Second response about level design which is a HUGE deal for me (my most replayed game is Portal 2 with uh, over 50 replays 🥴), if it goes on sale while I'm playing the first one I'm definitely picking it up. Thanks!

Wow, I watched the valve documentary when it came out and his insights and methodology were really cool. What a tragedy

You are in for a treat! Would really love to hear what you think of a certain level in dishonored 2 actually, but will probably take a while huh?

Most likely. I've started a new job that takes a lot of my time, and I have other games on the docket, but shoot me a message with some info about the level (no spoilers please!) and I'll do my best to shoot one back once I've completed it!

I'm fairly certain I know which one you're thinking of but even mentioning the name would give something away.

Jindosh's mansion was peak mechanical map design. A house that changes its architecture a couple of times with the pull of a lever is amazing. Even more so knowing that most of the walls and floors are mechanically sound, like they could be built IRL. It's unlikely we'll see something like that again for at least another decade given how poorly AAA developers are doing these days. You can spend hours inspecting every nook and cranny of the place to see how everything just mechanically *fits* together.

Emily is also much more interesting to play with her greater emphasis on utility powers.

That's true, though even then I do think one of the few criticisms I could levy against the Dishonoured games is that there are so many *more* (and more cool) lethal powers and tools than there are non-lethal. Playing low chaos should maybe be more of a challenge yes, but it should be equally interesting and fun I think. And I'm not sure the series gets there.

Yeah, another guy did name it but I personally will avoid it

That's part of what makes Emily more fun to play, all of her powers have non-lethal uses. Getting the achievement for never being spotted is still tedious, but Emily can do stuff like overt low-chaos runs where you attack head-on and still never kill anyone, which isn't really an option for Corvo in either game.

Emily is definitely better for a low chaos attempt (that's kind of how I think it was intended) but something about the high chaos play style in these games always felt more fun, more visceral and more satisfying. Maybe that's just me.

Yeah, I just finished it and felt the same. I got low chaos pretty easily, but by replaying sections rather than by actually being able to react to situations on the fly. If you end up in a one-on-one with a guard your only non-lethal recourse is the combat sleep dart, whereas Solid Snake or Sam Fisher always have some kind of CQC takedown option to defuse the situation before more guards are alerted. You end up freezing time and running away a lot, or just save scumming.

Such a loss, may he rest in peace. Growing up in Eastern Europe, HL2’s visuals connected so much with me. Viktor was from Sofia, so that city served as the basis for City 17. When I played Dishonored, I was also blown away by the art style, and only realized it was him later.

Clockwork Mansion is the best-designed level in the Dishonored series. No questions allowed