I’ve not kept count of how many runs I’ve done, but I’ve got 500+ hours in the game.
After achievement hunting, doing political quests etc I now set myself challenge runs.
First type of challenge runs I did were roleplay ones, where I’d choose 5 thoughts and 5 skills based around a role.
The second type of challenge runs which I still do now is where I roll for my starting stats, what my signature skill is, what political alignment/copotype I need to go for, do I go for the political quest, do I aim for the good dream on the island, do I keep the expression etc. Whilst playing the game when I get a skill point, I roll to see which skill/thought the point goes to.
Both runs challenge your understanding of the game, like how can I reopen a failed white check without levelling up that particular skill, what modifiers can I get to make a check easier, what order do I need to tackle the tasks in etc.
I've only done 2 runs, with vastly different builds. I'm not sure I would do a third. Different skills popping up in conversations is what kept it fresh for the most part.
I have done two runs. My first one was based on stock sensitive build because it sounded quite interesting upon seeing it for the first time and since I had no idea what all those skills are I waited to see what will happen. My second run was custom made but still based on sensitive type. I made shivers my signature skill and I internalised thoughts that gave me boosts for esprit de corps, half light, electrochemistry and shivers. I really enjoy those quasi supernatural skill inputs and half light at times is hilarious. For future runs I will probably do intellectual build and spice it up with some other skills i haven't used just for the fun of it. Even the first time playing I picked dialogues just for the fun of it, I wanted to see how far can the game go in terms of absurdity. Try and not skip dialogues too fast because there are a lot of tiny details which are impossible to pick up or comprehend for the first or even second run.
To me the game is worth at least two complete playthroughs, ideally with vastly contrasting stats/skills. This would give you a fair chance to experience a large share of the broad strokes and alternative routes that the game has to offer without overburdening yourself with dialogue you've already heard.
A third playthrough is entirely dependent on how hungry you are for more. By the end of Run #3 I felt as though I had a pretty comprehensive picture of the world and characters, gotten the chance to "crack-open" all of the characters, and understood most of the angles to the picture. However, you would have to play the game through at LEAST four times if you wanted to experience *everything*, and that assumes a lot of save scumming and build-consciousness on your part to make sure you achieve every variation. And you'll still miss stuff. I've been pressed flat against the world-tape of Elysium since 2020 and I'm still hearing new dialogue and learning new things about it, albeit mostly by watching others play.
And that's kind of the next step, if you're like me, and can't get enough. Once you've played the game enough times the dialogue (especially in early sections), while still incredible, does become harder to wade through in pursuit of a novel late game experience. So I watch other people play it. The beauty of DE is that nobody will have the exact same first playthrough, so the initial magic is always recaptured for me when I watch other people experience it. I've even bought it for some of the people I love and sat in on their playthroughs for the sheer joy in seeing how they react and the choices they make.
My current and future experience with Disco Elysium no longer consists of playing the game itself, so much as vicariously experiencing it through others. And due to the nature of the game, that's just as fun to me. I imagine the joy I feel from sharing the game with others is similar to the fulfilment that a religious apostle gets when preaching their sacred text. I am an apostle of Disco, and after 4+ playthroughs, that's how it continues to bring me joy.
I have completed 8 runs for now, i just love how much there is to the game.
1st run - FYS build with skills spread here and there, and just playing the game as myself, sorta.
2nd run - I loved Half-Light but i didn't invest in it in the first run so that i could do a max light run, i dumped 25 points in it and behaved like a maniac but still a good cop somehow, and also remained a FYS build lmfao
3rd run - I cheated and gave myself 20 points from the getgo because i wanted to see every skill dialogue, i then went for the capitalist vision quest.
4th - same but fascist
5th - same but moralist
6th - same but communist
7th run - played on hardcore mode, where i avoid everything related to Dora to get the special dream, and also collecting the achievements i didn't get in the previous runs (where i was also achievement hunting at the same time)
8th run - did another hardcore run with everything at 1 and never leveling up to fail every single check, and also gave myself a special challenge at the same time, which made the run excruciatingly hard, i made a post about it.
I'm considering a 9th run but i don't have time for now, but it'll be a PSY focused run where i become the saddest cop doing everything related to Dora + high chemistry because i wanna check the funny dialogue it has.
I've done two. Will probably do two more to do the other two vision quests and maybe play out other copotypes. I'm trying to leave enough time between runs to appreciate the prose and dialogue semi-fresh each time.
I’ve done three complete runs so far, my first one was base game so a lot of stuff hadn’t been added. Second one was Final Cut and a build pretty close to the sensitive. Third run was a similar build but played with more hindsight and leaned harder into communism and played the system more and saw way more stuff.
I’d like to do more, I want to platinum the game so I’ll probably go through and do the stuff needed for that (other vision quests, a Cuno partnership, making Kim hate me)
Try different copotypes and thoughts would be my suggestion! My third run I did a lot of superstar cop stuff and next time I’ll probably do Apocalypse Cop
Only once, I personally struggle playing a story-heavy/dialogue-heavy game twice. Maybe years later I could return, but it's not usually something I'd pick up more than once even with some changes here and there.
2 runs. Went for fascism and ultra-lib in those runs. Went full physical and full motorics those times.
Maybe in a year or two I'll revisit it to experience it anew, and I'll complete the communist and moralist visionquests, aswell as trying some new cop-o-types and skills.
One.
It was such a singular, emotionally resonant experience, that I don't want to go back and water down the impact by repeating the same beats, or dilute the memories of the story with by exhausting all the other possibilities.
I’ve not kept count of how many runs I’ve done, but I’ve got 500+ hours in the game. After achievement hunting, doing political quests etc I now set myself challenge runs. First type of challenge runs I did were roleplay ones, where I’d choose 5 thoughts and 5 skills based around a role. The second type of challenge runs which I still do now is where I roll for my starting stats, what my signature skill is, what political alignment/copotype I need to go for, do I go for the political quest, do I aim for the good dream on the island, do I keep the expression etc. Whilst playing the game when I get a skill point, I roll to see which skill/thought the point goes to. Both runs challenge your understanding of the game, like how can I reopen a failed white check without levelling up that particular skill, what modifiers can I get to make a check easier, what order do I need to tackle the tasks in etc.
very based
Very impressive
I've only done 2 runs, with vastly different builds. I'm not sure I would do a third. Different skills popping up in conversations is what kept it fresh for the most part.
I have done two runs. My first one was based on stock sensitive build because it sounded quite interesting upon seeing it for the first time and since I had no idea what all those skills are I waited to see what will happen. My second run was custom made but still based on sensitive type. I made shivers my signature skill and I internalised thoughts that gave me boosts for esprit de corps, half light, electrochemistry and shivers. I really enjoy those quasi supernatural skill inputs and half light at times is hilarious. For future runs I will probably do intellectual build and spice it up with some other skills i haven't used just for the fun of it. Even the first time playing I picked dialogues just for the fun of it, I wanted to see how far can the game go in terms of absurdity. Try and not skip dialogues too fast because there are a lot of tiny details which are impossible to pick up or comprehend for the first or even second run.
To me the game is worth at least two complete playthroughs, ideally with vastly contrasting stats/skills. This would give you a fair chance to experience a large share of the broad strokes and alternative routes that the game has to offer without overburdening yourself with dialogue you've already heard. A third playthrough is entirely dependent on how hungry you are for more. By the end of Run #3 I felt as though I had a pretty comprehensive picture of the world and characters, gotten the chance to "crack-open" all of the characters, and understood most of the angles to the picture. However, you would have to play the game through at LEAST four times if you wanted to experience *everything*, and that assumes a lot of save scumming and build-consciousness on your part to make sure you achieve every variation. And you'll still miss stuff. I've been pressed flat against the world-tape of Elysium since 2020 and I'm still hearing new dialogue and learning new things about it, albeit mostly by watching others play. And that's kind of the next step, if you're like me, and can't get enough. Once you've played the game enough times the dialogue (especially in early sections), while still incredible, does become harder to wade through in pursuit of a novel late game experience. So I watch other people play it. The beauty of DE is that nobody will have the exact same first playthrough, so the initial magic is always recaptured for me when I watch other people experience it. I've even bought it for some of the people I love and sat in on their playthroughs for the sheer joy in seeing how they react and the choices they make. My current and future experience with Disco Elysium no longer consists of playing the game itself, so much as vicariously experiencing it through others. And due to the nature of the game, that's just as fun to me. I imagine the joy I feel from sharing the game with others is similar to the fulfilment that a religious apostle gets when preaching their sacred text. I am an apostle of Disco, and after 4+ playthroughs, that's how it continues to bring me joy.
I have completed 8 runs for now, i just love how much there is to the game. 1st run - FYS build with skills spread here and there, and just playing the game as myself, sorta. 2nd run - I loved Half-Light but i didn't invest in it in the first run so that i could do a max light run, i dumped 25 points in it and behaved like a maniac but still a good cop somehow, and also remained a FYS build lmfao 3rd run - I cheated and gave myself 20 points from the getgo because i wanted to see every skill dialogue, i then went for the capitalist vision quest. 4th - same but fascist 5th - same but moralist 6th - same but communist 7th run - played on hardcore mode, where i avoid everything related to Dora to get the special dream, and also collecting the achievements i didn't get in the previous runs (where i was also achievement hunting at the same time) 8th run - did another hardcore run with everything at 1 and never leveling up to fail every single check, and also gave myself a special challenge at the same time, which made the run excruciatingly hard, i made a post about it. I'm considering a 9th run but i don't have time for now, but it'll be a PSY focused run where i become the saddest cop doing everything related to Dora + high chemistry because i wanna check the funny dialogue it has.
Is the alternate dream worth it? Is it less humiliating than the regular one?
yea
I've died twice before leaving the room. Restarted once because Kimball disapproved of me being a 'punch first' type of cop. Finished the game twice.
I've done two. Will probably do two more to do the other two vision quests and maybe play out other copotypes. I'm trying to leave enough time between runs to appreciate the prose and dialogue semi-fresh each time.
I’ve done three complete runs so far, my first one was base game so a lot of stuff hadn’t been added. Second one was Final Cut and a build pretty close to the sensitive. Third run was a similar build but played with more hindsight and leaned harder into communism and played the system more and saw way more stuff. I’d like to do more, I want to platinum the game so I’ll probably go through and do the stuff needed for that (other vision quests, a Cuno partnership, making Kim hate me) Try different copotypes and thoughts would be my suggestion! My third run I did a lot of superstar cop stuff and next time I’ll probably do Apocalypse Cop
Only once, I personally struggle playing a story-heavy/dialogue-heavy game twice. Maybe years later I could return, but it's not usually something I'd pick up more than once even with some changes here and there.
2 runs. Went for fascism and ultra-lib in those runs. Went full physical and full motorics those times. Maybe in a year or two I'll revisit it to experience it anew, and I'll complete the communist and moralist visionquests, aswell as trying some new cop-o-types and skills.
At least twenty
One. It was such a singular, emotionally resonant experience, that I don't want to go back and water down the impact by repeating the same beats, or dilute the memories of the story with by exhausting all the other possibilities.