Dishonored

[Prime Operative]

I just finished my second playthrough of Dishonored and I guess I was underwhelmed.

The biggest problem with the game is that it seems like it could be so much more. In a gameplay perspective, it's fun enough. It reminds me of Thief, which is a good thing. However, I feel like I didn't get enough chances to play around with the game's mechanics due to it being so short.

The length of the game was not apparent in my first playthrough, me being distracted with exploring every nook and cranny, but once I finished and started it back up, I finished it in a single afternoon. And with a lot of saving and reloading, mind you, since I decided that my second playthrough would be a pure stealth one without killing a single enemy.

But the biggest problem mentioned above comes from its story and setting. Not that they're bad, mind you. Quite the contrary: they're some of the most interesting I've seen in recent years.

However, they seem to be a bit underdeveloped. You kind of get the feel of a big world somewhere out there, but you never get a change to play through it.

On the other hand, I loved the fact that they never mention some plot information outright and that you can only find about some stuff by playing the right way (I'm not going to mention any of these because I'm not sure how to tag spoilers) but these details are so infrequent that they only leave me wondering what could have been. Plus, a lot of information is still missing, almost as if it is sequel fodder.

In a few words, it's a good game but it goes by so fast that it almost feels like there's a whole act missing.

Anyway, I'd like to get some opinions on this. Oh, and thanks for reading

 

[Ilosar]

The game IS a bit on the short side. If there's replay value it's not that bad (Fallout 1 is clear proof of this) but it could really have used 2 or 3 more missions. Preferably assassinations.

[spoiler:21cf11bb3e]I mean, 4 (OK technically 5) people disposed of and its off to meet the Lord Regent? What an easily toppled regime.[/spoiler:21cf11bb3e]

I mean, I love it (as my new avatar shows) and I'm also almost finished with my second playthrough, but things are over too quickly. it's the only real criticism I can give the game; I love everything else about it.

At least, it doesn't seem like there is any filler level, everything has a place plot-wise and gameplay-wise. Deus Ex 1 was a game that had several filler levels and it detracted from the experience IMO.

That being said, I'm still having a blast. My first game was the typical stealthy, explory approach, albeit it wasn't a no-kill one. It was methodical and tactical. My second playthrough is High Chaos, and holy molly can you get creative with the violence in this game. I love herding the guards or Weepers, stopping time, planting a mine at their feet, then BOOM. Or letting them come, throwing a grenade at my feet, then Blinking away. Or summon rats and snipe them while they fend off the rodents. Or just good old swordfighting, which works pretty well in this game thanks to the enemy actually, you know, dodging instead of standing there taking the hits. It's light years ahead of, say, Skyrim's floaty combat where the enemy's only hope of defeating you is having a truckload of HP. In Dishonored you have to think ahead and have quick reflexes, especially in Very Hard where you die in 3 hits without upgrades. Arkane's experience with Dark Messiah is very obvious.

I finished it in a single afternoon. And with a lot of saving and reloading, mind you, since I decided that my second playthrough would be a pure stealth one without killing a single enemy.

Your afternoons are ridiculously long. Even my current playthrough, which is all violence with fairly minimal exploration ( justenough to find Runes and Charms), clocks at 9 hours and I still have 2 missions to go.

 

[Surf Solar]

Edit: posted in wrong thread, damn mobile phone, please delete.

 

[Prime Operative]

The game IS a bit on the short side. If there's replay value it's not that bad (Fallout 1 is clear proof of this) but it could really have used 2 or 3 more missions. Preferably assassinations.

[spoiler:e0a308cb5e]I mean, 4 (OK technically 5) people disposed of and its off to meet the Lord Regent? What an easily toppled regime.[/spoiler:e0a308cb5e]

I mean, I love it (as my new avatar shows) and I'm also almost finished with my second playthrough, but things are over too quickly. it's the only real criticism I can give the game; I love everything else about it.

At least, it doesn't seem like there is any filler level, everything has a place plot-wise and gameplay-wise. Deus Ex 1 was a game that had several filler levels and it detracted from the experience IMO.

That being said, I'm still having a blast. My first game was the typical stealthy, explory approach, albeit it wasn't a no-kill one. It was methodical and tactical. My second playthrough is High Chaos, and holy molly can you get creative with the violence in this game. I love herding the guards or Weepers, stopping time, planting a mine at their feet, then BOOM. Or letting them come, throwing a grenade at my feet, then Blinking away. Or summon rats and snipe them while they fend off the rodents. Or just good old swordfighting, which works pretty well in this game thanks to the enemy actually, you know, dodging instead of standing there taking the hits. It's light years ahead of, say, Skyrim's floaty combat where the enemy's only hope of defeating you is having a truckload of HP. In Dishonored you have to think ahead and have quick reflexes, especially in Very Hard where you die in 3 hits without upgrades. Arkane's experience with Dark Messiah is very obvious.

I finished it in a single afternoon. And with a lot of saving and reloading, mind you, since I decided that my second playthrough would be a pure stealth one without killing a single enemy.

Your afternoons are ridiculously long. Even my current playthrough, which is all violence with fairly minimal exploration ( justenough to find Runes and Charms), clocks at 9 hours and I still have 2 missions to go.

I agree that the combat is pretty good. Best first person melee combat I've seen since I played Zeno Clash.

And regarding said afternoon, I miswrote... It was actually an afternoon and a good part of the evening. Though I must admit I had a lot of free time last Thursday

 

[SuAside]

Finished it today. Took my time to read everything etc, and backtrack multiple times (meaning taking the "alternate" approaches as well instead of just one) just to get more loot.

Overall decent game, but no second coming of the Thief-like games, I guess. Too bad you can see supposed plot twists coming from a mile away. I did expect the Outsider to intervene more towards the ending though.

Replayability is kinda low, I don't expect that most people will play this more than once. A minority will play it 2 times, and a tiny group of achievement hunters will do it more.
I'll play it again since my current playthrough was that of a goody two shoes (bosses always dealt with non-lethal). I think the game gives you a lot of evil shit to work with, so I'll need to see what gruesome ways I can dispatch people.

Overall felt OK, but could've been better if they had spent the voice actor's paychecks on expanding dialogue instead. Was it really necessary to spend money on Chloë Grace Moretz, Susan Sarandon, Lena Headey, Carrie Fisher, etc? If the game did not only have multiple ways to resolve the quests, but also extensive dialogue options, it would've been great.

The most frustrating thing for me is that the ability that allows you to see guards through walls and lootable items also makes the world look like shit (while still failing to highlight books and papers, and actually succeeds at somewhat camouflaging those even). You end up constantly switching between that view mode, and the heart. The second most frustrating thing is that the interface & quick menus were obviously designed for consoles, which means they suck ass on PC.

 

[aenemic]

I just finished my first playthrough and I have to say that I don't quite understand the complaints about the game being short. it took me a few days to finish it and while I did explore a lot, I know that I still missed some stuff. it felt pretty good in length, and I even felt like it got a little bit too long-winded towards the end.

I guess it depends on how you play the game though. in the beginning, I took my sweet time to reload to get assassinations just right and to avoid being seen. if you just blast through it by killing everything, it might be over pretty soon.

I do agree with the Darkvision spell being a bit cumbersome. I had it on probably 90% of the time, which didn't really let me enjoy the aesthetics of the game (it is a pretty good-looking game). and while it made a lot of things a lot easier, I found myself switching out of it constantly to be able to see the environment, where I could go and if there were any books or documents nearby. but then I had to switch it back on to be able to see where the guards were moving. some kind of middle-ground would have been nice.

that said, I think the incorporated the spells pretty well. you can do some awesome things, without it feeling too overpowered. the time-stop ability may be a litte too powerful though.

replayability-wise, I can't really say much before I give it another go. but it definitely feels like I want to play it again and do things differently this time, only to see how much changes. it certainly gives you the illusion of your actions having consequences. it remains to be seen how big these consequences really are.

 

[TorontoReign]

It took me about 18 hours to finish, and I kinda rushed through it. It felt like a decent length of time for a FPS, but without a New Game +, I had no desire to play back through it again. One of the better games released this year for sure. I look forward to a sequel.