Dishonored | A Critique Thing | Luke Stephens
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.พ. 2025
- Dishonored came out of nowhere and amazed audiences around the world in 2012. There are many things that this game does exceptionally well and also a few that leave some things to be desired. In this video we're going to go through the gameplay step by step to determine what falls into which category and why. Enjoy!
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1300 hours and I never knew there was a roof on the golden cat.
A Buzzed Whaler
Lol I just now found out because of your comment. I platinumed this game on PS3 and PS4 and I had to clue honestly. Damn haha 😆
How that was the first place I went
it took me 3 playthroughs to realise you can just hop over the wall to get to lady boyles party dsbdsa
Silo Space same vertical thinking for the win
54 days in Dishonored? Okay buddy
StealthgamerBR is proof that players can do amazing things in dishonored when you keep experimenting.
Exactly
Facts bro
That guy is legendary does mind boggling stuff honestly
i beat the game on very hard no stealth without taking damage
Him an RabbitRespawn
“Dishonored keeps Chaos as a very well kept secret.”
Dishonored: *Has the Chaos level on the level end screen*
Also Dishonored: *Has several pop ups and loading screens talking about Chaos*
@popesabender I mean, Sam firing the pistol didn't tip you off?
@@rogerphone481he never fired his gun in my playthrough didn't even knew he could do that
@@Zinclaire only on evil runs. on medium chaos he will give a similar speech but not fire the gun
@@rogerphone481 oh thank you for informing me
It's 2019 and Dishonored 1 still looks pretty good imo. For a game of 2012 i think it looks outstanding.
I agree
Max Payne 3 is from 2012 and looks way better, not saying this looks bad. Max Payne 3 was after all made by Rockstar, who are always one step ahead of every studio graphically.
@@tedguetta2789 yes but dishonored looks good due to its art style instead of its engine. It’s kind of like how Legend of Zelda Wind Waker still looks good due to its art style even tho it came out on the GameCube
@@angel__king
And Sonic unleashed came out in 2008
@@celltrark7161 that wasn’t my point I was saying any game can look good now if it’s artstyle holds up. It’s mainly games that try to be really realistic that end up not aging well since that kind of thing will always be improved upon but if you have an artstyle that’s unique no one can really complain about how it looks it’s normally about resolution normally
I love two things:
video essays, and Dishonored
a wild 超粒方
appeared
Ghost/Clean Hands is my fave way to play. Never spotted, never kill anyone, alter an entire kingdom. Plus, the "non lethal" methods of dispatching foes is WAY more cruel than straight up murder.
It really hurts to know that Dishonored 2 and Death of the Outsider did poorly, they are some of the best games ever made. Dishonored is most likely over for good but it is my favorite series ever with (to me) not one bad game.
I enjoyed D2, but it really grinds my gears to remember that Harvey Smith took advice from ANITA SARKEESIAN (!) regarding how to improve the game! Rather than work on sound propagation so that one doesn't have to use the OP Dark Vision to get a sense of enemies presence, Smith thought that making the game "friendlier to women" was more important. Think about that for a second. A disgrace! Sad!
but before people mentioned to me I didn't notice anything in that direction. The only thing you could consider "women friendlier" was being able to play as a female and maybe the witches. Good thing is they designed the game first and then probably thought "Why not just include a playable female character" and that is the reason the game isn't shit
CanDonaldTrumpget10,000,000subscribers all the women in the grand gaurd are only elite soldiers, making women look better
What exactly are you saying Harvey did to make the game, as you say, "friendlier to women"? And why did this come at a ghost to dark vision?
Talking to another human being apparently makes the game just unplayable.
No matter the content, this series in itself has to be my favorite, plus im bias since the first dishonored game is my favorite out of the two. Learned to appreciate Dishonored 1 for what it was, and how well they handled the power fantasy and truly made you feel amazing pulling off some crazy moments.
Was hoping you would cover this and glad you did, and as always Luke, i appreciate the work you do here, with the effort put in, as the wait is worth it since the content is consistently of quality !
Completely agree, I haven't replayed a game more than I have the first, and in my opinion superior, dishonored game.
if you really like dishonored you will like the books. Theres 3 books, 2 are out right now, and a third in about 3 weeks. There amazing so far, they continue the story after dishonored 2, and have a bunch of lore and stuff from it
Wait, there are books!? If they are anything like all the assassin's creed books, and follow the stories and lore closely, that's perfect.
yes by Adam Christopher, you can buy the first 2 right now, third comes out in a few weeks. there not too long, just small novels a couple hundred pages
Thank you for enlightening me to this.
Oh yeah, Dishonored was awesome and you could play in anyway you wanted. Dishonored 2 is even better mechanically which is a shame that it didn't do as well because of its bad optimization which ruined the experience for a lot of people. In any case, if they plan on creating any more Dishonored games then I'll be keeping my eye on them for sure.
True, though they fix it a little with death of the outsider.
I just had an idea... for the next Dishonored, Arcane should partner up with the guys who did Megaton Rainfall... integrate their powers and local physics and handmade level segments into Megaton's solarsystem-spanning procedural and content streaming code...
...that would be yummy
Honestly, Arkane games are the ONLY games I pre-order.
I was surprised that Dishonored 2 actually ran fine for me, I feel like people exaggerated the performance issues.
i loved that they added the drop down "no kill"-takedown in dishonored 2
"It stands to reason your honour". The law school starts showing... it's interesting.
@hotpockets222 What? I have to admit you caught me off guard. Why are you asking this seemingly unrelated to the comment question?
do you eat spaghetti or no?
@@Perchumovic Yes I eat spaghetti and you don't DARE touch 'em!
I was scrolling through the comments while the video was playing and I read this as he said it.... creepy
Tallboys are immune to headshots. And Overseers can only be shot from behind.
Overseers can be shot from the front but ant be headshotted because of their helmet
Homeboy didn't even mention Overseers as that missing class that were resistant to headshots. They even had the music box, disrupting your abilities.
Lots of players seem to forget to use the "Possess" skill, yes with the rats but particularly with fish - you can get to all kinds of secret places by becoming a sharp-toothed guppy!
The city design is truly magical, feels like a real place and world like halflife 2. I really enjoyed dishonoured, fluid play style and many ways to approach changed my life regarding games. Sadly I can't find any other games like it, only PREY so far, but that had a sterile world not as memorable.
Only halflife 2 and dishonoured gave me fantastic really fun vivid dreams.
Considering Half-Life 2 and Dishonored's art leads were the same guy, Viktor Antonov, that explains why.
@@sinenomine8739 you don’t get it. I’m a fan of brilliant design. The designer of HL2 & dishonoured is Viktor Antonov. His city design for example for dishonoured is based on London. So that’s why it’s so authentic and works, it’s based on real things. That’s the special sauce in the games he’s made. 🤡🤡🤡🌍🌍🌍
I have never find any appreciation for half life. For me the gameplay is just lame and boring. But if you like Dishonored and havent yet discovered the game you can try Deus Ex Mankind Divided (which is superior in a game level design and world building) and Human Revolution which is 2nd game has a great world and level design (not as great as Mankind Divided) but i has much better story :-) Since Mankind Divided seems unfinished
@@budlikycz2445 I’m talking about half life 2. Which completely changed the game industry. 🤡🤡🤡🌍🌍🌍
@@hanniffydinn6019 I can see that yes and I appreciate it :). But the gamplay still sucks ass because its just point and shoot and otherwise just a boring game with a few barrel puzzles. Same as the whole Halo series. The only thing Halo did was they bring revolution a to a gamepad gaming. That hits the target for you. xD Great story can be done buy everyone. The real deal for gaming at least for me is the gameplay :-)
Imo, dishonored is a masterpiece in mechanics and level design. I've played through it more than 10 times, with all manor of chaos levels, weapon upgrades, and powers, and every time is different and I'm still finding neat little details or hidden questlines. But I do disagree with the powers that are op, dark vision is rediculous lol
Very poor sound propagation, overpowered skills, lousy voice acting, being punished with bad endings if you play in the super-fun kill-crazy way...the game is rightly criticized for all these. But I'll be damned if I still didn't enjoy both games and all the DLCs! And the level design is magnificent, particularly D2's Clockwork Mansion and Crack in the Slab missions.
Torgo1969 Crack in the slab freaked me out the first time... even because I killed everybody in the present 😱.. but the “few” times I played after it became my favourite mission
Purporterdzero... And which plaything style or way, did you enjoy the most?
Marcusson I used to suck, so my first 2 playthroughs were high chaos, however as I slowly learned the game and the multiple routes, my favorite playstyle is ghosting through the missions, touching as few people as possible. (the strong arms bone charm is pretty broken too lol). and you have a dope name too :)
There is a chaos rating associated with individuals in Dishonored 2. If you play through and use the heart to listen to the stories of guards and stuff, it tells you which people will contribute more to the chaos. I went through one mission with killing almost all the people with the negative stories and I got a low chaos rating. Ex) Killing the guard who would torment a family and demand a "security fee" was less chaotic than helping the guard who would volunteer at the homeless shelters.
It's an aspect that you don't really notice until you use the heart more. I only really paid attention to it after my second run through.
"Nobody in the game tries to push you to be stealthy" that's partially false. At the very beginning of the game, on your first mission for the rebels, Callista comes to you and asks you to save her uncle because he is a good man, reminding you that you use to do that before your new "employment" that you use to be a protector, not an assassin.
They say Stealth-Action to get feet in the door, the actual category would be immersive sim
Just thought I would mention it because I didn’t see anyone else do it, there are glitchless no power kill runs on dishonored. You can really play almost any way you want.
You can't deny powers from the Outsider on Dishonored, but you can on Dishonored 2. Blink is forced on you on Dishonored 1, though. Then again, you can just not use it, but there is no way to deny the powers.
even if you don't want to use any powers in dishonored 1, there are some areas where it's impossible to proceed without using blink(at the very beginning of flooded district and dunwall tower)
This. It was so frustrating to go the whole game without powers, killing like a mere human would do and then break the illusion with those moments
St3althyy not true
My favorite way to play is no kills, no powers.
1300 hours and I still haven't gotten tired of Dishonored. Great video btw.
1500 on dishonored 1, 1000 on D2 and 300 on D3 😉
I must say that my Ghost playthrough was really the most engaging. It took the most time and I had to hide and wait out situations a lot, but seeing the endscreen with no one killed, all objectives completed and never seen felt so rewarding. I love this game, and by all means, next to Oblivion and Minecraft this is my favourite I've ever played(multiple times by now).
I'm replaying Dishonored and I checked the trophies to see what I needed to do and I had the ghost trophy. Have no clue when I got it at least on ps4.
Great video as always. This, like the Arkham games, are amazing stealth games even for those that don't like stealth.
It doesn't "punish" you for being unstealthy or punishes you for making a mistake. The mechanics are still great if you're never stealthy, so it's your choice to be stealthy and that feels a lot more rewarding
I fell in love with this game and played through it 8 times last 3 times on the hardest difficulty, I played it every way you could imagine, not killing any one and never seen by any one, running and gunning and laying waste to every one and everything and mixing and matching different play styles and techniques.. this game enables everything and you can let your imagination soar.. truly a masterpiece in my mind..
I once played through Dishonored using no powers at all. Turns out, to best of my knowledge, the only times blink is required to progress is the first time you go to the Void, and in Return to the Tower when you climb the waterlock.
P.S. if anyone knows how to get to Hiram using zero blinks please let me know
So happy to see you make a video on Dishonored, and I hope that one on Dishonrored 2 and Death of the Outsider will follow up. Dishonored is the only stealth series that I've enjoyed, and it and Prey are some of the only games that I've enjoyed doing trophies for. I know that's a niche praise, but for me, Arkane Studios is one of the few who actually put thought into making their trophies challenging and rewarding to achieve.
Beyond that, I can say that the Dishonored series and Prey have THE best level design I have ever seen. Yes, better than Dark Souls, particularly because Dark Souls' is inconsistent in the second half of the game and Miyazaki never managed to replicate it after the first game, whereas Arkane has struck gold with all the Dishonored games and Prey. There are just so many hidden secrets and treasures that it's nigh impossible to find everything without resorting to a walkthrough, which may be annoying to some, but to me that's damn impressive.
You sound like the best man to ask, does Prey have a decent story beyond finding lore on the computers? I played like 2 hours of it and didn't get hooked
as much as i know they dont make a new dishonored i guess bc there is no outsider anymore and they dont know what story they could write on the next one i really loved the series :(
Prey has a good story that become more interesting whenever you advance in the game, the more you advance the more you discover. Finding lore on computers and books it's only a pat of the incredible narrative universe they made (once again). It is not the best story ever but it's 10 times better than the story in Dishonored, with an excellent ending (perfectly coherent with the world they've created and the plot's main events)
thanks for the input, you motivated me to give it a bigger shot. I like Dishonored's story, which is also fairly simple but the world is what makes it great, so, if Prey is anything like that, im down
Kamak Al-Dheeb I idn't care much for Prey's narrative, I think the premise is intriguing, but to me, finding the lore and secrets of Talos I is the narrative and most imperative aspect of the game, and the main story is just something to get you to the end.
I was one of the people who played this game for 2000 hours and I put the game through its paces. I even went as far as beating the game without killing anyone or being seen on the hardest difficulty. I was able to really appreciate the beauty of this game. In my opinion it's a masterpiece.
This is perfect. You've got at least one viewer here who would definitely like to see a narrative breakdown as well. Any Dishonored discussion makes for a good video.
I'd love to play this game in VR, updated with a better AI, as you mentioned. I also really enjoy the DLC games of Daud and the Brigmore Witches, with its slightly different powers. That Daud speaks gives it a much deeper involvement with the story.
the ending of Brigmore was way more satisfying then 1 as well
My first play through was stealth. I got ghost and clean hands. It was super fun and tricky and I LOVED that I was given that option. Playing it again lead to a fully unique and completely different experience which doesn't normally happen in gaming.
forget headshot-machine crossbow, doublejump to drop kill from above is the king =D
My fav reviewer, one of my fav games, 45 minutes long video right after I, tired, got off water (windsurfing).
How could this day be even better
Never played a non open world game with more replayability than dishonored 1 and 2.
35:58 “It seems as though there should be some sort of enemy variety that can withstand headshots from the bow”
Tallboys
Dishonored 2 on ps5 is a very very fun, optimised replayable master piece in its current state.-2021
Also, your voice sounds a lot like Piero Joplin’s. Just something I picked up on while watching the video.
I thought this too
So goddamn true. It's uncanny
Agreed. Heck, imagine it's Piero doing the narration.
"Hey, Corvo. How did you deal with all those guards?"
"I blew them."
"What, all of them?"
"Yeah. At once."
So... Instead of Debby Does Dallas its Corvo Does Dunwall?? 😂😂😂
Indeed. I believe so.
So many different solutions!
I replayed Dishonored recently and only now I’ve just realised how extensive and interesting Dishonored’s world truly is. All of the lore behind it, and the small minute details in every level, not to mention things like the heart and written notes and books that flesh everything.
One of my favourite games of all time. Arkane is such an underrated studio.
I would say that the biggest push for stealth that I encountered was during my first playthrough... I was playing super high chaos, and Samuel eventually turned on me. He told me off, and signalled my arrival on his boat via a flare. Being so bad that one of the only guys I liked decided to turn his back on me made me rethink how I was playing
9 months late, probably already been said: doing a high chaos playthrough will add more guards to later missions (you can tell by checking Emily’s bedroom wall with the finger painting of Corvo, face or masked)
An example would be the addition of the Tallboy enemy (pain in the ass if they catch you off guard) in a certain point of the story. If you took a low chaos approach, they’re nowhere to be found
That’s not true. You will always encounter them on Lady Boyle’s party
Dishonored is in my top 3 favorite games of all time. Even though I have hundreds and hundreds of hours in the game, I keep on going back to it. At this point the game takes me (on a casual run, not speedrunning) 3 hours or so. I have nearly 500 hours in the game.
I didn't understand a lot of the hate that Dishonored 2 recieved. It had everything that I liked from Dishonored: the amazing visual storytelling, expansive yet also quite hidden lore, the variety and choice in gameplay. On top of that it adds a ton of new options to gameplay. The thing I like to say to people who act like Dishonored 1's gameplay was significantly better is ask them to play the first game again after playing the second. Doing that, you really notice how much Dishonored 2 improved the core (nonlethal drop assassinations and counters, etc.).
I love the series as a whole. At this point I think have nearly 1000 hours in the 3 games (if you include DOTO) combined.
When I go back and play the first dishonoured I find the drop assassinations are a little bit clunky
Dishonored 2 is a great game, it only came out to mixed reviews because it was released with loads of bugs and ran like shit on pc (apparently i only played after it was all sorted)
I regard d1 as a better game overall. I love both of them and acknowledge that d2 is a mechanically better game. But for some reason when I want to go play dishonored I always pick the first one. I have around 600 hours on the first game(DLC not included) whereas I only have around 300 in the second one and less than 50 in DOTO. There was just something missing in those two that keeps me going back to the first one more.
@@brandonmurguia7566 maybe it's the oil painting art style? Or better characters?
One of my favorite games of all time
I really don't think things being, 'overpowered' in a singleplayer game really matters. Instead of nerfing stuff, just buff stuff that's weak. It's so much better when everything in a game feels powerful, than weak and shitty. Especially when it comes to magic like the powers in Dishonoured.
3:11 *tries to shoot, swings sword*
U cant Headshot Overseers from the front so they tried the varity, but Overseers are rare.
Got a while to wait until a critique on Cyberpunk. I can’t wait though 🙌🏻
Yea......gonna be a WHILE
Rob Nickerson I wish it wasn’t going to be. But I would prefer they take their time
Same here
well, you shouldn't be waiting too long now 😌
Hmm
FINALLY! Great video as always, can say with confidence most of the criticisms you have with this game are fixed in my favourite of the two, the sequel. Here’s a taste of what to expect:
• A more in-depth branching story, I’ve played the game for around 180 hours and still haven’t got some endings
• More diverse enemies
• Intricate level design, notable mentions being Mission 4 - The Clockwork Mansion which is a full of shifting rooms and other mechanical wonders and Mission 7 - A Crack In The Slab which uses time travel to solve puzzles
• Branching upgrades for weapons, powers, and charms. Helps to balance out more as you’ll need many more runes to get that very overpowered Bend Time. Added bonuses to other powers like Redirective Blink.
• Can go through the entire game without using a power once, levels are designed to cater to that play style too
Still has non-existent sound propagation and silently walking guards. IMHO that is the single worst flaw of the games (stealth-wise) and not an damn thing was improved between the 2 main games. Thief The Dark Project uses sound to terrorize you as a weak character and that's what makes it so damn good, and Dishonored is the opposite. But I still enjoy the D games, but they are flawed. BTW, I love Clockwork Mansion and Crack in the Slab, masterpieces!
Overseers already do have an iron helmet that stops frontal projectiles
I honestly like the second game more. The powers are expanded, player mechanics were expanded, your character was given a voice, you had more nonlethal abilities, on top of the rune and charm system. They were able to add way more charm abilities because of new game+, and you're able to become an actual supernatural badass without using a cheat engine. You can get all the powers. The first game is still great, and i refuse to play the second game over again, without playing the first game as well. I like the story, they are both creative games, and i feel the second game did many things better. I can see why people dont like it as much, since your safe haven is a boat, not a part of town, your shops tie into each level rather than on your boat, and since it's not set in dunwall, the atheistic is a bit different, instead of the rat plague, you got the bloodflies.
Blink 2, agility 2, possession 2, bend time 2, dark vision, and shadow kill for a stealth build. Oh and 10 sleep darts.
Blink, bloodthirsty 2, windblast 2, rat swarm , and vitality 2 for an aggressive build. Oh and a fully upgraded pistol. And grenades. And razor traps.
Boot stealth level 2 for both.
Even aggressive builds benefit fully from what is the best upgrade imo.
even though i might fuck up on my play style i keep going take it in stride
Of the people I know who have played Dishonored 1 & 2, no one has disliked 2. The consensus online seems to be the same. I'm not quite sure where you got that from.
It may be a case of vocal minority, where the people who dont like it are almost evangelical of their distaste and the ones who like it are not so.
For example, I like dishonored 2 a little bit more than 1, but, I never talk about that.
@@aliceangel2799 For me personally, having just done two runs of Dishonoured 1's base game, three of Knife of Dunwall and two for Brigmore Witches. Playing through Dishonoured 2 now... I don't know how to explain it, but it feels like Dishonoured 2 is missing something. Like a piece of Dishonoured 1 was ripped out for 2. I dunno, it's weird. I do like both games, but even though I just spent a Hell of a long time doing all of Dishonoured 1... I still feel like I'd rather play it again, than Dishonoured 2 right now. Which is weird, since I feel burnt out on Dishonoured 1.
I for one appreciate the fact that yours is a rare Dishonored review and critique video that does not have any swearing or cursing in it. Thank you for this. Video was informative , articulate and very well done. Thank you.
Just a quick note on your complaint on the bow and how it headshots.
You noted that an enemy type that wears something made out of steel on his head to block headshots would be a nice fix.
Thing is, the overseers already have this. Their helmet blocks headshots from your bow. At least from the front. Meaning that especially when you are in combat with them you can't really use the bow as a quick headshots machine.
It's honestly kinda weird someone playing through being so blase torwards killing as somebody who usually does everything to avoid killing in Dishonored.
Dishonored is one of my top favorites in recent years. Gets an easy 9/10 rating for me
One of my favorite video games of all time, and you did an excellent video covering it. Thank you for the critique!
I havent watched this whole video yet but im surprised no one ever talks about how wonky and bad the a.i. can be, which for me totally ruins any enjoyment I had trying to play it as a stealth game. The enemies just dont behave the way you would expect a person to, they dont react to things in the environment changing like opening or closing doors (even when it happens right in front of them) they dont investigate noises normally, instead they sprint like madmen to the site of any disturbing noises, making distractions useless. Or they just remark about hearing a noise and then ignore it completely and stay exactly where they were.
I dont know, every time I play a new stealth game it just makes me want to go play chaos theory again because they never seem to hold up, and that game came out 16 years ago.
Just finished this game. Great stealth with amazing story, art style and characters.
I only played through dishonored 1 once so far, I will replay it again in the future. However, I should mention my favorite things about the game are the way they handled lore, and the setting itself. They were able to make the setting surprisingly emotional and deep, without too many words, and better still, despite a lack luster plot. Also, come on, who doesn't want to break the game by blinking anywhere, and everywhere they can?
My favorite way to play this game is no kills, no powers, never detected, and even no sleep darts or knocking people unconscious. It makes the whole game new and every missions best path is drastically more risky than it used to be. The game becomes ten times as tense.
With powers, I never took the "main" paths, always traveling on roofs or through abandoned buildings. With no powers you are often forced to be in extremely close proximity to guards, learning their patterns sometimes to have to sprint for a split second to the next hiding spot, filling 2 or 3 of the detection bars. I feel like I found out much more about the game and every map like this.
Just a side note, even with no powers blink 1 is required in the game for meeting the outsider, and then twice after that. Other than that it is never needed.
I'm surprised you didn't mention Thief at all. It's one of the biggest inspirations for Dishonored and it doesn't hide that at all. Knockouts, pickpocketing, the (cross)bow with lethal and non-lethal ammunitions, sword fighting are all surface similarities, but the inspiration goes deep down into the level design.
Level design is, in my opinion, the most important part of any stealth game. An empty field with just you and a bunch of guards is hardly a good stealth challenge. Add in buildings and an urban environment, lay them out carefully, and you suddenly have an immersive and challenging stealth game. It doesn't matter how good your combat or stealth mechanics are when your levels just aren't fun to play through.
The "Life of the Party" level in Thief 2 is pretty much the blueprint for most Dishonored levels. The levels usually start at an inconspicuous entry point far away from your main objective, and you have to go through all sorts of different environments, be they urban, industrial, or otherwise, to reach your main objective. This is a challenge of its own, as you either have to navigate an environment that is perfectly normal and safe for a civilian in a stealthy manner, or find a different route that may be less occupied but perhaps has more environmental hazards. Once you reach the area with the main objective, you're now faced with a different challenge - a high security stronghold. You're no longer navigating a maze, you're now breaching a fortress. This fortress could be a level of its own, but your journey towards it highlights the challenge presented inside. You didn't just pop in next to the guy you're assassinating, you crawled your way through mud and blood to reach him, making it all the more satisfying once you seal the deal.
Dishonored used this formula well by pacing the levels and slowly escalating the tension that you and your character feel from the current challenge at hand. It's pretty much the basis of an immersive and enjoyable stealth game. Any game that dumps you next to the fortress just isn't as satisfying. The only criticism I have on this aspect are the loading screens inbetween sections of the map. The map just doesn't feel as organic and interconnected as it would be if it was seamless. This is a technical issue stemming from console limitations rather than a conscious design decision, so I don't mind it as much.
In the video you criticised the "sprinting" way of playing, but that is only a natural progression in the way that one plays a specific stealth game. As the player learns the map and the mechanics, they learn to execute stealth much more smoothly and swiftly. The first playthrough is an exploration of what the game has to offer, the subsequent playthroughs are for mastering and getting the most out of the game. If anyone goes into the game with zero knowledge of the game, their first playthrough will never be sprinted, making the issue moot.
Nullid A pointless little interesting fact, the Voice Actor of Garrett in the rebooted Thief also voices Corvo in Dishonored 2, the developers really took inspiration from the series. :)
Dishonored 2 was good, very good in fact but you just can't beat dishonored 1 it's just amazing and heads and shoulders above most of it's contenders.
Going to be honest, Dishonored is in my top 3 games, ever. Don’t know why, I just love this game to bits and it will always be one of my favourite games ever.
22:15
Most city watch members were civilians, who joined for a daily ration of Sokolov's elixir and some minimal payment. So, the majority of them are not trained, militaristic individuals. Brutish yes, orderly no.
In my opinion, the developer is there to give you the tools to make the fun. It is in the players way of play (haha!) that they use the tools to create fun tailored to them.
I think the best way to play most open ended games is to start on easy with no play style in mind.
Don’t focus too much on scavenger hunting or finding lore.
Once you finish the game like that, your second play through is when you decide what difficulty you want, what play style you tended to lean towards in the first, and try to complete as much as you can.
loved this video in parts, always appreciate someone talking passionately about this game because i very much believe its a real mecahnical/artistic innovation for the games industry, and its nice to hear that come through someone else voice as well. not a hater but just some words of advice to maybe spur you to make more vids critically analysing the dishonored series.
i believe, in long ciritque vids like this, you shouldnt be afraid of spoilers. know your audience, someone whos going to sit down to watch this will already know what happens in the game, and even if they dont, theyre choosing to watch your video cos its cheaper than buying the game, so give them the info they're hungry for!
some elements of this video could have been refined down and neglected over more important points/arguments. would keep the viewer interested in your personal opinion and perspective. i love the game too and found myself gushing about it in my head every time i replayed it, but to make a good critique video essay like this you need to forego some of the descriptive elements in favour of stronger arguments. by arguments, i mean things you are finding out about the game, its mechanics, style, developer choices. maybe talk about how you had your own personal opinions at the start, and over time your perspective changed, and how your critical thoughts went from one point to another the more you became familiar with the systems in place in the game. you talking about overpowered abilities was a great example of how you can take the viewer down a path, and then bring them round to your point of view! it was really effective.
you took an almost 2nd-person style when writing a lot of your script for this video which means we hear a lot of description and not too much analysis, which becomes harder and harder to sit through the more it goes on. of course, to someone who never played the game, it may be interesting- but this is a critique video not an introduction!
something i wanted to hear about was level design & atmosphere, something i believe the game designers put a lot of effort in to get right, rather than 'chaos levels', 'bad ai' and 'stealth vs action', because these things are quite specific to dishonored 1 (a quite dated game by todays standards) and have also been talked about a lot in other peoples videos. to make a good critique video you have to do more than just address the critical thoughts you have towards the game- things are always going to have flaws, those flaws are going to be evident to anyone who plays it 6 years from when its released. not to say critcal thoughts are worthless, its just re-explaining what so many other people have already said about the game. when you mention things in your vids maybe think about if what youre saying is fresh or new, or what your personal opinion brings to the table. a lot of reviewers ruin their credibility by not being able to hold back from complaining about stuff that doesnt apply to the larger perspective of game design.
i also noticed you didn't talk at all about mobility (my personal favourite aspect of the game) and how the more you replay, the more you become infinitely mobile within the respective levels, because the maps are so small yet also really dynamic.
you couldve discussed the small touches developers included BECAUSE of the systems they built rather than just describing the systems themselves, and how that influences the players experience. for example, on a high chaos run, leaving dauds hideout at the near-end of the game greeted the player with a mass of bodies that was deeply poetic and borderline repulsive. having to climb over the pile to get to the end really resonated with me because it was an experience i earned but didn't actually want.
you could explore how the game was written, and what theories and ideologies they utilised in the storytelling. viktor antonov (someone you namedropped at the beginning) had a hand in dishonored 1 that wasn't there in dishonored 2, and you could have explored how that difference shapes the games individually. have confidence in your voice & what you're saying, and establish all of your knowledge and ability to pick apart games, then apply that to larger points you want to make about the games youre looking at. i believe dishonored allows the player a new form of creative expression in how they play the game, and that play-style is innovative to the rest of the games industry. try breaking down the game to one sincere argument, one principle truth you believe in, that should title all of your research and keep your feet on the ground when trying to write and talk about what you're looking at. great work on the video man, ive always wanted to make video essays but never have because of all the time and effort it takes, so respect to you for doing it, cos i know i cant!
Jay M
Thank you man you typed so much about dishonored 😊
This is the only game with freedom of approach that I preferably played stealthy since you get the bad ending for killing a lot.
I know everything about this game. This game is 90% of my life when I record music I play it to pay attention
the non-lethal options of finishing missions always seemed the most cruel
That matches my philosophy on life, honestly. What better punishment than forcing them to live out their days marked in some way? For a lot of people, death would be a mercy in comparison
Algorithm messed with me and pushed this video down. Glad I managed to catch it though, good critique as always Luke :)
For the crossbow head-shot thing, aren't overseers immune to headshots.
Their masks protect their face, but the rest of their head is vulnerable
I couldnt go back to this game after beating Dishonored 2 since its better in every way on a gameplay level. On the first mission of D1 i really didnt like the downgrade in stealth and subduing tactics.. For example, in D2 if your sneaking up on a guard and they turn around last second you can still grab and choke them out if your fast enough even if your facing their side or their face directly.. In D1 you can only choke them out if you're directly behind them and if they turn around you're pretty much screwed. Which brings up another point, if you're spotted in D1 you have no choice but to kill every guard, in D2 if you get spotted but still dont wanna kill then you can still grab and choke a guard out right after a parry, or you can grab them, throw them and immediately kick them and knock them out before they get up. Things like that is why i couldnt get through D1 again..
I think, not recommending this game to people unwilling to experiment with the mechanics is a little flawed. I've done like, three full ghost/clean hands runs of Dishonoured 1, and only recently found any joy in playing it as an open-combat brawling game. Dishonoured is a really hard game to say whether or not someone will like it. I'd personally recommend it to anyone, if they like magic, swords and a gameplay-focused game. Rather than story.
Dishonored was released 10 years ago this past week. I remember picking it up the weekend after launch and absolutely loving it, but trading it in after beating it, as was my habit back then. But after a couple weeks, the game stuck with me, I couldn't get it out of my head and needed to play it again and eventually I picked it up again. I can't count how many times I've replayed it in the past decade, dozens of playthroughs at least, and I still replay the series to this day, patiently waiting for Dishonored 3. This game undoubtedly has the greatest replay value of any game ever released.
40:04 does a non lethal takedown just to throw him down the balcony.
Love playing the Dishonored games with no HUD, no markers and on the highest difficulty. It's so immersive. Definitely my favorite frachise.
In defence of the Spinting Problem, enemies will continue to attack you if they see you escape to a higher level by throwing rocks at you or shooting you. In addition, the Daud DLC addressed the issue of your presence not travelling between areas by having the loudspeakers announce that someone shady was spotted in the area, and if you are caught killing Timsh, for example, heading back to the previous the number of guards will increase and be on constant alert if your chaos is high enough.
Every time I get in the mood for a certain Dishonored game, I always end up playing through the entire series. Every time. Some of the greatest games ever made!
Another difference I noticed between high and low chaos were conversations between set NPCs, the ones they have when you are near enough to hear but they don't know you are there. High chaos, they are negative, depressed, aggressive, abusive. Low chaos, they are amiable, sympathetic, hopeful, and generally just nicer to one another. The difference is most dramatic among "nobody" NPCs (workers, guards, socialites, etc.), though named NPCs' conversations also change.
I think it's so popular because it short and to the point. You get the story in the intro so well.
masterpiece but,
"You should bathe. I can smell you from here."
its not knack 2 tho
Pshh
high chaos rewards players who love killing with more enemies to kill xD
Dishonored is one of the most beautiful games ever made, it really is a classic title. Still learning new things about it to this day.
took me around 5 years from first play and savegame to completion!
I don't understand y everyone craps on dishonored 2.i liked it
i am actually glad someone decided to talk about the game-play of this as i feel as if this is what it is all for. the story is just around to justify these missions and powers you obtain more so than anything but they also build a world based around it all
3:08 "WHAT ARE YOU AIMING AT!"
100% this game and God it was fun, love this game and love your analysis.
Caesar Augustus
Have you played all of the dishonored games
all except the DLC for dishonored 2
its extremely hard for me to play Dishonored 1 and 2 aggressively, i always go full stealth, and if i mess up i always reload. I really have to force myself to kill everyone, except innocent people, though some civilians are pretty bad people if you listen to the heart. The world in Dishonored is so depressing that you cant help but to feel sorry for the people that inhabit it, and yet i love it how unique it is, both visually and creatively.
Dishonored 1 with Dishonored 2 mechanics is something I need
Or freezing time, putting a springrazor on a rat, possessing the rat and walking your remote-controlled razorbomb into a crowded room.
Fuck I love Dishonored
The achievements/trophies really encourage different set styles of game play. Beat the game without killing anyone. Beat the game on high chaos. Beat the game on low chaos. Beat the game without ever being detected. Beat the game without using any powers except lvl 1 blink.
Great Critique!!! Loved that game and happy that you liked it too! I love those long critique I know they are a lot of work for you but please keep doing those! See ya soon!
Dishonored is my favorite game of all time because the whole time I was playing it I felt like all my decisions were unique and were mine alone. They gave me a lot of power I could use but at the same time if I make mistakes it will cost someone's life in game.
It's a game that shows you that misusing your power will negatively affect other people.
Dishonored was my first, "Play your own way" game. It completely changed my outlook on video games in general. If this one game could give me so much freedom, everything from going through the whole game without killing a single person, all the way to making Hitler look like a boy scout. Why couldn't other games do the same thing? I blame Dishonored for turning me into a game critic all by itself.
I think you're missing an important point when you compare Blink to Bend Time: the energy used to Blink is fully recovered by the limited mana regeneration, making it free when you're able to take the time to recover.
Making Bend Time consume the entire mana pool would discourage players from experimenting with combining powers, which is one of the joys of Dishonored.
How can you talk about Dishonored for 45 minutes without mentioning the phrase "immersive sim"
I platinumed the second game, didn't for the first. Big difference was not being able to check my stats mid game, so you could go through a whole mission not knowing you had already had one detection or accidentally killed one of the enemies, and wouldn't find out until you finished the mission.
I love this kind "talking" videos! Especially when you talk about one of my favorite games! I press like, subscribe and DING DONG DING DONG!
One of my favorite playthroughs was my hardest difficulty, Ghost, No Kill, no Powers run, it made you think very carefully about how to traverse the world.