Thirith on 28/7/2021 at 07:52
While I love Dishonored 2, probably even more so than the first game, I understand where the two of you are coming from, and I think I have a similar thing with Hitman 3. When I'm playing the games, I love them, but it takes more of an effort to start playing them (as in, every time I think I'll now play some Dishonored 2 or Hitman 3), because these games require my full attention. I can't play them to switch off in the evening after work, I can't play them when I'm stressed or low-energy.
nicked on 28/7/2021 at 09:38
I found it helped to replay Dishonored 1 before starting Dishonored 2 - refamiliarise myself with the world, characters, gameplay tolerances, controls etc.
I think it's worth perservering, because some of the later levels are wonderfully imaginative and well designed.
Thirith on 28/7/2021 at 11:27
BTW, Yakoob, if I'm not mistaken Hypatia doesn't have a literal sister. It's the two sides of the character, and one refers to the other as her sister in the phonograph you're talking about, as part of the whole Jekyll/Hyde thing.
Aja on 28/7/2021 at 16:03
I get where Yakoob is coming from. I finished D2 but found it stressful. There's a lot to admire about the design, but the moment-to-moment experience of it for me was usually: get impatient waiting to figure out guard patterns, make an attempt anyway, die, reload, remember to save more often so I don't have to do it again. And then feel regret that I didn't bother to explore some alley or balcony because I just wanted to actually make some progress, dammit. I've said it before, but I wonder if taking the violent path would've been more fun. It's just that the game makes it quite clear that the paragon path is the correct one, and I didn't want to feel like the bad guy the whole time. Also the dialogue was very cringey, which made me indifferent to the story.
As far as Arkane games go, Prey was better in nearly every way. It wasn't as polished as D2, but to me it felt more like SS2 than any of the other so-called spiritual successors.
catbarf on 28/7/2021 at 18:57
I never finished D2 either. Got pretty close to the end, I think, and just burned out. As with D1, I really disliked how the game's overt morality system discourages you from using most of the weapons and abilities. It made me feel like stealth was less about avoiding danger, since it was a lot easier to kill enemies than to sneak around them, and more about protecting the enemies from me so I could get moral brownie points. Maybe it would have been better if I played on higher difficulty.
WingedKagouti on 28/7/2021 at 19:04
Quote Posted by catbarf
As with D1, I really disliked how the game's overt morality system discourages you from using most of the weapons and abilities. It made me feel like stealth was less about avoiding danger, since it was a lot easier to kill enemies than to sneak around them, and more about protecting the enemies from
me so I could get moral brownie points.
This is basically why I never got very far in D1 before dropping it.
"Here have all these toys, just don't use them or we'll call you evil."
Pyrian on 28/7/2021 at 19:43
In D2 I played much more of an in-your-face non-lethal style than was ever possible in D1, so I appreciated that. But I, too, burned out, in my case from feeling the need to hunt down all the runes and whalebone thingies and stuff, while not really enjoying the exploration.
Harvester on 28/7/2021 at 21:21
I played Tell Me Why, it was free on Pride month. Like Dontnod's other games Life Is Strange 1 and 2, this is very sincere and wholesome. It touches on LGBTQIA issues, mental health issues and indigenous people issues. I don't know, this is not for everyone, some will think this is too on-the-nose and might cringe a little at some points. It's also simply not as good as the Life is Strange games, the story isn't as captivating and it's a little too preachy sometimes. But personally I prefer sincere stuff like this to, for example, the nihilism of Rockstar's games. What spoke to me most was the theme about having unresolved issues with a person's behavior and not getting the answers, and the person's no longer with us so you won't get all the answers you seek and that keeps eating at you. Anyway, the voice acting's good, the writing is decent and it looks good in its own lo-fi way. Episode 1 is still free so couldn't hurt to check it out if you seek an interactive story that makes you a little more sensitive to minority issues.
EDIT: oh yeah, I also played Telling Lies, a game from the maker of and similar to Her Story, but I really hated that I couldn't watch all the videos I wanted at my leisure because of a time limit. I had fun piecing the mystery together until I realized I was on the clock. I don't like the time limit mechanic in a game like this (after which you have to start all over from the beginning) and I hated it enough to stop playing.
Yakoob on 28/7/2021 at 22:36
Quote Posted by demagogue
What strikes me is how great the contrast is to the original, which completely absorbed me start to finish... Like I think I was already replaying some levels before I'd even finished it, which is a rare thing by itself. The levels were just a lot of fun to plan out, which is what I didn't feel with 2. I might even be hard pressed to think of a game that's absorbed me like DH1 since then ... the first half of Prey maybe?
I played both Dishonored 1 and Prey and enjoyed those a lot. I think Prey did a much better job of making me find myself in the space. The whole design was just a bit clearer and it communicated the layout early (like first time you get to the lobby, you quickly see what is where, and the different wings make logical sense). With D2, you're presented with a huge-ass building(s) without any clear layout or even entrances, you have no idea what to expect inside, and every room looks kind of same-y.
I think Prey also did a better job contrasting enemies. The black mimics just stood out from everything else, and getting close to one would always make an audible sound. With D2, a lot of the guards just blend into the background at a distance. I feel like I need to constantly squint and stare for a few seconds to make out the guards. And it doesn't help the game mixes non-violent NPCs which don't stand out enough, so I'm never entirely sure if the new person I'm approaching is an enemy or not...
Quote Posted by Thirith
BTW, Yakoob, if I'm not mistaken
Hypatia doesn't have a literal sister. It's the two sides of the character, and one refers to the other as her sister in the phonograph you're talking about, as part of the whole Jekyll/Hyde thing.Aaah, that makes sense. That would be a cool twist... if it actually worked. Maybe I'm just obtuse or missed some important plot items, but all of this felt like it came out of nowhere, and went from 0 to 100 in like 3 minutes.
So I'm going to the whole place to... I'm not entirely sure why, but I guess Hypatia is the evil mad psychologist lady (at least the intro made it sound like Emily didn't like her). But then you meet her and she's sweet and crazy, a victim more than anything. But then literally in the next room you find an audio recording from her "sister" and suddenly I get objective to kill the Crown Killer and she has the objective marker on her. I seriously had no idea what the fuck just happened, and I felt like the plot jumped 3 twists in the past minute alone. Jason Moyer on 28/7/2021 at 23:05
You go there because you're trailing the Crown Killer and looking for Sokolov, who was last seen being taken there. In the mission you deal with the Crown Killer and find out where Sokolov is (which is the objective of the next/best mission).
