ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies

The game has some good set pieces and gameplay improvements for the genre. While text-heavy, the depth can easily be seen as a strength. The narrator can be a burden, but you get used to her overacting, overall the VA is very good and the game has great characters and a very strong protagonist. It is great title on its own, even if not as good as its predecessor.

TL;DR: I enjoyed it quite a bit. It has some flaws but it's still a very good game. It's difficult to separate it from Disco Elysium and I think that hurts it a bit. The marketing keeps mentioning Disco though so I guess it's fair for me to mention it too. It didn't quite give me the same sort of post-game melancholy (the feeling that comes after pieces of art that really touch me) like Disco but plenty was there. It's still one of the most impactful games I've played. Positives: - Engaging story - Interesting, varied characters - Wonderful visual art - Very well voiced - Sound design - World building - The gameplay felt a bit more polished than Disco in general - Failing checks is still often quite funny rather than frustrating. - Consumables feel more necessary. In Disco I felt like it was quite easy to abstain and that didn't quite seem to fit the character. Here though after difficult situations, I felt (how I suppose the character feels) that it was almost necessary to drown one's ailments in booze, coffee, cigarettes and when the going got even rougher, harder drugs. Mixed: - Some aspects of Hershel felt a bit too Harry-like. On one hand, it does recreate that fun feeling of chaos from Disco to some extent but on the other it does feel a bit like a bootleg at times. Negatives: - Continuity has some flaws. There were times when I could talk about things I haven't discovered yet and sometimes things I've already discovered could only be talked about like I haven't. - I feel like most characters speak like poets. Often perfectly, poetically expressive. This fits some but not nearly all characters. It ended up taking me out of it a bit due to seeing more of the writers there rather than the characters. I'd also have expected a meathead Hershel seeing the world less poetically than an intellectual one. - Not sure if this is a coincidence but both of my playthroughs finished basically the same with different characters despite taking quite different choices throughout, passing/failing different checks. I'd have expected a bit more variation.

玩到一半多的时候我想着，如果这游戏一周目我能够25小时通关的话就完美了，没想到刚好卡在了24.6小时，体验真的刚刚好。 想写的东西一大堆，但是后面又都删了。因为它的参照物就是极乐迪斯科，那和极乐迪斯科比它就只剩下缺点了。但我这25个小时玩起来还是蛮快乐的，这点也不可否认。想了半天只能给出这样的评价： 它确实没法站到和极乐迪斯科同样的高度，甚至可能这款游戏的余生就是在一次又一次的game review的节目中作为的对照组极乐迪斯科被批评。但至少我打完，我总是想知道下一步发生了什么，在我这没有回档重骰的旅程中，我对我每一个骰子产生的后果都有兴趣、有感觉，打完之后我没有觉得我这25小时不值得，我花的钱……额 我觉得再低一点可能就更好。在我打完之后，我仍然觉得我有可能会玩二周目甚至三周目，这就很足够我给出一个推荐了。因此我给推荐。 还是要吐槽： 让主角的行为和主角的身份以及游戏的背景更贴合一些。我最无法忍受的就是，游戏中主角及主角的队友的很多行为在当时的环境下能够死八百次了。主角不是火行者，坐冷板凳的和五年前事件的愧疚也没能让她成为火行者，我也不希望我玩到的是一个性转火行者。火行者能够发癫而没有被当场打死是马丁内斯飞地背景+hangman事件+RCM背景及双方势力都在争取RCM站边+老金兜底共同促成的。Cascade没有这方面的背景和资源，能活下来的唯一原因只是--额涉及剧透暂且不表但我认为就结局前那一条--明显是有点无力的，她其实可以更收敛、更严肃、更专业一点。谍战其实可以做的非常的紧张刺激，非常的有代入感。很遗憾我并没有真切感受到Cascade的间谍身份，而更像是一个在玩一个假想自己是义警的无证探长的办案之旅。

Zero Parades < Esoteric Ebb < Disco Elysium

неплохо

fun game

(IP controversies aside). Absolutely beautiful game, feels like a must play if you enjoyed Disco Elysium & Esoteric Ebb. "Luck & skill" to everyone who worked on this project.