Dishonored - Definitive Edition

Dishonored has a good story told in both ways, progression and collectibles. Good characters who you care for. Excellent music composed by the late Daniel Licht. Plot twists and it's a fine example replayability. You either can go full stealth or full slaughter, with or without powers, but what you choose will have an impact in a world whose rich designs comes from Viktor Antonov, Half-Life 2's City 17 creator. Worth to buy? Of course, and even more to play it more than once time.

I first played this game on Steam when it came out in 2012, having pre-ordered it and being fairly hyped for it, being familiar with Arkane's previous work (I'm still waiting to see Dark Messiah on here). Like a lot of people, I went in expecting a spiritual successor to Thief and ended up disappointed because while Dishonored has a laundry list of influences from that series, it is fundamentally it's own thing. They are both immersive sim games, but while Thief is about a vulnerable character using his wits and limited resources to overcome challenges (at times even crossing into survival horror) Dishonored is the opposite. It's power fantasy. It's primary source of differentiation from Thief are the supernatural powers, most prominently the Blink ability - a spammable short-range teleport - that gives the game's stealth a unique flavor that almost makes up for it otherwise being a little wonky. The sound design is less than brilliant and the implementation of positional audio is worse, making it hard to tell by ear where a guard is, even with headphones. Contrary to what a lot of players claim, lighting DOES factor into your visibility, but hiding in the shadows only works at a long distance so to compensate, the levels are littered with waist-high barriers to crouch behind. You can lean around cover for as long as you like and will strangely never be spotted while doing this. That's not to say the level design is bad. Quite the opposite. Though there are only 14 proper missions in the game (including the DLC campaign) they offer some of the best open-ended immersive sim level designs since the original Deus Ex, and make particularly great use of verticality -- adding an extra dimension to the stealth. Having now replayed this for the first time in 8 years, I think I can now say that this game finally clicked with me and I would highly recommend it. It's a short, but there's plenty of replay value through ghost/pacifist runs and just being a fun game.

I am elated to see these games DRM free and instantly bought them just to show how much it matters! The original Dishonored is my favorite of the series to be sure. The silent-protagonist and the overall atmosphere is stronger than the sequels, in my opinion, though they are great games as well. The DLC is also fantastic both additional story campaign as well as the challenge modes which are quite fun and... challenging. These games are not just stealth or action games but fall into that sweet, sweet "Immersive Sim" genre that is a rarity these days.

Dishonored did something unique, and succeeded. I had no expectations for it, and found myself exploring the whole world and replaying it to experience all it has to offer. Even the DLC, typically I pass on the typical mini-challenges, but really enjoyed these ones (house burglary still an achievement I'm proud of). Cool world, cool mechanics (first person stealth or combat, coupled with magic powers including a blink), multiple paths, full non-lethal playthrough option. Interesting levels. DLC to let you play from another character's perspective and expands the universe by filling in events happening in other parts of the world. Each level gives you some objectives, and then it's up to you on how to complete it -- many games claim this, but finishing the goal often boils down to one, maybe two, ways to ultimately complete it. Each level is like a large sandbox, where your actions can influence other parts of the map. Also for those who are completionists, it IS possible to get it all done (as long as you don't botch something up), so you don't need to worry about hidden timed events that force you to play faster than you'd like. So take your time, and enjoy methodically getting around the map. Playing this game evokes feelings of Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Thief, Bioshock... all while doing it's own thing. High praise from me. It's a game I played through multiple times fully: first on 'hard' difficulty as a blind playthrough, then on 'very hard' to experience the other ending, then I went to hunt for all missed achievements. Years later when I replayed again, it held up just as well. I own it on Steam, but if I ever need a DRM copy, I would no hesitate to buy it again.