Yes.
Overall I would say that Zero Parades pretty much replicates what I liked about Disco Elysium, but as the second installment, a bit of the magic is irretrievably lost.
Here some more impressions, after about 20 hours (and probably nowhere near the half-time mark, I hope!)
Gameplay wise I think it compares quite favorable. The world feels a bit bigger and a bit more open, and the way it plays is near identical. The main differences are less, but not less interesting skills, a slightly different take on the Thought Cabinet, and no changing of gear or leveling up mid-dialogue.
World-building is maybe a little less extravagant. Nothing like the Pale, Radio Computers or Cryptids (so far), and it feels more like a slightly anachronistic version of our own world, with different labels applied to (mostly) countries. That’s not to say that there isn’t curious tech or fantastical elements to be found, but it’s a bit less out there than Disco Elysium was, especially with lots of points in Shivers.
I think where I see the largest deviation from Disco Elysium so far is the protagonist:
- With Disco Elysium, you play an amnesiac and part of the joy and brilliance is that what’s new to you is new to him. Some of the more recent memories you can recover are outright hilarious, too. In Zero Parades OTOH, it’s more like the main character doesn’t want to recall the past, not that she couldn’t.
- In Disco, you play as a (more or less) authoritative police officer, so you own the turf and go around in the sure knowledge that nothing bad will befall you, and it mostly won’t (unless it’s self-inflicted). In Zero Parades, you’re a spy in enemy territory. The feeling’s quite different and warrants a more cautionary play-style. (Maybe that’s why, in Disco Elysium, I saw the first death screen before I managed to put on some pants, whereas in Zero Parades I lost exactly one skill point by maxing out my anxiety in the tutorial, and none since. Though I did come close!)