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[cormack12]

Developer: Arkane Studio | Publisher: Bethesda Softworks | Official Site | PS3/X360/PS4/Xbox One/ PC (Definitive Edition for current-gen)

Game Overview
Set in the fictional, plague-ridden industrial city of Dunwall, Dishonored follows the story of Corvo Attano, bodyguard to the Empress of the Isles. He is framed for her murder and forced to become an assassin, seeking revenge on those who conspired against him. Corvo is aided in his quest by the Loyalists—a resistance group fighting to reclaim Dunwall, and the Outsider—a powerful being who imbues Corvo with magical abilities.

The game is played from a first-person perspective and allows the player to undertake a series of missions in a variety of ways, with an emphasis on player choice. Missions can be completed through stealth, combat, or a combination of both. Exploring each level opens new paths and alternatives for accomplishing mission goals, and it is possible to complete all missions, eliminating all of Corvo's targets, in a non-lethal manner. The story and missions are changed in response to the player's violent actions or lack thereof. Magical abilities and equipment are designed to be combined to create new and varied effects.


Community Playthrough
A few of decided to try something new for GAF with the concept of a community playthrough. After a brief read through the thread we decided to tighten the scope around which game to use. The ones originally listed were very deep and we're probably best starting small to see if we can get some traction. Overall the idea is very basic, a few people will play through the game giving their feedback and progress at certain milestones.

Different participants will prefer to give their feedback in different ways so it's up to those users how they present it back. Some might do a text writeup with screenshots and images, some might do supporting video or a highlight reel of their first milestone. Ideally it will give an independent and balanced consensus or a reasoned critique and more insightful overview of whether it's a game for you or not. If nothing else, it may just push one of you to pluck it from your backlog

There will probably be spoilers just because the nature of the thread which would get too cumbersome to remove with video and inline thread spoilers so just take this at it comes really. Below are the milestones and what we intend. As the title implies, this group will be playing Dishonored through first. We look forward to the feedback and the experience. Please do leave any comments or feedback as they will encourage us to persist and make it feel like it's worthwhile for the community. Also do leave 'reactions' as well.

27.05.19	- Milestone 1: 5 hours of game play - Update expected (when milestone met or on 03.06.19) - Community can add thoughts and impressions on format
03.06.19	- Milestone 2: 5 hours of game play - Update expected (when milestone met or on 10.06.19) - Community can add thoughts and impressions on format
10.06.19	- Milestone 3: 5 hours of game play - Update expected (when milestone met or on 17.06.19) - Community can add thoughts and impressions on format
17.06.19	- Milestone 4: 5 hours of game play - Update expected (when milestone met or on 23.06.19) - Community can add thoughts and impressions on format
23.06.19	- Final milestone and wrap-up - Don't have to have completed the game

So DunDunDunpachi Elcid off duty ninja ViolentP will be getting their copies of Dishonored sorted, downloaded and prepped for this week. Updates will be posted as people complete their milestones, with the latest submission a week later. The commitment has been kept low at the moment, if they gain popularity we may split the playthroughs into commitment stripes. So those who can dedicate 8 hours say, can contribute more.

 

[Mista]

This should be pinned on top

 

[ViolentP]

Let's rock and/or roll.

 

[Tehvenom]

This is unique and cant wait how this plays out. Good luck troopers!

 

[Musky_Cheese]

Excited for this

 

[ipukespiders]

Are the participants playing this game for the first time? Dishonored was a game I started, but never finished.
I should move it up the backlog, and get that sorted. It's been so long I would have to do a restart I'm sure.

Can non participants (that may also be playing along) add their thoughts as well?

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Alright, so I've played and beaten Dishonored before. I love the game and am thrilled to have a good excuse to play through it again. Last playthrough I was peaceful and sneaky. This time I'm going to leverage Slackjaw's gang as much as possible and cause as much death as I can.

Streaming now:

 

[cormack12]

Can non participants (that may also be playing along) add their thoughts as well?

Yep, feel free. We just needed a small group to get the idea running but yeah. Feel free to hit the milestones and post your thoughts too!

 

[off duty ninja]

Are the participants playing this game for the first time? Dishonored was a game I started, but never finished.
I should move it up the backlog, and get that sorted. It's been so long I would have to do a restart I'm sure.

Can non participants (that may also be playing along) add their thoughts as well?

This is one game that haunts my backlog. I've started it multiple times over multiple gens but haven't completed it ever. That is my main goal and I have put a few hours into it so far this week. I want to gather my thoughts and get through the next level before I make an official update but I am loving it so far. I am reading all the books, notes etc. this playthrough. Usually I skip all that stuff but I want to understand the world as well as possible.

I'm playing on Hard difficulty and killing anyone who gets in my way as I lean into the vengeance theme. That said I tend to try to be stealthy for as long as possible but the moment someone spots me I am rushing them with my blade.

 

[J-Roderton]

Get it, duders!

 

[ViolentP]

This will be my first playthrough. Been in the backlog for some time so this is a good opportunity to put it in my completed list.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

So, it turns out this game is much easier when you don't care so much about killing people.

 

[ViolentP]

I'm hopping in. Let's see what direction the fates take me.

 

[ROMhack]

I'll be happy to participate in the next one of these.

 

[Mista]

Come watch with me DunDunDunpachi playing right now

 

[ROMhack]

Come watch with me DunDunDunpachi playing right now

Tell him to allow playback so I can watch at a normal time.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

I am near the end of the Golden Cat mission. Here is how my playthrough has shaped up so far (spoilers):

Playing on Hard and not really trying to pull off any special feats.
High chaos. Killing of guards and fighting my way out of situations isn't very challenging, and the guards have the attention span of a goldfish. Rats have increased noticeably and I'm not very far into the game.
Still trying to be moderately stealthy. I have the Shadow Kill power which makes stealth-killing much easier and more viable. I have Lvl 2 Blink and also the Force Push power. Weapon upgrades have been crossbow range, crossbow accuracy, the zoom-lens, and more springrazor traps. Crossbows are another fun way to abuse Shadow Kill.
I've used a lot of springrazors so far in this game. Combined with Shadow Kill, this makes a lot of areas easy.
I branded High Overseer Campbell. I laughed out loud because I tranquilized him, carried his sleeping body to the chair, branded him (which makes him lurch forward and scream), and then he's back to sleep immediately.
I'm inside the Golden Cat, looking for the mistress' master key. Emily is already downstairs waiting for me at the boat.
The Pendeltons have yet to be removed from office.

Tell him to allow playback so I can watch at a normal time.

I turned that feature on. Thanks. I didn't know it was a thing.

And Mista I added a chat room so that viewers could ask questions.

It should be obvious that I'm not a streamer, but I couldn't think of a better way to contribute to the thread.

 

[kingbean]

Is this the outcome of the game club idea from a few months ago?

I wanted to participate.

 

[off duty ninja]

I probably should have planned my time better but I just beat the game this morning.

That said I am now really excited to check out the DLC and Dishonored 2 so I've got a lot to look forward to. The first few times I attempted this game I was trying really hard to be stealthy and also failed to use the save system often enough. This led to me giving up at around the Golden Cat each time in frustration. Another negative for me personally is the art style. I just prefer realism in these types of games but after getting used to it I do appreciate certain aspects.

The combat for instance is very visceral when I get into the flow. I struggle with the camera moving a bit too much on me in CQC because I turn it up generally in FPS games but during sword combat I end up swinging it around wildly and missing my targets. Once I adjusted to this and fine tuned my movements I really began to appreciate the combat system.

The level and world design is really great and I love skulking around looking for alternate paths while silently clearing out everybody in my way.

OPEN STORY SPOILERS AHEAD:

I completed the campaign on Hard this morning but only updating the first two missions at this time.

In the first mission after freeing Martin I poisoned High Overseer Campbell then foolishly jumped in as he was dying which caused Curnow to freak out and alert the guards to me. Curnow managed to survive at least and I escaped after clearing the building of guards. I also went and helped granny rags during this mission and gathered some runes and bone charms.

For the House of Pleasure mission I went and spoke with Slackjaw for help getting in to the Golden Cat. I went to Galvani's office (for the second time, I went there in the first mission too if I remember correctly) and found the remains of his man Crowley. After reporting back to Slackjaw I proceeded to the Golden Cat and although I utilized stealth and blink heavily I had many small battles and it was quite chaotic. Before eliminating any of the targets I stumbled upon Emily completely by accident. After she led me to the basement door I went back into the building, wiped out the targets and got the key needed to escape.

Before I proceed with my opinions on the rest of the game I want to see what the other folks did on their playthroughs. I will definitely share my thoughts in the rest of the game and am also tempted to try another run through on Very Hard while trying to get the ghost/pacifist achievements.

I also have all the auto clips taken during the assassination missions that I might try to compile into a little video to share.

 

[ROMhack]

I turned that feature on. Thanks. I didn't know it was a thing.

And @Mista I added a chat room so that viewers could ask questions.

It should be obvious that I'm not a streamer, but I couldn't think of a better way to contribute to the thread.

Awesome. Which timezone are you in?

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Awesome. Which timezone are you in?

EST / UTC -5:00

 

[ROMhack]

EST / UTC -5:00

Cool. I'm UK so pretty far ahead but I might be able to catch the next one live (I've followed you on Twitch for updates).

 

[jshackles]

DunDunDunpachi

"Hey man, we can split the pearls, just trust me!"

> Find key, open cage door

> Man walks outside and gets his head blown off.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

DunDunDunpachi

"Hey man, we can split the pearls, just trust me!"

> Find key, open cage door

> Man walks outside and gets his head blown off.

He made for a good distraction.

 

[ViolentP]

Something that is striking me is the audio production. It engages me into the environment in a way other games don't. Very reminiscent of Bioshock. Still chipping my way through but should have something more substantial in the coming days.