the bad guys in that situation.(I know that some people, especially those leaning towards nationalism, may point at scenes such as high DEX telling you to import infinity immigrants, but there's some room for nuance even here. DEX broadly aligns with but does not represent the Revolutionary Freestriders – it's a personified impulse to grab everything that isn't nailed down and profit now, damn the consequences.That whole scene was well-written enough that I wouldn't even consider it a strawman, especially since you can give a pro-capitalist reason to tell DEX to shut up.)(cont)
>>3940680There are two wrinkles that make them suspect, sure – their role in the main plot and their cooperation with the Golden Horde, as per >>3940653 But after both of these twists, the game goes on to cushion them! The Golden Horde is, in fact, SUBVERTING the principles of the Revolutionary Freestriders by using their pull to stop all trade with the halflings whom they're currently oppressing. The best outcome of the conversation comes from telling the angel ambassador that free trade is non-negotiable and the international community will continue to supply the halfling resistance. Further conversations with Viira show that the grip of the Golden Horde Jews on Halfling Palestine is not as strong as they like to project, and that the Revolutionary Freestriders will continue to use free trade to undermine the Golden Horde.As for their role in kicking off the main plot, well, yeah, it's a pretty bad look. However, even here, if you talk to Meriadoc Moonwatch in the epilogue, he seems genuinely surprised by the whole thing, indicating that the whole thing was orchestrated by a cabal within the Freestriders as opposed to the entire faction, meaning that, once again, all you have to do is commit to the other ideal of the Revolution – free speech – to expose the corrupt oligarchs.All in all, Esoteric Ebb may have the most positive portrayal of capitalism and liberalism in a modern RPG. This is a very, very low bar, but I was impressed nonetheless.
>>3940681>All in all, Esoteric Ebb may have the most positive portrayal of capitalism and liberalism in a modern RPG.Frankly, this goes for all right-leaning ideologiesThe game never tells you you are a fucking retard for adopting INT's statistics-backed megafascism or STR's urge to create a nationalistic state where positive masculinity can flourish, and Urth is seen as a good, reasonable man despite him being MosesHitler
>>3940690oh yeah, I rocked Future Patriarch for most of the game and pumped INT alongside DEX so I got plenty of dialogues with my inner proto-neoreactionary.also, after writing my posts, I decided to check out what rpgcodex has to say about the game and what do you know, the lead dev is a regular, even going as far as to take feedback from them. That explains A LOT about the writing. Best of luck to him.
So for the bugbear, the orc, the angel, and the sphinx, what are the best starting stats in order to maximize my flirt chances with them?
>>3940690The setting is feudalism. Ask any communist and they'll tell you that capitalism was a progressive force, raising millions out of poverty, allowing for massive industrial, medical and scientific breakthroughs. The modern left-right divide doesn't work when looking at a game like this, with a setting that is arguably as close to feudalism as it can get for fantasy.
>>3938091this is why I found Ebb even better than Disco, the writing hits my sense of humour perfectly, low int/wisdom is genuinely hilarious
Max Charisma, everything else balanced. Easy-peasy, and everyone loves me.
>>3941827SameI don't care if it's reddit or whatever, i found the game really fucking funny.
>>3941832ha haha
>>3938101Lack of voice acting for Esoteric Ebb and having a very slow introduction I think, the dude you get introduced to not being your partner and not getting a companion until a fair bit later (on top of the combat being kind of just bullshit checks ngl). Haven't played the spy game, mainly due to not trusting nu-ZAUM
>>3938620>you can do everything out of order but there are no gameplay consequencesIt's much more of an indie game than Disco that's for sure.>>3938647This also pretty much, it's actually really funny and engaging political/meta commentary in a DnD micro-world with a much better explanation for WHY you're playing an OC setting. It is a lot more word salad, in the same way that PST is word salad, but it's not at the player's willingness to probe the characters and instead found in the player's willingness to check out loretabs
>>3939713I think it's fitting the skill with delusions of grandeur would make an unprecise error like that one
>>3940226>>3940680>>3940681>>3940690>retarded non-arcanists voting for the inferior pick instead of myself
>>3941830Yeah that's retarded. All the mental related stats should be useful for dialogue.
>>3941907I just enjoy that inches to meters have an exact conversion factor, rather than a rough approximation
>>3939729Actually DM, it is the "I'm going to build a harem" campaign.
>>3942082Upplind Hagginshags didn't necessarily use the Paris mètre étalon to arrive at his definition.
>just got to the endingHoly, kino. Not as good as Disco, but honestly as a much more politically heavy rendition of the formula it was good. Some funny moments too, though still you can tell it's an indie game (a few errors in word usage or as anons pointed out the conversion of units among other things.) I did enjoy the setting
>>3942401Secured any dates?
>>3942408Secured three of them even though sadly, the only monster woman who could be flirted with rejected me
>>3942509Bugbears are monstrous enough
>>3942511Ah, but she can't crush me with her toes. I like her also, despite not being one of the civilized races
>>3938087>genre of glorified VNs for pretentious and autistic redditors
>>3942509She is volcel femcel. You should not be surprised.
>>3942581Why are you on /vrpg/
>>3942699He likes RPGs, not CYOA stat games.
>>3942688>volcelShe's quite literally a femcel entirely, a volcel has more cerebral reasons than misandry though she was fun enough to interact with
