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Disco Elysium’s writer wants to “lead the youth astray,” so he made a videogame

Novels just don't have that same corrupting power anymore

Disco Elysium owes plenty of debt to the likes of Planescape: Torment and other RPG classics, but its world debuted in a novel – a much more traditional writing format. Lead writer and designer Robert Kurvitz says that the narrative possibilities now are way more exciting, in large part because it’s still possible to corrupt the youth with games.

“I think what you’re limited by in games is that there’s so much to gain from making a hit nowadays,” Kurvits tells Edge in issue #339, “there’s so much territory you can conquer – you can truly set out in your own very small way to alter history a bit. It’s not all divided up between giants yet, which means it’s a tough fight for that territory. A lot of people are there, a lot of people care, and there’s not a lot of elbow room and it’s a pretty dirty fight.”

Kurvits says the risk with games is “more than with a novel, which nobody really cares about at all any more! Novels are almost inconsequential – it’s hard to piss anyone off with them, because they spread very slowly from one language to another. You can’t lead the youth astray with a novel nowadays.”

The game seems to have avoided pissing off reviewers, regardless – you can check out all the Disco Elyisum reviews for more, but it’s ranked as one of the very best games of the year based on the scores.

Check out our full list of the best RPG games on PC is you’re looking for more writing-heavy, choice-focused epics for you to sink your teeth into.