Dishonored 2

Dishonored was one of my favorite games growing up, and I was a little surprised with myself that I never picked up the sequel. The trailers looked good, I was excited enough when it was announced, but by the time it released, I just didn't hear enough about it to maintain my hype. I recently replayed the first one, and decided now was a good time to try the the sequel. Having played through a couple hours, I can say I'm pretty disappointed. I only had one technical issue, but it was common and repeatedly ruined any many attempts at stealth takedowns. Even when behind an enemy, the prompt to do a stealth takedown just wouldn't show up maybe a fifth of the time. This is wildly unacceptable for a stealth game like this, and so fundamental and basic that I don't have any idea how that could be considered acceptable on release, let alone a decade later. That said, it was the only technical issue I had. As for the writing and voice acting, that's where my real issues lie. I don't mind the two big changes (Corvo no longer being a silent protagonist, and Emily being the default option as main character). In fact, I was optimistic about this. Unfortunately, this writing sounds like an amateur wrote it. It's clunky and feels weirdly expository, like it's written for a child that didn't play the first game, or someone who isn't really paying attention half the time. It almost creeps me out how often Corvo and Emily refer to each other as "father" and "daughter". It's just so clunky and not how people talk. Not to mention that Emily referred to Corvo by name all throughout the first game, and likely wouldn't change that habit even if she did discover that he was her father. Even if they wanted to confirm that fan theory (which I think was unnecessary, best to leave it ambiguous or make the reveal happen in-game), they reveal it in the clunkiest and most unnatural way possible. The voice acting is terrible too, which does not help the inhuman dialogue. I don't think I blame the actors, the issue is wide spread enough that it was likely a directing problem. But the dialogue consistently feels like a first draft written by first time writers. Clunky, cringey, and entirely unimmersive. As for the plot, I can't believe how dumb the intro is. I'm sure more would have been revealed as the game went on, but having just finished Knife of Dunwall/Brigmore Witches, the decision to use Delilah as the main villain in a big open starter reveal was kind of baffling. It sorta spits in the face of Daud's solo story. If they wanted to use her, a reveal later on *might* have worked, but I think it shows a lack of faith in their ability to create a new threat. I feel like the entire appeal of the Daud/Delilah story was that she was a threat to the throne that Daud dealt with without Corvo or Emily knowing. Them learning about it feels like it undermines Daud's semi-redemption. The coup was also entirely unconvincing. Even with a man on the inside, you expect me to believe someone can just waltz into the capital, claim to be the former empress's sister with no evidence whatsoever, and then use illegal magic to attack the sitting royal family? It feels like a rough draft idea that they forgot to flesh out and make believable. I also rolled my eyes when Delilah arbitrarily is able to just remove Corvo's mark of the Outsider. It's such a cowardly and lazy way to force the player to start all over without the powers Corvo gained through the first game. It would have been more believable for him to have gotten rid of the powers himself once his job was done and Emily was safe. Even then, I would have respected it a lot more if they just accepted that the character should start with at least some power. A total reset to zero is way too common and is such a lame trope for video game sequels, and the backflips devs have to do to make you start off with nothing are always so obvious. I'm not saying I don't understand why they do it, or that it can't be done well, but this felt like a particularly egregious example. I barely noticed the reset to zero in games like Arkham City or Destroy All Humans 2, because the inciting incident logically results in a sort of reset all on its own. Here, they had to wrack their brain to come up with a reason for Corvo's reset, and the best they could come up with was "witches can just do that." It's a shame too, because I think there are neat ideas here. The idea of the Crown Killer and how someone could be making the Kaldwins look bad by killing their enemies is a super cool idea, and you could get some neat millage out of Corvo getting to see what it's like sitting in an ivory tower while an assassin undermines him for once. I like the idea of traveling outside of Dunwall and seeing a different side of the empire. I just can't bring myself to care enough and force myself through more of this game. Every time an important character opens their mouth, it erodes any joy the gameplay has instilled in me, and I find myself not caring about what I'm doing because the explanation of why I was doing it felt like it was written by a high schooler.