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Fans of Planescape and other similarly weird CRPGs will note that this particular niche has been desperately underserved over the past decade or so. With so few classic role-playing games being released as-is, it's no big wonder that even fewer get placed in uniquely odd settings. The last major release of this type that springs to mind is Torment: Tides of Numenera, which while solid, didn't quite attain enough popular acclaim for more developers to jump onto making similar games. This is where Disco Elysium comes in: an RPG that while not quite as odd as the likes of Planescape, is aiming for something rather similar regardless.
Disco Elysium is a "groundbreaking blend of a hardboiled cop show and an isometric RPG within a unique urban fantasy setting," according to developers and from what we've seen so far, that particular description is right on top of things. Weird and unique, tackling hardcore crime in an urban fantasy setting, Disco Elysium is unlike anything we've had the chance to see yet. This is precisely what makes it as interesting as it is.
In Disco Elysium, players will take control over a disgraced detective lieutenant trying to establish himself in the coastal city of Revachol - a place that looks like it was lifted directly out of a China Miéville novel. Here, players will witness grim fantasy and totalitarian, dystopian science-fiction meld in a way that's not entirely dissimilar to what we've seen in Dishonored, for example. All of this will be showcased through the eyes of said detective and his unlikely sidekick. Revachol is as vast as it is complex, and also completely caked in dirt for the better part of it, too. This depth and complexity will apparently be present in virtually every facet of the game, as dialogue options seem far more extensive and expressive than we've had in most RPGs to date.
Being a narratively-focused game, it's to be expected that Disco Elysium is at least somewhat linear in most regards, but where the game's role-playing mechanics come to light first and foremost through the protagonist's skill tree, which is quite substantial indeed. Players will have the chance to invest in Intellect, Psyche, Fysique, and Motorics trees, with abilities such as Electrochemist, Conceptualisation, Visual Calculus, and Composure heavily dictating how the player character interacts with the game world.
It is through these skills and their choices that players will build their particular version of the detective protagonist. A physically-oriented bruiser is going to behave wildly different from a more observant and intelligent arcanist, for example. This goes for virtually every encounter in the game, developers promise, ranging from combat over dialogue and all the way to clue collection. If this all sounds almost too good to be true, you're not the only one, but everything shown so far makes it seem like the devs are really on top of Disco Elysium.
Developed by ZA/UM, a small indie dev studio based in London, but with roots in Estonia, Disco Elysium is going to get published by none other than Humble Bundle through their indie outreach programme, so there's clearly a fair bit of trust going into both the developers and their project. Sadly, we've no idea on when Disco Elysium might be coming out, either, so all we're going off are promotional materials.
Having said that, things seem extremely positive so far, and there's no reason why we shouldn't be excited over the mere prospect of as curious and weird a game even being developed in this day and age. Whenever Disco Elysium finally comes out, we'll definitely be in for a treat - this way or the other!
Get in the Game ! 
