Recent reviews by Walnutte

The game is really well done, despite not being fully optimized for PC. For the sake of this review, I'll be ignoring that and will mostly be focusing on what I noticed while playing through the game.

Arkane did a really good job creating the world of Dishonored 2. The maps are huge, easily twice as large as the maps in the original game, including area and heighth wise. There is much more detail too, as they've stated in previous showings. For each mission, you'll go into a different district of Karnaca with its own mood, music, and npcs. However, I do have to point out that the "random dust/sandstorm" that can happen at any time is only during one mission. I myself was under the impression that it could have happened at any point in the game, and was slightly dissapointed when I realized this wasn't the case.

Another complaint of mine is the smaller number of essential npcs. In the previous game, you had the whole Loyalist Conspiracy that had your back (then stabbed you in the back), the Whalers, and Slackjaw and Granny Rags (which was part of a subplot that was probably one of my favorite parts of the first game). In comparison, Dishonored 2 is much more shallow. The small amount of npcs left me less inclined to ask around and feel included in the world like i felt in Dishonored 1. In a way, it almost felt like the game was shorter because i wasn't spending half an hour running around the Dreadful Whale constantly spamming F before and after every mission. However, for some this may be seen as an approvement.

Speaking of feeling shorter, Dishonored 2 definitley is shorter than the first game. Which in my opinion was a really short game as is, excluding the DLC. The story felt rushed, too quick and not very fleshed out. It felt like Arkane was hoping that the game would rather have great replay value, making the player look forward to their next playthought, than making the story and characters as intriguing as the first one. Despite this, I still can't wait to see what kind of DLC Arkane has in mind for this game.

I feel like I've been pretty negative about this game, but there are definitely some great things happening. Emily's powers, while i was first hesitant when they started announcing them, are super fun to use. Honestly there's not one power i hadn't used, or just stopped using as i progressed through the game. Far Reach is a bit more sensitive than Blink, but it's still easy to use. I've only played one run as Emily, but I am looking forward to doing another as her. Another thing i thoroughly enjoyed was the voice acting. While i loved silent Corvo, the addition of voiced playable characters improved the game in my opinion. Where the lack of npcs almost broke the world for me, hearing my character's opinion on their situation brought me back in.

tl;dr Great maps, less interactive npcs, shorter gameplay, Emily's powers are cool, and voiced player characters improved the story. 8/10, would be 9/10 if not for buggy launch.

Although this game is quite short (I finished it within three hours, and I was taking my time) its defenitely been a wonderful experience. The world is simple but beautiful, and you can easily lose yourself by molding the plant life into a huge structure that twists and turns without end, which is what I found to be the funnest part of the whole game. The controls are easy enough to pick up, and while the game does inform you that it is best to use a controller, I had no problems without one after the first ten or so minutes. All and all, a very fun game that's stress relieving and carefree.

When I got this game, I never knew how emotionally attached I would get to the characters. It ruined my life, and it does every time I replay it. 10/10 would recommend.