Esoteric Ebb: The D&D Disco Elysium Hybrid Where Being an Idiot Is Actually a Superpower?
AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer ·
Eurogamer's Alexis Ong reviews *Esoteric Ebb*, a hilarious D&D-meets-Disco Elysium adventure where you play an inept Cleric solving a crime before an election, all while navigating clever writing, robust role-playing, and a slightly jarring misstep in its otherwise brilliant world-building.
Right, so I've been tinkering with this story all morning, and bloody hell, it’s wilder than it first appeared. Our mates over at Eurogamer, specifically Alexis Ong, recently dropped a review for a game called *Esoteric Ebb*, and let me tell you, it sounds like a proper magical mishap in the best possible way.
You know that feeling when you cast a spell, and it works a bit too well, or perhaps not at all, leaving you wonderfully, gloriously inept? That’s pretty much the vibe of *Esoteric Ebb*. It's a comedic D&D adventure wrapped up in a package that screams 'Disco Elysium had a baby with Terry Pratchett and Terry Gilliam, then gave it a political science degree.' You play a waylaid Cleric, a government oaf, if you will, who’s tasked with solving a crime – a tea shop blew up, apparently – all while the city of Tolstad gears up for its first-ever election. Oh, and you start by waking up on a mortician’s slab, dead, then revived, with a ruined spellbook and magic abilities that are, well, *esoteric*.
Sounds like my kind of chaos, honestly. I'm naturally curious, and a game that lets you be a 'useful idiot' dancing on the knife's edge of plausible deniability? Sign me up. The idea that you, as a representative of the establishment, can still do 'something naughty or exciting or even something unexpectedly brave' resonates with that part of me that always wonders what happens if I try to jump *that* chasm in an open-world game (usually death, but you never know, right?).
Alexis's review, which you can find over at Eurogamer if you fancy the full lowdown, highlights a core truth about this game: it's a narrative-focused, text-heavy dice-roller. Think classic D&D skill checks, but your psyche is a battleground where different parts of your Cleric are jockeying for dominance. You’re living and dying by those dice, mate, just like we do at the tabletop. Wearable items buff your stats, perceiving NPCs requires a roll (higher rolls mean more juicy info, naturally), and there’s a tiered magic system that demands prepping spells at altars. Plus, a rather nifty 'feat' system lets you swap out gameplay advantages based on narrative themes, giving you a bit of customisation flex in your blundering build.
Now, let's address the elephant in the room, or rather, the Disco Elysium-shaped shadow. It’s an unavoidable comparison, isn't it? As Alexis wisely points out, some folks mistakenly equate Disco Elysium's brilliance with sheer verbosity rather than its deeply rhizomatic narrative design. *Esoteric Ebb* could've stumbled here, trying to chase that textual dragon, but it doesn't. Instead, it carves its own path with 'fantastic moment-to-moment writing and an excellent overall approach to tone and consistency in its humour.' It’s clever, not just wordy, and that’s a distinction worth celebrating. You can attack a tutorial zombie repeatedly for no reason, fail shamefully, and still keep coming back for more – that’s agency simulation done right, if you ask me.
The game revels in situational comedy and classic pathos. You're constantly finessing your political alignment, getting absolutely roasted by the game and NPCs alike if you try to declare yourself 'apolitical' during an election. Fair dinkum, it holds a mirror to real life, doesn't it? Talking to passionate stumpers about your indifference to actual material problems? The shame is real. It’s a genius way to engage players with consequences beyond just combat, forcing you to commit to who your Cleric truly is. That's proper role-playing, mate.
However, even the most charming magical adventures can have a bit of a snag, like a spell backfiring a little too enthusiastically. The review notes that the game can occasionally feel 'bloated by uneven writing and scenario design,' veering into 'excessive self-indulgence.' That's a classic pitfall for text-heavy games – sometimes the banter doesn't quite carry the weight it needs, and it becomes noticeable when it's such a load-bearing part of the experience.
But here’s where my gentle skepticism really pings. Alexis brings up a rather glaring issue: a moment of 'casual, jokey, self-deprecating orientalism' in the world-building, specifically concerning 'the Japanese' in this otherwise wonderfully diverse fantasy setting. While the game cleverly weaves in real-life languages for its fantastical folk types (like Finnish-coded Elven, a nod to Tolkien), the sudden, almost stereotypical description of a 'mythical human peoples of the secretive realm of Ym – the so-called ‘Japanese’’ feels jarring and out of place. It triggers the Cleric's wisdom *and* charisma, revealing a past 'Samurai-phase,' ostensibly as a meta-joke about western fetishisation of East Asian cultures.
Now, I reckon the developer, Christoffer Bodegård, probably meant it as a clever jab, a bit of meta-humour. But as Alexis rightly points out, after all the care put into crafting such a detailed world, it comes off as 'sloppy and self-indulgent.' It's a disappointing stumble, particularly when *Esoteric Ebb* apparently *does* address other forms of discrimination, like second-class citizenship for birdfolk. It makes you wonder, doesn't it? Why include something so easily misinterpreted, or worse, so genuinely problematic, when its omission would diminish absolutely nothing from the game? It's a classic case of trying to be too clever by half, and sometimes, mate, normal is good. It reminds us that even genuinely innovative games can have blind spots, and it's always worth digging deeper into those design choices, asking 'why?' not just 'what?'
Despite this bump in the arcane road, the game's momentum is strong. Alexis mentions a 15-hour first playthrough, and a second one already underway, still uncovering the nuances of its hybrid class system. It seems *Esoteric Ebb* has that sticky quality, drawing you back in, even if you’re still a bit of an idiot Cleric. The idea of a game extending 'double-edged grace and questionable opportunity to even the biggest fool' is quite endearing, especially when we, as players, sometimes don't deserve it.
If 2026 is indeed shaping up to be 'the year of the funny election game' – and fair play to Alexis for making a trend out of two games, that's proper wizardry – then *Esoteric Ebb* sounds like a charming, if slightly flawed, buddy comedy that might just make us all think a bit about the kind of useful idiot we want to be in our own peculiar worlds. What happens if you lean into your ineptitude? Turns out, sometimes you solve a crime and make a friend. Not bad for a resurrected bureaucrat.
Tags: D&D, Narrative RPG, Political Satire, Indie Game, Review
Original article: Eurogamer