Latest news with #DiscoElysium
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The latest Humble Bundle brings together six must-play RPGs
It's been a while since Engadget has highlighted a Humble Bundle, but the latest one is just too good to ignore. The Dice and Destiny collection brings together six incredible RPGs in support of CARE, an NGO that fights hunger and poverty globally. For about $15, you get Broken Roads, Citizen Sleeper, Disco Elysium, Pillars of Eternity, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, Roadwarden and a coupon for 15 percent off of Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector. Having played most of the games in this bundle, I can safely say they're all well-worth your time, but a few stand out. Disco Elysium needs no introduction. It was one of the most critically acclaimed games of 2019, and if you haven't played it yet, this is great way to get Disco Elysium for cheap. But it's not my favorite game in the collection. That distinction is shared by Citizen Sleeper and Roadwarden. In tone, they're very different games. Citizen Sleeper is set in a dystopian far future, while Roadwarden is a dark fantasy RPG that fans of The Witcher series will love. However, both feature incredible writing, music and art, and if you love games where your decisions matter, few will scratch that itch like Citizen Sleeper and Roadwarden.
The Guardian
14-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘The odd drunken detective has been sighted at gigs': how Sea Power won legions of gamer fans
When Jan Scott Wilkinson, frontman of the band formerly known as British Sea Power, was first asked to work on a video game soundtrack, he was sceptical. 'We didn't know much about the game, but our manager Dave seemed to think there was something interesting about this Robert guy who had been pleasantly hounding him,' he says. That was Estonian novelist Robert Kurvitz, part of a team who had just started work on an esoteric video game about an alcoholic cop trying to solve a murder in an impoverished region of a war-torn country. The game was Disco Elysium, now regarded as one of the all-time great cerebral role-playing games: released in 2019, it sat atop PC Gamer's top 100 list for four years in a row. Kurvitz is a Sea Power superfan. Pick a random scene from the game and there'll be something – a bit of dialogue, a location, a theme – that has some sort of Sea Power reference in it. Wilkinson tells me that Kurvitz was 'captivating and full of a bubbling passion' and that he knew an unsettling number of 'strange details about our music'. Kurvitz had already embedded some of those 'very obscure' Sea Power references in the world of Disco Elysium before they had even met. Whether the band liked it or not, they were already enmeshed in this eccentric Estonian's world. '[Disco Elysium] seemed both separate, and also sympathetic to, the band's identity,' Wilkinson reflects. 'It was a strange, fucked up, sci-fi existence parallel to the one we were inhabiting … Kurvitz seemed to mythologise the mundane.' The game is about the perennial pull between fascism and communism; police violence; the importance of community in the face of state oppression; alcoholism; homosexuality; the politics of poverty; and a tiny, pixel-sized hole in reality. It suited Sea Power down to the ground. The band, after all, had been writing music about the slow, perilous collapse of the planet as ice shelves slid into the ocean. There had been sombre, reflective, tracks about obscure bodies of water in Orkney. They'd waxed lyrical about the virtues of being an EU citizen (pre-Brexit, naturally). The band have always embraced the miserable alongside the beautiful. Wilkinson is particularly complimentary of the game's 'strange sense of humour', something he thinks resonated with the band – and their fans. The initial meeting between took place in Birmingham. 'Birmingham is a strange place. Its own world. Very strong in character,' reflects Wilkinson. 'Maybe [Kurvitz] had been to Alan Moore for a magical blessing? [To meet us] in the spiritual home of heavy metal and Tolkien's inspiration for the Shire … it seems oddly fitting, I suppose, now that I look back. I had never thought about that until now.' Sea Power, new to the world of video games, took direction from Kurvitz, caught in the tidal pool of his vision for most of the project. Wilkinson tells me that Kurvitz had a plan, and 'a fastidious knowledge of our albums and rare EPs and B-sides'. As such, many of the songs in the game come from pre-existing Sea Power tracks, reworked, remixed, and re-recorded to coalesce with the watercolour weariness that defines Disco Elysium's fading world. 'Thinking about it, some of the tracks we used on the game continued their existence into our following album,' Wilkinson says. 'So working on the game not only drew from our past but influenced our future, too.' Disco Elysium's songs are stripped down, exposing the core melodies, and a little bit less dense than what you'd hear on a standard Sea Power album. There are fewer vocal melodies and longer, dreamier sequences. Any explicit narrative is stripped away, and you're left with a soundscape, a Turner painting as a song. 'Generally, songs needed distilling down to a fundamental mood fitting the scene, doing away with anything which was in competition with that mood and usually adding a little dreamy liminal menace,' Wilkinson says. 'There is so much dialogue, and the visuals do so much, so the music really just needed to reach into the subconscious and open the gates of the mind, allowing the brain to absorb the words and images and help them become totally immersive. And that was enjoyable, artistically, to do … I love creating atmospheres and sonic textures as much as writing choruses or words. Maybe more, sometimes.' Sea Power have also worked on film soundtracks, rescoring a 1934 Irish fictional documentary called Man of Aran – an experience that helped Wilkinson know what to expect from creating a game soundtrack, even if there were some key differences. 'Games are a little more easygoing with regards to timing,' he says. 'With film, it's often important to hit cues and you know exactly when different moods need to change direction. It can be more mathematical. The game needed more general mood textures to sit behind scenes, and blend into and enhance the feeling of various parts of the world. I would definitely work on more games. I love games like Disco Elysium, although they are a very rare thing.' This spring, Sea Power are embarking on a mini tour named Soundtracks Live. The set will feature various Disco Elysium songs, work from the Man of Aran soundtrack, and various tracks from another documentary feature film, From the Sea to the Land Beyond. Wilkinson is excited about the prospect of performing these tracks live – especially for an audience of Disco Elysium fans. 'We have had a noticeable growth in listeners since [the game was released],' he says. 'They seem like a cool and thoughtful bunch, these Disco Elysium players. They are appreciated. The odd drunken detective has been sighted along the crash barrier at gigs.' The relationship between Disco Elysium and Sea Power has been symbiotic; they have given new life to each other. Sea Power have seen a swell in listeners as a result of the game, and existing Sea Power fans discovered a new love for video games as a result of the collaboration. And the relationship is still evolving. 'On our first meeting, [Kurvitz] did tell me that he had worked very hard on re-ordering the track list to our album Valhalla Dancehall,' smiles Wilkinson. 'Hmm, Valhalla Dancehall, Disco Elysium … could there be a link of some kind?' The band are now considering this revised track list for the album's anniversary reissue. 'He is very talented and intelligent. So are all the game's core creators. I don't think many people notice all the little nods to the world of Sea Power through the game. It was strange when it became such a huge hit around the world, and we were proud to be a part of its story. 'And, of course,' he nods, 'we got a Bafta out of it, too, which would have been unlikely to happen to us otherwise.' Disco Elysium: The Final Cut is available now on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch. Sea Power are touring Soundtracks Live this spring.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Disco Elysium Is Coming To Mobile To ‘Captivate The TikTok User'
You ever want to get excited for something but then get put off by how the people making it talk about it? That's what I experienced when looking at the newly announced mobile version of Disco Elysium that the remnants of developer ZA/UM showed off today. From the looks of it, the studio isn't just aiming to put its acclaimed RPG on a tiny screen and call it a day, but is instead restructuring the game to fit phones by trimming out some of the exploration mechanics and basically turning it into a visual novel, which could help you play the game in quicker bursts, rather than sitting down at your PC or console for hours a day. That's the idea, anyway. As noted by Eurogamer, ZA/UM studio head Denis Havel described the port as being designed to 'captivate the TikTok user with quick hits of compelling story, art, and audio, ultimately creating an all new, deeply engaging form of entertainment.' Condescending to your audience ahead of time by implying they lack the attention span for the original game is an interesting approach, but let's see if it gets better. Narrative lead Chris Priestman adds, 'With this adaptation, Disco Elysium becomes more accessible than ever. This reimagination is now structured to fit the way people play on mobile, making it effortless to enjoy in short bursts. It's what audiobooks wish they were.' Okay, Disco Elysium is apparently covering ground the entire audio storytelling industry can't, according to ZA/UM. Havel also says: 'Mobile players deserve deep, story-rich experiences, like Disco Elysium. With profound respect for the original's artistry and meaning, we move forward as both custodians and creators, bringing this masterpiece to new and returning players alike. We want you to fall in love with Disco Elysium on your phone - all over again.' There's an annoying tendency in video games for people to oversell things as possessing an artistic or cultural significance unlike anything you've seen before (check out any time someone who worked on The Last of Us talks about it), but hearing this kind of prattling on from ZA/UM is especially grating considering the studio's very public fallout with most of the creative team who developed Disco Elysium. Even if the reimagining looks like a pretty intuitive port for your phone, I can't help but get the ick reading how this team talks about it. Disco Elysium is coming to Android devices later this year, and pre-registration is open now. The port will be free to start, allowing you to play the first two chapters before having to put any money down. There's currently no word on whether the game will come to iOS. Earlier this week, ZA/UM also announced spy RPG Project [C4].For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Disco Elysium is coming to Android mobile this summer
Disco Elysium is a critically acclaimed RPG from 2019 that won many accolades for its smart storytelling and writing. Later this year, the game is getting reimagined exclusively for Android devices. This mobile version is slated for a summer 2025 launch. The new format looks akin to what you'd find in a visual novel app rather than to a traditional RPG, based on the trailer and screenshots shared today. ZA/UM, the company behind the game, said that the first two chapters can be played for free, then the full, ad-free game will be a one-time paid unlock. "We intend to captivate the TikTok user with quick hits of compelling story, art, and audio, ultimately creating an all new, deeply engaging form of entertainment," ZA/UM studio head Denis Havel said. Many of the original Disco Elysium creators have left ZA/UM. Creator Robert Kurvitz, art director Aleksander Rostov and writer Helen Hindpere were all fired in 2022 by the company's new leaders, and all parties have been mired in lawsuits since the game's international success. Several new studios have sprung up from various former team members, and ZA/UM has announced work on a new game of its own.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Disco Elysium Studio Finally Gives Us A Tease Of Its Long-Awaited Next Game
ZA/UM Studio, the entity which at one point released Disco Elysium, a critically acclaimed detective RPG about navigating the ruins of capitalism and solving a murder, has finally revealed its next game nearly six years later. Instead of Disco Elysium 2, it's a spy RPG still mostly shrouded in secrecy called Project[C4], and one big question facing it is whether it will bear any resemblance to the studio's previous work after years of internal upheaval and tumult. In [C4] you play an Operant working for a corrupt global power in a world where the mind is a battlefield for geopolitical struggle and espionage. 'More vulnerable and more powerful than the physical world, it can be erased, changed, reordered, and of course significantly altered through regular use of psychoactive substances amongst other means,' reads the press release from ZA/UM Studio. 'Players must steel themselves with whatever comfort they can in order to survive the violent canvas of the real.' Here's the quick teaser released today which has some cool art and intriguing vibes but is light on substance. The material was first presented to press in a scripted 10-minute presentation by C4 writers Jim Ashilevi (voice over direction on Disco Elysium) and Siim Sinamäe (additional writing on Disco Elysium). They confirmed that the studio has been working on the new project for about three years now and said one of the main things that will differentiate it from other RPGs is making failure 'a joy in itself' rather than something players want to save-scum their way out of. The duo also cited John le Carré and his thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy as one of the inspirations for the game, but didn't share many specifics on what the game's actually about or how it will play. Most notably, the pair did not take questions and only vaguely referenced the ongoing issues facing ZA/UM, which is a very different studio than it was five years ago after layoffs, firings, and departures of some of the core team that made Disco Elysium, including creator Robert Kurvitz, art director Aleksander Rostov, and writer Helen Hindpere. Amid dueling allegations of theft, fraud, and abuse by the founders and current studio leadership, several new indie teams popped up last year, each claiming the mantle to creating the true Disco Elysium successor. 'As with any artistic practice, attempts and failures have been a natural part of this process. Failing forward seems to be one of those things we here at ZA/UM excel at,' Ashilevi said during the [C4] presentation. The game, whatever it turns out to be, seems to thematically echo many of the studio's troubles. 'Betrayal is only possible in the presence of love,' Sinamäe said of the project's spycraft storytelling. The team is planning to present more information about the upcoming game at GDC later this week. . For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
