The fictional world of Disco Elysium, a blend of the roaring twenties and the seventies with hints of soviet republics and Europe's colonial empires, has a complex and gloomy history. Learning about it was one of the main highlights of my playthroughs, in part because the Estonian background of the developers allows for a political approach new to western CRPGs – a tone that is both melancholic and hopeful.

What Disco Elysium has to say is not just about politics. In a 2019 interview (quoted above), its lead writer explained that he wanted the game to be about our own real life experiences and the problems of modern society. It was supposed to give us a new way to engage in escapism, to give us tools to deal with our world.

It may sound ludicrous, but the game actually succeeds at energizing us instead of sapping our strength. The masterful soundtrack helps, as it sparks positive emotions and a deep, blissful melancholy. But mostly, it's all due to the loser theme. Since Disco Elysium's hero starts as a total failure, every little step in another direction feels like a victory.

And if the embarrassment of the loser cop sometimes echoes our own, then it makes sense that his positive emotions also echo our own, like when we realize that we aren't struggling alone: in life or in games, nobody supported me better than lieutenant Kim Kitsuragi, a companion that looks like a cold, by-the-book cop at first and becomes much, much more.