having played and completed Disco Elysium multiple times now I’m getting the chance to notice things that I really didn’t zero in on when I played it the first time.
like how bad Kim’s eyesight really is. when you find Cuno’s shack Kim is genuinely surprised that it was there, he didn’t even notice the thing that clued your Perception in on their maybe being a door. to him you really just walked up to a wall and a piece fell down and there was now a door there. and that puts his utter failure to shoot the corpse down into a completely different light (and why Empathy tells you that you shouldn’t show him compassion).
or just how funny Kim is. how willing he is to take part in a joke or a prank as long as it’s in the pursuit of solving the case or “doing your job” as policemen. how he’s willing to play a character for the Racist Lorry Driver. or mess with the wannabe Skulls and take their jackets. or even how he starts introducing you as Detective Costeau if you continue to stick with the name (though he is clearly trying very hard to keep his voice steady and face still). he genuinely actually has a good sense of humor (but is also very serious, which makes it even funnier).
or the specter of fear and anger that hovers around Garte. he doesn’t know if the Union will squeeze him out like they did all the other business owners, or if they’re going to start a war (I mean, there’s a literal dead mercenary hanging in his back yard). he’s got to be wondering how he can stay open if only locals can come in or out (due to the blockade) and he’s clinging to the idea that he has other places that he manages. we get glimpses of his real thoughts in the moments before he catches his tongue and realizes “no, I really shouldn’t talk to cops/the union/others like that.”
or the practiced apathy that Klaasje uses to hide her fear, how she pretends so hard not to care so you don’t suspect her. how effectively she can lay another tempting red herring at your feet. how Evrart Claire really is clever enough to play not only the characters but the player (if you haven’t stacked your skills correctly or if you just say the wrong things in the wrong ways). that you can even manage to accidentally help him is a testament to the writing they’ve done.
not to mention the pervasive and ever-present fury of Revachol as a reaction to their subjugation by the Moralintern. the sadness in Cuno’s eyes when you see past the speed in his bloodstream. the ways in which people struggle to survive in what is effectively a battlefield. the feeling of life’s daily struggle slowly drowning you under the weight of “you’ll never do better. you’ll never be better.” and the breath of fresh air in simple kindnesses from others (lamby, Kim’s compassionate moments, the old washerwoman, the salami man visiting his friend, the dance club, and so many more).
I could write a book about how much this game means to me. how much these people mean to me. how much the potential for change, even in a doomed world, means that we can all at least create a little joy before we go. and I don’t think I’d even scratch the surface of all that it means to me. this game is…a metamorphosis? it changes the structure of what I expect from video games in the future. it changes what I expect from storytelling. I cannot express how important this game is as a vehicle for storytelling, it changes what’s possible.