Disco Elysium boldly reminded us all what it means to feel one of the rarest experiences gaming world has to offer – the bonafide fulfillment combined with a wild outburst of insatiability, as the end credits roll on the screen.
ZA/UM culture collective turned dev studio, under the leadership of Robert Kurvitz – Estonian writer and musician – released this cRPG gem in 2019 to universal acclaim as well as glorious reviews.
Splendorous world-building, distinctive visuals in the vein of realist paintings of Gustave Courbet, Józef Chełmoński and Jakub Różalski, along with one-of-a-kind mystery to unravel, the cemented reputation of Disco Elysium as one of the best games of the previous decade.
What truly stole our hearts, though, was the story. A dialogue-heavy marvel indeed, full of literary intricacies and narrative delicacies, the textual facet of Disco Elysium could clearly be regarded as an interactive novel.
Overwhelmed by the paradoxical experience of the unquenchable contentment, fueled by the longing for comparable immersion, we decided to compile a list of games like Disco Elysium.
Game | Release | Genres | Developer | Trailer | |
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Planescape: Torment Enhanced Edition | 2017-04-11 | Strategy | Beamdog | ||
The Outer Worlds | 2020-10-23 | Action RPG | Obsidian Entertainment | ||
Divinity: Original Sin 2 | 2017-09-14 | Adventure | Larian Studios | ||
Wasteland 3 | 2020-08-28 | RPG | inXile Entertainment | ||
Outer Wilds | 2020-06-18 | Action | Mobius Digital | ||
Undertale | 2015-09-15 | Indie | tobyfox | ||
Torment: Tides of Numenera | 2016-01-26 | Indie | inXile Entertainment | ||
Pillars of Eternity | 2015-03-26 | RPG | Obsidian Entertainment | ||
Baldur's Gate 3 | 2020-10-06 | Larian Studios | |||
Return of the Obra Dinn | 2018-10-18 | Adventure | Lucas Pope | ||
Kentucky Route Zero | 2013-02-22 | Adventure | Cardboard Computer | ||
The Wolf Among Us | 2013-10-11 | Adventure | Telltale Games |
Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition
Release date: | 2017-04-11 |
Genre: | Strategy |
Developer: | Beamdog |
For many Millennials – THE most complete RPG game of all time, and the direct inspiration for Disco Elysium.
A title which not only enables you to end it without drawing sword, but even encourages to do so by its expansive dialogue trees and character development.
The text lies heavy in Planescape Torment, as you gather up a team of personas of various walks of life to uncover the mystery behind your apparent immortality and amnesia. The game is also renown for its philosophical inclinations and is mentioned in a lot in YT videos which cover the subject of the most intellectually engaging games ever.
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The Outer Worlds
Release date: | 2020-10-23 |
Genre: | Action RPG |
Developer: | Obsidian Entertainment |
We are woken up from the cryogenic sleep by the mad scientist who informs us that we are to set out on a mission to retrieve resources.
Which would enable him to revive the rest of the crew of Hope, a long-lost spaceship which has been recently discovered drifting at the outskirts of the Halcyon solar system – its long-overdue destination point. That’s the premise of The Outer Worlds from RPG masters themselves – Obsidian Entertainment.
The game oozes retrofuturism, just like Fallout series does, however nothing is radioactive, as the main theme is a class-based society induced by mega corporations on a space colony. Oftentimes, we get to feel everything seems Mass Effect-ish. We get lots of dialogues and tough decisions to make, just like every self-respecting RPG is due to deliver. Also, the bullet-time based combat system is a fine alternative to the V.A.T.S.
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Divinity: Original Sin 2
Release date: | 2017-09-14 |
Genre: | Adventure |
Developer: | Larian Studios |
Another game successfully crowdfunded via Kickstarter and one of the best sequels ever produced in the history of RPG’s (Baldur’s Gate II sits on the throne here).
Divinity’s story takes place centuries after events from the D:OS I.
The medieval fantasy kingdom of Rivellon is being under threat of the Voidwoken – a mysterious creatures of the unknown origin. Divinity: Original Sin II overstimulates players with its now legendary nonlinear gameplay, superb world and character building, as well as reliable turn-based combat system which craftily exploits the surroundings to your favor.
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Wasteland 3
Release date: | 2020-08-28 |
Genre: | RPG |
Developer: | inXile Entertainment |
If you still have a case of the Fallouts, Wasteland 3 is the title which will definitely scratch that itch.
An isometric post-apo game whose development was orchestrated by Fallout 1 & 2 man himself – Brian Fargo, Wasteland 3 tells a story of two Arizona Rangers, the only survivors of an ambush wrought upon their unit, who are bound to join forces with the in-game Mr. Bad Guy, the evil boss of Colorado called Patriarch.
The threadbare atmosphere of the southwestern US, licked mercilessly by gushing gales and blitzy blizzards, cranks up the immersion substantially. Dialogues are solid, spiked with turning points and weighty decisions to make, and the voice-overs are simply enchanting. Oh, and the list of character quirks is absolutely hilarious.
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Outer Wilds
Release date: | 2020-06-18 |
Genre: | Action |
Developer: | Mobius Digital |
If you’d like to play a game where Groundhog Day meets solar system exploration meets Aronofskian endings, Outer Wilds is definitely a choice you won’t regret.
With thought-provoking SF story, breathtaking visuals, and immersion so deep it eclipses oceanic trenches, this little open-world adventure gem from Mobius Digital will definitely keep you riveted to the screen. And the solar system where your time-looped investigation takes place is literally science fiction aficionados’ wet dream. A space station orbiting the red giant star at such close proximity that you get scorched just by looking at it, a hollow planet with a black hole for core, etc. OK, enough talking, just play it already!
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Undertale
Release date: | 2015-09-15 |
Genre: | Indie |
Developer: | tobyfox |
Let’s change the aesthetics and delve into a game with heavily pixelated graphics and MIDI soundtrack.
Undertale tells a story of a little kid who falls into the cave near Mount Ebott – a place where the monsters were trapped at the end of a decisive battle between them and humans long time ago.
Graphics in the vein of Zelda no. 3 and Brandish (the SNES version, that is), along with the soundtrack which would easily remember the heyday of MIDI “soundscapes”, really give off the retro vibe. Another nod to the past is a combat mode which combines bullet hell and turn-based features of old RPGs.
The baddies here are a bunch of laughable and actually quite lovable, too, characters. For example, you pet lesser doggos to overstimulation (their necks elongate outlandishly in the process) and ignore big-headed attention-seeking monsters with oversized hats made of ice.
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Torment: Tides of Numenera
Release date: | 2016-01-26 |
Genre: | Indie |
Developer: | inXile Entertainment |
Hailed as a spiritual Successor to Planescape Torment, not only because it has half of its title, but because of the concept of multifaceted digging into the problem of immortality.
And the gargantuan amount of dialogues which weave into one-of-a-kind story.
The game is set in the far future, thus Earth resembles a mishmash of landscapes, from medieval settlements to desolate warehouses and cyberpunk laboratories. The previous eight civilizations that ruled the Earth in the past are long gone, leaving behind powerful artifacts and oddities known as Numenera, and the story of our protagonist – Last Castoff – slowly unravels as we explore the Ninth World.
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These are the 7 games which give off a strong Disco Elysium vibe. We hope this magnificent seven of text-fueled adventures provide you with tens of hours of gameplay as immersive as their wondrous stories, full of memorable moments, divisive decisions and charismatic characters, which have clearly swept us of our feet. Your knees should give in too.