The OTHER Most Philosophical Video Game Ever Made 

The Disco Elysium is and will be one of the games that will make you wish to erase your memory and play it again to feel it...

"Oh yes. This is real darkness. It's not death, or war, or child molestation. Real darkness has love for a face. The first death is in the heart, Harry. See you tomorrow."

As a grown man this is the one game that can make me giggle consistently, the dialogue is just so clever, absurd and well written. And this is despite the story being so serious and heavy, the humour is on another level.

I'd say Disco Elysium does let you change your nature, what is unchangable is your past but you start the game mentally as a blank slate. All the different inner voices change depending on how you allocated your points, the stronger a 'skill' is the more you'll hear from it throughout the game. It's worth playing through more than once, you don't realise the amount of content you invisibly miss out on until you start making different choices.

Ok, I interpreted the Pale in a completely different way. In my playthrough I had a "dialogue" with a very special npc I'm not going to spoil (you now who I mean) and they clearly said the Pale is produced by human thought, which is different by other animals' thought. While animal only think about the here and now (maybe about the close past and future) humans constatly think about what does not exist: they think about what has happened, what could have happened, what they wish could happen, they create stories, ideologies, interpretations... We know that the pale cannot be directly observed and measured. However, it seems to contain some sort of information: radio signals can be modified (it is possible to receive signals which apparently come from the past or even from the future) and people who travel through the pain a lot may even start remembering memories that don't belong to them (like the old woman). One could even argue that all the information Harry can acces while unsing the skill "Encyclopedia" have the same origin (however they may be just memories he is slowly recovering) I think the Pale is the manifestation of human thought, expecially the kind of thought that is disconnected from reality. Animals have ideas, cognitive representations of object from the outside world, but they are in a 1:1 relationship. Humans, using the same sensorial input, can produce much more ideas, ideas that can even be about impossible things. I think the pale is the manifestation of these ideas, a "matterless thought".

DETECTIVE ARRIVING ON THE SCENE. The moment when I knew this game was a special kind of magic. I had fucking chills

I first played disco Elysium just the other day. I was having a difficult time and felt just like Harry did - struggling with addiction, being at my lowest in an unforgiving world. I was assigned sorry cop, and it honestly lead me to re-evaluate why I apologise to everyone in real life. Disco Elysium was beautiful.

Not choosing an ideology is kinda the wrong way to play the game. The game doesn't want you to embrace the world as it is, it wants you to embody change. If you think things are shit in Revachol then who are you to say so if you don't care enough to want them to change. If you think Harry is in a bad place then make a choice. The game combines Harrys inner turmoil with his politics in an interesting way. By not picking you are picking the side of the moralists or whoever else are in power. Politics is the art of compromises. No political party is 100% going to represent your values. The game is going to tell you to pick your ideology, then hit you in the balls with it whilst laughing at you for daring to choose. If you dare to care for the direction things are headed you are still going to make a choice though whether in game or real life.

*That* moment in Disco Elysium was truly magical. Really one moment in video game history I won't forget.

As a self-confessed sad sack I connected deeply with Harry on his fucked up journey through lives of the people of Martinaise, and had some serious moments of self-reflection and critique along the way. The game made me confront some uncomfortable truths about myself and my life, and even helped me make peace with some of them. I even managed to sort Harry out into a somewhat functional human being at the end of it all. One of the few games that I can truly say changed me as a person and I regularly return to the OST and my favorite quotes in times when I'm in need of inspiration or comforting nostalgia. I get the same feeling from this game as I do talking to a friend who has known me all my life - mocking my attempts at self-doubt and self-pity, and telling me the hard truths I need to hear not out of hate but because they know I can be better. Thank you for covering Disco Elysium, I definitely hope to see more content based around it in the future.

_Disco Elysium_ is one of those rare gems that can be either hilarious, sad, or beautiful at different moments without it feeling unhinged or badly written. This game is phenomenal, it's a literary experience the likes of which you're only going to encounter a few times in your life.

I feel like I'm going through my own Disco Elysium these past few years. Something of a dark night of the soul. I wish you all the best on your own respective journeys through the swamp.

I always find it interesting that the only person amongst the normal folks doing well in revachol is the dice maker. Of all the things one could do as a profession she makes custom dice and game pieces.

Max you’re killing it dude! Much appreciation for covering this game and it’s profound commentary on the human condition

"The most immersive game I've ever played." This sums up Disco pretty well. The best way I've found to describe it, even though it's a really weird phrase, is "The book I've read that comes closest to communicating the feeling of being alive, that is also a game."

I definitely have to get back to this game! I played a decent amount and genuinely loved it, but the PS4 version at the time was kinda buggy, so I abandoned it at some point. What I think is pretty amazing, is how the different parts of your brain have different personalities and talk to you. That's such a cool idea!

I still raise you Pathologic and Pathologic 2 as the most philosophical video game. :P They are games that show that your own perspective on the world affects greatly how you can interact with it. It puts you in situations where you are greatly rewarded for doing the morally grey or even cruel actions and shows viscerally how even people with the best intentions can be reduced to thieves and murderers.

Watching this video was like seeing a flickering flame illuminate the path on my dark night of the soul. Currently suffering from some deep existential dread and struggling to hold onto a purpose. Thanks for kindling my hope

Please make a part two to this review. If this was the spoiler free section, please make a spoiler section. How games as an art form is able to influence people is the very reason I subscribe to this channel in the first place.

First second of the video and my mind just fucking melted from a wave of memories. Incredible game

Great timing. I'm a huge Planescape fan since 1999 and recently finished Disco Elysium 2 weeks ago. Both have been in my mind a lot recently. I appreciate your interpretation on how each game approached different answers to similar questions.

Ok, I'm actually going to hold off on watching this video because I need to play DE for myself without spoilers. However I need to take this opportunity to put a bug in your ear about an old PS1 Japanese exclusive called Planet Laika. It's a crazy space opera about a character with multiple personalities who goes to Mars with dog-faced cosmonauts because Mars has a human face and Martians gave up their faces decades ago and are in a constant search to find themselves as a result. It's an 80's color explosion of existential jazz played through rusty instruments while a retired Slavic philosopher drones on about the meaning of self through a vodka-soaked miasma. But more than that, the spiritual and psychological angles will fascinate you. There's references to Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Nietzsche, Talmudic esoterica, a likely reference to the Rebis, and possibly false histories of Atlantis. Oh, and it was developed by the same folks who made Kowloon's Gate. No idea if you can make a video about it but the content alone should strike a chord with you based on your interests. There's an English translation available for it through uh... 'alternative digital acquisition methods'. Something that rhymes with BomNacking.Met.

I love the way you analyse and describe these games. This and Planescape give me a very particular feeling that in Welsh we have a word for but doesn’t translate well into English. The feelings these games have to me is something called “hiraeth”. It's a homesickness for the places from your past you can't return to or even those you've never been to. Hiraeth can also mean nostalgia for your past self, the people who are long gone, or the emotions you used to feel.

One of the best things about your channel Max is getting game recommendations since you cover such great games. Keep up the great work dude

Max Derrat analyzing Disco Elysium is one of those videos I always wanted to see but never truly expected to happen. Thank you sir, you made my day.

Disco Elysium is easily the most well written game I've ever played

Wowowowow. Hardcore to the mega! Disco Elysium feels like the game from another world, it touched my soul and left me in deep melancholic state for a long time. Thanks for the video.

The two jewels in the crown, Disco Elysium and Planescape, both top quality games, what I find interesting is that they are in the same genre, and both take the genre to the top, sad to know that this game will not have a sequel, that it's just sad, at least they leave us this masterpiece, i really love these two games and the way they explore this profound concepts, and it's great to see them get more recognition, they really deserved it, you really did a great job covering this game.

This was beautiful, especially the ending. Thank you Max.

The moment at the end made me shed a literal tear it's really the best way to end the story of this game and it's kind of sad some people miss it on initial playthroughs

Thank you for this film essay Max. I bought Disco Elysium a few months ago, but haven't played it; however, now I am more than motivated to tackle the philosophical journey. It was nice to also see the comparisons drawn to Planescape.

So glad i found this channel years ago keep doing you Max!

What a fantastic video. What you said at the end is so true, and it was exactly what I felt playing. I have to say, I have not watched many of your videos, but all the ones I did were awesome. I was searching for an experience like the profound one I had with Disco Elysium, my favorite game, and I wasn't familiar with planescape torment, but I already got it and will dive into it. Keep up the great work, you're nailing it.

I just love your content. You responding to me about the Metabarons absolutely made my day when I was down. Thank you.

I’m happy that you gave Disco Elysium a go. It’s one of those games that profoundly impacted me and thought of you when you made your Planescape video. I told myself that you would eventually make a video about since it holds a connection. Your analytical comparison is perfect. Cheers to you!

So you experienced the game from your own perspective, rather than role-playing a character? You missed out, Disco Elysium is an extremely rare example of a studio actually trying to create a video game that contains RP.

The ending of this video, amazing. You genuinely moved me

Amazing work as always Max please keep going!

There is a radio in the distance. A radio of the world. Playing sounds: Good morning, Elysium. Soon you will return to the world.

This channel is a gift. Thank you, Max!

I had the opportunity to play Planescape Torment when it came out and it's been my favorite game of that genre ever since. I had played it through several times, but not in the past few years. I picked up and played Torment Tides of Numenera when it came out, seeing as it was marketed as a spiritual successor to Planescape Torment. While I thought Numenera was a lot of fun, it wasn't until I played Disco Elysium that I found my personal successor to Planescape Torment. After beating Disco Elysium, I immediately started a new Planescape Torment game. Btw Max, you rock!

max, since I've been following this channel I've repeatedly indicated 3 games in the comments, omori, disco elysium and outer wilds. I didn't expect that none of the three would win a video, but Omori and disco elysium were already crossed out of the list. So I'm waiting for the outer wilds video

Thank you for the consistent high quality video essays. Disco Elysium is my favourite game of all time and your writing/narration is superb as always. Keep up the excellent work!

Love this game, been hoping for you to cover it!

This channel really is one of Gems of RU-vid, Keep it up

Beautiful. I've been waiting for a video on this game. It's the most cathartic experience.

This was such a fascinating game, and loved seeing how in depth you went into it

Just started my first run for Disco. I'm amazed by the depth of how much your thoughts effect you and the way you interact with your surroundings. Unlike most RPG, the choices you make really are transformative. It really is a great message on the importance of critical thinking.

Still strong, thank you for your work Max. Best videos on youtube, i hope you reach 1 mil before the end of this year, it all started as a random yellow guy talking about good games

Now this is a video I didn't know I needed

love this channel, another great vid homie

Oh "whirling in rags" is such a universal sound! Good for idling, thinking, conversing, starting or ending whatever. One of the first big hooks DE put into me

I liked DE, it's profoundly funny mocking political tropes like liberalism, communism and fascism but I wouldn't call it extraordinairy philosophical. Politics are like the pop culture of philosophies made for simple minds and I had a good laugh of DE hammering that point in.

Great video again highlighting depth and breadth of philosophical ramifications in video games! Kudos Max! I remember having played PS: Torment on my new tablet in 2018 and will never ever forget the experience. Thank you very much for making your enthusiasm public and sharing the passion of playing philosophical games that make us wonder and pose essential questions. Having said that, I agree wholeheartedly. Disco Elysium and Planescape: Torment are both the most philosophical games ever made. For me personally, PS:Torment stands on its own. IMHO, it represents its own genre. To me, it left a much deeper impression than Disco Elysium, Talos Principle, Soma, Deus Ex... which are exceptional games in their own respect and which I enjoyed tremendously as well. But, well, Planescape: Torment IS unique. No way around that.

So glad you finally did a video on Disco Elysium.

Honestly, it is absolutely shocking and beautiful that I came across this video whenever I did. Cause I’m currently struggling with a lotta things and concepts that are present in the game’s themes. Themes like self improvement and combating with one’s own nature, have been something very present in this current chapter of my life. It just seems like sometimes that so many people get great things thrust upon them, while I have had to tirelessly work and struggle to just live a somewhat “normal” life. While others get that thrust upon them, from the get go and I’m seemingly at such advantage so many times, where it seems like struggling through it all, may not be worth it, and that maybe I would just be better off either embracing the darker and more chaotic aspects of my personality, aka my Shadow, in Jungian terms, or just simply giving up all together and fall into the deep dark abyss of death. Even if I did go to hell, what difference would it make since I seemingly have suffered all my life so it would just be simply more of the same but, the pain would be less personal, so therefore it would hurt less. It would also be spiteful to God, as kinda an ultimate “screw you” for even allowing me to endure and live through such a painful existence in the first place, and being born into a position where I was seemingly forsaken at birth. However games and videos like this really actually let me rethink some of those worldviews and actually let me consider the fact that things might not turn out as badly as they seem, and ultimately they remind me that my struggling will be worth it in the end, and someone would notice how far I’ve come, and how much of a good person I have become and actually desire to spend time with me, and all my hard work would allow me to be a better and stronger person than most people and have the skills necessary to live a better life due to all I have endured. It helps remind me that I have made things better for myself in the past and I can make things better for myself in the future, and also reminds me that even if worst comes to worst and I lose to the darker aspects of myse, it’s better to live with a purpose, even if that purpose is driven by chaos, jealousy, and guilt than to just simply give up. However I don’t plan on simply “giving up” to my shadow either, I’m gonna try and fight this and bring about the best case scenario no matter what. I just needed a good reminder of why I fight in the first place.

thank you max, thanks for everything.

What I love about this game is that it brilliantly showcases that you can truly change "reality" by what you believe about it, and how you chose to think and act on it. Everything that happens to you in the game feels "real" - even though it can't be, since you can believe completely different things and get vastly different outcomes and experiences by that, that still... fit into this world. The same objective reality can tell dozens of different stories, depending on the perspective you take. Just like in real life. This game made me question the true, and kind of absolute, power of our belief-systems and philosophies. It got me onto a quest to "creatively shape my reality, by carefully, and conciously chosing the most beneficial philosophy for the given moment and situation." It's an ongoing experiment, that thus far, has vastly improved every aspect of my life, and my overall happiness.

One of the greatest games in this era

Love your work

Thanks for this great video! I love this interpretation of Ship of Thesseus. Amnesia it is the first example in which ship of thesseus conondrum made sense to me. After all, our bodies renew constantly; skeleton as the slowest tissue to renew takes 7 years yet we remain with the same identity.

I'v had Disco Elysium on my PC for a year now and just got the free time to play it. I started it yesterday and I know it'a just coincidence but having Max upload it at this exact point in time sure doesn't feel like it.

Hype hype! I could not wait for your take on this *chefs kiss* game!

Yeeeees, finally a Disco Elysium video. What a phenomenal game, played it for the very first time when it released on PS5 and already completed it 4 times. Definitely a top 10 of all time for me.

YESSSSSSSS THANK YOU FOR THE AWESOME VIDEO❤❤❤

We’ve finally made it to Elysium brothers

The voice acting in this game gives me the chills every time

Oh man! I was soooo hoping you were gonna cover Disco Elysium!

Indeed, there is a lot of very philosophical games to be added on the list. "Most" is a weird comparation term for this, since philosophy is more "qualia" than quantitative. I'd say the most impactul and beautiful one for me was The Talos Principle. Not sure if you already have a video on it, but definetly worth the mention!

This is my favorite game of all time. Terrific video Max, as usual.

This man should play fear and hunger, lisa and pathologic

YEEEEESSS!!! FINALLY!! I COMMENTED FOR YOU TO DO THIS!!!!

Its a good day, when Max uploads.

Absolutely brilliant game for me. In terms of teaching me philosophy, Disco Elysium didn't really do that (not a brag, I was just familiar with the philosophical positions presented in the game) But playing the game was one of the best gaming experiences I had had in many years. I loved the writing and the political, metaphysical, and ethical philosophies presented in it. I'd say it's one of the most literary games I've played as well. So much depth to its story. It's humorous at times despite being chock full of pathos. I love the world building too, references to the games cosmology were fascinating and open to plenty of interpretation (especially concerning epistemology and ontology) Your video analysis is spot on, I think. The game definitely challenges you to face ideologies head-on. So satisfying to play such a game. Thanks for this video. Great analysis. Very thoughtful.

I'm saving this for later, my break is almost up, and I'm gonna be furious if I get interrupted by a call.

It's too late and tomorrow is too close so I'll just say thank you and can't wait to hear you talk more about DE and PS:T. Two of my favorite games ever.

Glad you finally played this masterpiece

I tried playing this game but couldn't get into it. It's so open ended and slow paced with SOOO much reading that I felt more like I was reading an interactive novel rather than playing a game. I can still appreciate what the game is doing, but it wasn't for me. Maybe I'll try again one day in the future

I think you would find a lot to like and talk about in Ice Pick Lodge's two bigger games, Pathologic and The Void. The latter especially is chock full of ideas packed into very minimalist writing. Anyway, Disco Elysium is great and I appreciate what you're doing on this channel!

Great video. And yes, more Disco Elysium content, please.

Have yet to play it, but defo on my list!

This is cool and all but does Disco Elysium have a floating skull companion?

Wow, watching the footage made me realize that I missed a lot on my first playthrough.

The greatest work of art I ever experienced.

Disco and Torment are on my Top 5 games easily, incredible experiences, I would say they are so vastly different and in the future I hope to see the influence of Disco in many games just like Torment has done all this time.

Getting over it with Bennet Foddy is pretty philosophical.

Playing it atm. I never thought its actually THAT good.

The other thing about Disco is that it is pure and beautiful piece of the art of literature, of prose. The author aspired to make his creation first of all beautiful in literature sense. And it was the consequence of this approach that game acquired philosophical depth as well. This reminded me very much of Fedor Dostoevsky's works, were psychological depth of characters and intense conflict of discussed topics made it inevitable to raise plenty of philosophical issues. Was it made intentionally? I don't think so in both cases, just it is the nature of genius writer, to create many layers of meanings in their art to make it as complex and beautiful/terrifying as life itself. P.S. speaking of dices rolls, it is safer for nerve cells to just savescum, although some fails lead to better outcome and some successes lead to worse. So I think it is not forbidden to make rolls, assess results and choose do you want them or not

I'm tipping my glass to you for providing a clean through line between these two games. I would love to be an "arcane" friend. Or at least have a conversation.

I absolutely love this game, but I got to force myself to play it. I got stuck on day 4, so I took a break, that was a few weeks ago. I think I'll try picking it up again, but it seems like I'm out of stuff to do. This game jumps between me being immersed and loving it and me being bored and lost. The experience is all over the place.

Great video. May I suggest reviewing Outer Wilds? It's a very different game from PS:T and DE but I found it quite thought provoking (but like I said, its quite different and does not fall under a similar type philosophical subgroup). Now that I think about it, there are quite a few, lesser known games that offer a thought provoking and entertaining experience, like Oneshot or Forgotton Anne. I actually had an entire list of the games I played and similar games that I wanted to play, and I'm gonna look for where I kept it.

Love Disco Elysium, glad you are appriciating Kervitz work.

17:59 reminds me of the Only Fools and Horses joke where Trigger as a road sweeper he said his broomstick for number amount of years and replaced and broom head an stick at least a dozen times if I am right

Hey :) I just recently discovered your channel and I really love your videos ❤ And I know it's a bit random to write this in the comment section but I wanted to recommend some games which I think you would really like (maybe u know them already) : -Mothered -Lost in Vivo -Who's Lila I know I know why trust a stranger but maybe some common folks can back me up here 😅 I would love to watch a video of these games with your analysis ❤

I succeeded a 3% roll on laying out Measurehead on my first try, which got erased because the Union Leader's uncomfortable chair gave me a heart attack & I didn't save. I dare anyone who hasn't played the game make sense of that statement.

Hi Max, you probably get spammed with those super often but have you ever heard about a game called Gemini Rue? It's a rather simple (gameplay wise) point and click adventure game set up in a Sci-Fi settings. I just watched your video on Planescape Torment and immediately thought about Gemini Rue as it also imposes similiar questions about ones responsibilites, fate and free will. It's a very niche title but it surely serves you with a lot of very profound moments. The studio responsible for it Wadjet Eye games release plethora of very profound stories told through point'n'click adventure game setting. While lacking in graphics (it's all just stylized pixel art) the game more than make up for it with excellent voice acting and thought provoking and profound stories. And I feel like Gemini Rue would really suit your channel.

Very much yes on Elysium content.

Dude I would love to watch you do a Disco playthrough

I read the video title I thought "the other" was going to be Planescape: Torment, but it was the other way around xD

Also, definatly more Disco Elysium videos!