*8:18 A Crack In The Slab is not "not even half way through the game" - it's one of the last missions. Just a typo - I had The Clockwork Mansion in my head, which is "not even half way through the game." One thing I forgot to mention in the combat section was that I think adding in some sort of hand to hand combat system would have been cool. We get lots of new nonlethal ways to take down enemies in Dishonored 2, but I think adding in one more element would have been even better. I went back and played some of the Mirror's Edge games a few days ago and I can imagine having some of Faith's melee combos and disarming abilities in Dishonored 2. However, if you watch the GDC talk by the AI team of Dishonored 2 it was pretty clear they already had their hands full with the game... so I think that's just wishful thinking on my part. I hope you guys liked all the sick gameplay I included in the video. I had so many clips of awesome stuff to show - I guess that isn't surprising given how incredible I found the experience. The footage was captured on a Ryzen 5950x/3090 with an average FPS of 140 or so. Frame dips were common during slow motion death cam executions, but not much otherwise. As someone who played on day 1, the current build is a massive improvement for PC players. Thanks for watching! P.S. You can leave me your suggestions for any games you want me to check out down below, I'll make sure to read them. I definitely have plans for Far Cry 6, Battlefield 2042 and upcoming games... but I'm really enjoying the Years Later format as of late. So maybe some underappreciated gems?
I would actually love to see a Doom 3 video. It's really underappreciated and it's my 2nd favorite entry behind Doom Eternal (not to mention that the Marine was goated for a random soldier with no powers)
Thanks a lot for this. It's one of the best tribute to what we tried to do with D2! So cool you noticed the noPower path, it's one of the things we wanted so much to be in the game, but it was so overlooked. Thx again.
they kinda deserve it for making such a bad job with optimisation. It is the same problem with deathloop. Both games suck in that field, while Dishonored 1 was incredibly smooth and felt amazing and responsive to play, which makes it much more appealing.
The first time jump in “a crack in the slab” gave me chills. Going from the dark rundown manor to a vibrant and bright mansion is still one of my favorite things in gaming.
Same! I thought I did something wrong when I knocked out that one guy in the mansion but when I went back to the present and saw the mansion all pretty and well kept was so cool!
Dishonored 2 significantly improved literally every aspect from Dishonored 1 and somehow sold less. I will never understand it, this game is so ridiculously good.
@@prelldeluxe2454 Yep. Gameplay is way better but your actions aren't as meaningful, the characters are not as likeable, the attention to detail just aint there.
the thing that's keeping me from beating this game is the enemies and detetction. I'm good at every other stealth series but this one. I'm replaying it now and I always get caught, idk why I'm so bad at this game
As someone w/ 200+ hours in this game, you showed me many new and creative mechanics I was unaware of like blinding enemies by shooting near their head w/ the pistol
My favourite part of dishonored 2 is that you could finally do a no kills run without trying to be stealthy in the slightest, and yet not be forced to avoid combat either. The non lethal mid combat takedowns were a really nice addition.
@@miumusic6510 you wrote pretty fine, so there are some small problems with lags or the game works great and has been fixed with patches? I'm asking because I'm going to buy this game and I don't want to lose my money
i have heaps of respect for Stephen Russell, but i think his voice was a little too recognizable for the role, having heard him in Fallout 4 and Skyrim a lot, some of the script and its execution's a little weird but nothing terrible having said that, i think i prefer his dialogue in High Chaos, his monotone voice matches this grudgy, vengeful nature
@@thisbubblygoodness7611 That doesn't make sense. We can't just blow off great voice actors just because they're well known. You just have to get past the mental block that keeps telling you it's another character from another game lol
@@echo2413 dude, ya disrespect me by thinking that im blowing off Stephen Russell, he's an amazing voice actor i just think he could have experimented with his voice a little more, he has that very distinct american accent you can't deny that. but the man also voiced the freakin Codsworth handybots in Fallout 4 which i didn't even know until like a year or two ago, that's how good he can be. and look, there's no mental block for me when it comes to Dishonored 2, i love the game so much that Corvo's voice isn't even a problem for me but really just an observation, some people have a problem with Corvo's voice, that's their thing i guess, but it doesn't diminish the game for me for any moment.
Level design is a masterpiece. I remember seeing the trailer with Jindosh mansion and I always wanted to be in it. Having it happen in real time is one of my favourite moments.
What I like about Dishonored is that the narrative and game design is generally simplistic, but the gameplay is sophisticated. No two playthroughs are alike. You can be a psychopathic killer, or you can be a pacifistic ghost. And as you mentioned, there are so many fine details to the game that most people do not take the time to notice.
I urge people to obtain the artbook of Dishonored 2. That stuff is insane you can tell they spent an insane amount of time on the architecture of the places, making the level design both mechanically good but also feel lush an realistic. That and the art of Piotr Jablonsky (as wells as others), just insane
Precisely why not purchasing ANY game at launch and being a patient gamer helps. It was mostly performance patched around 1 year after release and got all 3 on gog for literally pittance. Enjoyed D2 and DotO immensely.
@@frenchfriedbagel7035 no, no it didnt It ran at 30fps capped with major microstutter on the Xbone You probably just didn't know it due to being used to 30fps console gameplay
@@main_stream_media_is_a_joke do u notice a swerve of the reticle and whole view to the left often? Sometimes lil but jist had a big turn to the left with no input from me. Im on ps4, i wonder if im hacked or its a bug. I didnt notice this b4. Mb its cause if old saves idk.
People hate on D2 because D1 fans consider it a top 10 game in all of history and because D2 has miscellaneous shortcomings compared to D1. However, there’s a reason I’ve only played D1 once but played and replayed D2 literally over a dozen times. It’s my comfort game because it’s outrageously diverse and fun.
Titanfall 2 has a "A Crack in the Slab" mission as well. It's a lot less deep of a mechanic and lasts for the duration of that one area, but it's interesting that the parallel exists at all across genres and studios. These games were released the same year.
I love how both games shared the time travel mechanic but both played out very differently! In Titanfall it’s more about quick reflexes as you avoid dangers with the instant jump between timelines (that falling through the fan got me a few times!) , while on the other hand, Dishonored takes it slow and the mechanic is used more to go completely unnoticed or to skip those pesky blood flies- at least from my first playthrough of both amazing games!
I saw a video once where one of the developers talked about the development of the game and the concepts behind it... and what they had to cut out due to time/budget reasons. Especially one cut area just sounded amazing: They had a mission planned where you had to move to Stilton's manor and the Dust District by climbing the huge windmills and pipes above the Dust District. And you could use the windmills and strong winds/storms to fling yourself over large distances, basically almost flying around high above the Dust District! That sounds so amazing and like such a unique different concept I am so mad (or rather: sad) they had to cut it out. It would have easily been as memorable as the Clockwork Mansionn and the Crack in the Slab I think.
I love the fact that this game also hides alot of mechanics in it's on stages. In the clockwork mansion stage, if you don't use any lever or alert any guard, the owner isn't alerted of your presence. The same way in the later stage where you can keep going back or forward in time, if you just knock out the owner of the mansion and hide his body, he doesn't become crazy and you just alter the pass itself. This game is a masterpiece
Is it possible to not use any levers? I just did that mission but I thought you had to use the first one to open up the rest of the atrium and get introduced to the lever system
After years of putting it on my backlog, I finally installed Deus Ex HR and finished it and started Deus Ex MD. And I'm constantly tempted to just go back to the Dishonored games. Even the Doto was better, way better and I thought that was a letdown :)
I loved a crack in the slab. What really impressed me was the real-time changes that took place in the present if you altered the past. Clearing out a bloodfly nest in the past to prevent the infestation in the present was awesome.
This is my favorite game of the series. Emily's story arc that sees her going from apathetic ruler to a politically-active empress. The Royal Conservatory that hammers home how brutal the Brigmore Witch coven was, A Crack in the Slab (and the consequences it has series-wide), and just the fact it has New Game+/Mission Select. The only thing that I despise is that there's no FPS boost for Series X.
Dishonered 2 is what happens when you combine the amazing things modern technology can do with design philosophy from the old era of games, when video games were actually designed as intricate, challenging, free-form experiences with loads of replay value, intresting things to experience or not experience, and a gameplay system that demands you to practice it and become skilled to get the most out of it, with a non linear world that tells its story via atmosphere, the way your character interacts with it and the world itself, instead of movie style cut scenes,exposition and other things that don't take advantage of the medium Dishonered 2 is possibly one of my most favorite games to come out of the Xbox one/ps4 console generation, because it shows that beneath all the AAA shlock, gaming is better, smarter, more experimental and even more intresting and niche than stuff out of the 90s, you just have to look for it
I've played this game over and over and still to this day I manage to find new things, there's so much detail put into this masterpiece and yet I hear that it's underrated? Seriously??!!
Death of the outsider is definitely well worth a playthrough if you’ve missed or skipped on it. More excellent level design and they cleaned up the frame rate issues, unfortunately there’s not as much power diversity as the second but if you’re into the first two more dishonoured is never a complaint
As a person who *loved* Dishonored 2 when came out in 2016 (and is loving it even more after revisiting the game lately), I just wanted to thank you for this notable analysis, on which I do deeply agree. Sadly, I noticed how much Dishonored 2 was underlooked (if not openly mistreated) by "pro players" of the immersive sim genre (due to its horrifying optimization on pc at the dayone) as well as by many fans of the first game, for nostalgia reasons too. Personally, the first Dishonored will always keep a special place in my heart, but it would be intellectually dishonest not admitting all the strengths of sequel, and its improvements over the first game; my only complaints are the ninth and final mission (which is basically a backwords-carboncopy of the first one, even if with a different "setting", difficult enemies and the fact that you have powers and equipment), and the story, which is too dependant on characters (Delilah and Meagan/Billie) that only people who played the DLCs of the first one could know. Apart from these flaws, this game really is a masterpiece, and it sickens me to see how few copies got sold, compared to its predecessor or other most popular titles. Again, kudos for this analysis: it's reassuring seeing people giving Ceasar what's belongs to him 👍.
15:00 I played Dishonored 1 but it's actually possible to skip her entirely if you do not play the DLCs, so I had no idea who she was, and her just suddenly appearing felt very weird and forced.
The writing for it WAS weird and forced. In the 1st game during Brigmore Witches You play as Daud and are tasked with saving Emily from Delilah who intends on stealing Emily's body to usurp the throne. The Low Chaos "good" ending, Daud seals Delilah AWAY into her own painting. Even The Outsider comments about it being a worse than cruel fate as she is "lost to the void forever". Dishonored 2 and her miraculously coming back makes zero sense, even if her coven "resurrected" her, it's still half assed writing. Good game though.
Yeah, Deliliah is a pretty random villain even in the first game. If you didn't play the DLC you wouldn't know who the heck she is, but even then her character was random and the extent of her powers felt like the creators were just making it up as they went. As for Dishonored 2, her coming back didn't make sense at all. Guess they needed a villain.
Dishonored 2 is definitely one of my favorite games of all time. EVERY TIME I play the game I am amazed by how much detail is in the game! Very immersive and so much freedom!! It is a must play in my opinion.
The 'Dishonored' franchise is the only place I can get a modern, triple A experience that gives me that same feeling the old Looking Glass Studios games do. Now that Embracer Group owns the rights to 'Thief' maybe that'll change in the future, but sadly it doesn't seem like Microsoft
Literally one of the best levels in the game is the one where you are bared from using the snappy abilities that put Dishonored on the map, imagine that...
I've heard that this genre, called immersive sims, is not often made, because it requires a ton of work to make and they often only come together deep into development. They're great games, but they don't exactly show all their content on the first run through. Hopefully someone will be able to crack the code...
Clockwork mansion is legitimately one of my favourite levels in gaming. It's so well designed. I highly recommend anyone that enjoyed Dishonored 2 go watch the Noclip documentary on it, the devs speak about designing the clockwork mansion.
I started with Dishonoured 2 completely blind, and Delilah was fairly well fleshed out even if I hadn’t gone looking for reasons. That opening mission does a good job of setting things up, and it was the prompt to start D1 after playing the Corvo version for my 2nd play through. Possibly helps that the stealth/low chaos method was my preferred way to play so Emily’s powers worked really well as a primer.
10:45 this is all wrong. one of the first actions of my brutal rampage series (which was an emergent gameplay exploration exercise), was to crossbow a guard in the leg. its one of the most first order interactions the game gives you to play with, and i stumbled upon it immediately upon playing dishonored 1 with gameplay exploration being the purpose back in 2014. inducing stun states with non-headshots was a staple of the immersive sim skillers for years afterwards.
I'm so glad you made this video. I already knew this game was a masterpiece back in 2017 when I spent 60+hours on my first gameplay. When I reached the "a crack in the slab", the possibility of going back and forth tho the past, blew my mind. It really is a phenomenal game and didn't get all the recognition it deseerved... But, I'm glad you explained the beauty of it so well. After staying a couple years away from the franchise, I came back again to play D2 this month, I was surprised how much I had already forgot... I'm on the last mission right now and looking foward for new game plus with all the bone charms and powers unlocked! And I know it's out of order, but after all that, I will go back and play the original, Dishonored 1, because it's been even more longer that I have played it. And maybe after even DOTO too!
My favorite run I've ever done was just slaughtering all the Overseers, installing Paolo & the Faux Duke as leaders, and giving my dear old aunt Delilah the happy ending she deserved. #DelilahDidNothingWrong #HowlersTillTheEnd
I've played this game a lot but didn't know all the mechanics you listed... another playthrough is coming up! I think a problem the game has faced is that a lot of people nowadays check out the gameplay of a game by watching speedruns, and for this game they basically bypass everything. Even the glitchless 100% bypass the side quests, which are really good.
Just played this yesterday for the first time after shelving it after the first mission In 2017. An incredible game with some of the BEST map design I’ve ever seen. The playthroughs are always different with different routes you find, and the skills make for great stealth situations. All out an amazing game
I miss this game so much. I used to play it a lot until my graphic card got burnt by a lightning. Even if I was able to play it, I miss good and innovative games. I haven't seen anything like the Dishonored saga since 2017 go out into the market. There's something about them, like feeling some of my dreams have been turned into a playable video game that works in a haunting way. Because the environments feel so real and then, there's also the fantasy, the feeling that something has shifted and makes you doubt you are really awake. If i'm dreaming I don't ever want to wake up. In mission two, when you get to the middle part of the map, there are even two sounds that remind me of my neighbourhood in the afternoon. There's someone working with a hammer somewhere, and there's also a dog barking in the distance. Some times I'm working in my workshop, sculpting wood or doing some carpentry and I can hear them in the distance, as if I was in Karnaca. I even live close to the coast. I listen to the waves slap the boats and the rocks and I can smell the salt in the air, it brings the memory of swiming during hide tide. Then there's this apartment full of sculptures and chisels all over at the beginning of mission 8 and I think "I wish I had this guy's job at least. I would'nt mind living in the real boring world". I can't get over it. I think I will never like another game as much. Fortunately I'm an artist. I never get bored working on my own creations. I hope the people in Arkane bring that loving feeling for video games and victorian era some day soon
This video just popped up in my feed after looking up some achievement guides for Dishonored 2. I was really impressed by this vid and your BFV one and thought "this guy is new to me but his content is great". When I went to subscribe, I thought the name Downward Thrust was familiar. I remembered the old news-like negative takes on situations in the gaming industry that this channel used to be known and criticized for. What a turnaround! So glad you made the change because this is phenomenal! Keep up the great work!
Despite beating dishonored about 17 times since launch (including twice in the last month) I only ever beat dishonored 2 once, back when it came out. It just didnt really wow me as much as dishonored 1…but I actually picked it up again last week and I’ve been appreciating it more, happy to finally do a 2nd playthrough Still you can’t beat “should we gather for whisky and cigars tonight?”
Same. I’ve only beat dishonored 2 once with corvo it’s still a great game but the first one is so much better. The art style holds up well even with today’s standards with the clever way they use shadows and color I also found the levels to be more immersive in the first one the rainy streets running across rooftops to a elegant ball around death and misery to the swampy slums with daud and his assassins such a cool game one of the most underrated games in my opinion.
These games are royalty in the stealth genre and choice-based games. Period. So freaking good, the story, the gameplay. THE DLC, good god the DLC actually felt connected which never happens.
One of the greatest games ever. Fantastic level design, endless replay value, great world building, and addictive gameplay. I wasn't a huge fan of the story, and thought Delilah was a weak character, but I love the world they created in Dishonored 1/2 and would like them to revisit it.
Jeez, man. You play Dishonored like you're about to miss your train. I cannot fathom rushing through such a gorgeous and detailed world, missing the subtle nuances and side-stories abundant in each level. Loved the video, I knew this game was something special when I first played it (many, many years after the release), was very fortunate to get a copy of it that had the first game bundled with the DLC for free, annnnnd collector's items too. EB games fucked up their pricing and I got a hell of a deal :)
I actually think the dishonored 1 story DLC was the best dishonored had to offer, but yes I also loved dishonored 2 although haven't played it since release really. Might be time to go back
Just watched your Dishonored 9 years later video as well. Awesome videos, you did a great job highlighting some of the things that make these games so great. Thanks for bringing more attention to one of my favorite games series, and I'm happy I stumbled across your channel
Still to this day not sure why this game gets SO much hate? The Dishonored series are some of my ALL time favorite video games number 2 being a huge highlight. I know this is an unpopular opinion but Dishonored>Prey for me all day!
@@zoinksscoob6523 I gotchu the first time I played this was on PS4 pro and didn’t have any noticeable issues but have since got a pc and played it again on there. I can see how performance issues at launch would make sense.
My favorite moments in my recent mixed/low chaos ghost run with emily were the interactions between megan and sokolov with her. She has grown up as royalty her whole life, and when she has to divulge her perspectives on things they put her on the spot. Megan mentioning something about how what Emily despises now isn't different than how she lived before. Her saying something that nobles don't care about the miners that dig the silver, only their fancy cutlery and Sokolov reminds her with "Where do you think the silver for the cups in the royal palace came from?" Things like these on low chaos runs make it seem less like Im a saint and a superhero, but more like a charachter in the world. Emily was nobility and didn't really have the perspective to care about normal people even if she thought she did. She was as selfih as any other person, maybe less so than the nobles in Dunwall, but still. And then you finally get that satisfying release. On the skiff, headed towards duke Lucas mansion, you yet again face Megan, who puts things into perspective for you, that your life wasn't as different to the dukes as you think, its only now that you realize that difference. And Emily finally says something about her finally getting new perspectives from this trip. After a 2 second pause, Megan says, "Good", at least on a low chaos playthrough. But just those moments, it feels like Emily truly has charachter development.
This game, helped me through lockdown. It was eye opening to me in game level design, the sheer scale of all the maps, thought of how any style of play can be accomplished, just amazing. The last few months after playing 200 hours into it, there has been some great retrospectives like from GMTK and Noclip, which tells this, there needs to be more because more people need to play Dishonored 2.
I wanted to find your channel for months, for some reason i totally forgot the name and i was really enjoying your content Its so cool you made a proper video about this game, i think it never got the appreciation it deserved
The Dishonored series is my all time favorite and I couldn't tell you how many hours I've sunk into Dishonored 2. The gameplay is so addicting and it's nice to see it getting a bit of recognition. I feel Arkane games in general never get the recognition or sales they deserve
It's on sale right now and I'm currently playing through Crack in the Slab and I must agree that the level design for this game is amazing. 10/10 would recommend.
I thought Corvo was the better pick since he was the protagonist in the first game and being from Karnaca he had more interesting things to say about the world. Emily’s powers, which were new to the game, were the reason I played her. I enjoyed both but Corvo was my top pick between the two.
From the landscapes, to the architecture and it’s coloring scheme, right down to it’s aesthetic, I love everything about this series even the Billy installment, I wish so bad that there could be some type of sequel or break off from the series that is still within the environment and storyline. how could we not introduce a new type of boss, I feel like there’s so much more we could’ve done with the story! I’m truly in love with this Franchise, I hope to one day build my own house with this aesthetic and inspiration as a tribute to my favorite game ever if there was a game I could get stuck in it would be dishonored
Dishnonored 2 is a million times better than dishonored 1 and it's disgusting how people shit on it and hold up dishonored 1, with it's incredibly cartoony characters and boring dunwall plague city environment, as being perfect compared to it still to this day.
I think the story of 1 was more iconic, but 2 clearly improves on the gameplay, choices, and I'd even say the environments. Plus you get to play as little Emily all grown up. Pretty cool if you've played the first.
Around 13:00 is where you start talking about the gore, on that point Arkane actually made the Void Engine specifically for Dishonored 2 because it allowed them to better capture the mechanics they wanted to put in there.
This game had so many wonderful things going on. I didn't give the first Dishonored a second playthrough but I've already done 2 (Emily and Corvo) and would like to do a third in no powers mode.
"This film expresses the erroneous worldview towards the meta-wrongness often attributed to disestablishmentarism as applied to figments of expressions of idealistic piques of rage contained in imperialist fobbings." ~ Movie Bob's Sweaty Crevice
It's funny that this comes out like a week after I beat Dishonored 2 for the first time. Which made me immediately replay it 3 times over and then play every other game and DLC in the series after XD Dishonored 1 was one of my favorite games at release but I never gave D2 a chance until last week, I was super put off by giving Corvo a voice, Making Delilah the Main villain, changing the outsider so much and mainly the performance. Coming back and playing it on a nice pc after a bunch of patches, It's honestly my favorite games in the series and one of my favorite games of all time, the story wasn't as good but my god, literally everything else was perfect.
As someone who has grown up playing all the dishonored games over and over again and reading all the dishonored novels, I have to say that one of the best experiences you can get as a gamer is playing dishonored 2 on ironman mode. The idea of losing your save file if you die and not being able to undo anything by quickloading adds layers upon layers of immersiveness. You actually feel vulnerable because one wrong step means all is over, just like in a real life situation. Each clockwork soldier becomes a dreadful enemy, each witch will creep you out and every grenade or whale oil tank will make your panic. You will find yourself investing in bonecharms that protect you from explosions and you will find yourself using things in the environment you didn't even notice before because now, you can't just blindly run in and if anything bad happens you just reload your game as if nothing happened. You actually have to take your time, do some scouting, get to know your surroundings and make your choices carefully, because if you do anything wrong, there is no going back. And if you do screw up but manage to escape an extremely sticky situation, you will realise that there are very few things in the gaming world that can give you such an adrenaline rush and such feelings. I really recommend it.
11:29 - They're very nice changes because they're mechanics that the player can use to keep engagements non-lethal which allows them to retain their low chaos standing... *proceeds throwing an unconscious enemy down a cliff*
A thing I appreciate about Dishonored 2 is how it is incredibly consistent and rewarding. The game gives a power fantasy by not being very difficult during stealth because of preset enemy routes and even if you choose to set custom settings to the highest difficulty and use minimal HUD while going loud like I did on my third play through, you can effectively fight all enemies with understanding of your gear and how the enemies react in combat. Both of these factors make for very rewarding gameplay that lets you feel like a badass ninja/assassin.
I only got round to playing the Dishonored games a couple of years ago and was blown away. The exploration, varied level design and combat system have so much depth and so fun to play. Every area is jam packed full of secrets and hidden passageways. Only in my dreams I’ve seen such places. In D1 DLC Billie Lurk leaves Daud a book about all the places he could visit and it really made me think, there’s so much more of this world to explore, even if the Corvo/Emily storyline has met a conclusion. I really hope at some point there will be another game in the series.
Stumbled across your channel/ video when replaying D2 again after a couple of years (5th playthrough). You're spot on with your assessment of the game and the improvements (and drawbacks) compared to the first game. What i like is that I still find myself baffled about the things you can do in the Clockwork Mansion and Stilton Manor. And I especially like that you can do non-lethal drop "assassinations" in D2... Plus the stuff you can do with Mesmerize and/or Domino... Currently in my 5th playthrough which i never EVER have done in ANY other game in 30-ish years of gaming
I was completely enamoured by the clockwork mansion. It is not just the technical aspect but the design that struck me. Everything fits together perfectly in the multiple dozens of ways you can fit the house together and under all that is an equally shifting negative space between the walls and under the floors with its own secrets dialog options and controls that make sure your never trapped. In my play through I found I could actually bypass my way back to the front door with Anton by running through this negative space, hitting a switch and then jumping through the opening that appears for 2 seconds to land behind the robot gaurds at the exit without detection before it closes. The house is beautiful and I’m convinced it actually was designed by a genius as it was in the game.
About a month or so ago, I replayed Dishonored 2 on PS4 doing a Emily/Low Chaos/Clean Hands/Never Get Spotted run after shelving it after beating it on Xbox One when it released. My run on Xbox was a mixture of stealth and some combat; basically I just didn’t limit myself. I enjoyed the game but I didn’t “love” it. So honestly, I wasn’t expecting to come out feeling the way I do about Dishonored 2 and that is, like you, it easily taking a place among one of my favorite games of all-time. I had such a good time using Emily’s powers especially Domino, which I found to be the absolute best power in any Dishonored game, ever. I’m now about to start a dedicated high chaos playthrough as the platinum trophy looks to be well within reach for me. I will then move on to Dishonored: Death of the Outsider, which I have only played the first level in so far (it seems so good). Arkane is one of my favorite developers around these days. I *loved* Prey (2017) & it’s stellar DLC Moon Crash, and I look forward to playing Deathloop when I manage to score a PS5.
This game has some crazy elements that not many other games have. I was quite blown away on for example when you are at one of the mansions and you could go to the past and stay present and how it effected the place in present. It was sick. I mean I was thinking from technical point of view, I think they really had to render basically two levels on top of each other? Like even the NPCs on both levels. This was so well done and the whole "mirror" thingy. I'm really looking forward for what is next.
This is probably my favorite game, and I've played and replayed it like it's a comfort item. I've put at least 300 hours into it. And on this last play through, I'm still finding new things that wow me. Like, if you kill Mindy and/or paolo early on, later their wanted posters are crossed out around the map. And I think I actually appreciate that the story isn't as flushed out solely by non-missable dialogue and gameplay. I love how the crap ton of extra notes, books, audiographs, and much more lore is only found upon searching for it. It really rewards the thorough, completionist players with a much more complete experience. I recently played Deathloop and it's very similar in that respect, no wonder I loved it. All in all, this game is, in my opinion, one of the best games of all time, and certainly the best sequel of all time. It kills me that games like this, with thoughtful, intelligent design, that aim to challenge the player, and that introduce groundbreaking mechanics don't sell as much as the copy/paste shooters we have now. Masterpiece game. Thank you for the video!
great video. this and dishonored 1 are some of the most underrated games around, incredible level design and gameplay, then merged with great stories and excellent art style. i need to check out prey as well.
*8:18 A Crack In The Slab is not "not even half way through the game" - it's one of the last missions. Just a typo - I had The Clockwork Mansion in my head, which is "not even half way through the game."
One thing I forgot to mention in the combat section was that I think adding in some sort of hand to hand combat system would have been cool. We get lots of new nonlethal ways to take down enemies in Dishonored 2, but I think adding in one more element would have been even better. I went back and played some of the Mirror's Edge games a few days ago and I can imagine having some of Faith's melee combos and disarming abilities in Dishonored 2. However, if you watch the GDC talk by the AI team of Dishonored 2 it was pretty clear they already had their hands full with the game... so I think that's just wishful thinking on my part.
I hope you guys liked all the sick gameplay I included in the video. I had so many clips of awesome stuff to show - I guess that isn't surprising given how incredible I found the experience. The footage was captured on a Ryzen 5950x/3090 with an average FPS of 140 or so. Frame dips were common during slow motion death cam executions, but not much otherwise. As someone who played on day 1, the current build is a massive improvement for PC players.
Thanks for watching!
P.S. You can leave me your suggestions for any games you want me to check out down below, I'll make sure to read them. I definitely have plans for Far Cry 6, Battlefield 2042 and upcoming games... but I'm really enjoying the Years Later format as of late. So maybe some underappreciated gems?
I would actually love to see a Doom 3 video. It's really underappreciated and it's my 2nd favorite entry behind Doom Eternal (not to mention that the Marine was goated for a random soldier with no powers)
Thanks a lot for this. It's one of the best tribute to what we tried to do with D2! So cool you noticed the noPower path, it's one of the things we wanted so much to be in the game, but it was so overlooked. Thx again.
"Thank you daddy."
~ Dilldo Faggins
Samuel died from old age,
Id love to see your take on SOMA. Its a psychological sci-fi horror with massive existential questions.
It breaks my heart that game like Dishonored2 don’t make money. The levels are pure genius.
ikr. its soooo good. Hopefully deathloop which was a hit will bring more attention to arkane's other games like d1/d2 and prey (soooo goood)
Problem there is that the first Dishonoured was insanely successful, so games like this absolutely do make money.
Seriously and shitty slot machines make so much more money
For real I think I bought 3 separate copies of DH2
they kinda deserve it for making such a bad job with optimisation. It is the same problem with deathloop. Both games suck in that field, while Dishonored 1 was incredibly smooth and felt amazing and responsive to play, which makes it much more appealing.
The first time jump in “a crack in the slab” gave me chills. Going from the dark rundown manor to a vibrant and bright mansion is still one of my favorite things in gaming.
Then back to a brighter future if you play nice.
Same! I thought I did something wrong when I knocked out that one guy in the mansion but when I went back to the present and saw the mansion all pretty and well kept was so cool!
Watch a gameplay video of portal: reloaded if you liked that... Have fun! :)
Dishonored 2 significantly improved literally every aspect from Dishonored 1 and somehow sold less.
I will never understand it, this game is so ridiculously good.
It performed worse due to engine optimization and came with a lot more bugs when it came to stealth compared to the first one.
I liked it much less with the control changes and the more linear levels.
Gameplay might be better but the athmosphere and look of carnaca is much worse than dunwall.
@@prelldeluxe2454 Yep. Gameplay is way better but your actions aren't as meaningful, the characters are not as likeable, the attention to detail just aint there.
@@STFwrinkle Also i think dishonored 1 just looks better. Dishonored 2 lost some of the charm.
It's good to see D2 get the respect it deserves.
Yeah bro I love Mighty Ducks
Ikr i miss playin this game so much!
That's exactly my thoughts
@@olinuxx one of my favorite games of all time deadass
really good! Dishonored franchise and TLOU are on my TOP 3 loved games.
I’m amazed at the amount of replayability in this game I just did 3 playthroughs back to back and each one felt completely different
Back to back? Seriously?
@@iHaveTheDocuments well not exactly back to back but in about a little over a week lol
@@iHaveTheDocuments it's pretty short game. the more you play, the faster it gets especially with new game+
@@iHaveTheDocuments yes, I did it 4 times back to back last time I played.
the thing that's keeping me from beating this game is the enemies and detetction. I'm good at every other stealth series but this one. I'm replaying it now and I always get caught, idk why I'm so bad at this game
As someone w/ 200+ hours in this game, you showed me many new and creative mechanics I was unaware of like blinding enemies by shooting near their head w/ the pistol
Awesome!
I was thinking the exact same thing! Amazing that a game this old still has tricks up its sleeve.
If you haven't already, try not powers or Iron Mode. Also watch StealthGamerBR's videos for Dishonored 2.
How many times you played Dishonored 2 to get 200 hours ? I have 70 hours and ı played the game 5 times
I didn't know about that as well, and I've got 200+ hours.
I had this exact same feeling when I revisited Prey yesterday. Turns out its also an underrated masterpiece.
I love almost everything about Prey. Except the ending. I can never play it again.
@@KiomonDuck what about the ending exactly? SPOILER The fact that you are a mimic?
@@dailyraptor7700 no that most e dings are the same
Agreed and It's expansion, Mooncrash is better than Deathloop imho
Always has been ;) also definitely check put Mooncrash DLC, even if you don't like roguelite mechanics.
My favourite part of dishonored 2 is that you could finally do a no kills run without trying to be stealthy in the slightest, and yet not be forced to avoid combat either. The non lethal mid combat takedowns were a really nice addition.
please help if there are still performance problems in dishonored 2 even on a good, strong computer ??
@@maciejflisak5249 Nope. Works pretty fine if you have decent specs.
@@miumusic6510 you wrote pretty fine, so there are some small problems with lags or the game works great and has been fixed with patches? I'm asking because I'm going to buy this game and I don't want to lose my money
@@maciejflisak5249 i have 1660 super with ryzen 5 3600 and the game runs 100 fps on max settings so idk
@@maciejflisak5249works perfectly fine on ny midrange
“Emily is far better voiced”. Don’t you dare do my boy Garret dirty like that.
Sorry but he's Too OLD To Voice THEIF - a Developer quote
For real. Emily is probably a little better but Corvo sounds fucking awesome in this game
i have heaps of respect for Stephen Russell, but i think his voice was a little too recognizable for the role, having heard him in Fallout 4 and Skyrim a lot, some of the script and its execution's a little weird but nothing terrible
having said that, i think i prefer his dialogue in High Chaos, his monotone voice matches this grudgy, vengeful nature
@@thisbubblygoodness7611 That doesn't make sense. We can't just blow off great voice actors just because they're well known. You just have to get past the mental block that keeps telling you it's another character from another game lol
@@echo2413 dude, ya disrespect me by thinking that im blowing off Stephen Russell, he's an amazing voice actor i just think he could have experimented with his voice a little more, he has that very distinct american accent you can't deny that.
but the man also voiced the freakin Codsworth handybots in Fallout 4 which i didn't even know until like a year or two ago, that's how good he can be.
and look, there's no mental block for me when it comes to Dishonored 2, i love the game so much that Corvo's voice isn't even a problem for me but really just an observation, some people have a problem with Corvo's voice, that's their thing i guess, but it doesn't diminish the game for me for any moment.
Level design is a masterpiece. I remember seeing the trailer with Jindosh mansion and I always wanted to be in it. Having it happen in real time is one of my favourite moments.
that's the Thief series legacy right there
You probably know it, but if you knock out the target on that level, the present will be less bleak
I've never seen anything like it.
The one in the trailer and the actual game aren't even slightly similar. Blatant lies...
What I like about Dishonored is that the narrative and game design is generally simplistic, but the gameplay is sophisticated. No two playthroughs are alike. You can be a psychopathic killer, or you can be a pacifistic ghost. And as you mentioned, there are so many fine details to the game that most people do not take the time to notice.
You nailed it
I love this game! Super-immersive gameplay, small levels without minimap Icons, that are fun to navigate. I wish there were more games like this.
Me too
I urge people to obtain the artbook of Dishonored 2. That stuff is insane you can tell they spent an insane amount of time on the architecture of the places, making the level design both mechanically good but also feel lush an realistic. That and the art of Piotr Jablonsky (as wells as others), just insane
This is a phenomenal video!
This is a phenomenal comment!
"Yes daddy." 💋
~ Dilldo Faggins
Praise Tonald
indeed
Omg Jay Exci
One of my favourite games, such a shame it came out in such a broken state.
Precisely why not purchasing ANY game at launch and being a patient gamer helps.
It was mostly performance patched around 1 year after release and got all 3 on gog for literally pittance.
Enjoyed D2 and DotO immensely.
@@main_stream_media_is_a_joke It worked perfectly fine on my Xbox One day one.
Money ruins everything
@@frenchfriedbagel7035 no, no it didnt
It ran at 30fps capped with major microstutter on the Xbone
You probably just didn't know it due to being used to 30fps console gameplay
@@main_stream_media_is_a_joke do u notice a swerve of the reticle and whole view to the left often? Sometimes lil but jist had a big turn to the left with no input from me.
Im on ps4, i wonder if im hacked or its a bug. I didnt notice this b4.
Mb its cause if old saves idk.
People hate on D2 because D1 fans consider it a top 10 game in all of history and because D2 has miscellaneous shortcomings compared to D1. However, there’s a reason I’ve only played D1 once but played and replayed D2 literally over a dozen times. It’s my comfort game because it’s outrageously diverse and fun.
This game was phenomenal and definitely underappreciated. The Clockwork Mansion was definitely the most memorable part of the game for me.
Titanfall 2 has a "A Crack in the Slab" mission as well. It's a lot less deep of a mechanic and lasts for the duration of that one area, but it's interesting that the parallel exists at all across genres and studios. These games were released the same year.
i thought of titanfall 2 aswell when he said it :D
I love how both games shared the time travel mechanic but both played out very differently! In Titanfall it’s more about quick reflexes as you avoid dangers with the instant jump between timelines (that falling through the fan got me a few times!) , while on the other hand, Dishonored takes it slow and the mechanic is used more to go completely unnoticed or to skip those pesky blood flies- at least from my first playthrough of both amazing games!
Yep I remember that one. I need to go back to play TF2 honestly
@@DownwardThrust I'm trying to slip back to that year, so take me with you. We can play that and doom 2016 and just vibe.
I saw a video once where one of the developers talked about the development of the game and the concepts behind it... and what they had to cut out due to time/budget reasons.
Especially one cut area just sounded amazing: They had a mission planned where you had to move to Stilton's manor and the Dust District by climbing the huge windmills and pipes above the Dust District. And you could use the windmills and strong winds/storms to fling yourself over large distances, basically almost flying around high above the Dust District!
That sounds so amazing and like such a unique different concept I am so mad (or rather: sad) they had to cut it out. It would have easily been as memorable as the Clockwork Mansionn and the Crack in the Slab I think.
I love the fact that this game also hides alot of mechanics in it's on stages. In the clockwork mansion stage, if you don't use any lever or alert any guard, the owner isn't alerted of your presence. The same way in the later stage where you can keep going back or forward in time, if you just knock out the owner of the mansion and hide his body, he doesn't become crazy and you just alter the pass itself. This game is a masterpiece
Is it possible to not use any levers? I just did that mission but I thought you had to use the first one to open up the rest of the atrium and get introduced to the lever system
@@LowResCatExplosion when you first get into the mansion and walk up to the lever..look up :P
@Seven Sevens above you is a skylight after entering the room with a lever, shoot the glass and use blink/far reach up there
After years of putting it on my backlog, I finally installed Deus Ex HR and finished it and started Deus Ex MD. And I'm constantly tempted to just go back to the Dishonored games. Even the Doto was better, way better and I thought that was a letdown :)
I loved DOTO, great conclusion to the Daud/Billie story from DH 1s DLC
I lovvvve HR and Dishonored 1. Two of my favorite games of all time !
I loved a crack in the slab. What really impressed me was the real-time changes that took place in the present if you altered the past. Clearing out a bloodfly nest in the past to prevent the infestation in the present was awesome.
Yeah I loved when the game did that! I know exactly what you're talking about!
Or when you incinerate a dead dog in a room in the past will completely stop bloatfly hives from appearing around that area.
@@somewhataddicted7685 you're talking about the safe right? Loved that part too
This is my favorite game of the series. Emily's story arc that sees her going from apathetic ruler to a politically-active empress. The Royal Conservatory that hammers home how brutal the Brigmore Witch coven was, A Crack in the Slab (and the consequences it has series-wide), and just the fact it has New Game+/Mission Select.
The only thing that I despise is that there's no FPS boost for Series X.
please help if there are still performance problems in dishonored 2 even on a good, strong computer ??
Dishonered 2 is what happens when you combine the amazing things modern technology can do with design philosophy from the old era of games, when video games were actually designed as intricate, challenging, free-form experiences with loads of replay value, intresting things to experience or not experience, and a gameplay system that demands you to practice it and become skilled to get the most out of it, with a non linear world that tells its story via atmosphere, the way your character interacts with it and the world itself, instead of movie style cut scenes,exposition and other things that don't take advantage of the medium
Dishonered 2 is possibly one of my most favorite games to come out of the Xbox one/ps4 console generation, because it shows that beneath all the AAA shlock, gaming is better, smarter, more experimental and even more intresting and niche than stuff out of the 90s, you just have to look for it
One of my favorites. I've played and replayed this countless times over the years. Love the New Game+ function where you can use ALL the powers.
I stacked so many NG+ just to get enough tubes to do that.
@@frenchfriedbagel7035 I just found out about Mission+ which unlocks everything and skips the boat parts.
@@ruairimiller8563 You have to sign into a Bethesda account I think
I've played this game over and over and still to this day I manage to find new things, there's so much detail put into this masterpiece and yet I hear that it's underrated? Seriously??!!
Death of the outsider is definitely well worth a playthrough if you’ve missed or skipped on it. More excellent level design and they cleaned up the frame rate issues, unfortunately there’s not as much power diversity as the second but if you’re into the first two more dishonoured is never a complaint
Bro, I was so hungry for more dishonored, I put 100 hours into DotO
11:27 *chokes him to not kill him and then proceeds to drown him by throwing him from 20 meters*
Dude, now do Prey. It’s the most underrated masterpiece you’ll ever find.
Absolute facts
Dude yes
Really? I played it and it was quite boring. Not that of a good game really. Also the style is like anything else in ue4.
Aka Bioshock in Space
This is my favorite franchise. I’m halfway through with my Mercy/Ghost run in dishonored 2 and it’s always a new and fresh experience with this game
As a person who *loved* Dishonored 2 when came out in 2016 (and is loving it even more after revisiting the game lately), I just wanted to thank you for this notable analysis, on which I do deeply agree.
Sadly, I noticed how much Dishonored 2 was underlooked (if not openly mistreated) by "pro players" of the immersive sim genre (due to its horrifying optimization on pc at the dayone) as well as by many fans of the first game, for nostalgia reasons too.
Personally, the first Dishonored will always keep a special place in my heart, but it would be intellectually dishonest not admitting all the strengths of sequel, and its improvements over the first game; my only complaints are the ninth and final mission (which is basically a backwords-carboncopy of the first one, even if with a different "setting", difficult enemies and the fact that you have powers and equipment), and the story, which is too dependant on characters (Delilah and Meagan/Billie) that only people who played the DLCs of the first one could know.
Apart from these flaws, this game really is a masterpiece, and it sickens me to see how few copies got sold, compared to its predecessor or other most popular titles.
Again, kudos for this analysis: it's reassuring seeing people giving Ceasar what's belongs to him 👍.
Glad you felt the same way 🤟🏻
Finally someone acknowledges how much better D2 is compared to D1 gameplay wise.
This gem is truly a gem! it's one of those games that stuck with me even years after i finished it.
15:00 I played Dishonored 1 but it's actually possible to skip her entirely if you do not play the DLCs, so I had no idea who she was, and her just suddenly appearing felt very weird and forced.
The writing for it WAS weird and forced. In the 1st game during Brigmore Witches
You play as Daud and are tasked with saving Emily from Delilah who intends on stealing Emily's body to usurp the throne. The Low Chaos "good" ending, Daud seals Delilah AWAY into her own painting. Even The Outsider comments about it being a worse than cruel fate as she is "lost to the void forever".
Dishonored 2 and her miraculously coming back makes zero sense, even if her coven "resurrected" her, it's still half assed writing. Good game though.
@@th0rrz fair point but i feel like arkane maybe want expecting D1 to be successful enough to warrant a sequel perhaps
@@th0rrz The game explains it fine, Delilah found the oldest parts of the void and drew from the magic there to claw her way back.
Yeah, Deliliah is a pretty random villain even in the first game. If you didn't play the DLC you wouldn't know who the heck she is, but even then her character was random and the extent of her powers felt like the creators were just making it up as they went.
As for Dishonored 2, her coming back didn't make sense at all. Guess they needed a villain.
@@th0rrz "Somehow, -Palpatine- Delilah returned"
Dishonored 2 is definitely one of my favorite games of all time. EVERY TIME I play the game I am amazed by how much detail is in the game! Very immersive and so much freedom!! It is a must play in my opinion.
The 'Dishonored' franchise is the only place I can get a modern, triple A experience that gives me that same feeling the old Looking Glass Studios games do.
Now that Embracer Group owns the rights to 'Thief' maybe that'll change in the future, but sadly it doesn't seem like Microsoft
I played it a couple of years ago. Finished it on low Chaos and loved every minute of it. Way too much fun.
Literally one of the best levels in the game is the one where you are bared from using the snappy abilities that put Dishonored on the map, imagine that...
This game has been and always will be amazing. I wish there were more being made :/
I've heard that this genre, called immersive sims, is not often made, because it requires a ton of work to make and they often only come together deep into development. They're great games, but they don't exactly show all their content on the first run through. Hopefully someone will be able to crack the code...
I literally just finished my first playthrough yesterday. This is great timing lol
Clockwork mansion is legitimately one of my favourite levels in gaming. It's so well designed. I highly recommend anyone that enjoyed Dishonored 2 go watch the Noclip documentary on it, the devs speak about designing the clockwork mansion.
I fucking love these like 4-5 year later spoiler free videos. Please keep doing these. I'm downloading DH2 on game pass now.
On my 5th play through and still finding new things/areas. Dishonored is in my top 3 games. The entire franchise has never disappointed me.
I love how every level had a unique mechanic or gimmick to them. Meanwhile the royal conservatory just sets your PC on fire as a gimmick.
This game in general was fantastic but A crack in the slab entire mission is pure art
I started with Dishonoured 2 completely blind, and Delilah was fairly well fleshed out even if I hadn’t gone looking for reasons. That opening mission does a good job of setting things up, and it was the prompt to start D1 after playing the Corvo version for my 2nd play through. Possibly helps that the stealth/low chaos method was my preferred way to play so Emily’s powers worked really well as a primer.
10:45 this is all wrong. one of the first actions of my brutal rampage series (which was an emergent gameplay exploration exercise), was to crossbow a guard in the leg. its one of the most first order interactions the game gives you to play with, and i stumbled upon it immediately upon playing dishonored 1 with gameplay exploration being the purpose back in 2014. inducing stun states with non-headshots was a staple of the immersive sim skillers for years afterwards.
I'm so glad you made this video. I already knew this game was a masterpiece back in 2017 when I spent 60+hours on my first gameplay. When I reached the "a crack in the slab", the possibility of going back and forth tho the past, blew my mind. It really is a phenomenal game and didn't get all the recognition it deseerved... But, I'm glad you explained the beauty of it so well.
After staying a couple years away from the franchise, I came back again to play D2 this month, I was surprised how much I had already forgot... I'm on the last mission right now and looking foward for new game plus with all the bone charms and powers unlocked!
And I know it's out of order, but after all that, I will go back and play the original, Dishonored 1, because it's been even more longer that I have played it. And maybe after even DOTO too!
My favorite run I've ever done was just slaughtering all the Overseers, installing Paolo & the Faux Duke as leaders, and giving my dear old aunt Delilah the happy ending she deserved.
#DelilahDidNothingWrong
#HowlersTillTheEnd
Edit: I should have killed the Faux Duke and let Paolo rule. By the People, for the People.
I kill my aunt everytime
I've played this game a lot but didn't know all the mechanics you listed... another playthrough is coming up!
I think a problem the game has faced is that a lot of people nowadays check out the gameplay of a game by watching speedruns, and for this game they basically bypass everything. Even the glitchless 100% bypass the side quests, which are really good.
Just played this yesterday for the first time after shelving it after the first mission In 2017. An incredible game with some of the BEST map design I’ve ever seen. The playthroughs are always different with different routes you find, and the skills make for great stealth situations. All out an amazing game
I bought a copy for $4 Australian yesterday. With the steelcover and artbook. It's astonishing.
"Death of the outsider" is an interesting DLC. Try it.
But it's its own game.
@@Brendedn true
I miss this game so much. I used to play it a lot until my graphic card got burnt by a lightning. Even if I was able to play it, I miss good and innovative games. I haven't seen anything like the Dishonored saga since 2017 go out into the market. There's something about them, like feeling some of my dreams have been turned into a playable video game that works in a haunting way. Because the environments feel so real and then, there's also the fantasy, the feeling that something has shifted and makes you doubt you are really awake. If i'm dreaming I don't ever want to wake up.
In mission two, when you get to the middle part of the map, there are even two sounds that remind me of my neighbourhood in the afternoon. There's someone working with a hammer somewhere, and there's also a dog barking in the distance. Some times I'm working in my workshop, sculpting wood or doing some carpentry and I can hear them in the distance, as if I was in Karnaca. I even live close to the coast. I listen to the waves slap the boats and the rocks and I can smell the salt in the air, it brings the memory of swiming during hide tide. Then there's this apartment full of sculptures and chisels all over at the beginning of mission 8 and I think "I wish I had this guy's job at least. I would'nt mind living in the real boring world".
I can't get over it. I think I will never like another game as much. Fortunately I'm an artist. I never get bored working on my own creations. I hope the people in Arkane bring that loving feeling for video games and victorian era some day soon
The most underrated game franchise of all time IMO. Love this game so much easily top 5 for me. Great video!
I love that you mentioned that the setting is vibrant yet dark.
Dishonored 2 is an overlooked masterpiece of a game
I will forever be sad it doesn't get more recognition
This video just popped up in my feed after looking up some achievement guides for Dishonored 2. I was really impressed by this vid and your BFV one and thought "this guy is new to me but his content is great". When I went to subscribe, I thought the name Downward Thrust was familiar. I remembered the old news-like negative takes on situations in the gaming industry that this channel used to be known and criticized for. What a turnaround! So glad you made the change because this is phenomenal! Keep up the great work!
Despite beating dishonored about 17 times since launch (including twice in the last month) I only ever beat dishonored 2 once, back when it came out. It just didnt really wow me as much as dishonored 1…but I actually picked it up again last week and I’ve been appreciating it more, happy to finally do a 2nd playthrough
Still you can’t beat “should we gather for whisky and cigars tonight?”
Same. I’ve only beat dishonored 2 once with corvo it’s still a great game but the first one is so much better. The art style holds up well even with today’s standards with the clever way they use shadows and color I also found the levels to be more immersive in the first one the rainy streets running across rooftops to a elegant ball around death and misery to the swampy slums with daud and his assassins such a cool game one of the most underrated games in my opinion.
the first one is a stone cold classic, close to a perfect game, and pure quality over quantity.
Dishonored 1 and 2 were phenomenal.
Every single Arkane game I’ve played has been at least a 9/10.
Prey is way up there too
These games are royalty in the stealth genre and choice-based games. Period. So freaking good, the story, the gameplay. THE DLC, good god the DLC actually felt connected which never happens.
One of the greatest games ever. Fantastic level design, endless replay value, great world building, and addictive gameplay. I wasn't a huge fan of the story, and thought Delilah was a weak character, but I love the world they created in Dishonored 1/2 and would like them to revisit it.
Karnaca is one of my favourite settings in gaming ever its beautiful, played through this game so many times I easily prefer it over 1.
Just finished my first full playthrough of D2, and I was definitely well pleased. It deserves all the love it gets.
Well done, just well done, the more people acknowledge my love and affection for this game the more happy i am.
Jeez, man. You play Dishonored like you're about to miss your train.
I cannot fathom rushing through such a gorgeous and detailed world, missing the subtle nuances and side-stories abundant in each level.
Loved the video, I knew this game was something special when I first played it (many, many years after the release), was very fortunate to get a copy of it that had the first game bundled with the DLC for free, annnnnd collector's items too. EB games fucked up their pricing and I got a hell of a deal :)
I actually think the dishonored 1 story DLC was the best dishonored had to offer, but yes I also loved dishonored 2 although haven't played it since release really. Might be time to go back
Just watched your Dishonored 9 years later video as well. Awesome videos, you did a great job highlighting some of the things that make these games so great. Thanks for bringing more attention to one of my favorite games series, and I'm happy I stumbled across your channel
Still to this day not sure why this game gets SO much hate? The Dishonored series are some of my ALL time favorite video games number 2 being a huge highlight. I know this is an unpopular opinion but Dishonored>Prey for me all day!
Because of performance issues early on
@@zoinksscoob6523 I gotchu the first time I played this was on PS4 pro and didn’t have any noticeable issues but have since got a pc and played it again on there. I can see how performance issues at launch would make sense.
My favorite moments in my recent mixed/low chaos ghost run with emily were the interactions between megan and sokolov with her. She has grown up as royalty her whole life, and when she has to divulge her perspectives on things they put her on the spot. Megan mentioning something about how what Emily despises now isn't different than how she lived before. Her saying something that nobles don't care about the miners that dig the silver, only their fancy cutlery and Sokolov reminds her with "Where do you think the silver for the cups in the royal palace came from?" Things like these on low chaos runs make it seem less like Im a saint and a superhero, but more like a charachter in the world. Emily was nobility and didn't really have the perspective to care about normal people even if she thought she did. She was as selfih as any other person, maybe less so than the nobles in Dunwall, but still. And then you finally get that satisfying release. On the skiff, headed towards duke Lucas mansion, you yet again face Megan, who puts things into perspective for you, that your life wasn't as different to the dukes as you think, its only now that you realize that difference. And Emily finally says something about her finally getting new perspectives from this trip. After a 2 second pause, Megan says, "Good", at least on a low chaos playthrough. But just those moments, it feels like Emily truly has charachter development.
This game, helped me through lockdown. It was eye opening to me in game level design, the sheer scale of all the maps, thought of how any style of play can be accomplished, just amazing. The last few months after playing 200 hours into it, there has been some great retrospectives like from GMTK and Noclip, which tells this, there needs to be more because more people need to play Dishonored 2.
I wanted to find your channel for months, for some reason i totally forgot the name and i was really enjoying your content
Its so cool you made a proper video about this game, i think it never got the appreciation it deserved
The Dishonored series is my all time favorite and I couldn't tell you how many hours I've sunk into Dishonored 2. The gameplay is so addicting and it's nice to see it getting a bit of recognition. I feel Arkane games in general never get the recognition or sales they deserve
Holy shit dude, this is one of the best and most well thought out video game reviews I've ever seen. Kudos to you
Let's be real, part of the backlash was because some people can't stand a female protagonist, even though it was optional.
Only reason i didnt complain was becuase it was optional 😂
@@ravenclangaming lol at least you're honest about your misogyny 😂
It's on sale right now and I'm currently playing through Crack in the Slab and I must agree that the level design for this game is amazing. 10/10 would recommend.
I thought Corvo was the better pick since he was the protagonist in the first game and being from Karnaca he had more interesting things to say about the world. Emily’s powers, which were new to the game, were the reason I played her. I enjoyed both but Corvo was my top pick between the two.
From the landscapes, to the architecture and it’s coloring scheme, right down to it’s aesthetic, I love everything about this series even the Billy installment, I wish so bad that there could be some type of sequel or break off from the series that is still within the environment and storyline. how could we not introduce a new type of boss, I feel like there’s so much more we could’ve done with the story! I’m truly in love with this Franchise, I hope to one day build my own house with this aesthetic and inspiration as a tribute to my favorite game ever if there was a game I could get stuck in it would be dishonored
Dishnonored 2 is a million times better than dishonored 1 and it's disgusting how people shit on it and hold up dishonored 1, with it's incredibly cartoony characters and boring dunwall plague city environment, as being perfect compared to it still to this day.
I think the story of 1 was more iconic, but 2 clearly improves on the gameplay, choices, and I'd even say the environments. Plus you get to play as little Emily all grown up. Pretty cool if you've played the first.
Around 13:00 is where you start talking about the gore, on that point Arkane actually made the Void Engine specifically for Dishonored 2 because it allowed them to better capture the mechanics they wanted to put in there.
Best game ⚡
This game had so many wonderful things going on. I didn't give the first Dishonored a second playthrough but I've already done 2 (Emily and Corvo) and would like to do a third in no powers mode.
"This film expresses the erroneous worldview towards the meta-wrongness often attributed to disestablishmentarism as applied to figments of expressions of idealistic piques of rage contained in imperialist fobbings."
~ Movie Bob's Sweaty Crevice
It's funny that this comes out like a week after I beat Dishonored 2 for the first time. Which made me immediately replay it 3 times over and then play every other game and DLC in the series after XD Dishonored 1 was one of my favorite games at release but I never gave D2 a chance until last week, I was super put off by giving Corvo a voice, Making Delilah the Main villain, changing the outsider so much and mainly the performance. Coming back and playing it on a nice pc after a bunch of patches, It's honestly my favorite games in the series and one of my favorite games of all time, the story wasn't as good but my god, literally everything else was perfect.
As someone who has grown up playing all the dishonored games over and over again and reading all the dishonored novels, I have to say that one of the best experiences you can get as a gamer is playing dishonored 2 on ironman mode. The idea of losing your save file if you die and not being able to undo anything by quickloading adds layers upon layers of immersiveness. You actually feel vulnerable because one wrong step means all is over, just like in a real life situation. Each clockwork soldier becomes a dreadful enemy, each witch will creep you out and every grenade or whale oil tank will make your panic. You will find yourself investing in bonecharms that protect you from explosions and you will find yourself using things in the environment you didn't even notice before because now, you can't just blindly run in and if anything bad happens you just reload your game as if nothing happened. You actually have to take your time, do some scouting, get to know your surroundings and make your choices carefully, because if you do anything wrong, there is no going back. And if you do screw up but manage to escape an extremely sticky situation, you will realise that there are very few things in the gaming world that can give you such an adrenaline rush and such feelings. I really recommend it.
11:29 - They're very nice changes because they're mechanics that the player can use to keep engagements non-lethal which allows them to retain their low chaos standing...
*proceeds throwing an unconscious enemy down a cliff*
Spat out my tea at that.
A thing I appreciate about Dishonored 2 is how it is incredibly consistent and rewarding. The game gives a power fantasy by not being very difficult during stealth because of preset enemy routes and even if you choose to set custom settings to the highest difficulty and use minimal HUD while going loud like I did on my third play through, you can effectively fight all enemies with understanding of your gear and how the enemies react in combat. Both of these factors make for very rewarding gameplay that lets you feel like a badass ninja/assassin.
Dishonored 2, Half Life 2, Titanfall 2, It Takes Two... all absolute god tier gameplay variety/pacing
I only got round to playing the Dishonored games a couple of years ago and was blown away. The exploration, varied level design and combat system have so much depth and so fun to play. Every area is jam packed full of secrets and hidden passageways. Only in my dreams I’ve seen such places.
In D1 DLC Billie Lurk leaves Daud a book about all the places he could visit and it really made me think, there’s so much more of this world to explore, even if the Corvo/Emily storyline has met a conclusion. I really hope at some point there will be another game in the series.
Stumbled across your channel/ video when replaying D2 again after a couple of years (5th playthrough). You're spot on with your assessment of the game and the improvements (and drawbacks) compared to the first game. What i like is that I still find myself baffled about the things you can do in the Clockwork Mansion and Stilton Manor. And I especially like that you can do non-lethal drop "assassinations" in D2... Plus the stuff you can do with Mesmerize and/or Domino... Currently in my 5th playthrough which i never EVER have done in ANY other game in 30-ish years of gaming
I was completely enamoured by the clockwork mansion. It is not just the technical aspect but the design that struck me. Everything fits together perfectly in the multiple dozens of ways you can fit the house together and under all that is an equally shifting negative space between the walls and under the floors with its own secrets dialog options and controls that make sure your never trapped. In my play through I found I could actually bypass my way back to the front door with Anton by running through this negative space, hitting a switch and then jumping through the opening that appears for 2 seconds to land behind the robot gaurds at the exit without detection before it closes.
The house is beautiful and I’m convinced it actually was designed by a genius as it was in the game.
About a month or so ago, I replayed Dishonored 2 on PS4 doing a Emily/Low Chaos/Clean Hands/Never Get Spotted run after shelving it after beating it on Xbox One when it released. My run on Xbox was a mixture of stealth and some combat; basically I just didn’t limit myself. I enjoyed the game but I didn’t “love” it.
So honestly, I wasn’t expecting to come out feeling the way I do about Dishonored 2 and that is, like you, it easily taking a place among one of my favorite games of all-time. I had such a good time using Emily’s powers especially Domino, which I found to be the absolute best power in any Dishonored game, ever.
I’m now about to start a dedicated high chaos playthrough as the platinum trophy looks to be well within reach for me. I will then move on to Dishonored: Death of the Outsider, which I have only played the first level in so far (it seems so good).
Arkane is one of my favorite developers around these days. I *loved* Prey (2017) & it’s stellar DLC Moon Crash, and I look forward to playing Deathloop when I manage to score a PS5.
Such a nice & honest review about the gameplay, subbed !!
Having iust completed both dishonored 2, and dishonored: death to the outsider the second one is definitely my favorite really enjoyed it..
This game has some crazy elements that not many other games have.
I was quite blown away on for example when you are at one of the mansions and you could go to the past and stay present and how it effected the place in present. It was sick.
I mean I was thinking from technical point of view, I think they really had to render basically two levels on top of each other? Like even the NPCs on both levels. This was so well done and the whole "mirror" thingy.
I'm really looking forward for what is next.
Never thought Bethesda make lethal weapons non lethal. It just works
This is probably my favorite game, and I've played and replayed it like it's a comfort item. I've put at least 300 hours into it. And on this last play through, I'm still finding new things that wow me. Like, if you kill Mindy and/or paolo early on, later their wanted posters are crossed out around the map. And I think I actually appreciate that the story isn't as flushed out solely by non-missable dialogue and gameplay. I love how the crap ton of extra notes, books, audiographs, and much more lore is only found upon searching for it. It really rewards the thorough, completionist players with a much more complete experience. I recently played Deathloop and it's very similar in that respect, no wonder I loved it. All in all, this game is, in my opinion, one of the best games of all time, and certainly the best sequel of all time. It kills me that games like this, with thoughtful, intelligent design, that aim to challenge the player, and that introduce groundbreaking mechanics don't sell as much as the copy/paste shooters we have now. Masterpiece game. Thank you for the video!
great video. this and dishonored 1 are some of the most underrated games around, incredible level design and gameplay, then merged with great stories and excellent art style. i need to check out prey as well.
Too bad this game didn’t get a next gen upgrade. Would kill to replay it at 60fps on my PS5
I had no idea about the pistol being able to stun / cripple for non-lethal takedowns. Calls for another play-through lol