Dishonored 2

^^ Yeah me too. I am trying to play through the first again since it was on sale on PS4. It's boring as shit so far. Story sucks, side quests suck, and why use any of these powers when I can just sword and board through everyone.

Is Dishonored 2 just more of the same as above?

Well, here's the article breaking down why they selected it for Game of the Year:

Game of the Year 2016 — Dishonored 2 | PC Gamer

It looks like they mostly wanted to give props to Arkane for being the only studio trying to continue the legacy of Looking Glass and Ion Storm.

I was always planning on grabbing Dishonored 2; my only hesitation was the reports of it being a shitty PC port.

The miracle patch (including NG+) has dropped on steam.

I grabbed this for $40 during the Steam sale. It runs really well for me (running on a GTX 970). It actually just occurred to me that I haven't updated drivers in several months so it may even get better.

I'm only towards the beginning of Chapter 2, but I'm finding it very enjoyable (and nostalgic -was Corvo voiced by the same guy that voiced Garret in the first one? I don't remember him being voiced at all in Dishonored).

Blitz said:

Not sure about the voice actor, but I do know that Corvo did not have a voice at all in the first one. I am debating on pulling the trigger on Dishonored 2 again for ps4, or if it is even cheaper on PC. Have a huge catalog to play through, so I may wait another few months. Seems like the PC patch cleared quite a bit up, I had trouble with the i7-2600k, 970 GTX, 8GB setup originally.

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Using the GeForce Experience optimized settings my game runs at 60 FPS and looks very good. The facial animations are distractingly stiff at times, but that's not really a graphics problem.

Perhaps the most impressive part of the engine is the real time lighting. I was prowling around an apartment and didn't notice how close I was to this really bright overhead light. When I bumped into it the light moved very realistically and cast shadows on everything. If there was an FPS loss, I didn't notice it.

So yeah, I don't have a before/after comparison, but I'd say it's in pretty good shape now.

Up to Chapter 6 now. This is a solid sequel so far. The plot is a little loose, for my tastes, but the gameplay is solid. If you're a fan of stealth and exploration, you will love this game.

I've never tried the all-out-assault play style in Dishonored, but it seems like they've made it viable if that's how you like to play.

Dandai said:

Up to Chapter 6 now. This is a solid sequel so far. The plot is a little loose, for my tastes, but the gameplay is solid. If you're a fan of stealth and exploration, you will love this game.

I've never tried the all-out-assault play style in Dishonored, but it seems like they've made it viable if that's how you like to play.

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While I liked Dishonored I don't have much desire to play this game. I felt like a Stealth game earlier this year and just played Styx and it was great. Very underrated. The problem I had is the same most people seem to have on here. For supposedly being a stealth game you're given so many instant kill tools that stealthing is actually a remarkably inefficient and forces you not use the toys you're given. It always goes back to the old Thief games. The tools you get make you more efficient at being stealthy and more options to solve problems. But Dishonored goes balls out and gives you instant kill barbed wire proximity mines that trump the use of previous, less effective tools.

I hope a good stealth game is on the books for 2017. But I don't even know what the lineup is looking like.

Utnayan said:

^^ Yeah me too. I am trying to play through the first again since it was on sale on PS4. It's boring as shit so far. Story sucks, side quests suck, and why use any of these powers when I can just sword and board through everyone.

Is Dishonored 2 just more of the same as above?

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The problem of Dishonored 1 is kind of alleviated in Dishonored 2... in that you have more solutions per level to try.

However, my main problem with Dishonored is that it's a game full of crazy murder powers and somehow also a stealth game? If you actually use the powers you can WTF kill anything... So I only play using very minimal items and powers because otherwise its not much fun to me. Tranq gun and the teleport and nothing else.

I have yet to find many proper Thief type stealth games. Mark of the Ninja was my favorite since Thief.

Sweet lord I wrote that almost 2 years ago.

TJT said:

The problem of Dishonored 1 is kind of alleviated in Dishonored 2... in that you have more solutions per level to try.

However, my main problem with Dishonored is that it's a game full of crazy murder powers and somehow also a stealth game? If you actually use the powers you can WTF kill anything... So I only play using very minimal items and powers because otherwise its not much fun to me. Tranq gun and the teleport and nothing else.

I have yet to find many proper Thief type stealth games. Mark of the Ninja was my favorite since Thief.

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I couldn’t agree more. Almost all of the skill unlocks and upgrades are lethal, non-stealth oriented. Sure, stealth is viable, but it’s not optimal after the early portions of the game. For me, this means all of the excitement that normally accompanies progression becomes frustration that I’m playing the same way as I was hours ago (while having to stare at the fancy new toys lethal players would be getting).

There’s something about the aesthetics of Dishonored that make me uncomfortable too. Not sure if it’s an uncanny valley situation or inconsistent tone or what. I really want to love the games, but the sum of their minor flaws outweighs their strengths.

I’ve had Dishonored 2 installed for a couple years now because I stopped a few chapters before the end, but I’ve yet to go and dive back in. I’m a “ghost” “no kill” type player, so maybe I’ll do a save split and go full lethal and zero fucks given to change it up and make it to the end?

Also, Mark of the Ninja was incredibly awesome. I never would’ve thought a 2D stealth game would work. It not only works - it’s exceptional. Definitely try it if you’re a fan of stealth and/or Thief.

Dandai said:

I couldn’t agree more. Almost all of the skill unlocks and upgrades are lethal, non-stealth oriented. Sure, stealth is viable, but it’s not optimal after the early portions of the game. For me, this means all of the excitement that normally accompanies progression becomes frustration that I’m playing the same way as I was hours ago (while having to stare at the fancy new toys lethal players would be getting).

There’s something about the aesthetics of Dishonored that make me uncomfortable too. Not sure if it’s an uncanny valley situation or inconsistent tone or what. I really want to love the games, but the sum of their minor flaws outweighs their strengths.

I’ve had Dishonored 2 installed for a couple years now because I stopped a few chapters before the end, but I’ve yet to go and dive back in. I’m a “ghost” “no kill” type player, so maybe I’ll do a save split and go full lethal and zero fucks given to change it up and make it to the end?

Also, Mark of the Ninja was incredibly awesome. I never would’ve thought a 2D stealth game would work. It not only works - it’s exceptional. Definitely try it if you’re a fan of stealth and/or Thief.

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I have that same "uncomfortable" issue with every Arkane game I try to play. For example, Prey seemed designed for me to like it, but I quickly gave up on it and returned it because something just felt off about the whole thing.

I've been bouncing between Dishonored 1 and 2 this week and they're interesting. Like a combination of Assassin's Creed and Bioshock. That said I can't say I'm that into either of them or will ever replay them, it's more about just clearing them from the backlog. About 90% through D1 and 30% through D2. D1 was actually pretty hard until I got the time stop and rat swarm spells, now I just use those to obliterate everything or run past. I assume D2 will have a similar difficulty crater whenever I get the Domino spell I keep hearing about.

Runnen said:

Both games are much more challenging when you're attempting ghost runs (no kills, not seen by anyone). It's also fun, but killing people is fun too, so your milage may vary.

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I finished D1 and I'm on chapter 6 (of 9) in D2. Unfortunately I haven't enjoyed D2 much at all. D1 was alright but even that one didn't get my motor running as much as I expected. I find D2's level design to be kind of obnoxious, and I'm playing as Emily so no damage-plasmids to blast enemies with. It's most fun when I'm sneaking around assassinating dudes, but I constantly get spotted right after I take out one or two guys. Maybe I need to learn a particular skill.