Just replayed Lady Boyle's Last Party and reunited with my lady, Miss White. Had to draw her 🥰

Too many stealth video games punish the player for getting spotted by an enemy. It leads to a game over screen, or in other words, the player ends up encountering what’s known as an “automatic fail state”. Examples include video games such as Splinter Cell Blacklist, Ghost Recon Future Soldier, and even Far Cry 4 (which has a specific mission where the player simply can’t be spotted). Nothing is more frustrating in a video game than making it through a lengthy and difficult section, only to fail at the very end. I’ve been there before, and it gets extremely irritating and frustrating. The titles that I’ve already mentioned are very picky and sensitive when it comes to detecting the player. I lost track of how many times I got spotted in Splinter Cell Blacklist’s mandatory stealth missions, even though I was actually hidden and out of the enemy’s sight.

This is where the Dishonored franchise and its “immersive sim” aspect come into play. “Immersive sim” means player choice. As a player, I am given the freedom to do what I want, go where I want, and when I want, which eliminates all restrictions and limitations that are usually set forth by certain stealth video games and/or stealth sections or missions. The whole point of a video game is to have fun and to get a pretty good challenge in the process. I don’t mind having to deal with reinforcements once an alarm is raised. However, I simply don’t enjoy stringent mandatory stealth sections that take the fun out of a video game. Every single entry in the Dishonored franchise (Dishonored and its DLCs, The Knife of Dunwall and The Brigmore Witches, Dishonored 2, and Dishonored: Death of the Outsider) offers the player choice and freedom. Those are two of the major reasons why I fell in love with the Dishonored franchise to begin with.

All of the Dishonored games (except Death of the Outsider) have a high chaos rating (high kill count) and a low chaos rating (low kill count or no kills). Of course, I’ll have to deal with more rats and Weepers (Dishonored) and bloodflies (Dishonored 2) as a result of getting a high chaos level. Their inclusion is merely the result of going into the game with a more action-oriented approach, which makes the experience more challenging without placing any limitations or restrictions. I remember reading YouTube comments around the time Dishonored 2 came out, and there were people who criticized the game because it punished those who ended up taking the more violent approach. That’s simply not the case. Instead, it merely adds another level of gameplay complexity without hindering the overall experience.

As a whole, the Dishonored games can be played violently or nonviolently. You can go into a mission and eliminate every single human being that you come across (both enemies and civilians). You can also go into a mission and not hurt a single person that you come across. You can focus strictly on eliminating key targets while not hurting anyone else in the process. Most of the time, if not every time, there is more than one way to accomplish a particular objective. In fact, I remember a particular mission from the original Dishonored where I had to either kill a certain target or poison his wine glass. I ended up beating the game twice, and each time, I tried a different approach. Also, missions don’t have to be completed in a certain order. None of the missions are timed, with the exception of the slaughterhouse in The Knife of Dunwall DLC, where I had to escape the slaughterhouse within a certain period of time. That’s the only exception that I can think of in terms of having a timed mission in a Dishonored game.

I’m a huge fan of stealth-oriented video games, and I’ve played a bunch of them over the years. I would love to see more stealth video games incorporate the “immersive sim” approach to their gameplay, much like Dishonored. I want the freedom to go wherever I want to go, do whatever I want to do, and whenever I want to do it. I don’t want to be held back by gameplay restrictions and limitations. I will always have a soft spot for the Dishonored franchise, and its ability to give the player complete freedom when it comes to its gameplay is something that always brings me back for another playthrough.

If you're interested in my other gaming reviews, you can find them on my WordPress site:

https://karthbil.wordpress.com/

I like games that are extremely fun and highly stimulating. Dishonored is my favourite for this but I've still not found a game that matches it. If you know any I'll be super happy.

I loved: all dishonored and deathloop, Subnautica, mirrors edge, bioshock, Fortnite, dying light 1.

I tried but didn't love: prey, cyber punk, far cry, last of us (story amazing but lacklustre fun-ness), rdr2, batman games, outer wilds, alien isolation.

I can't find a game that is anywhere close to dishonored level, I've tried pretty hard.

I see a lot of people saying how terrible it'd be if what's left of Arkane gets sold off but doesn't get to keep the IP.

While obviously artists should get to own the properties they create I personally wouldn't really care if a hypothetical successor got to keep the Dishonored name or not. What matters is the gameplay and atmosphere, neither of which are something you can trademark, so whether or not they keep the IP has no real bearing on the existence of a proper successor IMO.

That's especially the case since DotO went out of its way not to leave any dangling plot threads and close off every existing character's arc (to its detriment IMO). After this much time away a new Dishonored would basically have to be a soft reboot with a new cast anyway just so new players aren't completely lost, so at that point wouldn't it be better to just make a whole new property anyway?

I guess I ultimately care more about the immersive sim genre and whether that continues in general rather than any specific IP but I'm guessing lots of people don't agree.

Dear God, this game is a masterpiece. The art designs the story. It's all just so PEAK. As a proud lover of stealth story games this scratches an itch I didn't even know I had. Out of the many things this game gets right my favorite parts have to be the characters and the mechanics. Each character has so much work put into them you genuinely care even if their side characters. And let me just say I LOVE games that take into account what you can do. All these different ways of getting inside. And taking out your target. (I went through the non-lethal route which wasn't the best choice for a first playthrough but I enjoy a challenge) And how you deal with each situation affects the story. For example the less you kill the better people treat you and the more good influence you have on Emily. (Who's drawings are adorable by the way) Where as the more you kill the worse things get. I also love the power system. I cannot tell you how much I relied on the dark vision ability. Too bad I unlocked the time bend ability at the end of the game. It could've been much more useful then. And since we're on the subjects of targets. Each non-lethal fate is worse than death. ESPECIALLY lady boyles. It made me feel a bit bad about leaving her in the hands of her stalker. But I also like the fact that the "Non-lethal" choice isn't exactly the morally right choice. There is just so much I love about this game! Imma do the DLC another time. But all in all 10 bone charms out of 10

The concept of the mission is awesome, and I've only heard praise for how it's executed, but I literally get nauseous while playing.

The mix of my framerate dropping to the 20s whenever I have the Timepiece's lenses up, along with having to watch two screens at once to know where I'm going and whether it's safe to warp there just feels so disorientating. It would be fine if it was either, but with it being both, it messes up my sense of direction and gives me a headache after just a few minutes.

Like watching trying to understand two separate conversations at the same time while some loud noise makes it hard to focus on either. Feels overbearing.

Might honestly just look up where to go, ignore any optional objectives, bonecharms and runes, and just book it straight to the next mission. This isn't on the mission's design at all(, save for the poor optimization), I'm just not fit for this sort of thing; but it's really disappointing to not be able to enjoy the one part of the game I'd seen hyped the most over the years. Real shame.

Full summary with the timeline: https://holywizy.com/blog/microsoft-arkane-lyon-closure-marvels-blade/

According to Le Monde, Microsoft told Arkane Lyon staff in July that it planned to close the studio. About 217 jobs are at risk. Under French law Microsoft has to look for a buyer first, and that process was due to end on November 13, possibly extended by a month.

A union rep says Marvel's Blade is "nearing the end" of production, and Microsoft says it's looking for a partner to finish and release it.

There's some hope: Jason Schreier says several paths to save the studio are being explored, and he'd be surprised if it actually closes.

After Arkane Austin closed in 2024, losing Lyon would basically be the end of Arkane as we know it. Do you think someone steps in to save them, and would you still play Blade if another studio finished it?

I thought Dishonored 2 Flopped? Have we not not gotten 3 because of the redfall? Wtf?

It's just something I realized now, since Delilah's goal in both DH1 and 2 is to use her paintings to alter the world in some way, I just had a thought. What if she was already using it all along?

That's why it was so easy for her to command Luca or Breanna and whoever else she needed in her schemes. She was using her paintings to make them enamoured by her. Not only that, the "paintings" we see about Delilah's past in the Void, how she was a bastard child of the Emperor, how her mother died... All that could've been her fabrications. Emily/Corvo even points out how her past could be a lie.

I've always disliked DH2's plot a little because Delilah being a bastard felt so shoehorned. But... what if that was intentional? What if SHE shoehorned herself into prominence? This just makes me love this franchise, and DH2, even more. Now it finally makes sense.

So, I started playing the second game, after beating the first one for the first time. This time, I wanted to try and do low chaos. In the first Mission, I didn't exactly manage to do that. But on the second, even though I did do it entirely nonlethal, it still says high chaos, and I'm a little confused.

THE MOD

This mod makes it possible to see your own body during gameplay that is fully anymated, along with cloth physics for both Corvo and Daud. It also has a third person option so you can actually see the full model. Shoutout to FeistyDoo, he also created a lockpick mod for Dishonored.

New player here. I'm on the Timsch mission for the first Daud DLC, and I've set it up so that he'll get evicted. The problem is he just won't leave his mansion after I drop the stinkbomb in his basement. He just waits right behind the door. I've heard you can just leave and still get the takedown, but I really want to see him get evicted if possible. Anyone know how to fix this?

Also, it's my first playthrough, so please don't spoil anything :)

Edit: I just bite the bullet and killed him. Thanks to everyone who tried to help.

This is a post I've been contemplating making for a long time now, but I always felt nervous to. Despite that the influence isn't immediately obvious due to being buried under other aesthetic influences, M-O:M's setting takes very heavy inspiration from the worlds of both Bioshock and Dishonored, combining Dishonored's victorian-era gothic aesthetic with Bioshock's art-deco style to create a fantasy world inspired by 19th and early 20th century retrofuture aesthetics. It contains several character illustrations are identical in style to the ones I have posted in this subreddit before, which are frequently compared to the art styles of Tim Burton and Jhonen Vasquez.

One of my webnovel's primary 'gimmicks' is that it does not advertise itself as a Literary RPG, like many webnovels do, but rather as a Literary Immersive Sim. With both Bioshock and Dishonored being part of its roots, Masquerade takes to recreate the genre in book form by making it a ‘closed-perspective’ story, where in terms of immediately important information, the reader only knows exactly as much about the story as the protagonist does. It also features instances of the protagonist trying to solve problems being thrown at them, and trying to think of ways to fix them in a way that puzzles the reader's mind just as much as the protagonist’s, before reaching only the most logical conclusion possible, which, of itself, isn’t always very logical.

Masquerade is also a psychological horror. Note that psychological horror is very different from normal horror, in the way that there usually isn't a monster in the traditional sense, but the feeling of fear moreso comes from the book being designed to get into the readers head and make them question their own sanity. Infact, the novel subverts this trope by taking place in a fantasy world full of monsters who are actually very friendly, and have learned to live in peace alongside humans. So there are no gruesome, detailed depictions of gore or any other such harsh, brutal reminders of one's own mortality, but rather a looming sense of existential dread. Masquerade's psychological horror elements take heavy inspiration from media like the Stanley Kubrick film 'The Shining', the indie animated show 'The Amazing Digital Circus', the classic childrens novel by Lewis Carroll known as 'Alice in Wonderland', the popular videogame by Davey Wreden and William Pugh by the name of 'The Stanley Parable', and George Orwell's famous dystopian novel 1984. However, do not be confused, Masquerade's setting is not a traditional dystopia, but rather a 'questionable utopia'. A world that is basically more or less perfect, but with a very extreme emphasis on 'basically more or less', as in ’not entirely’.

Masquerade uses its psychological horror elements to focus on the themes of misinformation, relativism and postmodernism, all themes that are very prevalent in todays society. In an era where misinformation is easier to spread than jelly on toast, I think Masquerade has a lot of things to say that the world really needs to hear right about now. One of the ways that Masquerade makes misinformation part of its narrative, is by having the lore fed to the reader through unreliable narration, and deliberately riddled with conflicting information, therefore making the lore ambiguous.

I have been pushing to get this book of mine into the spotlight, as I have a burning passion for it and it would mean the world to me that this book gets all the attention it can get, especially before I release the final chapter on October 31st. Every last bit of exposure helps. Despite this, I am still very much open to criticism, as I want to have as much feedback as possible before finalizing it on Halloween. At this point, I'd just be glad you even took the time to read it at all. However, if your criticism is particularly harsh, I would prefer you have something atleast vaguely nice to say to balance it out.

Thank you for reading this far, and, if this post was enough to interest you in reading the webnovel itself, I sincerely hope you enjoy what I've written.

Royal Road link:
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/197271/magnum-opus-masquerade

Wattpad link:
https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/417159997-magnum-opus-masquerade

Hi everyone! I've spent the last couple of months turning Dishonored 2 into a full VR game, and today it's finally out. It's free and open source.

What it does:

- 6DOF head tracking: lean, peek and crouch with your body

- Full arms with IK: your hands are your controllers

- Swing the sword to strike: the blade hits what it touches

- Pistol and crossbow fire where you point them

- Powers come out of your hand, grenades are thrown with your arm

- Grab, carry and throw objects (and bodies)

- Menus on a big screen in the room, the HUD as a watch on your wrist

- Cutscenes play around you, and you can look anywhere

Requirements: Dishonored 2 on Steam (not GOG / Game Pass / Death of the Outsider), a PC VR headset with OpenXR, and the game in windowed mode. I made and played it on a Quest 3 over Link / Air Link; other headsets should work too.

Download (Nexus): https://www.nexusmods.com/dishonored2/mods/232

GitHub (download + source): https://github.com/thecosmictangerine-cloud/dishonored-2-vr

Full Trailer: https://youtu.be/hTudB6_vvSw

It was much harder than I expected, so if you enjoy it, any support is hugely appreciated:

Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/cosmictangerine

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/CosmicTangerine

Bug reports & feedback: Flat2VR Discord (https://discord.gg/flat2vr) > #new-vr-mods > "Dishonored 2 VR 1.0.0 Release"

Direct link to the thread (once you've joined): https://discord.com/channels/747967102895390741/1544020517831446528

I just can't stop listening it after beating the game! Love game music in general

decided to try something new with my usual style of drawing :)