 Dead of the Outsider, the possible conclusion to the Dishonored franchise came out recently and I thought to myself, hey, I really want to blaze through it. Here's the thing, Dishonored 2 was so buggy at launch that I postponed playing until it was fixed and ended up never sitting down and actually taking my time with it. So I said to myself, now watch you handsome chap, you've been waiting too long, get in there and murder people in dull duck uniforms. I mean, peacefulest of doom. Without further ado, let's get into it. No longer is the world of Dishonored quite what we remember. In the 15 years that have passed since the first game, a great deal has changed. Well, the power source in which all of Anton Sokol's technological marvels ran is more difficult to obtain, more precious and expensive by far. The problem introduced by the knife of Dunwall DLC that wails, these mystical levitons whose connections to the Outsider has yet to be explained, are being hunted down to extinction, has worsened over the last decade and a half. Mirrored in this is the obvious metaphor of resource scarcity and man's disregard for natural equilibria. It's a bit under the nose, but even then it works. Sokolov's stories are too expensive to run for most, because of this exact issue. No longer will you see the cream that a cream of his military technology being used in the streets and when it is, it's transformed. That's where Kirin Jintosh steps in. As Sokolov was the defining scientist and inventor who refurbished Dunwall's military and society alike, so is Jintosh to Kanaka now. Unlike Sokolov, he is all too ready to sacrifice any notions of morality for his experimentations. Unlike Sokolov, he is a man in his prime and more unhinged than Anton ever was. Jintosh's inventions have reshaped Kanaka using wind-powered turbines courtesy of the unique geography of the Connors to adapt and power up Sokolov's walls of light. That's the island on which the city is built for the record. Two more marvellous, Jintosh's Clockwork Soldiers, deadly addition to the list of people in things that are out to get you. Dishonest universe has never been more steampunk than in Jintosh's home, the Clockwork Mansion, of which we'll talk about more in several minutes. You can also skip the level design if you can't hold in your excitement. You'll find the time mark below in the description. Impressive, Jintosh. Then you must also know why I'm here. Yes, Kanaka is the brand new centre of a second industrial revolution in the Empire. But what's the story behind your relocation from Dunwall and into the bubbling cauldron that is the jewel of the South? It's not long at all before dishonour too, like its predecessor, pulls the rug out of you and forces you to fend for yourself in a world that is, let's face it, hard to kill you in unpleasant, unsavoury ways. You begin the game in the shoes of young Empress Emily Caldwin. The term young will be thrown at you as almost derogatory from newspapers, books, even the occasional conversations you're listening in on from the very get-go. Fifteen years past since the death of Empress Jessamine to the day, a memorial used to be held to honour her untimely demise. At the very beginning of Emily and Corvo's private ceremony in the Trim Room, you receive an unexpected guest, Lucca Bell, Duke of Sir Connors. He's brought gifts! If you thought to yourself, I love gifts, well... Your Imperial Majesty and Royal Protector, a native of our homeland. Sir Connors offers condolences on this sorrowful day and gifts to remind you of our nation, the rising star on the southern horizon. We thank you, Your Grace. Save your thanks. For now I give you the greatest gift of all, family. I present the lost sister of Jessamine Caldwin, your rightful Empress, Delilah Caldwin. Impossible. My mother had a sister? My dearest niece. Hello. It's not true. My father was Emperor Uhorn Jacob Caldwin, and Jessamine was my younger sister. At the time of her death, I wasn't ready to make myself known to you, and I was forced to leave Dunwall, but now I'm home. If you really are my mother's sister, you're welcome to stay as long as you like. Little sparrow, blackened by bad memories, I'm here to relieve you of your crown. My father's promise, whispered in secret so many years ago, is now fulfilled. What's your tongue? Emily Caldwin is the daughter of Empress Jessamine Caldwin. Royal Protector, how naive to think you could get away with these murders. Living in my palace has protected you, but that's over. Hear me, all of you, your rightful Empress has returned. I'll hail the Empress Delilah, first of her name. Arrest Emily Caldwin and her father for the crown killer murder. What? And so you have faced with your first choice, whether to play Emily or Returning, once dishonour's already protagonist, Corvo Attano. Who can now speak, both come with their own sets of abilities, commentary and taken events? If you have any love for all that's holly, you should play with Emily first. I'm exaggerating of course, but I can't help but feel that you'll find the most satisfaction in your first playthrough by stepping into her shoes. There's another reason I'll go into, that you shouldn't play with Corvo on your first playthrough, especially if you played the first game, but we'll get to that when we discuss gameplay with him. At any rate, with one character under your control and the other encased in stone, the course is set and your royal self once again finds themselves betrayed and alone. The coup against you was massively accomplished, Delilah Copper Spoon, half sister of Emily's mother. Now sit on your throne, plotting whatever it is that creepy witches plot about in theirs per time. Delilah is angry at just about everyone, starting from her father going to Anton, who was one point her mentor slash unkind lover, and especially at her sister, whom she blames for the death of her mother, and the horrors she endured after getting banished from the Imperial Palace. In truth, it's a sad story that we only get Delilah's perspective of, and who knows if she's a trustworthy narrator, the heart of Jessamine never goes into detail about that. What's important is Delilah's possessing your devastating skill and unbridled ambition, against which you will have your metal test time and time again. It's something worth a fortune, and the spy master caught us. She claimed I did it, and he whipped me in the garden house until I'd bled. My mother lost her kitchen job, and that night we were out on the streets with no place to sleep. Mother and I saw the nastiest parts of Dunrall, ending up in Deader's prison. Jessamine died quick on an assassin's blade, but my mother lingered for weeks after a fat guard broke her jaw. They threw me out when she died. I looked up at the lights of Dunrall Tower and swore revenge. Washing bedsheets in a brothel. I painted on the side, until Anton Sokolov took me as a student. That's the polite word for it. With such power to contend with, it's good having a few allies. Captain Megan Foster and her one-crew ship, the dreadful Whale, will help you find the oldest and meanest friend you've got, Sokolov himself. With Megan's help, you flee Dunrall and get to Karnakar, where your staunch ally and mentor has been kidnapped by a mysterious murder. The so-called crown killer has been killing your political opponents for some months, and virtually everyone believes the one behind the moniker is the Lord Protector himself. That's as much as I'll say for now. We'll come back to the story with a more in-depth discussion later. For now, let's step into the shoes of our two main characters. My first playthrough was done with Emily Unhard, with as few casualties as possible. It seems the most logical way to play her. Not some blood-thirsty psychopath, all too happy to drown a cityward in her very own empire in the blood of her subjects, act as they do against her, but as a reluctant combatant, ready to cross plays with the opponent's grunts and only kill as a last resort. Would you say I killed a few people along the way when my back was pressed against the wall? And because I'm just crap at sneaking around. Playing it on Emily is an inexperienced and useful incompetence. See the plot of the game in no way gives you the exact view on Emily that I have, but your actions, inactions and response to situations that you'll encounter create unique and personal ideas to the identity of the character whose shoes you fill. Even the abilities in Arsenal you choose to employ are to your internal view of Emily, or Corvo, if you think about it. My Emily grew more and more reliant on the magic she accessed via the outsider's mark and became sloppier less careful as her abilities grew in potency. And you know what? That worked for her. What I am attempting to vocalise here is a kind of narrative that's best called the player's story, as opposed to the plot story. Everything that happens in your mind as you play through the story, all you perceive and interpret as you form a relationship between your actions and on-screen results. As a side note, this idea of player's story is one of the primary reasons why many play and enjoy games like Skyrim and Fallout 4, even though their main or explicit plot stories are not particularly good. But I once again am getting distracted with talk of narrative. Let's take a look at Emily's powers. There are five unique abilities she has access to. Far reach is Emily's utility power, allowing her to move through the map horizontally, vertically, anywhere you can think of really. You can upgrade it to pull objects and even people to yourself. That last ability upgrade is not particularly useful if you're going for any degree of stealth, nor is it any good against witches who just teleport away midway through the way to your blade. I used to wear a few too many times with a skirt. My favorite ability of Emily's has to be mesmerize. Use some on the fragment of the void that enchants up to four people if you've upgraded mesmerize all the way through. Then look at that void fragment like a bunch of last trick digits while you murder or choke them, or even just leave. It works on just about every flesh and blood enemy type, too, making this a go-to ability when you don't want to deal with people. I never got Domino and Doppelganger in my first playthrough, since both seemed a bit more violent than what I was going for. I did try Domino out with Corvo on New Game Plus, which allows for your character access to every power in the game. Shadowwalk is a lot of fun, giving you both lethal and non-lethal options, as well as allowing you to turn into an awesome shadow monster that makes everyone shake in their boots. I bet the Grand Gars don't get paid extra for dealing with shadow monsters. What do you think? All these powers can once again be synergized, too horrific, and entertaining effect, especially if you're playing with lethal intent. Non-lethal demands a much greater investment of time, a greater amount of exploration and patience. Patience I sometimes lack, which is why I end up brawling with groups of enemies, timing my reposts just before an enemy struck, since you can now grab an enemy who's out of balance and choke them until they fall unconscious. This time, around, it's easy to be non-lethal and still be a lot more involved in combat than you could in Dishonored 1. It took me over 16 hours to play through the nine missions in the game with Emily's non-lethal approach, and it was a joy. You might choose to return Corvo to the forefront of being a Dishonored Lord Protector. Here's the thing. If you decide to play with him first, and that is a specific problem inherent to having mastered Corvo in the first game, you might feel somewhat dejected. What I mean to say is, no one likes starting from zero, and when you've put a dozen hours of your time making sure that Corvo is a time stopping when hopping badass in Dishonored 1, well, you might want to consider playing him on the New Game Plus mode, like I did. That way, you'll feel like you're continuing your progress from where you left off at the end of the first game, at least in terms of your power level, and you'll have access to all of Emily's powers as well, making it a more interesting and full experience. In my first playthrough, Emily was reluctant to kill, despite her life falling apart and her being utterly isolated from everyone she knew and counted on. Corvo takes the event at the games beginning as well as Liam Neeson's character in Taken. If in addition to being a cold-blooded murderer, said character had the ability to stop time, summon a horde of rats to chew his enemy's faces, and many, many nasty abilities besides. The point is, Corvo Botano is most fun when he's out for blood. In his shoes, my return to Karnak was followed by a sea of crimson. The Lord Protectors one man crusade against the air allies if Delilah leaves no witnesses untouched. This second playthrough took me about 10 hours, so it seems that being an expert at murder actually pays off, at least where you have time constraints to consider. And you know you love time, murder a grand guard, save time. Corvo's unique powerset makes a return from the first game. He can still stop time, possess all manner of a man and critter, summon powerful winds to use against his enemies. There are some neat new upgrades. You can now chain possess, from person to rat, to bloodlight, to fish, to me, to my dear old mum, probably. The upgrades are entirely to entertaining. Not only those of your powers, but the upgrades of your weapons make both the crossbow and your gun exciting and fun to use. There are now Masterwork upgrades unlocked after you've put sufficient amount of coin in smaller upgrades. Masterwork ones are hella expensive, but they fundamentally change either the way the weapon works or they allow you to make impressive amounts of damage while stunning or otherwise hindering your enemies. The sheer strength of your gun can get a bit ridiculous towards the last couple of missions in fact. I recall dispatching several clockwork servants with two bullets each. The first one disabled them and pierced their armour, and the second one blew them away. Well, it blew them apart, but I also imagined that they were blown away by how amazing my gunslinging skills are. I might ramble on about the story and the abilities you have access to, the myriad ways you can skillet the members of the Grand Guard, but what shines brighter than all those aspects of the game is Karnaka, the city itself. It's a testament to the design skills of Arcane. Not only did they design a city that compares to Dunwall from the ground up, but managed to make Karnaka a layered city and aged. Metropolis, a many-sided gem whose locales overflow with varied avenues of approach, and are also downright weird and creepy, on occasion, more than on occasion in fact the new constant creepiness factories precede Empire, I have to say. Each level, this only to draw the two, has many secrets, passageways and dozens of tiny heartfelt stories that further develop the world. It's astounding how much character these scripted interactions between civilians and soldiers can add to the world. I can't think of a fragment of Karnaka that I did not enjoy. Let me walk you through about half of them without going to in-depth, without spawning too much. Ademire Institute is a psychiatric hospital forcibly closed by Duke Lucca Abel in order to keep his prized scientist, Dr. Alexandra Hypatia, away from prying eyes. It's far from the most inventive level, but what it lacks for in gimmick, it makes up in creepy. The Institute is several floors high. As you progress upwards, you will find a hospital for infective disease falling further into decay. In a twist of irony, the Institute is withering away under its own terrible infection. It may not stem with some strange and wacky visuals as later levels do, but it's a memorable experience that left me with plenty of stories to tell. What will stun you with its visuals, with its inventiveness and portal-esque taunting is Jintosh's clockwork mansion. The mansion, with its maze-like architecture, each room changing time and time again, all the press of a lever. These mechanisms don't change instantaneously and invisibly. No, you see all of the cogs moving around and you can in fact go behind the scenes, explore the set pieces before they have been deployed. Playing Jintosh's deadly game as he taunts and mocks you, fears slowly seeping into his voice the further you go, the more of his defences you pass with ease, or with difficulty, I'm not judging, the more inexplicable powers you use. It's a pity Jintosh didn't get a bigger sandbox to play in. Not that the clockwork mansion is small, mind you, it's just that you really want to get more of the compelling villain that is this amoral inventor. What is almost as inventive as Jintosh's mansion is a Rami Stilton's manor, the abandoned home of an industrialist who rose from and championed the working class. It's a compelling level, not because of mechanisms that help you navigate through a mechanical death trap, but because of a timepiece that everyone's favourite enigmatic entity, the outsider, happily provides you with. What this magical device does is it allows you to go back in time and that's an exciting concept. You also can't use magic which changes the flow of the game in a pretty major way. Your actions in the past will affect the present or future, so it's hard to deal with time travel. Stilton's manor is not the most complex or the biggest level in the game and the weird void leaking that allows you to penetrate the veil of time has the unfortunate side effect of taking your magic away and leaving you with only your sword, gun and traps to fend for yourself. That makes your avenues of approach somewhat more limited. The gimmick travelling between present and past is a blast however and one of the more inventive things I recall seeing. The last level in Karnaca doesn't have a gimmick unlike the two I previously brought up. That said, going after Duke Lucca Abel in his little palace is an enjoyable task against so many ways to approach your targets. The game gives you sandbox set pieces and lets you muddle through however you wish and however your playstyle demands. It took Arcane and Bethesda 5 months of patching after what was one of 2016's most buggy and playable game releases. Shaman both of these companies for releasing Dishonored to the hot buggy mess that it was instead of delaying it for 6 months. If Bethesda had seen through some ridiculous short-term money grab they might have realised that the loss of goodwill that resulted from the broken PC port might just cost everyone. For us consumers it might mean no Dishonored 3 gets made and for Arcane it means a loss of trust that won't be easily repaired. Reputation is not something you rebuild overnight. These problems take away from what is pretty damn close to a masterpiece in nearly every other aspect. We began with the story and it's only right to end with a more in-depth discussion of what Dishonored 2 gets right and wrong in terms of its plot and characters. The words and the outsider. Everyone's favourite part, God part, the emo kid. He's no longer voiced by Billy Lush but by Gotham's Penguin Robin Lord Taylor. It's a strange switch and while I wasn't quite sure the first time I heard Taylor he groomed me. He's actually a good actor and he seems to have put in an effort so kudos to that. It's a kind of time-piece. Go and watch the Duke and Delilah. See for yourself what they did. My greatest complaint with the story has to be this. The plot can feel too disconnected and while Delilah is a wonderfully wicked psychotic villainess in which I couldn't help but feel that Kevin Gentosh could have used some more screen time. I enjoyed his gloating and intellectual bravado to no end. Something could be said about playing with the Empress or the Royal Protector and having no real agency in terms of choosing your targets, objectives and what not. But this isn't a role-playing game and so I understand the choice to stick to a specific structure in terms of the missions. The cut scenes between the missions are exposition heavy and that bogs the story down when it could be progressing it in more natural ways. Cut scenes also take your control away. Once again removing agency which is not my favorite thing. I love me some agency you might have noticed. I should mention cut scenes are gorgeous. Sharp lines, awesome art and excellent voice acting and direction. One more thing I'm going to mention Corvo's high chaos ending is pretty dark. Spoilers obviously but that last scene of him standing alone on the throne of his daughter Emily encased in stone forever the whole imperial palace one gigantic graveyard it's a silent moment that is undeniably strong for the loneliness it captures. This ono 2 doesn't lack in content. Enemies are of sufficient variety, though I would have loved a few more varieties of grand guards and witches. You can play through the game half a dozen times before you've exhausted each route and before you've experimented with all the ways to main murder, neutralize and otherwise reduce your enemies to a bloody pulp. It's not a difficult game to is it? I played it in some of the highest difficulty settings with murder Corvo and I breezed through the last three missions without any problems whatsoever. There's plenty of settings you can touch to make the experience more challenging and that makes for a good amount of customization. There's even an Iron Man mode which automatically deletes you to save as soon as you die for those of you who enjoy playing games to their extreme. And bang! We're done. Oh, score. That's right. I give this one um... one Delilah out of an emo outsider. It's an inside joke don't overthink it. Bye!