My problems with Dishonored- a bit of constructive criticism.

[distortedreality]

That's why I'm hoping for a sequel that will hopefully expand to an open world.

I don't think they would be able to make a sequel, the endings cut off all loose ends and due to the whole "good" and "bad" conclusions they would have a hard to continue it

All the loose ends with Corvo maybe - i'd argue that the Outsider is the main protagonist of the game, and we know fuck all about him and his motives. There's still a MASSIVE story to be told in the Dishonored world.

 

[DrunkenMonkey]

The better question is how would the story have continued, in other words what would be the motivation to travel around the isles. I don't think using Emily as a carrot would work for the whole ride because I can tell you that would get old fast. It would be like your princess is in another castle times a 10.

Leaving the story in Dunwall seems like the right choice, they kept it tight and focused. If they attempted to fit other places it would probably turn into a case of quantity over quality fast. Which would destroy the rich narrative, and informational pieces. On the other hand closing off Corvo's story is refreshing, no more waiting years for a possible sequel in order to actually see the true ending. So I'll give the rushed epilogue a pass just on those merits. Then again all this could have been solved, done better, or fixed with more time and money, which is something developers never seem to have (aside from steam and freaking square)

 

[drummond13]

It's lucky that I gave it as high as a 4.

I bet the designers feel really lucky some random guy on forums deigned to give their 91 on Metacritic game a 4. They were deeply concerned your review would be lower. I think I can hear their sighs of relief from here.

 

[Brutal Peanut]

I was chomping at the bit for more information about a certain part of the game:

Spoiler

The relationship between Corvo and Emily. Is he the Father? Yes, it's heavily implied if you do enough snooping and that's the conclusion I think most people came to, but I wish they had just touched down on that some more. A flash-back, a painting, perhaps more journal entries...

I dunno. Just wish I had more there and I don't even 'why' I want more. I JUST DO. XD

 

[distortedreality]

Leaving the story in Dunwall seems like the right choice, they kept it tight and focused. If they attempted to fit other places it would probably turn into a case of quantity over quality fast.

I actually look at it like I did with the Witcher - the more of the world we get to explore, the more opportunity for great stories to be told. I know what you're saying, but in the right hands, moving outside of a comfort zone can be great for a game franchise.

 

[Kellogs Fried Chickn]

Although well executed I would not call this a mechanically impressive game. They could have added much depth with the current mechanics had they expanded them a bit.

AI still shoots the game in the foot - no, it'll never be good enough. The guards should start noticing when half of them are absent, sleeping in a dumpster. The game fails in stealth runs as you can take as much time with them as you like, knocking them out and dragging them to a nearby dumpster, often noticing there are less bodies than there should be, creepy.

You clearly must have been playing on easy. Even on normal, guards DO notice when their friends have gone missing and will actually start searching for their bodies. Trust me, taking out the High Overseer on a 'no-kills/no alarms' playthrough is a pain in the arse. The chair where you have to place Campbell and brand him is patrolled by two guards on slightly different routes. Both have to be taken out within 30 seconds of one another or they'll notice their missing friend, start searching and then find the knocked-out Campbell in the torture chamber. What makes it even more difficult is that there is a third guard who will note the disappearance of the other two after a few minutes. Much re-loading was required to get this section right.

Also, on hard and above, the guard's perceptions increase enormously.

I'm have no recollection of mucking with the difficulty and yet had the entirety of Campbell's men piled into four stashes. As for the additional men who appear after the meeting, I dealt with them easily enough, waiting in the library and taking out the two who enter it, making the third one easy prey.
I never noticed a guard looking for others, they did switch routes though, at least three extra men went to patrol the courtyard one at a time - the fools! - but I think they were the ones in front of the gate as they seemed absent as I snuck out with the capt'n.

 

[DrunkenMonkey]

Leaving the story in Dunwall seems like the right choice, they kept it tight and focused. If they attempted to fit other places it would probably turn into a case of quantity over quality fast.

I actually look at it like I did with the Witcher - the more of the world we get to explore, the more opportunity for great stories to be told. I know what you're saying, but in the right hands, moving outside of a comfort zone can be great for a game franchise.

Key phrase here is "in the right hands" Arkane studios isn't exactly the developer that would be able to pull that off correctly. That's my opinion though.

 

[Woodsey]

I mentioned this in my user review: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.391371-Woodsey-Weviews-DishonoUred

It feels as if the game knows it should bring elements to the fore whilst leaving others in the background, but not which ones. The story itself certainly feels undeveloped, and a lot of stuff is foreshadowed that is never given a bigger bit of screen time towards the end. Other stuff suffered from over exposure but under-development, The Outsider most obviously. The story itself is tight, but incredibly loose and flailing in places.

It did leave me pretty cold when I finished it, I must admit. But replaying a mission and fucking with the guards heartens me up again.

I was chomping at the bit for more information about a certain part of the game:

Spoiler

The relationship between Corvo and Emily. Is he the Father? Yes, it's heavily implied if you do enough snooping and that's the conclusion I think most people came to, but I wish they had just touched down on that some more. A flash-back, a painting, perhaps more journal entries...

I dunno. Just wish I had more there and I don't even 'why' I want more. I JUST DO. XD

I think that was entirely fine. You define their relationship - although it certainly leans more towards a yes come the end of the game.

 

[Catfood220]

My problem with Dishonored, the people in it simply do not like money, there is loads of it just laying around. There are people in this game complaining about being poor and having to search through rubbish to find something to eat, it would be much much easier to simply take a walk around and collect the money that is simply discarded everywhere. It just seems that these people are lazy and unwilling to help themselves.

 

[ResonanceGames]

My problem with Dishonored, the people in it simply do not like money, there is loads of it just laying around. There are people in this game complaining about being poor and having to search through rubbish to find something to eat, it would be much much easier to simply take a walk around and collect the money that is simply discarded everywhere. It just seems that these people are lazy and unwilling to help themselves.

I make a point of shoving all their food down my throat right in front of them out of spite. "Oh, you're hungry, eh? WELL HOW ABOUT THIS CAN OF WHALE MEAT YOU USED TO HAVE!?" NOM NOM NOM

Anyway, I loved the game -- mechanics, AI, art, pretty much everything except the plot, but I do think it should have had 2 or 3 more missions.

 

[teebeeohh]

i liked that they left a lot of thing ambivalent. like how we don't know why the outsider does what he does, we know he gives power to whoever knows how to use it except in rare cases(like corvo) where he actively forces it on people. and i found it weird a lot of people seem to consider him evil, he always came across more of bored god who influences humans because it's fun than someone who actively tries to harm people.
and one thing i really liked was the way the game handled

Spoiler

the betrayal, it was not "muahahahahaha you fell into my obvious trap you had to fall into for the plot to advance you stupid idiot" kinda betrayal but rather something hastily thrown together and i really liked how the whole thing was given way more complexity by the things you learn about the admiral, that he didn't actually expect the plot to work, he expected corvo to fail at some point and for everyone involved to get killed, he wanted to go out with a bang instead of waiting for his city to fall apart around him. even killed his co-conspirators and only didn't kill himself because he knew corvo was coming for him.

oh and the game is really fucking short, especially since my second plathrough is the high chaos all bets are off MDK run that is naturally faster than the stealth run.

oh and fps(first person stealth) is by far the best, just play thief

 

[Kopikatsu]

Then again, I thought using The Heart to read people's thoughts would be interesting, but it's just a few lines that it repeats over and over again with every character, so I'm surprised that's what you found "interesting".

Maybe interesting was the wrong word, but I liked how it basically ok'd me to kill some people. You still get chaos for killing them, but like...'Oh hey, he'll kill a bunch of people and then off himself in a murder-suicide if left alive'. That guy gets a knife to the throat.

I think it would have been better if having a 'negative' quote from the heart (Such as the murder-suicide one) meant that you could kill that person with no negative repercussions and not killing them bumped up the Chaos rating.

 

[Diablo2000]

i liked that they left a lot of thing ambivalent. like how we don't know why the outsider does what he does, we know he gives power to whoever knows how to use it except in rare cases(like corvo) where he actively forces it on people. and i found it weird a lot of people seem to consider him evil, he always came across more of bored god who influences humans because it's fun than someone who actively tries to harm people.
and one thing i really liked was the way the game handled

Spoiler

the betrayal, it was not "muahahahahaha you fell into my obvious trap you had to fall into for the plot to advance you stupid idiot" kinda betrayal but rather something hastily thrown together and i really liked how the whole thing was given way more complexity by the things you learn about the admiral, that he didn't actually expect the plot to work, he expected corvo to fail at some point and for everyone involved to get killed, he wanted to go out with a bang instead of waiting for his city to fall apart around him. even killed his co-conspirators and only didn't kill himself because he knew corvo was coming for him.

oh and the game is really fucking short, especially since my second plathrough is the high chaos all bets are off MDK run that is naturally faster than the stealth run.

oh and fps(first person stealth) is by far the best, just play thief

I like the fact that the villains are not the "mwahahahah! I am evil!" type of guy.
Maybe the Spymaster, but even then when you find later in the game to kill him, he just seem broken and paranoid thanks your actions.

I liked also to point out that even the nonlethal options is not "moral choice system" some nonlethal can be worse than death like:

Spoiler

By the end of the Lady Boyle mission, I just knew that guy was going to held her hostage, rape her (not said thought, but I had a pretty strong felling that was going to happen) and eventualy kill her. The right "moral choice" I feel was to spare her from that and kill her, but I didn't, I delivered her because the guy was a Loyalist and didn't want to lose any support for the cause.
Horay for moral grey... I guess.

That game was pretty effective in make me feel like a dick.

 

[Woodsey]

The game looks interesting. Nice to see a few different stealth and almost platformer mechanics being implemented in a new setting. Will be waiting till it's £10.

More interested in Hitman, further improvements on the already very good AI from previous games. So good in fact they added another feature where you can challenge each other to assassinate different people in the level and have a different experience. And from what they showed it actually worked,

Hopefully it's as good as it should be,

Good AI is what immerses me. Heard people complaining that they stopped time and killed 6 out of 7 guards in dishounoured and the 7th guard wasn't fazed. Then they threw the head of his fellow guard at him and he didn't care. It's almost 2013, on a game where enemy AI is so important they should of figured out a lot of scenarios.

The new one seems neutered. Levels are stages instead of places, and they've introduced large set-pieces for no fucking reason whatsoever.

I wager it'll be worse than Blood Money - a game so excellent at exemplifying what's best about the series that only an idiot wouldn't build on it (as it seems they haven't).

 

[MegaManOfNumbers]

Although well executed I would not call this a mechanically impressive game. They could have added much depth with the current mechanics had they expanded them a bit.

AI still shoots the game in the foot - no, it'll never be good enough. The guards should start noticing when half of them are absent, sleeping in a dumpster. The game fails in stealth runs as you can take as much time with them as you like, knocking them out and dragging them to a nearby dumpster, often noticing there are less bodies than there should be, creepy.
Have you noticed the communicative devices often stuck to walls? I sure have - they look very dangerous - but luckily my voyeuristic fixations haven't.
Corvo also appears to emit no odors as he keeps passing through kennels of excitable hounds without anyone noticing. Perhaps he really is a ghost, reliving his failure beyond death for the amusement of the Outsider.

A sequel, in terms of Corvo's story, is unlikely. He isn't supposed to be some destined hero buy just a regular elite schmo that failed to prevent a coup and keep to his old loyalties. My hopes lie with reused assets and a prequel in 2014.
I do recall that certain key members of the team would not immediately jump on a sequel, so hopefully enough of the staff would work on it to keep it from straying too far. Or, you know, give it to Obsidian Entertainment, they seem to specialize in story and sequels, but we'll have to get used to bugs instead of rats.

We could call this "The Outsider Series". Imagine if the sequel talked about another character in the same universe given powers by The Outsider.

 

[Fraught]

Then again, I thought using The Heart to read people's thoughts would be interesting, but it's just a few lines that it repeats over and over again with every character, so I'm surprised that's what you found "interesting".

Maybe interesting was the wrong word, but I liked how it basically ok'd me to kill some people. You still get chaos for killing them, but like...'Oh hey, he'll kill a bunch of people and then off himself in a murder-suicide if left alive'. That guy gets a knife to the throat.

I think it would have been better if having a 'negative' quote from the heart (Such as the murder-suicide one) meant that you could kill that person with no negative repercussions and not killing them bumped up the Chaos rating.

Wow, that is actually a ridiculously good idea.

Also, I think you should've been able to initiate sidequests by reading the right people with the Heart. That would've been neat.

 

[teebeeohh]

I like the fact that the villains are not the "mwahahahah! I am evil!" type of guy.
Maybe the Spymaster, but even then when you find later in the game to kill him, he just seem broken and paranoid thanks your actions.

I liked also to point out that even the nonlethal options is not "moral choice system" some nonlethal can be worse than death like:

Spoiler

By the end of the Lady Boyle mission, I just knew that guy was going to held her hostage, rape her (not said thought, but I had a pretty strong felling that was going to happen) and eventualy kill her. The right "moral choice" I feel was to spare her from that and kill her, but I didn't, I delivered her because the guy was a Loyalist and didn't want to lose any support for the cause.
Horay for moral grey... I guess.

That game was pretty effective in make me feel like a dick.

i actually found each and every single non-lethal option(except the assassin guy) to be way worse than the kills

Spoiler

because they all die sooner rather than later and it's basically the difference between shooting someone in the head and torturing them to death. you even encounter the high overseer in the flooded district as a weeper so he definitely dies, you just put him through a week or so of torment first.the twins most likely wont survive very long since they are not used to hard and lady boyle could live for a long time but it probably would be better for her to die early. the non-lethal for assassin guy is really good since you humiliate him in a way nobody will notice and you still send a clear signal: stay the fuck away from corvo

however this worked for me since i was OK with making most of them suffer before dying

 

[The_Lost_King]

Combat vs Stealth: The game gives you a TON of fun, lethal toys...and every time you even think about using one, it slaps your hand away and makes you sit in the corner with a dunce hat. Even though the game claims to cater to both playstyles (run-'n-gun and ghost), it really doesn't. This is especially apparent in the endings, where there is the 'good' ending for stealth and 'you suck' ending for...not stealth. Sure, you can only kill the few people who really deserve it and still make out with the good ending, but it just doesn't sit right with me. But seriously. You have like twenty weapons/lethal powers...but if you want the good ending, you'll be stuck with only sleeping darts (arrows?) and choking people out. Woo. Fun. Corvo's arsenal makes it seem as though you should be fighting your way through the stages, but the game punishes you for that. No vital information for you! Or more equipment. Or the good ending. Oh, running low on coins because you needed health potions 'cause you weren't sneaking around? Have some more guards! But go stealth? You'll have about ten times more items and money than you'll ever need because you never use anything but Blink, Possession, and Sleep Darts/Arrows. And there are less guards running around, so stealth becomes even easier as you go on.

It is not a worse, "You suck ending." it is a different, Darker ending. While the good ending makes you feel good because of the praise you get for restraining yourself but the dark ending is epic and what you would expect after bathing in enemies blood.

Also I did stealth non-lethal first and I didn't notice there being much more guards, there were definitely more weepers but the only time I noticed more guards it that there were more tall boys outside a certain target's place.

 

[Ix Rebound]

That's why I'm hoping for a sequel that will hopefully expand to an open world.

I don't think they would be able to make a sequel, the endings cut off all loose ends and due to the whole "good" and "bad" conclusions they would have a hard to continue it

Not really, Fallout frequently tells people their ending is wrong and no one seems to care.

good point

 

[Dfskelleton]

While I enjoy the game, my problem is that the game gives you all of these fun, unique ways to kill your targets... and then slaps you and yells "YOU EVIL BASTARD!" if you use any of them. In Thief (a game that comes up a lot when I think of Dishonored), the nonlethal options were always emphasized, partially by the fact that you had nothing but some plain arrows and a gimpy sword to defend yourself with, but mainly by the game itself; you play as a Thief, not a killer. You're not there to kill some high ranking official or political enemy, you're there to take all the goods and money you can pocket and get out undetected.

In Dishonored, you're a highly trained assasin with mystical powers, and despite the fact that it's your freaking job to kill people, you're deducted points for doing it. Hell, the tagline of the game is "Revenge solves everything". It never says "Knocking people unconscious and stuffing them in a dumpster solves everything".
It's like handing someone a delicious carton of chocolate milk and saying "Drink up!", and as soon as they finish drinking it, you yell "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?"