I can't thank everyone enough for all the attention this project has gotten, and the amazing comments you've all been leaving, it's really blown me away! I wanted to make a video expressing how grateful I am and to talk about the next steps I'm going to be taking on the channel, so here's a link if you want to check that out! th-cam.com/video/cNqMiblnJIs/w-d-xo.html As always your views and comments are more than enough but if you'd like to support the channel, consider checking out my Patreon, I'd love to be able to focus on making videos more fulltime and I'll be sharing more updates there! www.patreon.com/Beregond13
I love how the heart in dishonored reveals even guards secrets. I almost wish the chaos system was more affected by that instead. if choosing to kill a guard who robs and beats innocent people ends up lowering chaos instead.
I'd be really interested to see a system like that in place, and Brim, that would definitely add to the moral quandaries you have to deal with already for sure.
@@Jinars. I agree if it were an enforced mechanic. As long as it's optional I think that would be a good balance for people who wanted to take the time vs those who didn't.
The lore of Dishonored is so good that even with the trilogy having a proper conclusion I want endlessly more comics and books and movies to keep the universe going.
@Shane Doe the conclusion was technically dishonored death of the outsider, which, spoilers , ends with you either killing the outsider of letting him live a normal life (i think). Dishonored 1 felt alive, Dishonored 2 felt like stepping in a turd, death of the outsider felt like the death of the series.
Death of the outsider was trash, and how arcane changed the outsider kind of ruined dishonored for me. The comic they released was awesome and I really thought they were gonna add the whaler dude with electric gauntlets into the game. That dude gave Corvo the fucking business.
You know, I think Daud made some of the blunders he did not like ON PURPOSE on purpose, but it does feel very self sabotagy like he subconsciously wanted Corvo to get to him. This is some great content btw :)
Thanks a lot! That's a very interesting thought. I think it would still fit within the framework of Daud knowing that Corvo would come but not actually wanting to die. Just at least the idea of his subconsciously wanting to give Corvo a shot at revenge would really speak to how shaken he was by killing the Empress.
@@Beregond13 yeah no between the outsider and him feeling a disturbance in the void after killing the empress did give him a seeming paranoia as if it was inevitable due to what he did. The entire story feels rushed no matter how slow you go unlike forgo who can really feel like he just chills in the slums like some Victorian Jack the Ripper-esk monster. I think that’s partially due to game design ofc but the purpose was to make it feel more rushed in my opinion like you were on a time limit, which you actually, aren’t, at all, save for the witch storyline he survives and lives on and leaves. We coulda played him for a whole ass mother game. So I think he was just paranoid and scared as all fuck outta corvo and his damned fate. One that like nothing with the outsiders shadow cast over it, was not inevitable.
honestly daud only lets things happen to him, he couldve very easily ran away before corvo had a chance to get to him, but he wanted to give corvo that chance, daud doesnt make mistakes
I definitely got the feeling that Daud thought that Corvo had the right to face him after what he had done, or at least realized that the confrontation was likely inevitable once he learned of Corvo's escape.
Proof, if any were required that the TH-cam algorithm is not a meritocracy. The randomness with which it selcts quality content is so inconsistent that stuff like this gets left behind. I've seen a lot of video essays and this is clearly in the upper echelon. Here's hoping to see your growth. EDIT: Didn't expect to get this much attention on this comment. EDIT 2: The diversity of replies from having a top comment is very interesting. From enthusiastic agreement to the 'Um actually" crowd to people who take things too literally. It's a lotta fun I must say.
@@Lil_FYRBUG Congrats I guess? I don't know how that changes anything about my original comment because it's not like as if there is a huge influx of people now. Mine was a general complaint anyway. Hence the usage of the word "randomness"
I do miss those days of going over to somebody's house to play the latest hotness. I still remember racing over to my friend's house for an hour after school for nearly two months to play The World is Not Enough.
12:27 in fairness, daud doesn’t know that the powers Corvo has is different to his own. Daud only has blink and stop time in terms of the abilities he shares with corvo - which is important because if corvo only uses the abilities daud has than corvo can’t actually escape. Daud couldn’t except from his own cell (minus the bricks).
That's certainly true, but I would have at least liked Daud to take a few more precautions considering he knows that an mark-gifted person is certainly going to be very dangerous. Unless of course he consciously/subconsciously wanted Corvo to get out...
@@KnjazNazrath flesh and steel is pretty easy once you have a solid grasp on the combat mechanics it just make you rise to the top of dunwall on a mountain of corpses the true challenge is doing flesh and steel but to be a ghost and to show mercy
@@hellouniverse5451 Not too hard if you know your way around levels, especially all climbable surfaces then you're pretty much set for the entire run. Like, I still can't believe that the return to Dunwall Tower was so piss easy despite it being in my opinion the most difficult level to stealth in Very Hard Ghost and Flesh and Steel. There are about 2 or maybe 3 guards you put to sleep outside, get on the catwalk, go inside, take out the whale oil tank for the arc pylon, make your way to the Regent's safe and that's about it. Though I have to admit it was a bit interesting to get through The Light at The End's upwards tower, everything else was simple as long as we count sleep darts and stealth boots. If we're talking 0 upgrades and 0 equipments now *that's* a bit of an oof situation.
I like the Low Chaos version of the ending, naturally, as it feels the most... earned. You got to be quite skillfull to pull it off, and I like that besides Granny Rags, the only person who needs to die might be Havelock. He destroys his own conspiracy in the end because he realizes how utterly inadequate he is compared to you. And once you show up... he can't handle it. He strikes, tries to pull a gun on you... and the Peaceful, Ghostlike Corvo, who never took a life he ever had to proves once and for all that despite this, he was, and still is, the baddest man in the Isles. Seriously, Havelock's animated death is like, an action-movie villain's death. Perfect.
What a great way to sum up the Low Chaos run! Well said. As to Havelock's gun, I'm curious as to how long it's been since he actually had to use it. Did he use it in combat as an Admiral? Was he the sort to execute his own men if he felt the need? All interesting thoughts.
@@Beregond13 if I'm not wrong, he uses it to shoot Wallace and the rest in the endings, after he betrays Corvo before that though, I would say maybe a few years before the game
1:08:16 Fun Fact! You can actually avoid the confrontation completely by finding the hiding spot of the witches which is located in a small room at the dock which housed a few weepers and a rune, and incapacitating them. Its incredibly similar to the whaler ambush outside Slackjaws hideout in the Golden Cat where you can incapacitate the whalers hiding on the rooftops and apartments to prevent the ambush and it's nice the devs have properly created a way to avoid detection even in scripted ambushes by completely skipping them for seasoned players to discover. Great video by the way! Always love when people talk about the gem of a game and it's a crime it only has 1k views after 5 months. I look forward to any future retrospectives you do.
I'm somehow unsurprised that this solution exists, considering how you can get through so much of the rest of the game without being forced into conflict, thanks for the heads up! And you're too kind, there will be more to come in the near future!
@@Beregond13 Another fun fact is, if you hear the hiding witches, you can interrogate and knock out the wounded gazelle witch in dialogue. Also, one small thing you have gotten wrong in the video regarding the Boyle sisters: They don't thank you for sparing their sister, they thank you for sparing *them.* Essentially, it's a reward for not going the easy route and just killing all three of them (even if that's a viable way to deal with them)
@@Dafuqinator7 Yeah I definitely missed that about the Boyle's message. Doesn't completely ruin my point, but definitely helps to reinforce the Boyle's characterizations.
The thing about Campbell being blatantly corrupt and heretical is that it contrasts with Overseer Martin later on, who actually is a vehement abbeyman but climbs to power the exact same way Campbell did. Campbell may not be terribly interesting as a character, but he serves several very important roles that he would no longer be able to serve with your proposed change. For example, his being the leader of the Abbey shows that even Dunwall's most moralistic faction is not a meritocracy. Another is to provide somewhat of an escalation in sympathy leading up to Lady Boyle. Campbell is a cad because it makes killing him a very easy choice for the player. This escalates with the Pendletons who one of your allies is personally invested in, yet they're still reprehensible people. It's not until Boyle that one can have reasonable apprehension toward what they're doing, and that much is reflected in Lord Pendleton's dialogue immediately following the mission. Also consider it's likely that Campbell didn't join the Abbey by choice, but was given up from a very early age. Someone like that, who went through the fatal trials every young Overseer is put through, probably has every reason to want to spit in the face of the strictures they've been raised with. And since you can't leave, why not become the High Overseer? So in that sense, Campbell isnt entirely without depth. Also unrelated and a somewhat minor gripe, but you seem overly concerned with things making perfect logical sense when the thematic purpose they serve is much more important. A religion centred around the eternal persecution of a God probably wouldn't inspire much hope in anyone, but that's just the kind of world Dishonored is, one that has to constantly grapple with chaos and corruption. It may not be realistic that the courstesans are dressed in nothing but raggedy old corsets, but it creates a striking contrast between an opulent bathhouse and its neglected attendants.
That's a really good point about Campbell being kind of the 'starting moral choice' character, making it really easy to make your decision about what to do with him easing you in to the more complex decisions you have to make later on. As for the religion of the Abbey of the Everyman, I didn't actually think that it being centered around 'eternal persecution' as you put it made it not make logical sense. My main point of interest was just that I couldn't find any real-world counterparts, which in some ways makes the framing of the church even more interesting. I agree very much that it fits thematically with the world as it's presented. For the dress of the courtesans, I was thinking more of what the nobles who frequented the establishment might think of their dress, and I think the shabbiness of the 'back rooms' where the courtesans live and sleep does a good enough job of showing their actual circumstances. Really appreciate your thoughts!
@@Beregond13 Who knows, maybe the nobles like them that way? Theres a running theme with the Outsider shrines that behind closed doors, the high-and-mighty take part in the most fetid behaviour Dunwall has to offer. They don't want opulent dresse because that much they could get at some Boyle estate party. They want disheveled, miserable women they normally wouldn't waste the effort to spit at.
@@Beregond13 Pardon the 2 year long gap - but I have actually been thinking about the state "religion" in Dishonored, or rather, about the fact that it's not a religion at all. It's staunchly ANTI-religious. State-sanctioned anti-theism is rare, but not unheard of, and for the best example, look no further back than to the Soviet Union. Christianity was never actually banned in the USSR, but its practice was strongly discouraged, with social ramifications for practicioners. Churches were also dismantled. It all echoes in Dishonored and its rapidly industrializing world (which, again, is VERY much parallel to the USSR industrialization, albeit a century earlier). Think about the name - Abbey of the Everyman - the church of the proletariat. The biggest difference from the real world is that the Outsider's powers manifest in the reality so obviously and directly that there is no doubt in their existence - but rather, in their morality within the moral framework of Dunwall/Gristol.
I'm such a huge Dishonored fan and was surprised that, when my friend sent me the link to this video, I found that I hadn't already watched it, I absolutely love videos like this and It's a crime that TH-cam decided not to present this to me at all since it's release.
Dishonored was a game I kept coming back to despite the hundred odd games in my steam library, the art style combined with the writing and the solid gameplay make for a game that still out preforms most modern games if they don't take the time to polish their systems. Something about jumping around and slaughtering guards like a velociraptor with a jetpack was some of the most fun and natural combat I've ever had in a game. This game feels like it should have come out in 1995 and become a cult classic but instead it came out in 2014 by a fairly major game developer. And it's got inspirations from other games but more or less this is a original work that I haven't seen anything like before. The thief series is the first comparison that comes to mind and the gameplay difference is like night and day.
I do love how much your attention is rewarded here, it's a good return on investment for people who are willing to dig deeper. It works with the surface level that's still a satisfying revenge story, so most people will end up rewarded for whatever effort they put in. And yes, more to come!
A fun thing I did in the final vanilla level was turn my back on Havelock after I grabbed Elizabeth's key. Havelock immediately tried to attack me and I parried him, getting the specific animation and killing him, making him the first and final kill of the game
I personally play Corvo as non-lethal for every level in the game except for the last two. Like, he wouldn’t kill innocent guards who were fooled by the traitors, and killing those traitors feels far less of a punishment to the non-lethal options. But then he gets dropped in the Flooded District, and it becomes a matter of survival (though I do spare Daud, because the sooner I’m saving Emily, the better). And then he gets back to the Hound Pits and it’s flooded with these people out to kill him, and all his friends are dead. So he goes Goblin Mode, and wipes out an entire squadron in one fell swoop. Then I play Kingsparrow Island pretty death-free, save only for Havelock, and still get low chaos. It’s my favorite way to play.
First playthrough I played Corvo as someone desperate to get Emily back, his daughter. He killed everyone in his way up until rescuing her, after that I played him low chaos, killing no one else. To me at least, the morality behind Lady Boyal and The Twins is; Death is final, there is nothing you can do after you die, if you are alive, even under despicable conditions, you are just that, alive. And able to change your lot.
Sounds like you thought hard about how Corvo would behave, thanks for your insight! I think we're reasonably aligned on the morality issues you mention.
I just wanted to point out that if you do sign your name in the guest book at Lady Boyle's party. Then you can later on find a report that mentions this fact. Ultimately the report concludes that it's likely untasteful humor, but that they will look into it since Lady Boyle died/disappeared that night.
In the brigmore witches, you can off the geezer without killing everyone else. You just have to knock everyone unconscious and move them from the building. I normally knock everyone out in all levels anyway so it was a lot easier to do. Also, wonderful work. It’s stuff like this that I like to see on TH-cam. Having actually thumbnails and sections broken up occasionally with art, having out-takes and an intermission and all the other things you’ve done, it feels like a really well produced doco about dishonoured (which it is). You did this game justice and I look forward to more content like this. Just don’t feel too pressured to meet our expectations because it just makes stuff like this a lot harder to do. Do what you think is good.
I tended to only knock out the people I felt I had to, so this solution would never have occurred to me. Thanks so much for the kind words, I certainly want to keep making things that people like, but the first person who always needs to like it is me :)
As someone who knows every entry in this series like the back of my hand, I commend this video. It's actually been a year since I last played through them (my total playcount is probably embarrassing though), so this has inspired me to go back once again. Loved the video! I hope you keep going with such great content, I think you're work is clearly quality enough that eventually you'll break ground. If not, just know that either way you've made someone's day :) Excited to see if you cover D2, since I think it takes the level design and interactive systems to the next level; even if I am more partial to the aesthetics and deeply-rooted mystery of Dunwall over Karnaca.
I've played this game four times, and I'm *still* blown away by the beauty of the art, the immersiveness of the world, the pathos of the writing, the quality of the game-play and well - literally everything else about it. I sat watching the end credits after they describe what happens after the game ends and I was just. . . . . . . speechless with how great it all was. One of the true masterpieces of gaming, and criminally underrated.
Even after having been so involved in the Dishonored franchise I had no clue you could swap Delilah's painting, even after so many playthroughs I always find something new. Awesome.
It's greatest achievement was it's art/sound and gameplay direction. I can't believe you spent such little time talking about the art, it had such a unique and creative genesis.
Daud dumping you in the vat makes more sense after you play the DLC where you take control of Daud, as Daud doesn't have access to Possession, so he's likely ignorant of that particular power.
Great video, and it’s always nice to be reminded just how much I love the Dishonored series! In terms of killing or sparing targets… obviously if I’m doing a kill ‘em all/clean hands run I’ll act accordingly. If I’m doing a pure RP run, though, I spare everyone except Lady Boyle. Because they killed my lover and stole my daughter, so of course I’m not going to give them the easy way out. Really nice getting all the praise for being merciful and ingenious and that, while I’m sat there grinning like a pumpkin at all the horror I’ve inflicted. Don’t fuck with my people, you know? Lady Boyle gets a pass, because having Hiram as a sugar baby isn’t worth whatever the hell Rat Mask has waiting for her. No, it’s a merciful springrazor in the bathroom for her. I also avoid killing as many people as I can in those runs, though while I’ll gently lay guards and weepers and whoever else in the hiding places I’ve found for them, I’m not above yeeting Overseers into corners, because fuck those guys. I won’t kill them, but that doesn’t mean I have to be gentle with them either.
Yeah, the occasional concussion for the casually tossed Overseer probably wouldn't cause me to lose *too* much sleep. Plus they've got those helmets on, they're probably gonna be fine, right?
@@gaiusfulmen What's that saying from Warhammer 40k? "Blessed is the Mind too Small for Doubt"? Probably still just as blessed if you're unconscious, no doubting then!
THANK YOU for this epic video, very much appreciated 🙌🏻 I played Dishonored 1+2 and all its DLC‘s several times, going different ways, never a dull moment, and still, seeing your video years later brings back so many fond memories. Definitely my all time favorite video game, wish they would surprise us with another installment, wishful thinking, I know 🙈😂
So glad you enjoyed it! Who knows, there's been some rumblings of another Deus Ex, so I'm sure at some point Dishonored will get picked up and dusted off. Here's hoping.
the fact that Billie being spared is made canon in the sequel makes the Brigmore Witches all the more underwhelming. I still liked it and even thought of it as a great twist and reveal of where she had gone to but I did not like Death of the Outsider for taking it a little too far.
It's certainly tough to have a major decision point like that and then return to the aftermath later on, because you're guaranteed to disappoint everyone who made the other choice, unless you go through all the work to incorporate both options into the game, which I'm sure gets really expensive really quickly.
Awesome video, I just went through all the Dishonored games recently and I enjoyed them all. Definetly looking forward to your coverage of Dishonored 2.
49:50 in my first playthrough, i had left rothwild near her, just to continue exploring the factory, and keep in mind, i hadnt yet got the information i wanted, so when she killed him i went “oh she is trying to force me into doing her bidding by killing the other source of the info”
The Dishonored series is a serious gem. One of my all time favorite series. I love the art of the game and the art IN the game. My only issue was the fact that I hate when games give you an option of play style and then punish you with a bad ending for playing your preferred way.
It really does feel like the developers have put up some railroad tracks to emphasize the directions they feel are 'correct' even while giving players so many tools to play in many different ways. I'm looking forward to finding out if the second game is a bit less rigid in that regard.
Incredible work, I've seen a couple of video essays on Dishonored before but this is one of the most cohesive and well made I've ever seen, period. Keep up the good work
Return to Dark Messiah: of might and magic. Game is an absolute gem, and the pvp was some of the best still to this day. Every class from single player was available as a multiplayer variant, objective / TDM themed gamemodes, doesn't get much better than that.
Always a joy to see content still being made of Dishonored. One of my favorite games of all time, puts a big smile on my face. A great video on the game to boot, despite the algorithm just now showing it to me lmao.
201 subs duuuude Congrats man! with your amazingly well theorized video essays, you def earned my sub bro Continue doing what you love and have patience, for I am watching your career with great interest
Well said, well shown, you’ve earned my attention Always loved this game, played it upon release as well, but not thoroughly, so it was nice to see this
I played this game exactly once. In that playthrough, I did the Ghost, Poetic Justice, and Mostly Flesh and Steel. It made for an interesting experience, but I definitely look back and wonder if I would have enjoyed it more if I had actually engaged with the magical upgrades. Tried going back to do another playthrough, but just couldn't motivate myself beyond the prologue.
That was a really stiff challenge to set yourself for the first playthrough, wow! I can see it being tough to get through the prologue on subsequent playthroughs if it's similar to how the rest of your first run went before you really get to start experimenting with your powers.
I absolutely loved this game and played it multiple times. At the start of the video when you said "thinking back to my first playthrough.." all I could think of was me getting confused, frustrated, and giving up and not picking up the game again until months later. A fantastic video.
In dishonored 2, I went around one map knocking out all the guards and putting them in the same pile, I had legit like 15 bodies. I came back and they were all eaten alive by the big things while unconscious. Whoops
@@Beregond13 *rats not the big things. But yeah you can’t leave them on the ground or they’ll get killed and it counts as you killing them so you’ll get the bad ending
Honestly, I’m blown away by the attention to detail you put into this video. It’s a deft analysis and I couldn’t agree more! Also I wanna make special mention of your vocabulary; it’s extensive and very impressive! I penned at least ten words from this video alone. Excellent work! Keep going :)
That was definitely my impression too this time around. When I had played it back in the day I only did a little of the expansions then wrote them off as just a few extra levels with no other redeeming qualities. Well worth it though!
30:00 the boyles have a tragic overall background in the lore of Dishonored. The “Lady Boyle” who was Burrows’ lover was Waverly in the lore, and canonically in the lore she gets given to brimsby. The island he takes her too is owned by his family as they are quite wealthy, after a short period of time Brimsby dies after he falls off a cliff, supposedly. So waverly takes over the island and fortune of his family and stays there doing whatever she wants basically. After she disappears, esme becomes a worse version of what she was but soon becomes very mature and competent as her sister Lydia is basically emotionally broken. She has her committed to an asylum officially but secretly hides her in the attic of the Boyle manor, she doesn’t want to lose her last sister. In the comic/book publications a cruel user of the Voids power takes Lydia from the house and reveals her at the annual Boyle party where he has her killed, esme , corvo and Emily are all in attendance.
Yeah I remember reading some of that in my research for the game, their wealth and power doesn't seem to matter much in the end, I had forgotten that the party had Corvo and Emily as guests, thanks for the info!
This is a very great video and I don't know why TH-cam recommended it to me now six months later. Would like to see a video on the second installment of Dishonored. Keep it up dude!
@@Beregond13 Can't wait! And dude really props to you for doing this video, not to mention the one that's on the way and you for even wanting to film it. I am a fanatic of Dishonored and I played it in almost every possible way and the expansions and even now, even when I knew what's gonna happen if you do this, do that, still to this day game makes your decisions weigh heavily on your shoulders and I am fascinated that it can still do that, but I don't know if I could say the same for the second installment. Would love to see your opinion on the matter and,oh, by the way did you hear that Maurus was dragged off by the overseers,because of some black magic nonsense?
I watched the entire video from start to finish ready for some binge watching but i was shocked to see that this was the first video essay on a video game of yours on this channel. I'm shocked cause it was so well done!!! Can't wait for what's to come and it's amazing seeing such a big spike in views, hopefully it feels as rewarding as it looks, gl for all that's to come
Thank you so much! It's been so rewarding to see people responding to the video, and I'm excited to keep experimenting and pushing myself in the vids to come.
I didn’t play the Dishonored games. I’m fascinated by the setting, but I’m terrible at stealth games. The Heart was always fascinating to me though. And up until now, after years of knowing about it, I only just now learn that it’s the Empress’s heart. And my mind has been blown like a thrown vat of whale oil.
If I can blow somebody's mind with some hidden bit of info or lore, I'll go to bed a happy man. Glad that the games are interesting enough to you to want to know more even without playing them!
My favourite thing about this game was always the heart even though its made by a literal god it looks like it was forged by some hillbilly lunatic. It brought back memories of seeing people's custom wired speaker set ups and underglow on their cars.
I think for Campbell, the nonlethal option is clearly the worse one. He dies either way. The "nonlethal" way just makes it a whole lot slower and more painful, but filled with more shame and despair.
Yeah it's pretty rough, but I think it comes down to which one you think he deserves, and his note confirming his lack of remorse has always sealed the deal, for me at least.
The stealth system really didn't let you rely on shadows much, it's true. Much more of a 'are you on the same plane as them with no obstructions' kind of system. I adapted to it, but I can understand why being spotted in the shadows could be irksome.
This vid took me back! Great analysis. It's amazing how satisfying the gameplay remains to this day. My one big disappointment with the game is how lame the last mission is in Low Chaos. I prefer Low Chaos, but the High Chaos ending has so much more tension and drama. It's almost worth doing High Chaos just to get Pendleton and Martin's hilariously pathetic stand-off. My second (small) disappointment is that you can't do anything for the guy in the flooded district who says he just wants to die somewhere peaceful. I hauled him across the entire map only to have to leave him at the exit. ):
Yeah, really wish there had been some last twist to keep you on your toes during low chaos, even if I can see what they were going for. Perishing in the flooded district is far from peaceful, definitely agree with you there too.
Lady Boyles non lethal option is actually brilliant. "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."- H.P Lovecraft. Tell someone exactly how you will torture them and it will scare them... leaving out details and letting their imagination fill in the blanks will terrify them.
That's good to know, appreciate the info. Haven't really spent much time messing with the files, but I'll have to take a look the next time I go back in.
Really nice Video, i love Dishonored and this Video perfectly captured why that is. It's a Sandbox where you can give less than two shi* about the story and massacre everyone or carefully sneak around, listen to interesting Plotpoints and enjoy the horrifying yet beautiful world that they created. So many people hate on it's "Boring revenge" story but many of them haven't taken the time to explore the Details that make it so goddamn immersive! Still remember being in the Dogcage-Cellar and thinking, wouldnt it be cool to let these Dogs attack their owners? Then searching around finally finding a way to do so was so satisfying ;D
I'll have to see if there's some sort of term that encapsulates that feeling of 'works on the surface but goes a lot deeper if you look' that Dishonored and other games have. Being able to utilize the environment like you did really is indicative of the attention to detail at play in the game.
I feel that in some cases you miss the point that no decisions are good in such a bad world and you have to live with everything you've done even if it had unintentional consequences. You don't fully discover or understand the fates of the people you've let live until its too late. No matter who you want to be you don't exist in the world alone and your decisions will be influenced and compromised by your engagement with others, just like the plague and Emily are influenced by you.
That's a fair point, but I felt that since the developers spent most of the game reinforcing which moral choices they preferred the most, that took out that aspect of being forced to live with what you'd done. If there'd been more ambiguity in that setup, for instance if sparing someone had obvious negative consequences later on outside of whatever potentially horrible fate you condemned the spared targets to, I'd have considered that more. Thanks for the comment though!
Great Video! I watched it over a period of several days and very much enjoyed it. That you have only about 3000 subscribers but 200.000 people watched it speaks for itself. :)
i remember the first time i played it, didn't know about the "chaos system" but anyways i tried to bee a good guy and kill almost nobody, it was kinda disappointing having a bad ending just for a couple of deaths, bad people deaths. but anyways the game is really good and still looks good ^^
Apparently the rule of thumb is to kill no more than about 20 percent of the humans in each level to keep chaos low. The devs seem to really want you to keep your hands clean to get that 'good' ending.
You can stop the attack on the boat before it happens if you explore the docks area just before bringing the engine coil back. In one of the corners behind the boat, the attack force will be holed up, and with bend time and a stun mine, or some grenades, you can easily clear them out without being seen.
Outside of the sequels to Dishonored, I think I've played most of their stuff except for Deathloop, which I'm looking forward to getting around to eventually.
I have always loved this game from the moment i played it to finding your video today, welp looks like im doing a run this weekend including all of the dlc. Thanks for the hour of great content. Subscribed!
You have been blessed by the algorithm. Give thanks to your new, unknown, and fickle God. All seriousness, congratulations and I look forward to future works.
Amazing reflection on one of my favorite games of all time, the things that works and the things that quite don't. There's just something about the world building of this franchise that I can't leave behind. I'll always remember feelings it gave to me. And yes would absolutely love a Dishonored 2 video!
@@Beregond13 right? You don't really see a work of gaming art this compact very often. It all works for the whole - the mechanics, the artwork, the lore, even the fucking names of the characters
![PURPEECH - นี่ฉันเองคนที่... (It's me) [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/NuhHd0hOOg8/mqdefault.jpg)
![เขามัทรี - เอ็กซ์ ศุภกฤต - จอนนี่มิวสิค [ Official MV ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/AS9ufKuQIVs/mqdefault.jpg)
I can't thank everyone enough for all the attention this project has gotten, and the amazing comments you've all been leaving, it's really blown me away! I wanted to make a video expressing how grateful I am and to talk about the next steps I'm going to be taking on the channel, so here's a link if you want to check that out!
th-cam.com/video/cNqMiblnJIs/w-d-xo.html
As always your views and comments are more than enough but if you'd like to support the channel, consider checking out my Patreon, I'd love to be able to focus on making videos more fulltime and I'll be sharing more updates there!
www.patreon.com/Beregond13
Just found this video from the recommendeds. Keep up the good work, man! I'd most definitely watch more content like this 🤙
Please do dishonored 2 Please plz plz I beg you
Hey the term is counter-coup
Good analysis, good writing, good editing. I hope you continue. Subbed.
@@lfemomo77 Thanks, will do!
I love how the heart in dishonored reveals even guards secrets. I almost wish the chaos system was more affected by that instead. if choosing to kill a guard who robs and beats innocent people ends up lowering chaos instead.
It’s annoying, but technically that guard also brings order through brute force and abuse.
I'd be really interested to see a system like that in place, and Brim, that would definitely add to the moral quandaries you have to deal with already for sure.
They did it in dishonored 2 if I remember correctly. That's the reason why it reveals the person's secrets only once.
That would be annoying. Having to use the heart on every guard would would get tiring and stale very quickly.
@@Jinars. I agree if it were an enforced mechanic. As long as it's optional I think that would be a good balance for people who wanted to take the time vs those who didn't.
The lore of Dishonored is so good that even with the trilogy having a proper conclusion I want endlessly more comics and books and movies to keep the universe going.
That's usually a good sign, if you're satisfied but still want more!
@Shane Doe the conclusion was technically dishonored death of the outsider, which, spoilers , ends with you either killing the outsider of letting him live a normal life (i think).
Dishonored 1 felt alive, Dishonored 2 felt like stepping in a turd, death of the outsider felt like the death of the series.
@Shane Doe Dont
Death of the outsider was trash, and how arcane changed the outsider kind of ruined dishonored for me.
The comic they released was awesome and I really thought they were gonna add the whaler dude with electric gauntlets into the game. That dude gave Corvo the fucking business.
@@Beregond13 5
You know, I think Daud made some of the blunders he did not like ON PURPOSE on purpose, but it does feel very self sabotagy like he subconsciously wanted Corvo to get to him. This is some great content btw :)
Thanks a lot! That's a very interesting thought. I think it would still fit within the framework of Daud knowing that Corvo would come but not actually wanting to die. Just at least the idea of his subconsciously wanting to give Corvo a shot at revenge would really speak to how shaken he was by killing the Empress.
@@Beregond13 yeah no between the outsider and him feeling a disturbance in the void after killing the empress did give him a seeming paranoia as if it was inevitable due to what he did. The entire story feels rushed no matter how slow you go unlike forgo who can really feel like he just chills in the slums like some Victorian Jack the Ripper-esk monster. I think that’s partially due to game design ofc but the purpose was to make it feel more rushed in my opinion like you were on a time limit, which you actually, aren’t, at all, save for the witch storyline he survives and lives on and leaves. We coulda played him for a whole ass mother game. So I think he was just paranoid and scared as all fuck outta corvo and his damned fate. One that like nothing with the outsiders shadow cast over it, was not inevitable.
honestly daud only lets things happen to him, he couldve very easily ran away before corvo had a chance to get to him, but he wanted to give corvo that chance, daud doesnt make mistakes
I definitely got the feeling that Daud thought that Corvo had the right to face him after what he had done, or at least realized that the confrontation was likely inevitable once he learned of Corvo's escape.
The fictional character did whatever the person that made the fictional game told the fictional character to do LOL
Proof, if any were required that the TH-cam algorithm is not a meritocracy. The randomness with which it selcts quality content is so inconsistent that stuff like this gets left behind. I've seen a lot of video essays and this is clearly in the upper echelon. Here's hoping to see your growth.
EDIT: Didn't expect to get this much attention on this comment.
EDIT 2: The diversity of replies from having a top comment is very interesting. From enthusiastic agreement to the 'Um actually" crowd to people who take things too literally. It's a lotta fun I must say.
Wow, that's so nice of you to say! I'll certainly keep forging ahead, thanks so much!
This was recommended to me so idk what to tell you
@@Lil_FYRBUG Congrats I guess? I don't know how that changes anything about my original comment because it's not like as if there is a huge influx of people now. Mine was a general complaint anyway. Hence the usage of the word "randomness"
@@GarrusDeWitt But it was recommended to me
@@Lil_FYRBUG Are you slow?
Ten years already? I remember when this came out
At my friend’s birthday he got Skyrim and Dishonored as gifts
He let me play it, good times
I do miss those days of going over to somebody's house to play the latest hotness. I still remember racing over to my friend's house for an hour after school for nearly two months to play The World is Not Enough.
man it was a great era skyrim was my first game on steam good memories
12:27 in fairness, daud doesn’t know that the powers Corvo has is different to his own. Daud only has blink and stop time in terms of the abilities he shares with corvo - which is important because if corvo only uses the abilities daud has than corvo can’t actually escape. Daud couldn’t except from his own cell (minus the bricks).
That's certainly true, but I would have at least liked Daud to take a few more precautions considering he knows that an mark-gifted person is certainly going to be very dangerous. Unless of course he consciously/subconsciously wanted Corvo to get out...
*Laughs in Mostly Flesh and Steel*
@@KnjazNazrath flesh and steel is pretty easy once you have a solid grasp on the combat mechanics it just make you rise to the top of dunwall on a mountain of corpses the true challenge is doing flesh and steel but to be a ghost and to show mercy
@@hellouniverse5451 Not too hard if you know your way around levels, especially all climbable surfaces then you're pretty much set for the entire run.
Like, I still can't believe that the return to Dunwall Tower was so piss easy despite it being in my opinion the most difficult level to stealth in Very Hard Ghost and Flesh and Steel.
There are about 2 or maybe 3 guards you put to sleep outside, get on the catwalk, go inside, take out the whale oil tank for the arc pylon, make your way to the Regent's safe and that's about it.
Though I have to admit it was a bit interesting to get through The Light at The End's upwards tower, everything else was simple as long as we count sleep darts and stealth boots. If we're talking 0 upgrades and 0 equipments now *that's* a bit of an oof situation.
Going into the Boyle’s party and signing the guest book is still the coolest optional part of the game.
It is a choice that really stands out for me, just a really sharp idea.
I like the Low Chaos version of the ending, naturally, as it feels the most... earned. You got to be quite skillfull to pull it off, and I like that besides Granny Rags, the only person who needs to die might be Havelock. He destroys his own conspiracy in the end because he realizes how utterly inadequate he is compared to you. And once you show up... he can't handle it. He strikes, tries to pull a gun on you... and the Peaceful, Ghostlike Corvo, who never took a life he ever had to proves once and for all that despite this, he was, and still is, the baddest man in the Isles.
Seriously, Havelock's animated death is like, an action-movie villain's death. Perfect.
Died to his own gun. Wonder how many men he killed with it, back in the Navy...
What a great way to sum up the Low Chaos run! Well said. As to Havelock's gun, I'm curious as to how long it's been since he actually had to use it. Did he use it in combat as an Admiral? Was he the sort to execute his own men if he felt the need? All interesting thoughts.
@@Beregond13 if I'm not wrong, he uses it to shoot Wallace and the rest in the endings, after he betrays Corvo
before that though, I would say maybe a few years before the game
Low Chaos in 1 and 2. Took a lot of planning. Great games, loads of lore, very steampunk, graphical atmospheric.
Enjoyed both and the DLC for number 1
@@andreadebernardis4390 Those are pretty close to my thoughts, for sure.
1:08:16 Fun Fact! You can actually avoid the confrontation completely by finding the hiding spot of the witches which is located in a small room at the dock which housed a few weepers and a rune, and incapacitating them. Its incredibly similar to the whaler ambush outside Slackjaws hideout in the Golden Cat where you can incapacitate the whalers hiding on the rooftops and apartments to prevent the ambush and it's nice the devs have properly created a way to avoid detection even in scripted ambushes by completely skipping them for seasoned players to discover.
Great video by the way! Always love when people talk about the gem of a game and it's a crime it only has 1k views after 5 months. I look forward to any future retrospectives you do.
I'm somehow unsurprised that this solution exists, considering how you can get through so much of the rest of the game without being forced into conflict, thanks for the heads up! And you're too kind, there will be more to come in the near future!
@@Beregond13 Another fun fact is, if you hear the hiding witches, you can interrogate and knock out the wounded gazelle witch in dialogue.
Also, one small thing you have gotten wrong in the video regarding the Boyle sisters: They don't thank you for sparing their sister, they thank you for sparing *them.* Essentially, it's a reward for not going the easy route and just killing all three of them (even if that's a viable way to deal with them)
@@Dafuqinator7 Yeah I definitely missed that about the Boyle's message. Doesn't completely ruin my point, but definitely helps to reinforce the Boyle's characterizations.
Another fun fact. @naqibam wrote 9 months ago about it being a shame for having only 1k views. Now it sits on 250k haha
The thing about Campbell being blatantly corrupt and heretical is that it contrasts with Overseer Martin later on, who actually is a vehement abbeyman but climbs to power the exact same way Campbell did.
Campbell may not be terribly interesting as a character, but he serves several very important roles that he would no longer be able to serve with your proposed change. For example, his being the leader of the Abbey shows that even Dunwall's most moralistic faction is not a meritocracy. Another is to provide somewhat of an escalation in sympathy leading up to Lady Boyle. Campbell is a cad because it makes killing him a very easy choice for the player. This escalates with the Pendletons who one of your allies is personally invested in, yet they're still reprehensible people. It's not until Boyle that one can have reasonable apprehension toward what they're doing, and that much is reflected in Lord Pendleton's dialogue immediately following the mission.
Also consider it's likely that Campbell didn't join the Abbey by choice, but was given up from a very early age. Someone like that, who went through the fatal trials every young Overseer is put through, probably has every reason to want to spit in the face of the strictures they've been raised with. And since you can't leave, why not become the High Overseer? So in that sense, Campbell isnt entirely without depth.
Also unrelated and a somewhat minor gripe, but you seem overly concerned with things making perfect logical sense when the thematic purpose they serve is much more important. A religion centred around the eternal persecution of a God probably wouldn't inspire much hope in anyone, but that's just the kind of world Dishonored is, one that has to constantly grapple with chaos and corruption. It may not be realistic that the courstesans are dressed in nothing but raggedy old corsets, but it creates a striking contrast between an opulent bathhouse and its neglected attendants.
That's a really good point about Campbell being kind of the 'starting moral choice' character, making it really easy to make your decision about what to do with him easing you in to the more complex decisions you have to make later on. As for the religion of the Abbey of the Everyman, I didn't actually think that it being centered around 'eternal persecution' as you put it made it not make logical sense. My main point of interest was just that I couldn't find any real-world counterparts, which in some ways makes the framing of the church even more interesting. I agree very much that it fits thematically with the world as it's presented. For the dress of the courtesans, I was thinking more of what the nobles who frequented the establishment might think of their dress, and I think the shabbiness of the 'back rooms' where the courtesans live and sleep does a good enough job of showing their actual circumstances. Really appreciate your thoughts!
@@Beregond13 Who knows, maybe the nobles like them that way? Theres a running theme with the Outsider shrines that behind closed doors, the high-and-mighty take part in the most fetid behaviour Dunwall has to offer. They don't want opulent dresse because that much they could get at some Boyle estate party. They want disheveled, miserable women they normally wouldn't waste the effort to spit at.
@@Beregond13 Pardon the 2 year long gap - but I have actually been thinking about the state "religion" in Dishonored, or rather, about the fact that it's not a religion at all. It's staunchly ANTI-religious. State-sanctioned anti-theism is rare, but not unheard of, and for the best example, look no further back than to the Soviet Union. Christianity was never actually banned in the USSR, but its practice was strongly discouraged, with social ramifications for practicioners. Churches were also dismantled. It all echoes in Dishonored and its rapidly industrializing world (which, again, is VERY much parallel to the USSR industrialization, albeit a century earlier). Think about the name - Abbey of the Everyman - the church of the proletariat. The biggest difference from the real world is that the Outsider's powers manifest in the reality so obviously and directly that there is no doubt in their existence - but rather, in their morality within the moral framework of Dunwall/Gristol.
I'm such a huge Dishonored fan and was surprised that, when my friend sent me the link to this video, I found that I hadn't already watched it, I absolutely love videos like this and It's a crime that TH-cam decided not to present this to me at all since it's release.
Thrilled your friend sent it to you, since it seems it was right up your alley! Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it!
Dishonored was a game I kept coming back to despite the hundred odd games in my steam library, the art style combined with the writing and the solid gameplay make for a game that still out preforms most modern games if they don't take the time to polish their systems. Something about jumping around and slaughtering guards like a velociraptor with a jetpack was some of the most fun and natural combat I've ever had in a game. This game feels like it should have come out in 1995 and become a cult classic but instead it came out in 2014 by a fairly major game developer. And it's got inspirations from other games but more or less this is a original work that I haven't seen anything like before. The thief series is the first comparison that comes to mind and the gameplay difference is like night and day.
Well said, although I have to say I'd really like to play a series about a velociraptor with a jet-pack.
You are going to the story in detail is when I realized that the lore of Dishonored is so vast. Do make more videos like these.
I do love how much your attention is rewarded here, it's a good return on investment for people who are willing to dig deeper. It works with the surface level that's still a satisfying revenge story, so most people will end up rewarded for whatever effort they put in. And yes, more to come!
A fun thing I did in the final vanilla level was turn my back on Havelock after I grabbed Elizabeth's key. Havelock immediately tried to attack me and I parried him, getting the specific animation and killing him, making him the first and final kill of the game
That's definitely a great culmination of a no-kill run-through, great idea!
I personally play Corvo as non-lethal for every level in the game except for the last two. Like, he wouldn’t kill innocent guards who were fooled by the traitors, and killing those traitors feels far less of a punishment to the non-lethal options.
But then he gets dropped in the Flooded District, and it becomes a matter of survival (though I do spare Daud, because the sooner I’m saving Emily, the better). And then he gets back to the Hound Pits and it’s flooded with these people out to kill him, and all his friends are dead. So he goes Goblin Mode, and wipes out an entire squadron in one fell swoop.
Then I play Kingsparrow Island pretty death-free, save only for Havelock, and still get low chaos. It’s my favorite way to play.
@@noahjohnson5603 I can definitely see Corvo getting into that mindset, you've clearly put some thought into your run!
Havelock attacking you is an odd glitch
@@ManiacMayhem7256 nah, he attacks you when you turn your back on him.
First playthrough I played Corvo as someone desperate to get Emily back, his daughter. He killed everyone in his way up until rescuing her, after that I played him low chaos, killing no one else.
To me at least, the morality behind Lady Boyal and The Twins is; Death is final, there is nothing you can do after you die, if you are alive, even under despicable conditions, you are just that, alive. And able to change your lot.
Sounds like you thought hard about how Corvo would behave, thanks for your insight! I think we're reasonably aligned on the morality issues you mention.
I just wanted to point out that if you do sign your name in the guest book at Lady Boyle's party. Then you can later on find a report that mentions this fact. Ultimately the report concludes that it's likely untasteful humor, but that they will look into it since Lady Boyle died/disappeared that night.
Gotta follow up those leads, even if they're trolling you...
@@Beregond13 what are you saying my guy? 🤣
Holy heck this is some high quality content. Barely felt like half an hour
In the brigmore witches, you can off the geezer without killing everyone else. You just have to knock everyone unconscious and move them from the building. I normally knock everyone out in all levels anyway so it was a lot easier to do.
Also, wonderful work. It’s stuff like this that I like to see on TH-cam. Having actually thumbnails and sections broken up occasionally with art, having out-takes and an intermission and all the other things you’ve done, it feels like a really well produced doco about dishonoured (which it is). You did this game justice and I look forward to more content like this. Just don’t feel too pressured to meet our expectations because it just makes stuff like this a lot harder to do. Do what you think is good.
I tended to only knock out the people I felt I had to, so this solution would never have occurred to me. Thanks so much for the kind words, I certainly want to keep making things that people like, but the first person who always needs to like it is me :)
@@Beregond13 of course :)
As someone who knows every entry in this series like the back of my hand, I commend this video. It's actually been a year since I last played through them (my total playcount is probably embarrassing though), so this has inspired me to go back once again.
Loved the video! I hope you keep going with such great content, I think you're work is clearly quality enough that eventually you'll break ground. If not, just know that either way you've made someone's day :)
Excited to see if you cover D2, since I think it takes the level design and interactive systems to the next level; even if I am more partial to the aesthetics and deeply-rooted mystery of Dunwall over Karnaca.
I'm so touched by this, really glad you enjoyed it! Even if the mysteries of Karnaca can't match Dunwall, I'm really excited to dig into it soon.
Played more than 20 times. And I'm proud of it.
@@gamingman21 A fellow Dishonored addict!
Daud definitely knew what he was doing when he put Corvo in that easily escapable vat, he just wanted to face Corvo in a duel.
I've played this game four times, and I'm *still* blown away by the beauty of the art, the immersiveness of the world, the pathos of the writing, the quality of the game-play and well - literally everything else about it. I sat watching the end credits after they describe what happens after the game ends and I was just. . . . . . . speechless with how great it all was.
One of the true masterpieces of gaming, and criminally underrated.
It's been great to see all the love for the game coming out in the comments here, good to see so many sharing their appreciation for the series.
1:05:45 "He who gives two options always hides a third." I think this is a great saying to describe what you were saying
That is a really good saying, any idea of it's origins?
@@Beregond13 no clue who came up with it but I read it in Rogue legacy and was really intrigued by it
Even after having been so involved in the Dishonored franchise I had no clue you could swap Delilah's painting, even after so many playthroughs I always find something new. Awesome.
There's always new things to find, I know I've still missed things even after the playthroughs I've done to make this vid.
It's greatest achievement was it's art/sound and gameplay direction. I can't believe you spent such little time talking about the art, it had such a unique and creative genesis.
Amazing video. Im always searching for dishonored content. You deserve so much more subs. Please make one on dishonored 2 and death of the outsider.
You're too kind! I have a few other projects brewing atm, but I definitely plan on getting back to Dunwall soon.
Aw man, I forgot how much I loved this game, thanks for bringing it back to my attention. Good video, well made
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great an insightful video! I‘m looking forward to your next one on Dishonored 2
Thanks! I'm almost done writing a smaller project, but Dishonored 2 is definitely on the docket somewhere
Been in a Video Game Video Essay kick recently, thanks for giving me more to watch lol
Glad to be able to add to your overall watch time :)
Amazing video. I actually sat through the entire hour-I never do that with video essays. It's a shame you don't have more subscribers
Well I'm glad that you liked it enough to watch the whole thing, it means a lot!
Daud dumping you in the vat makes more sense after you play the DLC where you take control of Daud, as Daud doesn't have access to Possession, so he's likely ignorant of that particular power.
Great video, and it’s always nice to be reminded just how much I love the Dishonored series!
In terms of killing or sparing targets… obviously if I’m doing a kill ‘em all/clean hands run I’ll act accordingly. If I’m doing a pure RP run, though, I spare everyone except Lady Boyle. Because they killed my lover and stole my daughter, so of course I’m not going to give them the easy way out. Really nice getting all the praise for being merciful and ingenious and that, while I’m sat there grinning like a pumpkin at all the horror I’ve inflicted. Don’t fuck with my people, you know? Lady Boyle gets a pass, because having Hiram as a sugar baby isn’t worth whatever the hell Rat Mask has waiting for her. No, it’s a merciful springrazor in the bathroom for her.
I also avoid killing as many people as I can in those runs, though while I’ll gently lay guards and weepers and whoever else in the hiding places I’ve found for them, I’m not above yeeting Overseers into corners, because fuck those guys. I won’t kill them, but that doesn’t mean I have to be gentle with them either.
Yeah, the occasional concussion for the casually tossed Overseer probably wouldn't cause me to lose *too* much sleep. Plus they've got those helmets on, they're probably gonna be fine, right?
@@Beregond13 We're doing them a favor. Can't have an Errant Mind if you're knocked out.
@@gaiusfulmen What's that saying from Warhammer 40k? "Blessed is the Mind too Small for Doubt"? Probably still just as blessed if you're unconscious, no doubting then!
Your conclusion was beautiful, I loved it and felt it deeply, I love Dishonored so much and am so glad to be brought back to it's beauty.
Thanks, really glad it resonated!
THANK YOU for this epic video, very much appreciated 🙌🏻 I played Dishonored 1+2 and all its DLC‘s several times, going different ways, never a dull moment, and still, seeing your video years later brings back so many fond memories. Definitely my all time favorite video game, wish they would surprise us with another installment, wishful thinking, I know 🙈😂
So glad you enjoyed it! Who knows, there's been some rumblings of another Deus Ex, so I'm sure at some point Dishonored will get picked up and dusted off. Here's hoping.
I love the variety of content you produce. From ensembles to gritty video essays. Good work 👍
Glad you like them! I do like to experiment.
the fact that Billie being spared is made canon in the sequel makes the Brigmore Witches all the more underwhelming. I still liked it and even thought of it as a great twist and reveal of where she had gone to but I did not like Death of the Outsider for taking it a little too far.
It's certainly tough to have a major decision point like that and then return to the aftermath later on, because you're guaranteed to disappoint everyone who made the other choice, unless you go through all the work to incorporate both options into the game, which I'm sure gets really expensive really quickly.
Awesome video, I just went through all the Dishonored games recently and I enjoyed them all. Definetly looking forward to your coverage of Dishonored 2.
Thanks! I'm really looking forward to making that vid.
49:50 in my first playthrough, i had left rothwild near her, just to continue exploring the factory, and keep in mind, i hadnt yet got the information i wanted, so when she killed him i went “oh she is trying to force me into doing her bidding by killing the other source of the info”
That's a good thought, I could definitely see her making a tactical decision like that.
I thought I’d watched every video essay on Dishonored. But now I found THIS GEM
THANK YOU , YOU DESERVE MORE SUBS
Thanks so much! Really glad it found its way to you.
The Dishonored series is a serious gem. One of my all time favorite series. I love the art of the game and the art IN the game. My only issue was the fact that I hate when games give you an option of play style and then punish you with a bad ending for playing your preferred way.
It really does feel like the developers have put up some railroad tracks to emphasize the directions they feel are 'correct' even while giving players so many tools to play in many different ways. I'm looking forward to finding out if the second game is a bit less rigid in that regard.
Incredible work, I've seen a couple of video essays on Dishonored before but this is one of the most cohesive and well made I've ever seen, period. Keep up the good work
Wow, that's really nice, thanks so much! Really glad it resonated with you.
Haven't watched any of your videos before but this was a really good video, have subscribed in the hope you do one on dishonoured 2 someday.
You're too kind, thanks! Someday for sure, hopefully sooner rather than later.
I keep finding all these underrated channels and I couldn't be happier. Thank you for your work.
Glad you stumbled on the vid! You're more than welcome.
Return to Dark Messiah: of might and magic.
Game is an absolute gem, and the pvp was some of the best still to this day.
Every class from single player was available as a multiplayer variant, objective / TDM themed gamemodes, doesn't get much better than that.
I'll take a look, thanks for the recommendation!
Always a joy to see content still being made of Dishonored. One of my favorite games of all time, puts a big smile on my face. A great video on the game to boot, despite the algorithm just now showing it to me lmao.
So glad the algorithm finally served it up to you! Really glad you enjoyed it, thanks so much!
201 subs duuuude
Congrats man! with your amazingly well theorized video essays, you def earned my sub bro
Continue doing what you love and have patience, for I am watching your career with great interest
Can't stop won't stop. Thanks, and don't worry, I'm pretty stubborn.
Finally another in depth into the game world and after actions observations video.
Subbed to see more stuff like this.
More to come, thanks so much!
Well said, well shown, you’ve earned my attention
Always loved this game, played it upon release as well, but not thoroughly, so it was nice to see this
Appreciate it! I'm a firm believer that this game can be rewarding no matter how deep you dig into it.
For such a small channel I am in love with your ability to make video essays. Keep up the good work!
Thanks, I'll certainly try!
You deserve more reps for this
Thanks so much!
I know people talk a lot about the content of the video itself. But that thumbnail is absolutely gorgeous
I played this game exactly once. In that playthrough, I did the Ghost, Poetic Justice, and Mostly Flesh and Steel. It made for an interesting experience, but I definitely look back and wonder if I would have enjoyed it more if I had actually engaged with the magical upgrades. Tried going back to do another playthrough, but just couldn't motivate myself beyond the prologue.
That was a really stiff challenge to set yourself for the first playthrough, wow! I can see it being tough to get through the prologue on subsequent playthroughs if it's similar to how the rest of your first run went before you really get to start experimenting with your powers.
I absolutely loved this game and played it multiple times. At the start of the video when you said "thinking back to my first playthrough.." all I could think of was me getting confused, frustrated, and giving up and not picking up the game again until months later.
A fantastic video.
I'm so glad you were eventually able to get through it! Do you remember the moment where it finally clicked for you?
@@Beregond13 Unfortunately my memory isn't always so reliable but it's good I picked it up again. Truly a fantastic piece of media.
In dishonored 2, I went around one map knocking out all the guards and putting them in the same pile, I had legit like 15 bodies. I came back and they were all eaten alive by the big things while unconscious. Whoops
Oof, I'll have to watch out for that.
@@Beregond13 *rats not the big things. But yeah you can’t leave them on the ground or they’ll get killed and it counts as you killing them so you’ll get the bad ending
@@Beregond13 *literally turned the corner to see a horde of rats eating 15 unconscious ppl , whoops “well I tried, A for effort” lol
@@Allen667sjja I mean in the end, that's all that matters, right?
Honestly, I’m blown away by the attention to detail you put into this video. It’s a deft analysis and I couldn’t agree more! Also I wanna make special mention of your vocabulary; it’s extensive and very impressive! I penned at least ten words from this video alone. Excellent work! Keep going :)
wow I had no clue the expansions had so much content.
I guess it's time for me to get back to the first game.
That was definitely my impression too this time around. When I had played it back in the day I only did a little of the expansions then wrote them off as just a few extra levels with no other redeeming qualities. Well worth it though!
Can't believe my algorithm blessed me with such a hidden gem, unreal how you don't even have 1k subs, you can now count me as one of them!
Thanks so much!
30:00 the boyles have a tragic overall background in the lore of Dishonored.
The “Lady Boyle” who was Burrows’ lover was Waverly in the lore, and canonically in the lore she gets given to brimsby.
The island he takes her too is owned by his family as they are quite wealthy, after a short period of time Brimsby dies after he falls off a cliff, supposedly.
So waverly takes over the island and fortune of his family and stays there doing whatever she wants basically.
After she disappears, esme becomes a worse version of what she was but soon becomes very mature and competent as her sister Lydia is basically emotionally broken. She has her committed to an asylum officially but secretly hides her in the attic of the Boyle manor, she doesn’t want to lose her last sister.
In the comic/book publications a cruel user of the Voids power takes Lydia from the house and reveals her at the annual Boyle party where he has her killed, esme , corvo and Emily are all in attendance.
Yeah I remember reading some of that in my research for the game, their wealth and power doesn't seem to matter much in the end, I had forgotten that the party had Corvo and Emily as guests, thanks for the info!
This is a very great video and I don't know why TH-cam recommended it to me now six months later. Would like to see a video on the second installment of Dishonored. Keep it up dude!
It will happen, that's the plan!
@@Beregond13 Can't wait! And dude really props to you for doing this video, not to mention the one that's on the way and you for even wanting to film it. I am a fanatic of Dishonored and I played it in almost every possible way and the expansions and even now, even when I knew what's gonna happen if you do this, do that, still to this day game makes your decisions weigh heavily on your shoulders and I am fascinated that it can still do that, but I don't know if I could say the same for the second installment.
Would love to see your opinion on the matter and,oh, by the way did you hear that Maurus was dragged off by the overseers,because of some black magic nonsense?
When I read “ten years later” I had to take a second. Ended up taking more than a second.
:) It does sneak up on one, doesn't it?
I watched the entire video from start to finish ready for some binge watching but i was shocked to see that this was the first video essay on a video game of yours on this channel. I'm shocked cause it was so well done!!! Can't wait for what's to come and it's amazing seeing such a big spike in views, hopefully it feels as rewarding as it looks, gl for all that's to come
Thank you so much! It's been so rewarding to see people responding to the video, and I'm excited to keep experimenting and pushing myself in the vids to come.
I didn’t play the Dishonored games. I’m fascinated by the setting, but I’m terrible at stealth games. The Heart was always fascinating to me though. And up until now, after years of knowing about it, I only just now learn that it’s the Empress’s heart. And my mind has been blown like a thrown vat of whale oil.
If I can blow somebody's mind with some hidden bit of info or lore, I'll go to bed a happy man. Glad that the games are interesting enough to you to want to know more even without playing them!
It took me multiple playthroughs to figure it out. Also the game is still playable even if you don't bother trying to be steadily, so I'd recommend.
Extremely high quality video. Thank you!
You're very welcome! Glad you enjoyed it!
My favourite thing about this game was always the heart
even though its made by a literal god it looks like it was forged by some hillbilly lunatic.
It brought back memories of seeing people's custom wired speaker set ups and underglow on their cars.
That's a fantastic way to describe the heart, you must have seen some pretty crazy setups in your day.
I think for Campbell, the nonlethal option is clearly the worse one. He dies either way. The "nonlethal" way just makes it a whole lot slower and more painful, but filled with more shame and despair.
Yeah it's pretty rough, but I think it comes down to which one you think he deserves, and his note confirming his lack of remorse has always sealed the deal, for me at least.
Tried playing on hard and was spotted instantly in the shadows 20 feet away. Yeah, the stealth couldve been better
The stealth system really didn't let you rely on shadows much, it's true. Much more of a 'are you on the same plane as them with no obstructions' kind of system. I adapted to it, but I can understand why being spotted in the shadows could be irksome.
Great video. Dishonored is my favourite game of all time, and this video does it justice.
Really glad you think so, thanks a lot!
This vid took me back! Great analysis. It's amazing how satisfying the gameplay remains to this day. My one big disappointment with the game is how lame the last mission is in Low Chaos. I prefer Low Chaos, but the High Chaos ending has so much more tension and drama. It's almost worth doing High Chaos just to get Pendleton and Martin's hilariously pathetic stand-off.
My second (small) disappointment is that you can't do anything for the guy in the flooded district who says he just wants to die somewhere peaceful. I hauled him across the entire map only to have to leave him at the exit. ):
Yeah, really wish there had been some last twist to keep you on your toes during low chaos, even if I can see what they were going for. Perishing in the flooded district is far from peaceful, definitely agree with you there too.
Lady Boyles non lethal option is actually brilliant. "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."- H.P Lovecraft.
Tell someone exactly how you will torture them and it will scare them... leaving out details and letting their imagination fill in the blanks will terrify them.
I will admit the lack of specifics on what exactly was going to happen did let the imagination run wild.
3:34 - Btw, you can change this in the files with ease.
Rn mine allows me to stack upto 50.
That's good to know, appreciate the info. Haven't really spent much time messing with the files, but I'll have to take a look the next time I go back in.
That was a great video! You definitely deserve a larger audience since its clear the effort you've put into this
That's so kind of you to say! The work was for it's own sake, but seeing all these great comments has really been special, it means a lot!
I really enjoyed the video, will you still make one for Dishonored 2?
Yes, things are moving slowly but they are moving! Glad you enjoyed this one.
@@Beregond13 Thanks for the update!
An Incredible video for such a new channel, looking forward to seeing you grow :)
Thank you so much! Glad to have you around.
Really nice Video, i love Dishonored and this Video perfectly captured why that is. It's a Sandbox where you can give less than two shi* about the story and massacre everyone or carefully sneak around, listen to interesting Plotpoints and enjoy the horrifying yet beautiful world that they created. So many people hate on it's "Boring revenge" story but many of them haven't taken the time to explore the Details that make it so goddamn immersive!
Still remember being in the Dogcage-Cellar and thinking, wouldnt it be cool to let these Dogs attack their owners? Then searching around finally finding a way to do so was so satisfying ;D
I'll have to see if there's some sort of term that encapsulates that feeling of 'works on the surface but goes a lot deeper if you look' that Dishonored and other games have. Being able to utilize the environment like you did really is indicative of the attention to detail at play in the game.
Exactly made can’t wait to see more from you my friend
More to come! I appreciate it.
I feel that in some cases you miss the point that no decisions are good in such a bad world and you have to live with everything you've done even if it had unintentional consequences. You don't fully discover or understand the fates of the people you've let live until its too late. No matter who you want to be you don't exist in the world alone and your decisions will be influenced and compromised by your engagement with others, just like the plague and Emily are influenced by you.
That's a fair point, but I felt that since the developers spent most of the game reinforcing which moral choices they preferred the most, that took out that aspect of being forced to live with what you'd done. If there'd been more ambiguity in that setup, for instance if sparing someone had obvious negative consequences later on outside of whatever potentially horrible fate you condemned the spared targets to, I'd have considered that more. Thanks for the comment though!
@@Beregond13 thank you for replying! I really enjoyed the video overall and your channel as a whole.
The fact that you only have 400 subscribers and make videos of this quality is a crime. Amazing video, subscribed.
Thank you, seriously. Means a lot!
Great Video! I watched it over a period of several days and very much enjoyed it. That you have only about 3000 subscribers but 200.000 people watched it speaks for itself. :)
I've been so grateful for the response to the vid, the response has really just been fantastic. Thank you!
i remember the first time i played it, didn't know about the "chaos system" but anyways i tried to bee a good guy and kill almost nobody, it was kinda disappointing having a bad ending just for a couple of deaths, bad people deaths.
but anyways the game is really good and still looks good ^^
Apparently the rule of thumb is to kill no more than about 20 percent of the humans in each level to keep chaos low. The devs seem to really want you to keep your hands clean to get that 'good' ending.
@@Beregond13 i remember avoiding most of the guards and not forgiving some of the bosses
@@geimo Wow, they must really weigh the bosses heavily then if that's all it took
Just found your channel through this video in my recommendations, great video! Looking forward to more!!
Thanks so much! Definitely more to come, stay tuned!
that was a really good listen. thank you for your hard work!
Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed it.
You can stop the attack on the boat before it happens if you explore the docks area just before bringing the engine coil back. In one of the corners behind the boat, the attack force will be holed up, and with bend time and a stun mine, or some grenades, you can easily clear them out without being seen.
dishonored is one of my favorite immersive sims ever, and arkane will likely always be my favorite immersive sim studio
Outside of the sequels to Dishonored, I think I've played most of their stuff except for Deathloop, which I'm looking forward to getting around to eventually.
@@Beregond13 deathloop certainly isnt their best work, but its arkane so its still a good game
Yeah that sounds like saying Dark Souls whatever isn't FromSoft's best, it's still Fromsoft, the floor is gonna be pretty damn high.
Dude, well fucking done. Can’t wait for Dishonored 2. Is that a Masque of the Red Death reference in the thumbnail?
Eyes up Guardian!
That is indeed a Masque of Red Death reference, major props to Judas Salieri, the artist who did the piece!
I have always loved this game from the moment i played it to finding your video today, welp looks like im doing a run this weekend including all of the dlc. Thanks for the hour of great content. Subscribed!
Hope you enjoy it!
Aww this was absolutely great. I definitely am not only subbing but I'm going to keep up and make sure I see all of your new content.
That's so nice of you to say! We'll see you around then!
Everything you say here is greatly put. I'm very surprised you don't have more subs. You definitely deserve millions with this kind of content
I appreciate that! Your views are more than enough though, thanks for watching!
i normally don't watch videos longer than 10 minutes, but here i am, watching an 1.17H video.
brilliant work.
Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed it.
“And yet you chose mercy… extraordinary”
That's a good line, hits me a lot harder after you play him in the DLC.
You have been blessed by the algorithm. Give thanks to your new, unknown, and fickle God.
All seriousness, congratulations and I look forward to future works.
Praise be to the algorithm. Praise be.
Thanks :)
really well put together video essay great job.
Much appreciated! Thanks for watching.
One of my favorite games. Fantastic video man!!
Thanks for the visit, really glad you enjoyed it!
One of the best dishonored videos i've seen. Hope you get to 2 sometime
Thank you so much, it means a lot!
Great video! Truly one of the best games made in terms of art direction, player choice and story telling. You did the game justice and more. 👏
That's high praise, I really appreciate it!
An all time video essay man. I've watched this maybe a dozen times, you've got shades on Noah Gervais and Warlockracy. Just awesome.
That is so nice to hear, thank you so much. Really, really touched.
@@Beregond13 Of course man:)
I would really like to see you do a project on Dishonored 2 and thanks so much for doing a video on Dishonored, I enjoyed every bit of it :)
Thanks a lot! It will happen, hopefully sooner rather than later.
Amazing reflection on one of my favorite games of all time, the things that works and the things that quite don't.
There's just something about the world building of this franchise that I can't leave behind. I'll always remember feelings it gave to me.
And yes would absolutely love a Dishonored 2 video!
Really glad the game and the video resonated with you, more to come for sure!
It was a gesamtkunstwerk, a perfect specimen where everything makes sense and everything fits together. There aren't many of these.
There’s an English word for that it’s called the tightest shit ever
That's the first time that I've heard that term applied to a game, and it actually feels pretty appropriate!
@@Beregond13 right? You don't really see a work of gaming art this compact very often. It all works for the whole - the mechanics, the artwork, the lore, even the fucking names of the characters
@@kloakovalimonada Any other games qualify for you?
@@Beregond13 the first Bioshock for example
Great job making this video the effort really showed!
Thank you very much!
@@Beregond13 No problem G 😎
Amazing video, man. Can't wait to see your other works.
Soon (TM). As in possibly next week soon :) The wheels grind slowly, but they grind!