Disco Elysium was a surprise hit for many players in 2019. From developers ZA/UM, this RPG put players in the shoes of an amnesiac detective trying to solve a murder in the fantastic-realist world of Elysium. The game surprised many with its in-depth mechanics that veered away from traditional combat and more towards character development and role-playing aspects.
One of the ways Disco Elysium does this is through its political alignment system. Players can choose the political views of their protagonist, but through careful dialogue choices littered throughout the game rather than upfront. With the addition of political vision quests in The Final Cut, now's the perfect time to revisit how political alignment works in Disco Elysium.
Disco Elysium: The Final Cut was released on March 30, 2021, bringing ZA/UM's game to the PS4, PS5, and Google Stadia. The PC version was also upgraded to coincide with this release. The RPG is expected to launch on the Nintendo Switch and Xbox systems by the end of 2021.
Updated June 5, 2021 by Mark Hospodar: Disco Elysium players in Australia are finally in luck! The classification board in that country has decided to overturn its initial decision to ban the game over perceived "immoral" behavior. Australian gamers can now experience The Final Cut in all its glory, which includes previously cut content that wasn't included in the original release. Chief among this collection of restored content is the Political Vision quests, making the player's chosen political alignment a more worthwhile aspect of the game.
How To Choose An Ideology
Disco Elysium's extensive narrative and dialogue make it a catch for television adaptation. Most RPGs have players decide everything about their character in the very beginning, but Disco Elysium is more interested in having players morph their character as they play. In this way, nearly every interaction, even the most minor and insignificant, can subtly push the protagonist towards one political belief or another. The four political beliefs are Communism, Fascism, Moralism, and Ultraliberalism.
Selecting four dialogue options relating to Communism or Fascism will have the player branded with either of those. People who select options that can give them the most money will find themselves adhering to Ultraliberalism. Perhaps some players will want to reject all ideologies; in this case, they'll end up with Moralism. It should be noteworthy that players don't have to stick strictly with one alignment or another. In Disco Elysium, it's actually possible to end up with all four ideologies at once.
The Four Political Alignments
Picking dialogue related to Mazovian Socio-Economics is the path towards accepting Communism. As part of a bonus, players will receive +4 XP, -1 Visual Calculus, and -1 Authority for every Communist dialogue option they select.
Just like Communism, players will have to select four dialogue options under the thought cabinet of Revacholian Nationhood to play as a Fascist. Players adhering to Fascism will get a bonus of +2 Physical when their character is drunk. For every dialogue option relating to Fascism, players will also receive -1 Morale.
Avoiding any ideology and attempting to stay as neutral as possible will put players into the shoes of Moralism. Moralist dialogue options fall under the thought cabinet of Kingdom of Conscience, and selecting this dialogue under Moralism will allow players to recover Morale. Learning caps for the skills Logic and Volition are also raised to five.
For Ultraliberalism, players will simply need to select the option that will grant them the most money. The thought cabinet for Ultraliberalism is called Indirect Modes of Taxation, and players following this ideology will get a bonus of +1 Real and -1 Empathy for every Ultraliberalist dialogue option they select.
Political Vision Quests
The Final Cut of Disco Elysium adds four side quests initially cut out from the original game. These are four "political vision quests" that the player can undertake. To start one of these quests, players will have to have selected at least one of the four ideologies by the end of the third day. Falling asleep after the third day will trigger a dream sequence, and the game will check the thought cabinet to see if the player has selected a political affiliation.
It's at this point the player will then have the choice to select one of four side quests: "For the Working Class," "For Revachol. Always and Only Revachol," "For the Greater Good," or "For the Money, Baby." "For the Working Class" relates to Communism, "For Revachol. Always and Only Revachol" to Fascism, "For the Greater Good" to Moralism, and "For the Money, Baby" to Ultraliberalism. Players may feel obligated to select the quest that matches their chosen political beliefs, but the game actually gives players the freedom to select whichever quest the player wants.
Each quest also benefits a specific skill: "For the Working Class" relates to Rhetoric, "For Revachol. Always and Only Revachol" to Endurance, "For the Greater Good" to Empathy, and "For the Money, Baby" to Savoir Faire. Players should be aware, however, that once they select a quest, all three others will become permanently locked. Once the player wakes up, they'll be given instructions on how to begin their new political vision quest.
Completing The Political Vision Quests
Once the player has selected their political vision quest, it's time to get to work! Choosing the Communist branch will start the "Get Yourself Organized" task in your journal. It will require the player to "sniff out" other suspected Communists, such as Manana and Cindy the Skull. The Fascist questline will add the "Turn Back The Wheels of Time" task in the journal. In this case, the player will need to talk to the other right-wing adherents, namely Rene Arnoux, Measurehead, Gary the Cryptofascist, and the Racist Lorry Driver.
The Moralist path is associated with the "La Responsibilite" task. The player needs to gather a committee of all the other Moralists in the game, such as Kim Kitsuragi, the Sunday Friend, and Soona. Lastly, the Ultraliberalism choice will begin the "Become a Man of Plenty" task in the journal. The player must establish their "brand" across Martinaise, and involves enlisting the help of such characters as Cindy the Skull, the Mega-Rich Light-Bending Guy, and Idiot Doom Spiral.