Sulphur on 3/9/2018 at 10:38
Dishonored definitely borrows from both Thief and Deus Ex while skewing more towards the Thief side of things in terms of theme and universe design. Thief didn't really give you as many approaches to solving problems as Deus Ex/Dishonored do, or as many systemic emergent possibilities, so that's probably where he's coming from.
icemann on 3/9/2018 at 12:22
Dishonored felt nothing like Deus Ex to me. Felt very "Thief with sci-fi". Though that does come down to how you play it. I played it, like I did in Thief but just with superpowers.
Jason Moyer on 3/9/2018 at 14:02
The stealth in Dishonored is basically lifted wholesale from Deus Ex. It's all about line of sight, distance, and elevation. Thief was a game where you could hide in the open. And, of course, it's a series about conspiracies where you're presented with obstacles and a toolkit to overcome them.
Then again, I played Deus Ex (the good one *and* the other 3) the same way I play Dishonored, full stealth and knocking people out or avoiding them until I get to the MJ-12 supersoldiers at the end. Or the supernatural supersoldiers at the end of DotO.
Anyway, when I say I want an Arkane made cyperpunk thief homage I mean the inverse of Dishonored; a Deus Ex-like setting where you're a weakling with some sort of power that lets you hide in plain sight (like, say, light-based camo or something) where you're working your way through a power struggle between the forces of order, chaos, and balance. And your primary occupation is stealing things to make ends meet, ofc.
It's not an easy thing to find the Illuminati...especially when they don't want to be found.
froghawk on 3/9/2018 at 16:27
I've always thought of the series as 'Deus Ex homage in a Thief-like setting'.
rofl @ the good one and the other 3
Jason Moyer on 3/9/2018 at 16:36
I like the other 3, but the first one is basically as perfect a game as I've ever played, warts and all. And your description of DH is a better way of saying exactly what I meant.
icemann on 4/9/2018 at 06:13
For me, I'd like an Assassin's Creed game that is set in the future :) (which in the in-games universe would be modern day).
A new Deus Ex game too.
henke on 4/9/2018 at 06:37
I'd like a game where you bounce around on a pogostick. Wouldn't that be great? Ugh, if only someone would make this game that GAMERS ARE CRAVING!!!!!!!!
Thirith on 4/9/2018 at 06:58
Ridiculous. What's next - stilts?
Judith on 4/9/2018 at 07:43
I always felt the line-of-sight visibility systems in Dishonored and new DX are pretty vague, although both LoS and light-based visibility systems have problems of their own. LoS relies either on cover system or verticality, and the alertness system in games like DX:Mankind Divided requires you to have enemy awareness markers on, if you don't want your gameplay to be constant trial and error. I think Thief and light-based system was more clearand elegant; enemy barks system was much better than any floating icons from Dishonored or new DX. On the other hand, visibility meter puts great restrictions on aesthetics: you need mostly a nighttime setting, and the lighting should be simple enough to include paths or patches of darkness, so players can move through them undetected.
samIamsad on 6/9/2018 at 09:15
Quote Posted by Pyrian
Honestly, I'm not sure I wouldn't consider Dishonored pretty damn Lovecraftian in itself.
So true. I think it does the straight-out disturbing stuff rather well too precisely because of it -- the world buidling isn't at all at odds with all the weird stuff happening (the Void, etc.). Would still be pretty awesome to see a straight out all 100% Lovecraftian game in that direction.
This was posted likely on these boards, but (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPqwDGXxLhU) still a fascinating watch. The main point of reference is Thief rather than Dishonored, and Dishonored is actually being criticized multiple times -- but if there's one thing that seems forgotten about the Looking Glass era of games is how they seemed to be en route to crushing down the barrier between the virtual world and the real one. Whilst you can turn off most stuff in Dishonored, like the clearly gamey markers -- to a degree also in Prey -- what struck me back then is how LG seemed to be all about making you forget about that you are "just playing a game".
Starting with the choice in perspective, of course, but also the depth of simulations (rotting food as far as back as Underworld) as well as the interface. Even the choices in protagonists and their abilities, arguably. (
https://www.salon.com/1999/02/10/review_123/) Seems like I wasn't alone with this, at least back then. But with all of the talk about how LG had pioneered systematic gameplay rather than script based ones, this is something that seems to be oddly either overlooked or downplayed. Which is curious, given the recent resurgance of VR on the hardware side of things. If Thief were to ever be adapted to VR, it would likely be a pleasant experience. If you would do the same with Doom, you'd have people barfing all over the place due to the arcade style speed of action alone. On Dishonored, it annoys me personally that on PC anyway these games never had a proper walk toggle from that end -- something even Human Revolution had, including a "realistic" walking speed.
With all of that said, I'm just about to retire my roughly ten years old TFT, and may thus experience this series from a fresh perspective in more way than just one. :)
