ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies

Excellent game, worth your money

Чтобы увидеть слёзы фанов диско, достаточно просто купить эту игру

Zero Parades is another one of those games I can say is "unfortunately really good"; though unlike any other game I've used that phrase for, it is a unique case of the reason not being immediately apparent as the game on it's own would likely be easy to declare a masterpiece in the CRPG genre had it existed under drastically different circumstances. It is ultimately bittersweet that the writers and devs pulled off creating something so damn great despite living in the shadow of Disco Elysium and the horrible business practices of their higher ups, because no matter how great it is, it is doomed to never be judged on its own merits and forced to exist under the thumb of a company that cannot be trusted to keep the souls of it's IPs alive. I didn't go into Zero Parades expecting to like it all that much, I felt it was sure to be a very poor attempt to create Disco without any of the charm, but while certain reused and referencial aspects can certainly make it feel that way, I feel that the team behind the game (sadly whatever is left of them now) proved that they could create something compelling enough that it honestly stopped being all that distracting the more I lived in the world and got to know the people in it. I did not expect this game to exceed my expectations in any way, I went in thinking that, given a miracle, it could end up being a pretty solid game marred by the company's reputation and then when it ended I felt like it was a phenomenal game marred by the company's reputation. There are elements unique to this game that I even slightly enjoy more than how Disco handled them. The Fatigue, Anxiety, Delusion system makes the protagonist feel all the more human, and Hershel as a whole feels a little more freeing to truly roleplay as. I also feel like the world building and character writing almost reaches something near the heights I felt when I first played Disco, though maybe taking a bit longer to really wrap my head around and live with. Of course it's too bad I cannot trust Za/Um to properly allow this setting to expand and live up to it's true potential. Many of the aspects I'd consider flaws here I feel boil down to it presumably being rushed out. It seems they wanted to ship the game fully voiced like Disco's rerelease, so the text to dialogue mismatches and vocal deliveries with incorrect tones and misreads feel a lot more numerous than they did in Disco. There's also just a lot of random unvoiced lines and sentences that cut off too short. In a similar vein is how buggy it can be. My only real complaint is that the game feels like it only really needed a stupidly short time left to cook and they just threw it out there for a quick buck. Really wracking my brain for anything else to complain about, I guess I don't really love the map screen, it could have been a bit more clear and interactive. Maybe the inventory system could have been more sortable but neither of these really felt like a big deal. Zero Parades compelled me in ways I never thought a game with Za/Um in front of it would ever be capable of doing again, I fell deeply in love with it's characters and the twists and turns of their mission, I deeply resonated with many of its themes that manage to feel familiar while standing on their own, and ultimately it left me wanting to play it again and do everything I screwed up as "correctly" as possible. It's only sad that I have to keep reminding myself that not even something I love as much as this game could ever make me trust the company that made it. In the end, I got another fantastic game, but it'd be nice to have something to look forward to

Pacing is dreadfully slow. Fatigue/Anxiety mechanic punishes you for being curious and exploring. Money mechanics are pure grind. Getting locked into dialogue and having your character downgraded is irritating. The story beats are there but they take an eon to arrive, and when they finally do I'm too irritated / disinterested to care.

我说句离经叛道的，我觉得比极乐迪斯科好玩。 更顶级美术，更平庸无记忆点的音乐，但是更对我胃口，懒得谈场外因素了，我一直只把晦涩政治讨论当场氛围背景板的，所以该作在政治讨论上再故作玄虚我都无所谓，是的，我是来看故事玩游戏的。 流程中后期伏笔和故事性都很棒，我很喜欢。 CASCADE,BE BRAVE

I experienced a bug early on which launched me into a conversation with a character I clearly wasn't supposed to meet yet. It spoiled a lot of the game for me. Unacceptable to release a story-driven video game in this state.

Если вкратце - эта игра лучше Disco Elysium, с которой по понятной причине все сравнивают, и вот почему: 1) Больше вариативности, игру буквально можно перепройти во 2 раз с другими выборами. 2) Мир более наполненный и структурирован лучше, чем в диско. Тут нет ссанины в уши про огромный внешний мир, который ты конечно же никогда не увидишь, потому что его на самом деле нет. Тут фокус вообще на другом. На самой истории гг, ее прошлом и ее друзей. 3) Крутой шпионаж. Тут действительно есть РПГ отыгрыш героя. Ты переодеваешься, меняешь личности, внедряешься. Это чувствуется. 4) Можно работать на заводе за 20 грошей. 5) Палка делает бум-бум (пистолеты не для красоты, в отличии от Диско, а для конкретной цели) В общем есть много еще доставляющих пунктов, но впадлу перечислять. А вот кто пишет плохие отзывы и пытается похоронить по факту хорошую игру: 1) Те, кто как дол6ае6 просто вирищит повторяя друг за другом одно и тоже, как е6учее стадо, что отжали студию (кому не поxуй наxуй???) 2) Игра начинается медленно и размеренно, и самый движ начинается через несколько часов от начала. Тут да, диско илизиум сходу на тебя вываливает рофло контент. Но диско илизиум становится душнее - чем ближе к концу, тем сильней. А тут наооборот.

This game will not get the love it deserves

Zero Parades surpasses Disco Elysium in some areas while falling short in others. Still, it would be disingenuous to say this isn't a very good game. Playing Disco Elysium felt like experiencing a work of art set in a unique world filled with political and philosophical depth. Zero Parades, on the other hand, feels more like reading a great spy novel. The game truly shines when it stops trying to imitate Disco Elysium's political discussions and instead focuses on telling a compelling espionage thriller. I really enjoyed the many twists and turns throughout the story, especially the ending, which changes depending on the choices you make. The remaining artists at ZA/UM, including Anton Vill, have done an excellent job creating beautiful environments, UI, portraits, and visual effects. From a gameplay perspective, Zero Parades improves on nearly every aspect of Disco Elysium's formula. The new Pressure and Exertion systems add meaningful risk-reward decisions to every skill check. I also appreciated the many scenes, similar to the Tribunal sequence in Disco Elysium, that force split-second decisions. Throughout the game you meet plenty of memorable and eccentric characters, but a few overstay their welcome by yapping a LOT without adding much to the story or worldbuilding (Un & Deux and Cardio Grampa being the biggest offenders.) I wish the game had spent less time on quirky side characters and more time developing its most compelling ones, such as Melita, Duchess, Goat Eye, Silhouette, and several others. The soundtrack does a solid job establishing the game's atmosphere, but it lacks tracks that are as memorable as Disco Elysium's Whirling-in-Rags themes. That said, "Superbloc, Baby" and "Luck and Skill" are standout tracks that stayed with me long after I finished the game. Overall, while Zero Parades doesn't quite reach the artistic highs of Disco Elysium, it succeeds in being a gripping spy thriller with stronger gameplay systems than its predecessor.