Dishonored - Pointless it is @ International Business Times

[aries100]

International Business Times has blog called Why Games Matter where Edward Smith
writes an editorial piece discussing why Dishonored is Pointless. His starting point is
about how other games like say Fallout let's you know you've lost karma. Dishonored doesn't do this and he likes it:

It makes for a much more interesting game, where actions still have consequences, but not the same consequences every time. Being seen is a greyer affair, which opens the game up rather than shutting it down. Dishonored ebbs and flows, gracefully treading between action and sneaking without ever lopsiding into either. Stat fiends can still load up every time they get made, and action buffs can charge in if they like.

And a bit from the conclusion:

Instead, I got to be myself for a change. I got to play a game how I wanted to play it, instead of how I thought I should be. If someone struck me as evil, I killed them and didn't worry about the extra quest they might have offered later. If the guards caught me, I killed them too.

More information.

 

[borcanu]

I think thats natural, as you designed the game. And also it relates to your level of maturity, which is different from what you had 5 years ago

 

[CountChocula]

Dishonored is not a role playing game.

 

[The Walkin' Dude]

"Instead, I got to be myself for a change. I got to play a game how I wanted to play it, instead of how I thought I should be. If someone struck me as evil, I killed them and didn't worry about the extra quest they might have offered later. If the guards caught me, I killed them too."

The beauty here with Dishonored is that it's too easy to become "evil". If you want to sneak past the guards who, after all, are just trying to get through the day, you have to work for it. The evil playthrough, I find, is easier and, because it is so fun, very tempting.

 

[Wulf]

Edward Smith has made the classic mistake and should have known better.

Re quote:-

~Instead, I got to be myself for a change. I got to play a game how I wanted to play it, instead of how I thought I should be. If someone struck me as evil, I killed them and didn't worry about the extra quest they might have offered later. If the guards caught me, I killed them too. Sod the points - the end of mission stat round up just gave me something to gleefully ignore.~

Then for some strange diametrically opposed reason he hits the nail straight on the head
~I've been taught my whole gaming life to chase hidden areas, longer gameplay and high-scores. Dishonored isn't interested in points. It's shown me there's much more to games.~
…………………
If karma level consequences are not realised, then why oh why does he go around killing? - Killing is karma loss. I wonder why his intelligence is not telling him this, self contradiction without being even slightly aware!

 

[zakhal]

I agree that dishonored is pointless.

 

[JemyM]

If karma level consequences are not realised, then why oh why does he go around killing? - Killing is karma loss. I wonder why his intelligence is not telling him this, self contradiction without being even slightly aware!

Is that karma or dogma?
Is following dogma a sign of intellect or a sign of lacking intellect?

 

[JuliusMagnus]

"Instead, I got to be myself for a change. I got to play a game how I wanted to play it, instead of how I thought I should be. If someone struck me as evil, I killed them and didn't worry about the extra quest they might have offered later. If the guards caught me, I killed them too."

The beauty here with Dishonored is that it's too easy to become "evil". If you want to sneak past the guards who, after all, are just trying to get through the day, you have to work for it. The evil playthrough, I find, is easier and, because it is so fun, very tempting.

I disagree. There is no evil playthough and I didn't find it easy.

Combat was very hard so I set back difficulty from very hard to easy. I run through health elixors very fast in a non-stealth combat game. The upside is that you don't have to care about being seen.

The easiest part about the stealth playthrough is that not being seen means you're not being attacked, which means you have plenty of health. In this playthrough mana depletes much faster (if you use the supernatural stuff). And if you're like me you'll be saving a lot.

There is only low chaos and high chaos.

Ofcourse, you'd consider killing everyone 'evil'. But you can also kill everyone in the stealth playthrough. All that matters is if bodies are discovered. You can probably kill easier in stealth (drop-down, for which I couldn't use my non-lethal choke).

The hard (and rewarding) part of the stealth playthrough is getting rid of the bodies (snoring or otherwise out of this world) without being noticed.

One playthrough I might do down the line is use the Heart on every guard to look at his past and use that to decide who lives or dies. It's as close to a neutral playthrough I can think of.