a unique game
this game is truly spectacular. it is unique in its game mechanics, visual art style, and presentation of story.
the game mechanics that stand out the most is Disco Elysium's version of NPC party members and the thought cabinet. DE replaces traditional NPC party members with voices in your head (24 different types belonging to 4 categories), which you level up/invest in, and who speak to you as you play the game. the degree to which one voice will speak to you depends on how much you invest in that skill/voice. even walking around, a voice might interrupt you and influence what you do. another unique mechanic is the thought cabinet - as you interact with the world, you gain the ability to invest in thoughts (you equip them and over time, the thoughts hatch and influence your characters personality). Kurvitz, the leader of the game, describes thoughts as a type of loot that you gain from interacting with the world and this is more or less how it plays out.
the art style is probably the most beautiful of any game i've played. it is undeniably unique. the designers totally imagined their own style, and executed it beautifully. after playing the game for about 10 hours, i changed all of my avatars and wallpapers to visuals from the game. they are stunning.
the story is presented like a novel. in most games, i skim the text because the writing is not very good. i am an avid reader and, not to sound like a pretentious @$$, i have high expectations for good writing. the writing of DE reads like a well written novel and i am incredibly impressed.
i give this game a genuine 10/10.
the only complaint i have is the save system - whenever you save, the game defaults to creating a new save file whose title/info is incredibly not-descriptive. i would love if the saves had information about the status of the skills/inventory/thought cabinet so that i could replay the game starting from specific places, rather than from the beginning.
get this game.