The AAA space is where most of the action tends to be, but the AA space is where our hearts often beat the loudest. This, after all, is the space where you don’t typically have to worry about games being unnecessarily bloated, or games crumbling under their own gargantuan budgets and development cycles, or games that are unafraid to take risks and be experimental. That last bit is, in fact, what we’re focused on for this feature, as we go over what we feel are some of the most unique AA games we’ve ever played.
Before we move ahead, do keep in mind that calling a game AA or AAA isn’t a measure of its popularity or quality so much as it is a measure of the scope of its production and its development budget, which means we might also talk about AA experiences made by companies that usually operate in the AAA sphere. With that out of the way, let’s dive right in.
DISCO ELYSIUM
You could call Disco Elysium a CRPG, and on paper, technically, you would be correct, but that would also be an incredibly reductive way to describe this masterpiece. From its surreal setting to its heavily flavoured and thematically dense writing, from its complete lack of combat to how bizarrely yet ingeniously it uses its RPG mechanics in conjunction with its storytelling, Disco Elysium is a singular game that’s unlike anything else out there.
