For Dead Spies, the next game from Disco Elysium developer ZA/UM?

Almost 7 years after the release of the critically acclaimed indie game Disco Elysiumdeveloper ZA/UM will release its follow-up title. Zero Parades: For Dead Spies looks like the successor to Disco Elysium as fans have come to expect from the surrealist political RPG developer, even if it's not a direct sequel. With Zero Parades: For Dead Spies will be released on May 21st, it's only a short time before interested fans can see what ZA/UM has in store for their next game.

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New RPG on Steam is like Dungeons & Dragons meets Disco Elysium

This new CRPG on Steam blends the best of Dungeons & Dragons and Disco Elysium: narrative depth, dialogue-driven gameplay, and plenty of D20 mayhem.

Zero Parades: For Dead Spies' Features at a Glance

A grand spy RPG with psychological depth, surreal undertones and a rich world to explore.
Remember your training to align your operant when deciding which skills are right for the job.
Freeze time in Tactical View and decide the best path to overcome the impossible.
It pays to listen to your inner voices for advice but be careful not to trust them fully.
Push yourself to your physical and mental limits to force the dice in your favor.

The Story of Zero Parades: For Dead Spies

IN Zero Parades: For Dead Spiesplayers take on the role of operative Hershel Wilk codenamed Cascade. She has been sent to the city of Portofiro, and the like Disco ElysiumHarry Du Bois, has lost her memory along with any semblance of what her mission is supposed to be. Fans of Disco Elysium will be all too familiar with this premise, developing the mystery surrounding the game's story while playing the main character.

Following in the footsteps of Disco Elysium, Zero Parades: For Dead Spies continues the tradition of competing political ideologies and factions that players can choose to align themselves with as they progress through the story. Instead of exploring the decayed city of Revachol as in Disco Elysium, Zero parades giving players a much more vibrant city of Portofiro to experience. Zero parades promises a clash of factions that sees everything from international bankers, foreign techno-fascists, psychic doppelgangers, a paranoid TV presenter and a man with a box for a heart populating this world.

A large part of Disco ElysiumThe draw was its cast of colorful, off-the-wall characters that players would encounter throughout Revachol. Harry Du Bois' fan-favorite partner, Kim Kitsuragi, is a particularly notable character who adds to the game's buddy-cop dynamic. But Hershel quickly discovers that her partner, the Psuedopod, is alive but unresponsive when she wakes up at the beginning of the Zero paradesmaking it unclear if players will see the same dynamic throughout the game or if Cascade will have to go it alone.

Zero Parades: For Dead Spies' Gameplay

Game off Zero Parades: For Dead Spies follows Disco Elysiums point-and-click investigative segments interspersed with skill checks that require players to invest in various stats and listen to different parts of Hershel's fractured psyche when the situation calls for it. The Dramatic Encounter system turns certain dialogues into turn-based decision-making opportunities, where players must strategize the best path forward using the Tactical View feature. Building on the foundation of Disco Elysiumthink tank, Zero parades allows players to shape Hershel's personality with the Conditioning mechanic, allowing them to reinforce certain ideas to permanently change Hershel's disposition.

Who is that character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Who is that character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Easy (7.5s) Medium (5.0s) Hard (2.5s) Permadeath (2.5s)

As Disco Elysium, Zero parades relies on dice rolls to determine whether players succeed or fail a skill check. Modifiers play a role beyond stats, such as discovering a piece of information that increases the chance of a successful skill check in an interrogation situation. In classic tabletop RPG fashion, even the controls that seem guaranteed due to stats and modifiers have a chance to fail with a flash of bad luck, keeping the game interesting no matter how players choose to shape Hershel's character. Zero parades also features new mechanics called Pressures and Exertions, which allow players to push the dice roll in a skill check in their favor, but doing so too often can take a toll on Hershel's psyche.

How Zero Parades: For Dead Spies RPG Mechanics Compare to Disco Elysium

Zero Parades: For Dead Spies will obviously draw comparisons to ZA/UM's previous title, Disco Elysiumbut it's clear that this upcoming game is making big strides when it comes to missions and storytelling. While Disco Elysium was seen largely as an immersive theater, a linear story that players could influence the outcome of via dialogue choices and ability allocation, Zero parades seems to lean more towards a divergent quest strategy similar to a game that Baldur's Gate 3. The way a player approaches a mission can lead them down several different paths depending on how they've built Hershel's character, creating unique scenarios for each playthrough.

Do you need to play Disco Elysium to understand Zero Parades: For Dead Spies?

Disco Elysium is coming to another platform

Technically speaking, Disco Elysium and Zero Parades: For Dead Spies are completely separate games that take place in separate worlds. However, it might be a good idea to play Disco Elysium before Zero Parades: For Dead Spies releases to get a feel for the game mechanics in a more straightforward environment. The more linear approach to storytelling i Disco Elysium can help new players understand how skill checks are affected by the stats of Harry Du Bois, or how researching certain areas can give them an advantage via modifiers before Zero parades asks them to think more abstractly about how they approach their mission and the branching missions of the game.