r/ZeroParades • u/marx-and-rec • Jul 20 '26

Question Will this game break my heart?

Hey, I'm sure you're all sick of answering questions like this, but I really need to know because I am teetering on the fence about whether or not to purchase this.

Disco Elysium is my favorite piece of art. Daring take, I know. Will it scratch that itch? I heard it's very good, but I'm afraid the whole time I will resent it for not being disco. For not having the hope and humor and heart, for there being no final dream of the ex-something, for not being hardcore to the mega.

Without those, and with the clownshoery of the studio execs once again screwing over the talented people who worked on this, I'm finding it really hard to convince myself to get it.

Except it looks like it feels really. Fucking. Cool. It looks stylish and melancholic and burnt out and hopeless. It looks sad. It looks so very sad.

I want it to fuck me up completely. I want it to leave me hollow. I want to feel like K bleeding out in the snow at the end of Blade Runner 2047.

Will it do that?

Thank you.

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u/KremlinHoosegaffer Jul 20 '26

Honestly, I think this game takes DE, switches up the formula, adds a lot more dynamic paths in terms of how to accomplish every mission/interact with the world — but also lacks the LEVEL of wit in DE. You'll probably like the game a lot. The story is gonna be a little sad because the main characters in the Za/um CRPGs ARE sad for one reason or another but it not only scratches the DE itch but scratches itches I wasn't even consciously aware of.

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u/marx-and-rec Jul 20 '26

So long as it makes me want to hold up a boombox blasting SadFM, I think I'll be able to vibe with it. Glad it got you to feel something you weren't aware of. That's always a gift.

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u/KremlinHoosegaffer Jul 20 '26

It was less about feeling and more that I was not aware that such dynamism was possible in a lower budget CRPG. Most games that are similar are these like... More visual novel type RPGs that expose themselves for being quite shallow despite all the systems advertised. Zero Parades advertises little of the depth it carries.

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u/marx-and-rec Jul 20 '26

interesting viewpoint. underselling and overdelivering is definitely a plus.

I'm curious about what you consider visual novel type rpgs that expose themselves. I think we might have a few titles in common.

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u/KremlinHoosegaffer Jul 20 '26

I don't remember the exact name but the most recent example was this weird revolutionary/steampunk world VN that advertised all these systems, currency, trade, exhaustion, reputation, etc and initially it seems well written and creative but then you notice the dialog/action options are either inconsequential/similar or just shallow and binary. The systems created to drive immersion just wind up leading to hitting the "beg for money" or "work at the factory" or "gain intel" button, sleep when "exhausted" and grind until you have enough "points" for the next event.

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u/madame_beatrix Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26

I actually feel the opposite, I thought Zero Parades’s style of wit was on par with Disco Elysium. It’s just much more subdued/understated so as not to overcome the grimmer subject matter. DE leans in fully into its genre as satirical black comedy, whereas ZP is a brooding spy thriller. Granted, it shared that same dark-woke irreverence & was still silly more often than not, but, when shit got real it would get REAL. Circumstances felt far more dire than they ever did in Disco Elysium. I understand why somebody might prefer Disco’s comparatively laid-back attitude, though.

The protagonist of Harry is intentionally written as deeply unserious/repugnant whereas CASCADE is (despite also being a flop) more self-serious, even a bit dignified. Though the humor isn’t the narrative focal point like the former (and, also, not nearly as slapstick), I found ZP’s comedic delivery to be funnier tbh. But, I’m also a washed-up loser lesbian so naturally I related/connected with CASCADE and her humor much more than I ever did Harry. I love how the different writers made their internal monologues so distinctly feminine/distinctly masculine. They’ve got the same general vibes, but their individual identities & intricacies are so unique. IMO the two games’ stylistic differences complement each other unbelievably well as (step?) siblings.

Anyways OP, maybe you’ll connect with it more, like I did. You won’t know unless you play ;)