General Gaming Dishonored 2 is a masterpiece

[ShreddieMercury]

I bought the Dishonored bundle a while back, and after completing the first one (which I liked) I fell off of the second one pretty quickly and played something else.  A few weeks ago, after looking through my download library on PS4, I decided to give it another go.  After 20 odd hours and almost two complete playthroughs, Dishonored 2 is one hell of a videogame.

 

While it was well received critically, I get the sense that it's a bit underrated, and it did not fare too well financially.  That's a shame, because once it clicks, it's absolutely one of the most immersive, fun, and mind-blowing games I've played in years.  The way that you can layer your supernatural abilities, coupled with some all-time-great level design, has led to countless incredible emergent moments through both of my playthroughs.

 

I think I fell off initially because I played it like a straight up stealth game - be advised, it is way more fun to use the abilities that the game gives you.  While you might create more "chaos", which leads to more environmental challenges and a more cynical ending (depending on how lethal you are), it absolutely seems like that is how the designers intended the game to be played.  Things really open up when you start a New Game +, because you have access to all of the abilities from both protagonists, as well as all of your resources and stat buffs from the previous run.

 

I highly recommend this game to anybody that may have fallen off of it or that was put off by the opening couple of hours.  Similarly to Prey, the more you put into the game, the more you'll get out of it. 

 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Dishonored 2 is VERY much a masterpiece of the "immersive sim" sub-genre.

 

Now, go play Death of the Outsider which is ACTUALLY BETTER than Dishonored 2 in some respects!

[Brian]

The gameplay from Dishonored is the main reason why I struggled with Prey. It really has some fantastic mechanics that work beautifully together. 

[gamer.tv]

Now there's a game series that I should play, but may never get around too.

[ShreddieMercury]

40 minutes ago, SFLUFAN said:

Dishonored 2 is VERY much a masterpiece of the "immersive sim" sub-genre.

 

Now, go play Death of the Outsider which is ACTUALLY BETTER than Dishonored 2 in some respects!

I'm going to as soon as I'm done with my second run!  I read that it eliminates the chaos system, which is really the only downside of 2 in my estimation.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

29 minutes ago, ShreddieMercuryRising said:

I'm going to as soon as I'm done with my second run!  I read that it eliminates the chaos system, which is really the only downside of 2 in my estimation.

Yep - no Chaos System as it doesn't really match with Billie Lurk's character for there to be one with her.

[Moa]

The chaos system kind of turns me off these games. If I'm playing a first person action game I want to RIP and TEAR not think about the consequences of my actions. I only played dishonored 1, but I felt like it encouraged me to play it in the least fun way.

[Xbob42]

Game still has performance issues for me, which continues to mar the experience. Dishonored 1 ran like dreamy butter and was, so far, equally as fun to play.

I keep reinstalling the damn thing to give it another try and it always continues to struggle to hit 60, it just feels stuttery and weird.

48 minutes ago, Moa said:

The chaos system kind of turns me off these games. If I'm playing a first person action game I want to RIP and TEAR not think about the consequences of my actions. I only played dishonored 1, but I felt like it encouraged me to play it in the least fun way.

It's literally like "more rats" and then a different ending video, which you can Youtube. It's barely any "consequences" at all. Do what's most fun. You won't be punished for it in any way that matters.

[TheLeon]

I tend to play these games looking to score a low overall body count, but not go completely stealth/pacifist. Like, I’m going to try and be sneaky, but if someone catches me I’ll just kill ‘em, dump the body, and move on. I’ve been thinking lately about revisiting 1 and/or 2. They’re some of my favorite games. 

[legend]

My favorite moment in Dishonored 2 was I was trying to be non-lethal and sneaky, so I tranquilized a guy eating at a dinner table. From the tranq he slumped forward, knocking the candle ontop of himself, thereby setting himself on fire and dying.

 

I loled so hard.

[Bloodporne]

This has been on my list for a while. Dishonored was fucking great and I absolutely love Prey.

 

Will be picking this up soon and throwing in my two cents. 

 

On the other hand, speaking of Immersive Sims, I keep bouncing off Deus Ex: Mankind Divided despite having really enjoyed Human Revolution. I've tried three times now and the game is beautiful, plays well but feels weirdly overwhelming to me in its tutorial stage to the point I lose interest and just play something else every time so far. Visually, HUD-wise, gameplay-wise...it feels so incredibly busy I get overwhelmed and just quit. 

[Kal-El814]

BUMP this thread, finished my first run through the game. Hard difficulty as Emily, got Shadow, Clean Hands, and Flesh and Steel. Great, great game.

[Mr.Vic20]

One of the best series in the last 10 years! 

[Kal-El814]

1 minute ago, Mr.Vic20 said:

One of the best series in the last 10 years! 

 

It’s quite good!

 

Thinking back, I believe I got mostly Flesh and Steel when I played Dishonored… I don’t know that I’ve used a single power other than Blink in the first one, and I don’t think I’ve killed anyone

[stepee]

It’s weirdly overlooked when people talk about the great last gen games isn’t it? It’s fucking fantastic.

[Kal-El814]

20 minutes ago, stepee said:

It’s weirdly overlooked when people talk about the great last gen games isn’t it? It’s fucking fantastic.

 

Yeah, it’s really excellent! I know for a lot of folks last gen was really when cinematic games took the fore, but stuff like this and Hitman 1 & 2 are just so, so, good.

[gamer.tv]

On 4/21/2019 at 9:45 PM, gamer.tv said:

Now there's a game series that I should play, but may never get around too.

Two years later and I knew the score.

[best3444]

I honestly can't even remember if I played this game or not. I was hoping I replied in this thread when it was initially made. My memory as of late is really terrible. Almost to the point in being concerned.  😟 

[HardAct]

On 4/21/2019 at 3:34 PM, Xbob42 said:

Game still has performance issues for me, which continues to mar the experience. Dishonored 1 ran like dreamy butter and was, so far, equally as fun to play.

I keep reinstalling the damn thing to give it another try and it always continues to struggle to hit 60, it just feels stuttery and weird.

It's literally like "more rats" and then a different ending video, which you can YouTube. It's barely any "consequences" at all. Do what's most fun. You won't be punished for it in any way that matters.

     I have tried to play this game a few times and like you LOVED Dishonored 1! It runs like crap, it's always got a floaty feeling to it and like  Xbob42 said frame rate is all over the place. It's a shame, it's a game that is always nagging me in the back of the head to get a playthrough done. I only have it on Steam, maybe I'll try in Xbox 1x and see if that's any better? 32gigs ram @3200, i7 9700k, 2080ti this game just isn't optimized well for PC, well maybe my PC I'll just say that! 

[GameDadGrant]

There was a Dishonored part 1? I thought I knew what game this might have been a sequel to, but the way it’s described is totally different than what I had in mind. I thought this was a game about Vikings fighting knights or samurai or something? 

[TheLeon]

17 minutes ago, GameDadGrant said:

There was a Dishonored part 1? I thought I knew what game this might have been a sequel to, but the way it’s described is totally different than what I had in mind. I thought this was a game about Vikings fighting knights or samurai or something? 

You're thinking of For Honor. This series is very different. 

[Firewithin]

give us more Dishonored Arkane you cowards!

[Nokt]

2 hours ago, Firewithin said:

give us more Dishonored Arkane you cowards!

I’ll take another prey while we’re at it.

[GameDadGrant]

3 hours ago, TheLeon said:

You're thinking of For Honor. This series is very different. 

 

Ah yes, that's it. Wanna know something weird? I was going through the games in my basement just now and I actually own the original Dishonored on 360. Obviously never played it, though. D'oh. 

[Keyser_Soze]

35 minutes ago, GameDadGrant said:

 

Ah yes, that's it. Wanna know something weird? I was going through the games in my basement just now and I actually own the original Dishonored on 360. Obviously never played it, though. D'oh. 

 

Fire it up!

[HardAct]

    Thank you for making this thread !!

 

     Like I said above I have always been sorry I never played through D2's campaign as D1 is one of my favorite games ever! It has always ran weirdly though so I just shelved it, even uninstalling it last year after giving it one last go!

 

     That said, I went to CDkey.com and bought Resident Evil 8: The Village deluxe for PC / Steam and Dishonored2 was on my mind as RE8 is a ways away. I looked and to my surprise and I do not know why, it's on GamePassUltimate. So I downloaded it on my xbox one x and I am now playing through one of those games I slighted but always wanted to playthrough! I'll comment here again when I finish, it seems to be running well on my 1X so here goes......

 

THANK YOU!

[Keyser_Soze]

2 minutes ago, HardAct said:

I looked and to my surprise and I do not know why, it's on GamePassUltimate. So I downloaded it on my xbox one x and I am now playing through one of those games I slighted but always wanted to playthrough! I'll comment here again when I finish, it seems to be running well on my 1X so here goes......

 

Microsoft recently acquired Bethesda. As a result a bunch of Bethesda games, including Dishonored, became a part of Game  Pass.

[Kal-El814]

Thinking about it more, I would say one of my favorite things about it is that even while playing with no powers, there are very few “dead ends” and exploration is almost always rewarding.

[ShreddieMercury]

58 minutes ago, Kal-El814 said:

Thinking about it more, I would say one of my favorite things about it is that even while playing with no powers, there are very few “dead ends” and exploration is almost always rewarding.

 

It has absolutely stellar level design, and the same could be said about most of Arkane's games.  Now that you've played it without powers, I would highly encourage a replay where you wreak havoc and ignore the chaos system.  Death of the Outsider eschews that system entirely, and it seems obvious that the designers really wanted players to experiment with all of the abilities.

[Kal-El814]

2 hours ago, ShreddieMercuryRising said:

 

It has absolutely stellar level design, and the same could be said about most of Arkane's games.  Now that you've played it without powers, I would highly encourage a replay where you wreak havoc and ignore the chaos system.  Death of the Outsider eschews that system entirely, and it seems obvious that the designers really wanted players to experiment with all of the abilities.

 

Yeah, Death of the Outsider is on my list.

[HardAct]

     About half way through the D2 campaign and like I always knew it would be I't great. I chose to play as the girl and am having a good time waiting for RE8 to be able to be downloaded already from steam! I going in as a woman on a revenge mission, seemed fitting, I'm killing everything even though i've tried to play as quiet as possible, shit seems to always go flying all over the place anyways....!

[heydude93]

Didn't quite finish this when I played it, but still enjoyed the experience. It's rare that a game makes me want to explore every nook and cranny and read into the environment so much.  If I have any critique it's that adding a physics system and ability to interact w/ everything like in Half-Life 2 or Prey would add a lot more depth to gameplay and immersion, so that was maybe a missed opportunity (unless it wasn't technically possible).  Anywho, I should revisit the series and play through all of them soon.

[Massdriver]

On 5/1/2021 at 7:37 PM, Kal-El814 said:

BUMP this thread, finished my first run through the game. Hard difficulty as Emily, got Shadow, Clean Hands, and Flesh and Steel. Great, great game.

Got Shadow and Clean Hands, but didn't try for Flesh and Steel. Oddly enough I thought I got these achievements for Dishonored 1, but I guess not because they're not in my profile. What the hell!

 

I did get Shadow and Agent of Mercy in Death of the Outsider as well.

 

 

[HardAct]

Great first 3 chapters, just starting the 4th this afternoon. Gonna push to finish today or night as RE8 is downloading now on steam and I'm very excited about that!

[Rev]

On 4/21/2019 at 7:33 PM, legend said:

My favorite moment in Dishonored 2 was I was trying to be non-lethal and sneaky, so I tranquilized a guy eating at a dinner table. From the tranq he slumped forward, knocking the candle ontop of himself, thereby setting himself on fire and dying.

 

I loled so hard.

When I played Dishonored 1, I tried to be perfectly stealthy and non lethal and I slowly knocked out and dragged like every single enemy over to this plank off of which I dropped them into a nice little pile. Once I was done and had cleared the whole level, I realized that none of them survived the 10 foot or so drop.