The Disco Elysium team’s new spy game could be another instant classic

18 May at 14:17 Comment Views: 4

Within my initial four hours of Zero Parades: For Dead Spies, I have managed to topple a vending machine onto myself, engaged in a bizarre over-the-phone flirtation with a mysterious figure known as “the Duchess” on a busy street, and inadvertently made things incredibly awkward for two teenagers due to a failed skill check. My experience has also included a surreal, hallucinatory sequence triggered by a seemingly blank vinyl record, a stint working as a bar-back in a dive bar, and a tense ultimatum where I had to threaten a local youth just to prevent a depraved back-alley doctor from spiraling further into his own dark habits.

That is the chaotic, uncompromising nature of Zero Parades: For Dead Spies, the latest project from ZA/UM and the spiritual successor to the acclaimed Disco Elysium. The game revels in being absurd, unrestrained, and occasionally deeply unsettling. Yet, this audacity feels incredibly refreshing; while the current gaming landscape is certainly not lacking in creativity, Zero Parades pushes boundaries to such an extreme that it makes the rest of my bloated Steam library look positively mundane.

You assume the role of Hershel Wilk—codenamed “Cascade”—a spy haunted by a catastrophic error from five years prior. Your return to duty begins in the city of Portofiro, where everything is immediately spiraling out of control. Your partner, an operative known as Pseudopod, is trapped in a catatonic state within your shared flat, and your handler is urging you to abandon the assignment before you meet the same grim fate. To compound the disaster, you have no clear idea what your actual objective is.

Do not expect fast-paced action; Zero Parades eschews traditional combat entirely. Instead, the gameplay revolves around close observation, active listening, and deciphering the colorful, eccentric cast of characters you encounter. It is a sophisticated evolution of the point-and-click genre, trading standard item-based puzzles for complex, branching narrative conundrums.

Cascade in Zero Parades during an intense encounter.

Disco Elysium was defined by its abstract, dense presentation, and while it remains a titan of the RPG genre, it was undeniably an intellectual marathon—one that frequently left players bewildered. Zero Parades retains that experimental DNA, but it feels less like a rigorous philosophical seminar and more like a late-night, 4 a.m. conversation with a stranger at a house party, who is simultaneously rambling about the fabric of reality and offering you illicit substances.

This shift toward a slightly more grounded tone doesn’t diminish the experience; if anything, the depth is still there for those who seek it. This is best exemplified by Cascade’s internal monologue and “conditioned thoughts.” This mechanic serves a dual purpose: providing mechanical stat bonuses while simultaneously defining the ideologies and moral compass you wish for Cascade to adopt. Ultimately, this makes the game feel far more accessible than its predecessor.

Cascade interacting with characters in Zero Parades.

The game also feels more deliberate in its mechanics. While Disco Elysium functioned like a dense, interactive novel, Zero Parades integrates its “game-y” elements more organically. Skill checks are frequent, and for those critical moments, you can choose to “exert” yourself. Doing so boosts your success rate but at the expense of increasing your fatigue, anxiety, or delirium meters. Early on, I pushed Cascade too hard, resulting in a permanent stat penalty—a darkly relatable consequence of succumbing to pressure.

When I finished Disco Elysium, it occupied my thoughts for weeks, making other titles feel hollow by comparison. However, it took some time for me to acclimate to its unique cadence. Zero Parades, conversely, has pulled me in completely from the very first minute. I am eager to uncover what the city of Portofiro has in store and to learn more about its wonderfully strange inhabitants. The mystery is compelling, and all signs point to this being another storytelling landmark.

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