I beat Dishonored today, great game, does not warrant a sequel

piscian18

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Sorry for the spam I try to keep my threads minimal.

I beat Dishonored today. In adult time it took me about a week.

I have to admit I enjoyed it 100% of the way through I completely understand the reasons why people might not like it.
After the mental beating I took slogging through Fallout 3 I needed a quick FPS pick me up and Dishonored definitely delivered. I found that though the game has an immediate if not steep learning curve I enjoyed it all the way through.

I think what Dishonored did right and what makes it a distinctly PC-centric game is that I never felt like I made right or wrong choices in the game that permanently put me on a path. Everytime I made a choice I just went with what felt right at the moment.

I chose the good guy route of not killing anybody when I could help it. I accidentally killed maybe 20-30 people, but still got a happy ending.

I found it really interesting that the game allowed you to outsmart it. There was always an obvious route, a less obvious route and then several different ways if you were smart and fast that the game clearly doesn't intend and yet is aware of. I was rarely afflicted with "invisible walls" syndrome.


I can't speak for the "FPS" portion, once I got sucked into the puzzles I tried really hard to never to use my pistol or crossbow. Not because of any morality but because it was more fun to use my mental and shadow skills.

After playing the game, I went and looked up the developer stuff. For some reason I thought it was the Might&magic FPS guys but its the HL2 and Dues ex guys based on thief and I have to admit stylistically this hit all the right notes. It was never so grim and gritty that I didn't enjoy myself but the writing and dialog were impeccable. I'm totally one of those people that gets annoyed at unrealistic dialog and will skim through most of a games dialog but this game I was enraptured every time people spoke. I even read a few in game books. I also just loved the not quite cartoon style of artwork. Its just so much better at conveying emotion than the current "uncanny valley" trend were in. Despite being a very dark game the pastel tones made everything feel bright and colorful. Sneaking around rooftops made me feel like I was in a comicbook. Theres a Party/ball scene that just screams Count of Monte Cristo when you start the level.

All that said the story is so drab. I got the impression of the twist about 5 minutes into talking to my "saviors". I think in a fresh new videogame world the story is awesome. In 2015 this story is done to death.

I'm also annoyed the the "outsider" story is left unexplored "You amused me/end" wtf. I hope they go somewhere with that in the sequel.

I also think the curve might not match everyones slope. The difficulty on normal was fun for a casual gamer like me, but I noticed towards the end as I started really using my powers to hurry through I think some people would declare normal mode "easy". If you're hardcore I suggest playing on Hard.

This is a small complaint but when I was in "voyeur" mode I couldn't hear what people were saying very well even with headphone over the stupid ethereal noise. It ruined some of the story for me.

Gameplay 8/10
Story 6.5/10
Art/video quality 10/10
Sound 7/10
overall 8/10

* I just watched the trailer today for the sequel. Man I am so totally against this. The original story wasn't even that great to begin with. This feels like a Bioshock 2 moment. We don't need a rehash of a good game. Having finished the game I'm almost angry they want to go back to it. I would easily kickstart an Arkane studios title if it were anything but a sequel.

** the whaling stuff really depressed me. There's a book in the game that goes over in detail vivisecting a live whale while its screaming. I don't think they intentionally glorified whaling but I wish there was a subplot or something to mitigate the excess promotion of it. It really bummed me out and I'm not even really that eco-obsessive. I don't like hearing about any animal torture. Even bugs. I'm just a dork like that.

Played on I5 4690K stock, Corsair H50 2x120 Mod, W7 U 64bit, GA-Z97X-UD3H-BK, 2x8GB 1866 vengence, Nvidia GTX980, 3x 27" Acer G27 in surround with Steel Series H wireless Headset.
 
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Congrats on beating it!

I just started playing it Sunday and in "adult time" I doubt I'll finish it before late next week (at best)....

Dishonored, IMO, is about the closest thing to a Bioshock/Bioshock Infinite-quality FPS.

I'm ashamed I just bought it during the most recent Steam sale and didn't pick it up back in 2013.

It is admittedly way too easy though :(
 
I like the Art Style some of the characters of the pace of the game it doesn't get any better if they revamp everything in Dishonored 2 it's going to go over big time. I really like the Art style in the game it looks all painted.
 
Never finished it because with fully upgraded dark vision it feels like I am cheating.
 
This is another title on my list to play that I started but haven't put much time into. I'll definitely have to get around to playing it now, but Metal Gear Solid V: TPP has my interest currently. Thanks for the write up / review.
 
Sequel development is already well on under way and I'm looking forward to it. I love this game.
 
I recommend the DLC and I rarely recommend DLC.

The Knife of Dunwall and The Brigmore Witches are worth a play through if you enjoyed Dishonored at all.
 
Sweet. I have this but only played the first 30 minutes to see how it ran and then it got pushed back on my list. Going to fire it up soon
 
I kind of agree with you, that a sequel isn't needed. At least, not for the story of the first one. The whole point of Dishonored, was that you were, well, dishonored, and fight to take it back. So, they can have the same name, same universe, and different characters/setting. That would of been better than setting it as a sequel 15 years in the future with the same characters.

Kind of like the Far Cry series. They're all different characters and locations, yet, all called Far Cry.

Just my $.02
 
While I'd agree with you on principle about whaling, this is a period piece, and that something like that would be prevalent in. I agree with you that they weren't trying to glorify it. I think they were trying to portray a backward, corrupt, plague-infested coastal city from a time period when that could have been very real. You really have to think about it as being a viable solution in a time when people were ignorant or didn't care about animals, when they were always a means to an end that benefitted people. I wouldn't read too much into it. I'm totally the same sort of dork as you are where animals are concerned, but this aspect of the game didn't bother me.

Also, I disagree in that I believe a sequel will be great. I'm a huge fan of Arkane's games in general. Their combat mechanics are spot on. (Dark Messiah comes to mind too for this.)

The only thing I think could be better, and I know tons of people agree, is to allow the player some REAL freedom to choose how they play, with a better system of rewards and detractors for those choices. It definitely felt like the player was given some VERY cool tools and skills, and then punished for using them. I guess that's how civilized society works though in many cases, so who knows. I guess one just has to live with the consequences of how they play the game.

Anyway, I can't wait for the sequel. I actually think this will be a case where the sequel exceeds the original. We'll see though.
 
I have to disagree regarding your scoring of the story. I rarely play through most contemporary games these days without it feeling like a slogfest. I personally enjoyed Dishonored a lot. Practically everything about it, especially the storyline... even though it wasn't my type of setting (generally speaking).

It was just a very simple, low-key, mature plot. The protagonist didn't say anything, and he simply acted as you directed him (silent protagonist). He was a key participant in a larger movement, and he doesn't like to think for himself. He was simple and had one mission. So was the story. I think too many people these days are used to what are essentially bombastic plots. Ones that try to overblow their importance/depth and be more than they really are. I really appreciated how simple Dishonored's overarching plot was. Nice and to the point, with a little nudge from what is essentially the embodiment of deus ex machina in the game. I like how they just straightforwardly put him out there.

To me rather than being bad, to me it was just free from noise. I'm sick of all the trite, trope-filled generic plots. Rather than inducing eye-rolls from me, I enjoyed how they simply let me play through the experience. Most of the plot was in what you did, not necessarily what they made you do.

And I certainly can't wait for another one.
 
I kind of agree with you, that a sequel isn't needed. At least, not for the story of the first one. The whole point of Dishonored, was that you were, well, dishonored, and fight to take it back. So, they can have the same name, same universe, and different characters/setting. That would of been better than setting it as a sequel 15 years in the future with the same characters.

Kind of like the Far Cry series. They're all different characters and locations, yet, all called Far Cry.

Just my $.02



They could really do anything with the story. With enough creativity they could think up something that fit
 
I have to disagree regarding your scoring of the story. I rarely play through most contemporary games these days without it feeling like a slogfest. I personally enjoyed Dishonored a lot. Practically everything about it, especially the storyline... even though it wasn't my type of setting (generally speaking).

It was just a very simple, low-key, mature plot. The protagonist didn't say anything, and he simply acted as you directed him (silent protagonist). He was a key participant in a larger movement, and he doesn't like to think for himself. He was simple and had one mission. So was the story. I think too many people these days are used to what are essentially bombastic plots. Ones that try to overblow their importance/depth and be more than they really are. I really appreciated how simple Dishonored's overarching plot was. Nice and to the point, with a little nudge from what is essentially the embodiment of deus ex machina in the game. I like how they just straightforwardly put him out there.

To me rather than being bad, to me it was just free from noise. I'm sick of all the trite, trope-filled generic plots. Rather than inducing eye-rolls from me, I enjoyed how they simply let me play through the experience. Most of the plot was in what you did, not necessarily what they made you do.

And I certainly can't wait for another one.

Well said. I agree completely.

In a very different sort of way, (and possibly due to my own interpretation) this applies to Wolfenstein as well. Sure the main idea is grandiose (you're changing a timeline to decide the fate of the world,) but if you take a more granular view, it was a very simple survival story, character is caught up in a bigger arch, but the part you play is very simple and refined. The game told the story in a simple way, with plenty of style.

Anyway, good assessment of Dishonored. Sometimes revenge is enough all on its own, as is survival, or any number of things. I don't always need some overt justification for why I'm doing something.

I can appreciate the other end of the scale too if it's well done though. (the opera that is Mass Effect for example...)
 
Dishonered was great, but I just could not finish my 2nd, sneaky play through. The balance between going good or rouge is where the game falls apart. I hope they focus on the abilities and balance them out better. Going sneaky was just not fun, when all the cool abilities are for killing. Sneaky needs cool toys too.
 
Dishonered was great, but I just could not finish my 2nd, sneaky play through. The balance between going good or rouge is where the game falls apart. I hope they focus on the abilities and balance them out better. Going sneaky was just not fun, when all the cool abilities are for killing. Sneaky needs cool toys too.

I did a pretty healthy mix. I wasn't punished too heavily either in the end. Samuel still did his little dick move, but I got the "chaotic good" ending. I felt ok with that.
 
Played and beat on low chaos and high chaos; both entertaining. Also played through Knife of Dunwall on low and high, but have not bought Brigmore Witches yet. (Have the game 100%'d thus far on achievements other than those in BW.)

Can't wait for the sequel. Emily's all grown up and bears the Mark of the Outsider herself, and you play as her in Dunwall in the future. New story with returning characters; what's not to like about that? :confused: I wanted more, they're giving it to us. They still have stories to tell about the Overseers and Billie Lurk that could easily be more DLC as well.
 
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