ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies

Zero Parades: For Dead Spies was a joy to play thanks in no small part to its fully realized aesthetic and captivating narrative. There is a colorfulness to the design of its world that injects life into even the more banal aspects of its writing. Zero Parades draws from a rich lineage of similar dialogue focused role-playing games and manages to do justice to its predecessors while remaining steadfast in its own vision. The player is placed in the shoes of a spy named Hershel Wilk (codenamed aptly “CASCADE”) fresh out of a five-year stint in the “freezer” after suffering catastrophic failure in the field. A network of operatives she led on assignment in the island city-state of Portofiro were exposed and subsequently eliminated or forced into hiding by the “Weeping Eye” a counter agency working for a powerful foreign government, La Luz. Hershel was, suspiciously, the only one on her team that was not compromised. She has only been brought back from her exile because another agent in Portofiro asked for her specifically by name. However, when Hershel arrives she finds the agent who sent for her, codenamed “PSEUDOPOD”, is catatonic, “zeroed out”. The players morbid birth into the world immediately elevates the stakes and adds a layer of tonal melancholy scored by synthy and contemplative ambient musical tracks. Overall, Zero Parades immaculate art direction along with the mystery of its overarching plot makes it an experience worth having. The gameplay of Zero Parades is by no means revolutionary, the player is limited in how it can interface with the world apart from decisions on stat allocations and item usage. This simple structure is a fact of the genre and cannot really be held against it. While these games never quite have the flowing prose of classic fiction, the interactivity of the medium along with the visuals, story, and audio design are what people show up for. Thematic depth takes precedence over mechanical depth. I could of course knit pick certain aspects of the writing but when looked at wholistically, including the tone the game manages to set and the complex character portraits it paints, the game is a success. In short, Zero Parades is an interesting meditation on societal decay and an interrogation of an isolated, duplicitous life of an agent in a politically charged atmosphere. The game functions similarly to its predecessor, Disco Elysium. The player has a choice between different architypes (embodying either a kinetic, charismatic, or analytical spy) which raise the point cap for each of the corresponding subskills within said specializations. The higher the subskill, the easier it is to pass corresponding checks and the more you will hear the corresponding aspects of Hershel’s psyche chime in while engaged in dialogue. There are fewer choices here than in Disco Elysium and on the whole the subskills Hershel has to choose from are less compelling than the choices in Disco, but they achieve what they set out to do. These choices add up and the players’ decisions in aggregate weave an individualized journey, adding flavor to an otherwise linear chain of events. There is just so much meat on this bone, so many dice rolls to make, plot threads to unravel, ideological revelations to have, and interesting thoughts to meditate on. When the game peaks, time flies by as you get lost in its world, and in some ways the lack of personality of its main character allows the player to better inhabit her internal world. The comparison to Disco Elysium is apt, but do not let that be the thief of joy. I do not want to see such artistic effort wasted. Zero Parades for Dead Spires is a beautiful game full of compelling ideas and it deserves support, a major thumbs up from me.

Because this game defines itself as apart from Disco Elysium in its title and background, I went in thinking I would get something fresh and new. This would be the preferable experience, and if it was good I would like it. But no, this is not apart from Disco Elysium. It's ripped from its aesthetics of Disco Elysium, its world and tone taken and twisted into something new, but without any of the care of the original. The main character is Harry, but copy pasted onto a frame without any of the charm that Harry had. The politics are pathetic. The world is bland. It feels like rehashed ironic quips on Disco. There's no new content. The characters are boring or just remind me of Disco. I'm sorry development team, it sounds like you were held back by management. Maybe I'm being harsh, but I just didn't really want to play this game after my little time in it.

Les sous-titres chinois, allemand, espagnol et lingala mais pas français en big 2026 ? On vit chez les fous.

【阶段一】：初识 【逻辑思维】（检定通过）+1 骨架照搬，血肉全是仿品——拙劣的填充物。 【争强好胜】（检定通过）+1 这文本没人味儿。空荡荡的。我恨不得立刻化作一条在字缝里绝望扭动的虚空之蛆！ 【平心定气】（检定通过）+1 暂时挑不出什么毛病。继续。 【国格至上】 这狗屎游戏，拐弯抹角地往死里黑康米。 【阶段二】：赞美 【纠缠】 文本与思维的纠缠总算有了些模样。 【诗性】 哈，有些段落竟然真的能共振——像一根埋进胸腔的旧琴弦。 【同舟共济】（检定通过）+1 也许这世界，从根儿上就是一个骗子与无数劳工构成的。跟那几个中产精英，压根儿就没有什么必然的瓜葛。 【分身】（成功率97%）检定 失败 这该死的骰子，演你亲爹呢。 【阶段三】：结尾 【技术流】 后期弥漫的全是虫子与半成品的酸败味儿。 【感知】 什么狗尾续貂。乱七八糟。所有收束都像飘在半空，没有一根落了地。 【内陆帝国】（检定通过）+1 你渴求再一次触碰到竹节虫的奇迹。可这里，已经什么都不剩了。 【天人感应】（检定通过）+1 或许它本来就是一具空壳。你只是一直在追赶一个早已死去的、冰冷的灵魂。又一次，你被美丽的尸体所迷惑。 【通情达理】（检定通过）+1 总有一个时刻，你必须承认——就算它再像“那个”，它也不是“那个”。“那个”如今几乎已经从世上绝迹了。 它只是它自己。 【平心定气】 现在这副模样，不行。

You are in a city where everything is watched and every word is overheard. You are Hershel Wilk, codename Cascade - an agent pulled into the dirty machinery of political warfare. Disguises. Reinventions. Chasing clues and secrets. Thoughts. Thoughts. Thoughts. In the background: brooding noir music, a deep double bass, and soft, unsettling rustles. Nothing can stop you from untangling this web. Nothing - except your own darkness, painfully clawing at the decisions you have to make. What price are you willing to pay for the truth? Are you ready? No matter who wins this fight, there will be no celebratory fireworks or confetti at the finish line. Zero parades. .ιllιlι.ιl. Вы в городе, где всё отслеживается и прослушивается. Вас зовут Хершел Уилк и вы агент с кодовым псевдонимом Каскад, втянутый в политические разборки. Маскировка, перевоплощение, поиск информации и улик. Мысли, мысли, мысли. И на фоне всего этого тревожная нуарная музыка, густой контрабас и легкие шорохи. Ничто не мешает мыслить и раскручивать запутанный клубок этой паутины. Только темное прошлое и собственное «я» становятся помехой, когда нужно быть просто инструментом, винтиком в этой системе. Какую цену ты готов заплатить за информацию? Готов ли ты? Кто бы ни победил в этой схватке, ни для кого в конце не будет ни фейерверков, ни конфетти. Ноль парадов.

One of the best-written games I've ever played, up there with Planescape: Torment, Thronebreaker and its spiritual predecessor, Disco Elysium. Funny, wistful and provacative.

Эта игра сплошное разочарование от пят до головы. Сразу чувствуется что из проекта ушло не мало людей. Это даже не игра, это просто продукт - пародия на Disco Elysium. Мне жаль этот проект. В особенности не хватает старых голосов для озвучки.

One of the rare examples where private equity, despite its best efforts, failed to prevent a masterpiece from emerging

its really just a hollow shell of we all know what game - dialogs are empty, protagonist is not interesting, story is not intriguing. After three terrible hours i just quit. They should call it 'zero jokes' - this game also lacks humour, whyyy?