Dishonored 2

EMILY ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ KAAAAAAAALDWIIIIIIIIN!!!!!

Amazing game! it is sad that such a studio has been limited by corporate inefficiencies and bad leadership.

9/10 but a personal 10/10 for me. My favorite game of all time. I loved the first one. Played through that one 20 times before I stopped counting and even on that twentieth playthrough, I was STILL finding new paths or new ways to do things. This game has improved on everything from the first one except for maybe the story in some aspects. Gameplay wise, Dishonored 2 is incredible. It's an immersive sim which means the developers created a bunch of systems and physics for all the interactable objects and characters in the game. So when they give you these crazy powers and gadgets, they just turn you loose on the world. This approach to creating a game world allows for truly emergent gameplay where players have discovered combos with abilities the developers never even thought of. My favorite combo that I've seen involves the Time Stop ability, Corpse Possession, and a couple of crossbow bolts. When you stop time in this game, it stops everything but the player. So if there are projectiles flying in the air, their momentum is stopped until the ability ends. As the player, you can fire off or throw projectiles and they'll freeze mid-air after a second. Corpse Possession is self explanatory, really. You can possess a corpse like you're jumping into it to maybe hide or something... Someone discovered that, because of the physics of everything in this game, you can throw the upper half torso of someone in the air, stop time, fire a couple of crossbow bolts at it, and possess the torso right as time resumes.... to then use the momentum from the crossbow bolts to ride this dead body as it flies through the air like a meat bag rocket ship, launching yourself across the entire level if you do it right. As crazy as this combo is, there are lots more for you to discover. This is a game where you get what you put into it. You can play how you want and it is still satisfying to go through the game using your tools and powers in straightforward ways. But, if you are willing to stop and really think about your abilities, you can come up with crazy combos and create fun routes. They created a playground and gave you a bunch of tools to mess around with, and there hasn't been another game like this in 10 years. Actually, Prey and Deathloop are great as well, but this is a masterpiece in my eyes. The story is kind of lacking in some areas, not gonna lie. The world and the things you can discover about it is amazing. The story of each mission and the extra lil tidbits of info you can find about side characters and targets is very interesting. But the main villain of this game isn't as compelling and there are some pacing issues or questionable decisions with the story regarding certain elements. Despite the story shortcomings, it is absolutely still worth paying attention to and getting immersed in. You have the option to play as either Corvo, the protagonist of the first game, or as Emily, his daughter and empress. Both characters have their own unique powers, animations, and voices. When you beat the game though, you can play through it again and have access to ALL the powers allowing for even more crazy combinations and possibilities. But both characters are fully voiced and make sense for the story, although I am more of a fan of playing as Emily. One of the coolest aspects of the Dishonored series, to me, is that you can actually play through the entire game without killing anyone. In this entry, they actually expanded on how you can use your powers and gadgets in a wat where you can now go with a loud, but non lethal approach. Going from a super powered assassin to playing as a super hero and it's crazy how that affects the power fantasy. It can be immensely satisfying to take the extra care to beat everyone up without killing them. There are even non lethal ways to neutralize the main targets of each mission and the world actually responds to how you choose to play. There is a Chaos mechanic that sees and responds to who and how many people you might kill in a playthrough. Leaving more dead bodies behind will increase guard patrols and might increase the number of bloodfly infestations in the world. Bloodflies are these deadly insects that nest inside living or dead animals and can do something else besides just kill someone if they are unlucky enough to have these bugs lay eggs in them... High or low chaos also effects how the characters in the world act and how some of them treat you. It's a very interesting system that actually made me consider the weight of my actions (in the earlier playthroughs anyway). One other aspect I love about this series is the aesthetic of the world. Everything is so well thought out and designed and it all comes back to creating what is an authentic immersive experience. Everything looks like a painting and the animations of NPCs seem like they're dynamic but you can at any point yank them right out of them. The animations of the player takedowns are also very satisfying and brutal. If you're thinking about giving Dishonored 1 or 2 a try, go in with an inquisitive mind and your exploration of the game's mechanics and the game's world will absolutely be rewarded. I hope that more people play this game and that they can at least get a fraction of the enjoyment that I have over the years. It's an amazing game made by some amazing people who I hope get to keep on creating.