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 Current Episode  About the Game Dishonored is a 2012 action-adventure game developed by Arkane Studios. Set in a fictional steampunk-ish dystopia of Dunwall, the game follows Corvo Attano, Bodyguard to the Empress as he fights to clear his name of a crime he didn't commit. Played in first person, Dishonored is Arkane's first game under the wing of publisher Bethesda Softworks. It takes the form of a stealth 'em up, taking inspiration from games like Thief where the use of lighting and shadows are often key to his success. Much of the game's dialogue and lore comes through incidental dialogue that NPCs might say in front of a hidden Corvo. That being said, Dishonored is also a game about respecting the player's choices, at least from a gameplay perspective. Corvo can choose to take down his enemies subtley, giving away little, and has the option to spare or murder his foes, but equally he's given enough power to take a much louder approach, gleefully murdering his enemies in broad daylight. The approach leads to stages that feel like playgrounds for the player to explore and encourage deeper and further exploration as the secrets of Dunwall reveal themselves. When I played Dishonored years ago, I really managed to feel embedded within that world, the fun of the gameplay carrying me through to a deep level of investment in the series and the characters. Unsurprisingly this is something that Arkane wanted to evoke with their big return to the world of gaming following Dark Messiah of Might and Magic more than half a decade earlier. So with that we come to our Yorkshire Tea has never played Dishonored and last I checked the most advanced PC game he'd played was Team Fortress 2, or that time I forced him to play Bioshock. But he is a huge fan of Metal Gear Solid and other stealth games, taking a huge degree of pride in beating the aforementioned game on the hardest difficulties. How will he react to Dunwall? Will he choose stealth? Will he choose violence? We can only watch and find out! About the LP This is a blind LP. Tea will play through the game with yours truly as his guide in the world of Dunwall. My own memory of the game is a little vague, so sometimes he will be left to his own devices, but fret not, I'll not let him stay stuck in one place for long. Episodes will release on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 11pm BST, 6pm EST (or as close to that as I can manage) with cheeky Patreon early episodes for those who are really invested. Art and banners, will, as ever, be handled by the amazing Bifauxnen. Episodes                                      Links Our Patreon! - In case you want to support our LPs and see episodes early! (Incidentally this is also the only place where I can actually time video releases, so if I need to delay posting a video here, it will show up on Patreon on its own.) Natural 20 fucked around with this message at 23:09 on Sep 5, 2023 |
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May 19, 2023 23:03
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Hey, someone else who spells honour correctly! Gonna love this, and see where Tea goes with their journey through the game.
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May 20, 2023 00:46
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Oh, this promises to be some fun already. Curious to see the ratio of people with removed body parts to people distracted by same. (Also of note, the 'definitive edition' [includes DLC and pre-order content] is currently on a two-day sale for $5 at GoG, and the complete pack with Dishonored 2 is similarly discounted.) Kangra fucked around with this message at 05:21 on May 20, 2023 |
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May 20, 2023 05:17
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I played this game when it first came out and found it high-quality. I particularly liked the performance of Chloe Moretz as Emily, I was just becoming her fan at the time after my then-wife got me a DVD of the movie Kick-rear end for my birthday, Chloe was in that too. Enough about her, though, she's moved on from both roles. At the time I played the game, I disliked how it motivated the player to choose stealth over murder by relegating what I thought were the best story developments behind stealth. I too am a fan of the Metal Gear Solid series, but I've never been great at stealth. This game's stealth is harder than MGS also, in my opinion. Over time, I forgave the game for its writing issues, the "murder" story is good in its own way. I also appreciated the gameplay, graphics, sound, editing, and the overall atmosphere. The characters in particular were all very cool. Every villain is someone I as a player enjoyed taking down. Good luck with this game to our players, especially Tea. I will be watching. I hope if you like this game and have the ability, you will play the sequels too.
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May 20, 2023 08:05
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Funny that you mention Bioshock so much. When this game was new, I saw the trailers and thought it looked really cool... and by the time I was in a position to play it, I thought the trailers I saw were for Bioshock Infinite. So I played all the way through Bioshock 1, enjoying it but wondering how this was going to lead to where I thought it was going, and only realized the mistake when I started playing Infinite and felt very stupid.
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May 20, 2023 09:11
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Dishonored is absolutely one of, if not my absolute, favourite games of all time. Really excited for this
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May 20, 2023 09:58
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Oh, this is a great game, looking forward to seeing Tea's approach.
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May 20, 2023 10:15
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I love this game, the atmosphere is so amazing. This looks like it's going to be a lot of fun to watch.
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May 21, 2023 10:14
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Gotta love Geoff's sophisticated method of preventing Corvo from arriving in time, even if it didn't work.
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May 21, 2023 10:33
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Black Robe posted:Oh, this is a great game, looking forward to seeing Tea's approach. I'm sure he'll find a way to get a-head.
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May 21, 2023 15:21
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Kangra posted:Oh, this promises to be some fun already. Curious to see the ratio of people with removed body parts to people distracted by same. I uhh, missed it because I'm a moron. achtungnight posted:Good luck with this game to our players, especially Tea. I will be watching. I hope if you like this game and have the ability, you will play the sequels too. I'm a huge fan of the sequel personally so I do hope Tea has a good time and we can get to it. anilEhilated posted:Gotta love Geoff's sophisticated method of preventing Corvo from arriving in time, even if it didn't work. Hey it almost bloody worked. Seriously I playtested the game before we started and not once did anything like this happen. (Or hide and seek bugging out)
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May 22, 2023 01:36
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Dang, I've been thinking about replaying this game since it's just so good...
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May 22, 2023 10:21
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May 23, 2023 00:05
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Tea, you should start pickpocketing more! Or loot the bodies you leave behind in your 100% Stealth Run.
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May 23, 2023 03:17
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Okay, you got me, reinstalling right now. Severed heads - what can't they do?
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May 23, 2023 09:16
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See, I told you that Tea would find a way to get a-head!
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May 23, 2023 10:36
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anilEhilated posted:Okay, you got me, reinstalling right now. (Spoilers for a DLC level)
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May 23, 2023 11:21
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berryjon posted:Tea, you should start pickpocketing more! Or loot the bodies you leave behind in your 100% Stealth Run. Tea is such a seasoned professional, I am sure they are doing this simply to handicap themselves and make the game more fair.
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May 23, 2023 15:01
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May 25, 2023 00:15
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"But I only killed fourteen people!" Dunwall is doomed.
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May 25, 2023 15:11
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anilEhilated posted:Okay, you got me, reinstalling right now. You know, I have enjoyed another game where severed heads can appear in your inventory- Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous. In that game, they're pretty much dead weight, though, only there to clue you in to a character's personal side quest. You can't really do anything specific with them. Maybe the developers of WotR should have played Dishonored more and gotten some better ideas. Corvo makes excellent use of severed heads as distractions, attractors, improvised weapons. They're not useless after all! quote:But I only killed fourteen people!" That was something that frustrated me about this game's murder vs stealth thing. Such a low threshold standard, so easy to get stuck, screw up trying to stay stealthy. You get caught up in a moment where a massacre becomes necessary to survive, you will lose out on the stealth ending. Lots of save-scumming was needed for this player to get the stealth ending, and in the final analysis, I didn't care to achieve it myself. I had LPs for that. May be more preferable for new players to go for a murder ending. But let the player decide!
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May 25, 2023 15:55
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achtungnight posted:You know, I have enjoyed another game where severed heads can appear in your inventory- Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous. In that game, they're pretty much dead weight, though, only there to clue you in to a character's personal side quest. You can't really do anything specific with them. Maybe the developers of WotR should have played Dishonored more and gotten some better ideas. Corvo makes excellent use of severed heads as distractions, attractors, improvised weapons. They're not useless after all! Yeah my experience of the game was to save and reload a lot if I got caught. I feel like the options for getting out of danger if you fall into it are relatively limited in this game. But also wrecking everyone when you're in danger is also part of the fun!
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May 25, 2023 17:57
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achtungnight posted:That was something that frustrated me about this game's murder vs stealth thing. Such a low threshold standard, so easy to get stuck, screw up trying to stay stealthy. You get caught up in a moment where a massacre becomes necessary to survive, you will lose out on the stealth ending. Lots of save-scumming was needed for this player to get the stealth ending, and in the final analysis, I didn't care to achieve it myself. I had LPs for that. May be more preferable for new players to go for a murder ending. But let the player decide! e: I'm also firmly convinced that the high chaos final level is a lot more fun. anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 18:56 on May 26, 2023 |
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May 25, 2023 18:20
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I'm more of a fan of stealth games and wanted to play this one like that, although on the first run and until you get certain things I found it hard sometimes. I tended to go through a mission 'loud' and then replay it quiet, once I had a feel for the place. When I think back that was pretty much how I played Thief, at least the first game. Although my jailbreak experience was not unlike what Tea did here. I tried to be stealthy, failed, and just killed everyone in a panic. That part I did not bother replaying, since I still was getting used to the game (and did not know how flexible the game was).
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May 26, 2023 06:47
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I mean, honest to goodness, while I tend to default to low chaos high stealth runs, I concede that using all of your lethal toys is a lot more fun. And drat, is this game good at giving you people who deserve it.
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May 26, 2023 18:48
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resurgam40 posted:And drat, is this game good at giving you people who deserve it. anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 19:00 on May 26, 2023 |
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May 26, 2023 18:58
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Natural 20 posted:Yeah my experience of the game was to save and reload a lot if I got caught. I feel like the options for getting out of danger if you fall into it are relatively limited in this game. Agreed. I have several cherished memories of getting caught sneaking around and then wrecking a large number of enemies that came after me from my days playing this game. I won't go into detail, trying to avoid spoilers, let's just say that my memories of slaughtering dozens of enemies and evading detection from this series are extremely treasured. For games I have played with similar situations, only the Assassin's Creed and Metal Gear Solid series come close, and this game has a memorably different atmosphere from both of those in many ways. The Batman Arkham series is also comparable- but in those games, your player character is generally tasked with disabling every guard they can and is capable of doing that. The situation is different for Dishonored, your character is motivated to choose Ghost Stealth (undetected in general) over Predator Stealth (not detected but you disable a large number of enemies without getting seen) quite a bit and your tools are more limited than in Batman Arkham. I genuinely admire any player who completes a Ghost Run on Dishonored (my experience with the sequels is more limited, sorry to say). Other less successful games have done stealth with skill- Manhunt for example, also Dead to Rights, Last of Us, Days Gone, and many more that I have enjoyed. In my humble opinion, Dishonored tops them all. Only the Assassin's Creed, Metal Gear Solid, and Batman Arkham series are able to top Dishonored. Hitman is a series I have enjoyed, but in my opinion when it comes to stealth, Dishonored easily tops Hitman. There may be other stealth games that top Dishonored or come close- I haven't played Thief or Sly Cooper and I only played the first Deus Ex game- but that is my review of this game's success at stealth. Three key things this game does to succeed at stealth are as follows: 1- Make it challenging and rewarding. This increases replay value. 2. Make using it different from normal gameplay. There has already been a lot of commentary here on the differences between stealth & massacre style gameplay. I hope to talk more about those differences later, for now we're still early in the game and spoilers need to be kept low. Let me just say I have seen multiple LPs and walkthroughs of Dishonored cover both "Low Chaos" (lots of stealth, low number of enemies killed) & "High Chaos" (massacre lots of people, stealth is optional) runs with great detail. I don't think this LP is doing that, but the developers might consider it. We don't know yet how Tea will approach most of the game and Tea may be motivated to play it again after this LP. Maybe with Lower or Higher Chaos than the first time. I will let Tea, Natural 20, and the rest of their team decide whether they want to replay & record Dishonored again after their first LP is done. 3. Make it rewarding to go either way. Taking down enemies and bosses in this game is very different in Low vs. High Chaos runs. I can't provide more detail right now, again keeping spoilers low, but it is different and satisfying (mostly) to go either way. Tea and other new players who follow this LP will soon see how so, I hope. anilEhilated- Yep. There is a lot of good British colonial fiction out there that depicts great villains and heroic confrontations with them. Ever read Joseph Conrad? Robert Louis Stevenson? Rudyard Kipling? Those are my top 3 authors for depicting the period. Jules Verne & Ernest Hemingway also address it well.
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May 26, 2023 22:20
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One of the things that sets Dishonored apart is that they intentionally let the player abuse the powers you get. Whenever one of the playtesters found a way to avoid or solve a problem by using a power in a novel way, they erred on the side of leaving it in rather than "fixing" or "nerfing" it. The result is that the way you use powers feels a lot more organic and... realistic isn't the right word. Smooth? Reasonable? than in other similar games.
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May 27, 2023 00:01
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Episode 04 - The Hound Pits Pub
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May 27, 2023 00:55
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You definitely can murder the loyalists. It results in a game over, though.
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May 27, 2023 02:30
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Zurai posted:One of the things that sets Dishonored apart is that they intentionally let the player abuse the powers you get. Whenever one of the playtesters found a way to avoid or solve a problem by using a power in a novel way, they erred on the side of leaving it in rather than "fixing" or "nerfing" it. The result is that the way you use powers feels a lot more organic and... realistic isn't the right word. Smooth? Reasonable? than in other similar games. Intuitive maybe? That word comes up a lot in Zelda BotW and TotK for example, the amazing thing about those games is that generally the abilities act like you expect them to so you can have moments of insight where you figure out how to apply them to a problem.
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May 27, 2023 02:49
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Yeah the... Way this game has a lot of death-inducing skills vs. incapacitation/escape does make the no kill runs harder. And, as has been pointed out, there are a few folk in it you really want to see dead.
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May 27, 2023 07:50
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The Outsider. Definitely my favorite character in the game. 
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May 27, 2023 08:17
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High/low chaos is pretty fun because there is a reason to replay the game, especially since I strongly suspect most people will get a high chaos run as their first attempt. You have all of those powerful tools which makes slaughter and laughter so easy but once you try for the sneaking it is so rewarding despite being trickier. Deliberately putting in the effort to not go the easy way for a better result? I'm not sure I'm making sense.achtungnight posted:I genuinely admire any player who completes a Ghost Run on Dishonored (my experience with the sequels is more limited, sorry to say).  
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May 27, 2023 10:18
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Saaame, and if you think that's hard, shoot for Clean Hands in addition. It took so long, but it was so satisfying (to my weird, masochistic brain).
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May 27, 2023 15:04
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Pulling that off against the actual assassin is very satisfying in their reaction.
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May 27, 2023 15:10
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Alright, y’all, tone down the enthusiasm a bit. Congratulations to those with certain achievements. I don’t know if our new player can emulate you this round and would prefer he not be intimidated. I’m glad he has things to shoot for, but fun should take priority, right? Game exploration without spoilers too. I apologize for my part in stoking inappropriate discussion here. I hope I have kept my temper and will maintain it. We’ll see.
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May 27, 2023 15:51
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Nonlethal in these sorts of games is always going to be harder because there's no way to accidentally not kill someone. "I was going to put a bullet into the guy's face but my hand slipped. He doesn't sound the alarm, next thing you know I'm sneaking past half the map before it'll turn back on."
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May 27, 2023 20:01
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May 30, 2023 10:09
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| # ? Apr 29, 2024 16:25 |
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The Combine similarity Tea mentions is not accidental - Dishonored's visual design director, Viktor Antonov, worked in the same capacity on Half-life 2 (and apparently also... Redneck Rampage?). And yes, that is Geoff you're supposed to save. anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 11:09 on May 30, 2023 |
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May 30, 2023 10:47
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