Intro: (0:00) Part 1 - Emily Shrugged: (13:05) Part 2 - Where the Bloodflies Sing: (39:22) Part 2.1 - The Crown Killer: (54:22) Part 2.2 - Kirin Jindosh: (1:27:50) Part 2.3 - Breanna Ashworth: (1:57:37) Part 2.4 - Paolo & Vice Overseer Byrne: (2:14:21) Part 2.5 - Aramis Stilton: (2:36:18) Part 2.6 - Duke Luca Abele: (2:56:17) Part 3 - The Picture of Delilah Copperspoon: (3:17:16) Part 4 - Do Clockwork Soldiers Dream of Clockwork Sheep?: (3:47:11) For your viewing convenience.
Actually insane. Came across your D1 video last night and binged it through in one sitting as your critique was as compelling as any video from the Holy Trinity (Mathewmatosis, JA, and Noah CG). My personal favs, at least. Had your DLC critique lined up to watch this evening, and lo and behold, I’m grateful to have another long-form analysis lined up in advance to occupy my anxious thoughts tomorrow night! Absolutely giddy, and thank you so much for putting such tremendous thought and effort into shining a light on a particularly unique franchise that I sometimes feel is wholly overrated, but at other times, grossly underrated (as evidenced by the lack of satisfying critiques I’ve scoured through-even NCG’s-until finally coming across yours). Looking forward to spending the next two nights immersed in your thoughts. D2’s one of my favorite games of all time, and I can’t wait to hear you dissect it all, both the good and the bad. Cheers.
My favorite detail about this game is that if you refuse the outsider powers and don't pick up any bone charms, you find a dying overseer at the front gate of the castle who takes comfort in your presence before his passing. It always stuck with me after I found that the first time.
I always wondered how can he sense Void's influence in others without having supernatural powers himself. 🤔 Evidently, madness and physical taint are pretty obvious on many of the witches and cultists, some of the Mark bearers have hardly any outwards signs. Like, I get that the things like Sacred Music, Oraculum and Whale oil-derived tech can be harnessed and advanced by trial and error without ant magical rituals or insight. So, what gives? Is it that Void sensitivity is a neutral trait, but individual can decide for themselves whether to use it to hunt witches or to become one? 🤔
The major narrative criticism I hold with the game is that they give payoff to things that weren't built up, and build up to things that have little payoff.
Having seen this video I really realized that now. Even playing it I got bummed how we get characters on the boat that just suddenly vanish, Lucas’s crimes, etc.
I think that instead of the Outsider branding Emily, Corvo should have gifted what power he could to Emily, like how Daud and Delilah did to their respective followers. Both Corvo and Emily could have escaped with Corvo injured, requiring Emily to go out and complete missions. A reward for new game plus would be to play as Corvo, who, thanks to being branded, could serve as a power fantasy on top of a power fantasy.
I saw the video and thought "Wait is it that guy?" after seeing the views. Hopefully this channel will blow up at some point because this is ridiculous.
@@kaldini that's the joke hahahah really enjoying it so far, got the 100% last year and while a I like the levels and gameplay in general, the flow of the story is a pretty weak point of the game
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again; the sequels shouldn’t have been direct. Just let it take place in the universe. Don’t even need to call it Dishonored. Bust out the thesaurus and pick something similar.
I remember getting the preorder cloth reversible mask for this one. Playing on console around launch sucked for me since I was still a serial reloader when getting spotted. I enjoyed it, and I'm glad to see the narrative get a closer examination. Sorry for the rambling, just wanted to get some thoughts out and help the algorithm push the video.
I'm very glad to see the new video by you about the Dishonored series games I'd be interested in you addressing the changes of the Outsider character between the first game and the second. I feel like the change of the voice actor and the writing really did a disservice to the character. I felt like in the first game the whole story was a dialogue between the main character and the Outsider with player's actions as dialogue options. The theme was what would you do if you had a power beyond any mortal - would you get corrupted or would you try to be moral The first game showed the Outsider as a bored and powerful entity, mostly uninterested in the mortal world but in the second game he teleports around like it's the first time he got his powers and he even has an agenda. Also, it was strange that you didn't mention that the dreadful whale was named like that because it is a reordering of letters on a phrase "farewell Daud". That comes into play in the DotO expansion, so there's still time It would be interesting to see an analysis of the original Deus Ex, but that's just a preference (and maybe you already did and I need to rewatch it) Anyways, was very happy to watch your new video and happy to wait for the new one. No rush, as always - quality comes first, so take your time and stay sane
I mention it at the end, but I decided to save discussing the Outsider for DOTO. It felt more relevant for that discussion. I do agree however, the Outsider went from being one of the most interesting aspects of the the Dishonored series to being one of my least favorite parts of it. After the DOTO video, I'm planning for the next big project to either be Prey 2017, the two Styx games, or the two modern Deus Ex games. Haven't fully decided yet because I want to just get through the Dishonored series first before committing to another big series haha. Thanks for watching and giving your thoughts.
Id def be most interested in prey.. it’s probably my favorite arkane game and I think arkane is quite possibly the most under rated game studio in existence .. dishonored. D2, doto, prey, deathloop.. all these games r absolutely fantastic, and I consider all of them to be amongst my favorite games ever … I haven’t played redfall that’s why r I’m leaving it out, not just because of the bad rap it has, but I haven’t personally played it to comment on it because I don’t own a pc or an Xbox
love your stuff and the video so far but the link for the game maker's toolkit video you recommend at 1:42:28 isnt in the description or the pinned comment
The biggest shame in the Dishonored series for me is that it has all the critiria to be an excellent stealth game:thoughtfull and great level design, stunning enviroments, creative tools and powers. Unfortunately due to a combination of bad A.I and game inbalance that makes the player just too strong, iťs hard to meaningfully engage with the stealth system because even if you break out of it they are no meaningfull consecuences and you can get away scot free. I hope that if there is a dishonored 3 in the works it will provide a bit more neance and complexity in the stealth system, because i feel that Arkane Studios was pretty close into creating something truly special Great video by the way even if i dont agree with some things, the best games are the ones worth arguing for
Honestly I was so put off by the decision to bring Delilah back that I didn't buy the game until this year. When it was six bucks and change Canadian. Bundled with Prey. And the first DIshonored is maybe my favourite game of all time.
I agree about the non lethals reflecting the crime/poetic justice standpoint with the exception of lady Boyle in the first game. That one is pretty yucky
Duke is not a royal title. -I'd hazard a guess that rulers of Tyvia and Morley don't have higher titles.- No, I'm wrong. Morley is ruled by king and queen and Tyvia ia ruled by... High Judges? According to wiki, that is. That makes exactly two royal families - Caldwin and whatever is king Briam's surname. Emily still needs to secure an heir, though, so marriage proposals are a given. 🤔
@@221B-o4e To be fair, I started talking about the series two years ago with my original critique and am circling back to finish the series. I'm glad the series is getting more attention though.
I just want a fov slider 😒 The fact the display setting has a whole menu but has 1 option BRIGHTNESS enrages me. But i cant play dishonored for longer than an hr without headaches & eye strain.
Story, tone, characters, and lore building are much worse here. All moral ambiguity is out the window, and every character who's done "bad things" is "trying to atone for their sins"... every single one of them. Sometimes I wonder whether they killed off Piero because he was shown as a pervert and they couldn't find a way to clean him up convincingly, given that Sokolov was twisted into a sensitive artist from the first game, where he was a machiavellian and opportunistic genius. The main villain is a cardboard cutout, with demented motivations and an even more demented plan that has no chance to work out, it only does because the writer needs it to. And even the way you defeat her is complete, absolute nonsense, particularly the pacifist solution. None of the main characters are allowed to be anything other than morally upright, or unjustly manipulated into doing evil. The game takes a propagandistic slant, with a very explicit narrative on "power", one that falls short if you use more than two neurons at once when you think about the implications of this whole world. This game also has one of the first implementation of DEI _within the game world_ to the point that even if you're in the equivalent of Morocco, you have equal representation of white, brown, asian and black people, just like in the capital. They also appear to do the same exact things as in the capital, save a few exceptions, so you can't really feel the cultural diversity of Serkonos: it's just like Gristol but warmer. Billie is an interesting character that is weighted by the writer's maniacal pursuit of synthetizing the ultimate intersectional character: a black disabled and economically disadvantaged bisexual woman... someone needs to explain to me how someone with so many physical disabilities, and without powers, can handle a 15m multi-story steel cargo boat all by herself, but I digress. In gameplay terms it's so much more fun than the first game, although the AI is unquestionably worse. The behavior of the guards was quite predictable in the first game, at all difficulties, it was pretty clear when you could be seen and when you would not be seen. In D2 sometimes they can't see you when you're straight in front of them, sometimes they can see you from 30m of distance, sometimes staying in a balcony is safe, sometimes they seem to see a few strands of hair poking out of the handrails. At the highest difficulty this game is excedingly frustrating, and is only saved by the incalculable variety of the game maps.
The first game didn't really have a writer, it was written by the game director. It shows, in certain sections, but the lore and the main plot points were incredibly strong. This game had a narrative designer and several writers. Somehow they did a worse job in all aspects, even though the technically respect all the "rules" of storytelling. But a badly told good story will always beat a well written but awfully uninteresting one.
@@kaldini While I don't think it's a cardinal sin, you still kind of have to question the concessions that were made in immersion and believability for... what exactly?
@@kaldini you had a knee jerk reaction, because I wasn't "ranting about DEI", or at least it's an oversemplification. -What is the single most defining characteristic of Serkonos over Gristol, other than the blood flies, the northern african climate, and the color yellow? What makes it a different country? -Why does Serkonos have the same exact population densities as Gristol? What is the overall culture of Serkonos, and how does it differ from that of Gristol? -Why is Billie Lurk one-armed? What purposed does it serve to the story? How is it justified in-game that she can do all the things she does, given that you effectively never see her doing anything (because they probably couldn't think of it themselves)? Why an arm, and not a leg, which would have been more character-appropriate? Why did they coalesce so many minority characteristics into a single characters just to leave all the other with one or no minority characteristics? To my knowledge, there is one trans character, but they gave her a female voice actor and it is never stated anywhere that she is, they just said it. What for? In both cases, I find it kind of offensive towards the people they meant to represent. A disabled person isn't going to feel represented by a woman without an arm, and possibly other issues, who seems to command an entire steel boat and carry an entire smuggled cargo operation by herself with no explanation as to how she's even able to do that, and the trans character is frankly just a token character.
Intro: (0:00)
Part 1 - Emily Shrugged: (13:05)
Part 2 - Where the Bloodflies Sing: (39:22)
Part 2.1 - The Crown Killer: (54:22)
Part 2.2 - Kirin Jindosh: (1:27:50)
Part 2.3 - Breanna Ashworth: (1:57:37)
Part 2.4 - Paolo & Vice Overseer Byrne: (2:14:21)
Part 2.5 - Aramis Stilton: (2:36:18)
Part 2.6 - Duke Luca Abele: (2:56:17)
Part 3 - The Picture of Delilah Copperspoon: (3:17:16)
Part 4 - Do Clockwork Soldiers Dream of Clockwork Sheep?: (3:47:11)
For your viewing convenience.
I would just like to recognize you for the very funny "Emily Shrugged" title.
Actually insane. Came across your D1 video last night and binged it through in one sitting as your critique was as compelling as any video from the Holy Trinity (Mathewmatosis, JA, and Noah CG). My personal favs, at least.
Had your DLC critique lined up to watch this evening, and lo and behold, I’m grateful to have another long-form analysis lined up in advance to occupy my anxious thoughts tomorrow night!
Absolutely giddy, and thank you so much for putting such tremendous thought and effort into shining a light on a particularly unique franchise that I sometimes feel is wholly overrated, but at other times, grossly underrated (as evidenced by the lack of satisfying critiques I’ve scoured through-even NCG’s-until finally coming across yours). Looking forward to spending the next two nights immersed in your thoughts. D2’s one of my favorite games of all time, and I can’t wait to hear you dissect it all, both the good and the bad. Cheers.
My favorite detail about this game is that if you refuse the outsider powers and don't pick up any bone charms, you find a dying overseer at the front gate of the castle who takes comfort in your presence before his passing. It always stuck with me after I found that the first time.
I always wondered how can he sense Void's influence in others without having supernatural powers himself. 🤔
Evidently, madness and physical taint are pretty obvious on many of the witches and cultists, some of the Mark bearers have hardly any outwards signs.
Like, I get that the things like Sacred Music, Oraculum and Whale oil-derived tech can be harnessed and advanced by trial and error without ant magical rituals or insight. So, what gives?
Is it that Void sensitivity is a neutral trait, but individual can decide for themselves whether to use it to hunt witches or to become one? 🤔
- Shall we gather to watch a four hour Dishonored 2 retrospective tonight?
- Indeed, I believe so.
Never doubt it.
Babe, wake up. Kaldini remembered his password!
going to be gathering for whiskey and cigars over this one
Never doubt it.
The major narrative criticism I hold with the game is that they give payoff to things that weren't built up, and build up to things that have little payoff.
Having seen this video I really realized that now. Even playing it I got bummed how we get characters on the boat that just suddenly vanish, Lucas’s crimes, etc.
I think that instead of the Outsider branding Emily, Corvo should have gifted what power he could to Emily, like how Daud and Delilah did to their respective followers.
Both Corvo and Emily could have escaped with Corvo injured, requiring Emily to go out and complete missions.
A reward for new game plus would be to play as Corvo, who, thanks to being branded, could serve as a power fantasy on top of a power fantasy.
I saw the video and thought "Wait is it that guy?" after seeing the views. Hopefully this channel will blow up at some point because this is ridiculous.
It's that guy!
loved your first videos, can't wait for this!!
Finished the video a few hours ago and really liked it, good job
@@leandronicolas1 haha you finished a four hour video that released 2 hours ago?
Regardless, glad you enjoyed it!
@@kaldini that's the joke hahahah really enjoying it so far, got the 100% last year and while a I like the levels and gameplay in general, the flow of the story is a pretty weak point of the game
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again; the sequels shouldn’t have been direct. Just let it take place in the universe. Don’t even need to call it Dishonored. Bust out the thesaurus and pick something similar.
Despite having more powers and more away to approach targets
I still like dishonored 1 better.
Oh shit we looks like imsims are back on the menu boys!
I don't have time to watch this. I also want to finish replaying dishonored 2 before I watch. Regardless, this just made my day ❤
I needed something to watch tonight
Glad to see you back man! Will need to watch this over a few days but look forward to it
Thanks for checking out the vid. Let me know your thoughts once you've finished.
I remember getting the preorder cloth reversible mask for this one. Playing on console around launch sucked for me since I was still a serial reloader when getting spotted. I enjoyed it, and I'm glad to see the narrative get a closer examination. Sorry for the rambling, just wanted to get some thoughts out and help the algorithm push the video.
I'm very glad to see the new video by you about the Dishonored series games
I'd be interested in you addressing the changes of the Outsider character between the first game and the second.
I feel like the change of the voice actor and the writing really did a disservice to the character.
I felt like in the first game the whole story was a dialogue between the main character and the Outsider with player's actions as dialogue options. The theme was what would you do if you had a power beyond any mortal - would you get corrupted or would you try to be moral
The first game showed the Outsider as a bored and powerful entity, mostly uninterested in the mortal world but in the second game he teleports around like it's the first time he got his powers and he even has an agenda.
Also, it was strange that you didn't mention that the dreadful whale was named like that because it is a reordering of letters on a phrase "farewell Daud". That comes into play in the DotO expansion, so there's still time
It would be interesting to see an analysis of the original Deus Ex, but that's just a preference (and maybe you already did and I need to rewatch it)
Anyways, was very happy to watch your new video and happy to wait for the new one. No rush, as always - quality comes first, so take your time and stay sane
I mention it at the end, but I decided to save discussing the Outsider for DOTO. It felt more relevant for that discussion. I do agree however, the Outsider went from being one of the most interesting aspects of the the Dishonored series to being one of my least favorite parts of it.
After the DOTO video, I'm planning for the next big project to either be Prey 2017, the two Styx games, or the two modern Deus Ex games. Haven't fully decided yet because I want to just get through the Dishonored series first before committing to another big series haha.
Thanks for watching and giving your thoughts.
@@kaldini Looking forward to it!
*Dishonored video detected.*
*Uploading Should_we_gather_for_whiskey_and_cigars_tonight.exe*
We eating good today!! Thank you, and welcome back
Next video, Prey 2017?
Id def be most interested in prey.. it’s probably my favorite arkane game and I think arkane is quite possibly the most under rated game studio in existence .. dishonored. D2, doto, prey, deathloop.. all these games r absolutely fantastic, and I consider all of them to be amongst my favorite games ever … I haven’t played redfall that’s why r I’m leaving it out, not just because of the bad rap it has, but I haven’t personally played it to comment on it because I don’t own a pc or an Xbox
I would love to watch this but I didn't play it yet. I saved the video on my playlist to remember to watch one day.
Damn talk about crazy timing. Just finished the video on the first game yesterday
oh yeah baby, let's let the next 4 hours shape my entire world view
I was waiting on this!
love your stuff and the video so far but the link for the game maker's toolkit video you recommend at 1:42:28 isnt in the description or the pinned comment
Thanks for the reminder! Should be in the description now!
Oh my God it's here
The biggest shame in the Dishonored series for me is that it has all the critiria to be an excellent stealth game:thoughtfull and great level design, stunning enviroments, creative tools and powers. Unfortunately due to a combination of bad A.I and game inbalance that makes the player just too strong, iťs hard to meaningfully engage with the stealth system because even if you break out of it they are no meaningfull consecuences and you can get away scot free. I hope that if there is a dishonored 3 in the works it will provide a bit more neance and complexity in the stealth system, because i feel that Arkane Studios was pretty close into creating something truly special
Great video by the way even if i dont agree with some things, the best games are the ones worth arguing for
Great anaysis.A review of the modern Deus Ex games would be great. I love me some immersive sims.
This video is my GTA VI
Honestly I was so put off by the decision to bring Delilah back that I didn't buy the game until this year. When it was six bucks and change Canadian. Bundled with Prey. And the first DIshonored is maybe my favourite game of all time.
Dishonored is back
I agree about the non lethals reflecting the crime/poetic justice standpoint with the exception of lady Boyle in the first game. That one is pretty yucky
Do yourself a favor and put this on 1.25x speed at least :D
OH YEAH OH YEAH ITS FINALLY TIME
Omg after two years omggggg yesssssssssssssss
@@oraxge hopefully it's worth the weight!
Should have named it a "brief" retrospective kr something along those lines
Duke is not a royal title. -I'd hazard a guess that rulers of Tyvia and Morley don't have higher titles.- No, I'm wrong. Morley is ruled by king and queen and Tyvia ia ruled by... High Judges? According to wiki, that is.
That makes exactly two royal families - Caldwin and whatever is king Briam's surname.
Emily still needs to secure an heir, though, so marriage proposals are a given. 🤔
The best one. I just skip cutscenes everytime I go back.
LET'S GOOOOO
1:33:38 -wow that guy sounds like Pedro pascal, wait -what?!
I despise the clockwork mansion. I wish that mission could be skipped. I’ve never been able to understand it
Why is everyone talking about Dishonored suddently?
@@221B-o4e To be fair, I started talking about the series two years ago with my original critique and am circling back to finish the series.
I'm glad the series is getting more attention though.
Good vid so far.
Bro watched it on x1000
@Cink1973 "So Far"
I just want a fov slider 😒
The fact the display setting has a whole menu but has 1 option BRIGHTNESS enrages me.
But i cant play dishonored for longer than an hr without headaches & eye strain.
More like Kaldwini amirite folks
Or Kaldwinnie perhaps?
First time viewer . Here for the engagement
Hell yes
Erm what the sigma?
1.25x
Story, tone, characters, and lore building are much worse here. All moral ambiguity is out the window, and every character who's done "bad things" is "trying to atone for their sins"... every single one of them. Sometimes I wonder whether they killed off Piero because he was shown as a pervert and they couldn't find a way to clean him up convincingly, given that Sokolov was twisted into a sensitive artist from the first game, where he was a machiavellian and opportunistic genius.
The main villain is a cardboard cutout, with demented motivations and an even more demented plan that has no chance to work out, it only does because the writer needs it to. And even the way you defeat her is complete, absolute nonsense, particularly the pacifist solution.
None of the main characters are allowed to be anything other than morally upright, or unjustly manipulated into doing evil. The game takes a propagandistic slant, with a very explicit narrative on "power", one that falls short if you use more than two neurons at once when you think about the implications of this whole world. This game also has one of the first implementation of DEI _within the game world_ to the point that even if you're in the equivalent of Morocco, you have equal representation of white, brown, asian and black people, just like in the capital. They also appear to do the same exact things as in the capital, save a few exceptions, so you can't really feel the cultural diversity of Serkonos: it's just like Gristol but warmer. Billie is an interesting character that is weighted by the writer's maniacal pursuit of synthetizing the ultimate intersectional character: a black disabled and economically disadvantaged bisexual woman... someone needs to explain to me how someone with so many physical disabilities, and without powers, can handle a 15m multi-story steel cargo boat all by herself, but I digress.
In gameplay terms it's so much more fun than the first game, although the AI is unquestionably worse. The behavior of the guards was quite predictable in the first game, at all difficulties, it was pretty clear when you could be seen and when you would not be seen. In D2 sometimes they can't see you when you're straight in front of them, sometimes they can see you from 30m of distance, sometimes staying in a balcony is safe, sometimes they seem to see a few strands of hair poking out of the handrails. At the highest difficulty this game is excedingly frustrating, and is only saved by the incalculable variety of the game maps.
The first game didn't really have a writer, it was written by the game director. It shows, in certain sections, but the lore and the main plot points were incredibly strong. This game had a narrative designer and several writers. Somehow they did a worse job in all aspects, even though the technically respect all the "rules" of storytelling. But a badly told good story will always beat a well written but awfully uninteresting one.
Largely agreed until you started ranting about DEI
@@kaldini While I don't think it's a cardinal sin, you still kind of have to question the concessions that were made in immersion and believability for... what exactly?
@@kaldinihe's right tho
@@kaldini you had a knee jerk reaction, because I wasn't "ranting about DEI", or at least it's an oversemplification.
-What is the single most defining characteristic of Serkonos over Gristol, other than the blood flies, the northern african climate, and the color yellow? What makes it a different country?
-Why does Serkonos have the same exact population densities as Gristol? What is the overall culture of Serkonos, and how does it differ from that of Gristol?
-Why is Billie Lurk one-armed? What purposed does it serve to the story? How is it justified in-game that she can do all the things she does, given that you effectively never see her doing anything (because they probably couldn't think of it themselves)? Why an arm, and not a leg, which would have been more character-appropriate? Why did they coalesce so many minority characteristics into a single characters just to leave all the other with one or no minority characteristics? To my knowledge, there is one trans character, but they gave her a female voice actor and it is never stated anywhere that she is, they just said it. What for?
In both cases, I find it kind of offensive towards the people they meant to represent. A disabled person isn't going to feel represented by a woman without an arm, and possibly other issues, who seems to command an entire steel boat and carry an entire smuggled cargo operation by herself with no explanation as to how she's even able to do that, and the trans character is frankly just a token character.
YES dude I’ve watched all of your vids within a week 🧍♂️and I’ve been waiting for this - your vids are amazing!