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There's always a little more innocence left to lose

During the Steam Winter Sale this past year, I purchased the Arcane publisher bundle that included all of the Dishonored games. I hadn't played the first game in many years so I thought this would be a great opportunity to jump back in and relive those memories that I held so dear. At the time of purchase I also never dove into the DLC for the first game OR played the sequel and following standalone DLC so this was something that I was very excited to do all back-to-back.

These are my thoughts. (there will be spoilers)

Dishonored + DLC: I've played through Dishonored multiple times before on Xbox360 so I'll keep this bit short since playing it again on PC didn't change any of my initial thoughts. It's one of those games that I've held very high on my all-time list since it came out a decade ago. It's the perfect blend of gothic horror and steampunk without it being over the top or basic in its execution. The stealth elements are still some of the best I've seen to date, and how chaos affects the story and gameplay were just as interesting today as they were years ago. For this playthrough I chose High Chaos and it was so incredibly fun.

After I finished the main story I moved onto the DLC for the first time and let me tell you..it was some of the most interesting concepts I've seen in a game. The DLC takes place during the events of the mainline story, but from the POV of Daud, one of the previous antagonists. The whole thing feels like you're a mob boss in charge of this giant network of underground assassins that carry out jobs for people. Every detail is incredible right down to how you can pay your soldiers to do certain things to make the levels easier. I especially love the exploration of Daud and Billie's relationship. My headcanon is that they were forbidden lovers, which to me makes that ending so much more impactful. After playing through the second DLC involving Delilah I wish the mainline story had more to do with the witches. It was such a nice change of pace fighting spiritual beings that could actually put up a fight instead of just guards with swords.

Dishonored 2: Right off the bat it's tone is immediately dark and gloomy. I had somehow missed all spoilers for this game because I didn't think it was possible to even play as Corvo until 4 hours into the game. I'm thankful for that, though because I would choose to play as Emily every time over Corvo. No offense. Something else I didn't expect was Delilah making a return as the main antagonist, claiming to be Emily's aunt - her mother's half-sister. Corvo is frozen and you're quickly launched into a high-stakes escape mission from your own home.

It's apparent throughout the game that the dev team had a lot more resources and time to work on the fine-tuning of the environments because multiple times during this first playthrough I've stopped to admire them. There's so much life in these levels, both indoor and out. The NPC's roaming around doing jobs and talking to each other, the accessible interiors of apartment buildings and local shops that you can explore that all feel different and lived-in, the different regions blocked off for certain factions each with their own personalities and motives.. It's all designed with so much care.

There's a level that has these giant wind turbines that supply the surrounding city with power and before they wind up there's a deep screech that's reminiscent of the War of the Worlds alien tripods that genuinely scared me the first time I heard it. Once they're spinning, wind storms coat the area making it hard to see. It's so cool seeing it all happen in real-time and watching how NPC's react to it. It all adds to the world building and makes you feel like you're actually existing in this world.

At this point in the game, I've put in about 8-9 hours and got to a part of the story where things take a bit of a turn. I enter a vault to find a destroyed mansion in complete shambles - most of it inaccessible due to structural damage or blocked off by hives.(yes, there are a lot of bugs). You make your way through the rubble and have an encounter with the Outsider who gives you a time piece and basically says "have fun!" before leaving. You've now been given a tool to TIME TRAVEL!

Now, when I tell you this section was one of the most fun and interesting I've experienced in a video game EVER.. I could not believe it was real. It's done in such a faithful and artistic way. It's not just a gimmick thrown in there, it's actually so cool and makes sense given the lore and what's possible in the universe.

In present-day you're in the destroyed mansion having to deal with structural damage, bugs and witch-zombies...and in the past you're dealing with armed guards and having to navigate around mansion crew. Balancing the two simultaneously was both challenging and so thrilling. It's made even better that you can view the other side with the time piece the Outsider gave you. Flipping open the lens shows you a LIVE view of your surroundings in the other world so you can see if it's safe to jump back or forward. How I didn't get spoiled for this section is beyond me. I could talk about A Crack in the Slab for hours, but let's continue onward..

The next level that caught my eye was the Conservatory, where the witches are heavily present. It's the first level in the game that I genuinely felt a sense of horror, in a good way. I love that each level is an entirely new and different region with its own set of enemies. It's such a stark difference between D1 and D2. I didn't feel like there was any enemy variety in D1 at all and it suffered because of it. Also want to note that the clockwork soldiers are absolutely terrifying. Easy to take down, but....terrifying.

The remaining few levels stay pretty consistent in terms of overall depth and feel. Since I chose High Chaos again for this playthrough this is where you start to really see those decisions come back to bite you. The whole vibe of the world becomes more dark and less-forgiving. The dialog with NPC's is a lot gloomier and people start to bark back at you when you approach, insinuating that they disagree with your methods. I remember wishing there were more consequences in D1 for High Chaos, but I digress. The last mission before the big end fight you discover that Meagan, the woman helping you the entire time is actually Billie, the woman who shadowed Daud in the D1 DLC. I thought that was an incredible twist, especially because she helped Daud assassinate Emily's mother(the then Empress..) in the first game. The entire game you're like "who is this woman? How did they lose their arm and eye? What's their story?" and then they throw that at you. It's so well done and really adds to the gravity of it all.. She disappears before your descent to Dunwall where you confront Delilah on the throne.

This last level felt like a graduation ceremony. Walking through the streets of Dunwall as the woman I'd become, after all the death and carnage I'd created..it was eerie, yet deserving. Bodies everywhere, some hanging beside the streets as trophies. Before entering the castle I found an Overseer that was still alive and before I left them they said quite possibly the sickest/most poetic burn I've heard in a long time: "At death's door I smell the corruption of the Void upon you. A heretic against a heretic. Laughable. The world is doomed." Onward to the castle..

I didn't realize it at first, but when you travel up the winding road to the main entrance you actually return to the exact spot where the beginning of D1 was, the gazebo. There, sitting where the Empress stood is a grave in her honor. I love this little detail because it further-exemplifies the theme of this Grand Return..closing the story where it all started. A great way to end this amazing story before a battle to the death ensues.

The fight against Delilah itself was a little challenging to me and a key component to the fight was hidden behind a certain wording that I didn't immediately understand, resulting in me getting frustrated. I also jumped the gun and placed an item too early while also getting hit during the following mini cutscene so I softlocked myself. It's unfortunate that this last bit of the game was probably the least exciting and broken part of it all.. A sour way to go out, but expected for a video game boss fight to be honest. The game as a whole left me feeling extremely happy and legitimately in awe that I'd gone this long without ever touching it. With how much I loved Dishonored when it came out a decade ago this should have been a day 1 purchase for me, but like all things there're multiple factors. I'm putting this game down knowing that I'll play it again and again for years to come and I'm so excited to see what other ways I can play. I may do a full-stealth playthrough next as Corvo. We'll see!

Death of the Outsider Standalone DLC: With how Dishonored 2 ended, I was glad to see Billie got their own standalone story. I was even more glad to see that this DLC was essentially just a reskin of D2 - same as the way the DLC was for D1. Jumping in right after the last game was the best way to do it as it just felt like the same game entirely. I've been sort of struggling to come up with the words for how I feel about this DLC for a few reasons, the biggest being that it's not really grabbing my attention as much as the last two games. It's felt like a very limited version of D2 and I think had I started off with powers or with a more-engaging story to follow I'd have been better off. That's not to say during the 4 hours I've put in so far that I've not been enjoying myself, either! I just feel like in the first few hours I haven't felt as immersed into the story as I maybe hoped I would. I do appreciate how right from the jump they mention that Billie had a queer lover named Deirdre. It's actually mentioned multiple times in the first few missions and I just think that's incredible. I also appreciate how once again we're playing as a new character so obviously the moveset/abilities had to change. You go from playing as Corvo, then Daud, then Emily and now finally Billie - ALL of them play and feel different. Moving on to the levels and gameplay, I got to a part where you're in this little district called Cyria after getting your powers for the first time and basically told to have at it! I love the design of it; it's vertical and has lots of interiors to explore. My favorite thing, however, was the bounty board in the black market shop. I can't recall whether or not D2 had a similar mechanic, but if it did I never explored it. I was ecstatic to find new ways of going about fulfilling jobs (and getting paid!). It's one of the reasons I love the Hitman series so much. Give me a target and a specific way they have to perish and I'll spend 3 hours creating a route. I hope if Arcane ever plan on making another installment in the series they'll adopt Hitman's contracts system. The next mission was a huge bank heist that takes place in Cyria, but with heightened security surrounding the area. Getting into the bank was mostly no trouble, especially because the game gives you multiple interesting ways in. I chose the method of dropping a sedative gas through the vents that knocked everyone out inside. There were still clockwork soldiers roaming around and electrical security equipment all over the place that made it difficult tho. This mission was probably my favorite so far in this DLC. We're nearing the end with the final two levels, one of them being a return to the Conservatory from D2. It was really cool to be back here as the first time I was here I really enjoyed it. This time, however the place is crawling with Overseers instead of witches and it acts like more of a stealth mission than the one before. Once we got what we needed from the Conservatory we headed to the last mission in the game, the Quarry where the entrance to the Void is located. This was the first time in the game where I sort of just said "fuck it" and bulldozed my way through, killing everyone and anything that moved. At this point in the playthrough I'll admit I was getting kind of tired so I wanted to finish it as quickly as I could. I know this affected my rating because when I reached the Outsider in the end I was only given one choice; Kill him. The ending area in the Void could have been a little more exciting and I feel like it was a little rushed and wasn't given the amount of care the rest of the DLC got. I still absolutely loved the environment - as soon as I got inside and saw the whale floating above I had this huge smile on my face. I do hope in possible future installments we see more from the other 3 people touched by the Outsider's mark, maybe set before his death. I wouldn't mind going back a bit to when Corvo was in his prime.

Final Thoughts: So that's it. The story wrapped up nicely in the end, although I don't really know where it could go from here considering the Outsider was basically the one giving out the powers to people and with him gone...there's no one else. I'm sure that's the reason we haven't gotten another installment since.. Nonetheless I'm extremely happy with the whole experience. I'm glad I finally played these games after thinking about it for so long. I can thankfully still say that Dishonored is one of the best games I've ever played and now I can say the sequel is right up there with it, especially with levels like A Crack in the Slab. All-in-all, this was a stellar game series and I can't recommend it enough. Honestly one of the best gaming experiences I've had in many years. I will refrain from giving it a rating as I don't have a solid/consistent system in-place for that. It's great tho. Play Dishonored.

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