# What is Disco Elysium about? Story, themes and meaning

> Disco Elysium is a 2019 detective RPG about failure and recovery: an amnesiac cop solves a murder in a city wrecked by a failed revolution.

Disco Elysium is a 2019 detective role-playing game by ZA/UM, and its central message is about failure and the choice to keep going. Detective Harrier "Harry" Du Bois wakes up having drunk away his memory, and while solving a murder in the poor district of Martinaise he has to decide who to become. The city around him is just as broken — scarred by a failed communist revolution and run by foreign powers — and the game uses Harry's personal collapse to explore how people and societies live with defeat, ideology and regret.

## Main themes

- **Personal failure and redemption:** Harry can stay a wreck or slowly become a better person; the game doesn't judge either path harshly, but it shows the cost.
- **Ideology as a coping tool:** you can make Harry a communist, a fascist, an ultraliberal or a moralist centrist, and the game satirizes each — showing how ideologies offer meaning and how they fail people.
- **Politics and history:** Revachol's ruined revolution and the occupying Coalition are a backdrop for questions about power and labor.
- **Memory and nostalgia:** "disco" and lost love stand for clinging to a past that won't return.
- **Kindness and connection:** Harry's partner, Lieutenant Kim Kitsuragi, models patience and decency, and that relationship is the emotional core.

## Why the writing stands out

Developed by ZA/UM and released in 2019, the game has no combat. Instead, Harry's 24 skills act as voices in his head that argue, joke and mislead him. Dialogue checks, a "Thought Cabinet" of ideas, and failure that often leads to interesting outcomes make every conversation a choice. The Final Cut edition added full voice acting.

## FAQ

**How many endings does Disco Elysium have?**
There is one main ending sequence, but it changes a lot based on your choices: how you solved the case, how Harry has changed, and what happens with Kim and the people of Martinaise.

**Is Disco Elysium choice-based?**
Yes. Your skills, dialogue choices and political leanings shape Harry's personality, which scenes you see and parts of the ending.

**How many words are in Disco Elysium?**
The script is often cited at around a million words, which is very large for a video game.

**Who is the killer in Disco Elysium? (spoiler)**
The hanged mercenary was shot by Iosef Lilianovich Dros, an old deserter from the revolution, from a distance.

**Is Disco Elysium good?**
It is widely considered one of the best-written RPGs. It won several awards at The Game Awards 2019, including Best Narrative, though its slow, text-heavy style won't suit everyone.

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https://gamevoyages.com/what-is-the-message-behind-disco-elysium/ · Game Voyage · Checked 2026-10-31