Dishonored 2 - Review

    Dishonored 2 - Review

    After a fervent wait, the much requested second chapter finally arrives. Dishonored 2 arrived on November 11 in all stores, surrounded by high expectations but also by a thousand question marks. How will the story continue? Will the gameplay and plot be practically the same as in the first chapter? Will the performance on next-generation consoles be acceptable? How will the dualism between the two playable characters be handled? And many, many others. Without a shadow of a doubt, before going into detail, we can tell you that Arkane Studios did their homework very well, improving the parts that had convinced a lot in its predecessor, and adding some very welcome and appropriate features. The title published by Bethesda therefore it is preparing to compete not only with the other titles released in recent days, but also with its own audience. Will this live up to it? Let's go and find out closely!



    Dishonored 2 - ReviewWanted again

    Dishonored 2 takes place about 15 years after the events of the first chapter, starting from a Dunwall now free from the Lord Regent and from the plague epidemic that has ravaged the population. With us, as always Corvo Attano, who after being the Royal Protector of Jessamine, now holds the same role with the empress Emily kaldwin (as well as their daughter). We are in the throne room, on a very special day: the anniversary of the death of Emily's mother. As we accompany the charming girl to her throne, we learn that in the country an unknown killer, called "The Crown Killer" is wiping out all the enemies of Empress Kaldwin. The identity of this individual is unknown, but it takes little to understand that these murders are targeted, to make the people believe that Emily is the commissioner. The next few minutes see the end of the world happening: the Duke of Serkonos will enter the room, under the pretext of bringing gifts in honor of the late empress, together with the deepest condolences. But just a little before he introduces us to the real guest: Delilah, a grumpy woman who introduces herself as Jessamine's sister, and according to her and her followers, has every right to sit on the throne. Unfortunately we will discover that it is a real coup, in which a big hand was given from the inside ... Without going too far on what events will be, know that the game will also take place in Karnaka, the southernmost port of the state, and also the motherland of our Raven.



    Dishonored 2 - ReviewThe choice is mine

    Taking the audience by surprise, Dishonored 2 confronts the player with an atypical "character choice": when you could expect to live half the story with Corvo and half with Emily, or to experience the events from different and contemporary points of view as happened in "Folklore", Arkane studios has taken the decision to let us decide who to play with from start to finish, experiencing the same plot with different eyes. Obviously, based on who we choose, the will be variable in terms of game experience and storytelling, where both the powers and the video scenes at the beginning of the level will be different. This not only will make us discover new things about Emily and Corvo, but it makes us live the title with different personalities, and why not, even with the opposite approach. As already mentioned, the powers that the two protagonists have at their disposal are totally different, and both will be able to use them at will to kill or stun their enemies. Our choices will not be limited to this, because immediately after the first mission, we will be given the choice to proceed with or without powers! In the second case, it will be enough to refuse the Symbol of the Outside when the proposal is made to us, and consequently undertake an alternative gaming experience. Doing the sums, we can play 4 different adventures, with all the resulting variables. So for a single run that will normally take about 10 hours, we can find ourselves at an overall longevity of about 40 hours., without calculating the increase in difficulty (and time) for runs without powers. What will instead be the same for both is the purchase of various skills, such as improved stamina and health, higher jump, and among others the great novelty of the creation of bone and runes amulets, which built having certain materials.



    Dishonored 2 - ReviewIn short, starting from these basics, we can say that the growth of the experience in Dishonored 2 is based on adapting to one's own style of play, which it doubles (if not triples) the freedom we had in its predecessor. For the more hardcore players, the possibility has been added to completely disable the interface, without radar and the like… a challenge to the levels of the impossible! Taking a look at the game mechanics, we happily realize that everything we loved and appreciated in the first Dishonored is still there, and Arkane Studios has managed to improve it even more:

    - Excellent management of quick commands, with which we can select up to 4 powers or weapons to interchange without going to the selection menu. If we are dying, we will also be able to quickly use a Sokolov elixir to restore health, and we can also choose to set the automatic use of the blue vials in case the power bar runs out.

    - Yet present secondary missions, which we may complete at our discretion, with the resulting benefits.

    - If we have not collected all the items, or we still want to take a look around even after completing the main objective, we can choose to stay in the area and continue later, when we are satisfied with our work.

    - The level of chaos generated this time depends on several factors, and at the end of the mission we will be shown a very detailed graph. On the left, the game will list the number of kills, how many times we have been discovered, etc., but on the right there will be a Cartesian-style scheme where the level of discretion will be marked vertically (which will aim at stealth upwards and assault downwards) and lethality horizontally.



    - The heart will be an indispensable confidant, which will signal us with its heartbeat the proximity of objects and altars, and will allow us to listen to certain anecdotes about places and people. Furthermore, this it will contain the last entity echo of the late Empress Jessamine, and he will speak to us right through his voice.

    - Dishonored 2 is a brutal title, and that even more than the first chapter will put you in front of indecent killings and various pulping. Obviously, only if you approach it that way.

    - The quick rescue available in the pause menu will become your best friend.

    Dishonored 2 - ReviewDeath in the shadows

    It is no coincidence that we will make a separate speech regarding the combat phases: from the first videos that surfaced on the title, many people have complained that it looks too similar to the predecessor, with almost the certainty of finding yourself playing the same game with Dishonored 2: nothing more wrong. It is true, of course, that most of the mechanics are taken from the first chapter (and that in any case they are the trademark of the brand), but the studio has done nothing but take back everything that was good, improve it, and add new things. The stealth phases are highly recommended, and it will be wonderful to undertake them both with Corvo, who we are fond of, and to study brand new (and above all different) tactics with Emily using her new powers. Another welcome addition is the possibility of using the furniture to hide, such as sheltering under the tables.

    The melee phases have been improved, allowing this time to stun your enemies even in the combat phase: to do this you will need to perform a perfect parry, and consequently hit and suffocate the unfortunate gendarme. obviously this will be quite complicated when you are fighting against more than one enemy. In this particular case, however, there could be a problem, due to the AI: during the non-lethal choking you will hold your enemy in front of you, but if there are other enemies they will not hesitate to hit you, and consequently they will kill their mate (and of course they will despair about it)! For the rest, in any case, artificial intelligence alternates moments of awkwardness with levels of incredible sagacity: they will be very smart in their searches, they will be alert, they will see you from a good distance, and they will notice during the patrols if a door has been opened that was previously closed. The variety featured in Dishonored 2 is also about the enemies themselves: we will no longer be faced with only those soldiers all uniform and jaw seen so far, but also with women (in some cases officers), mechanical units (called "mechanosoldiers") in some missions, and even "blood flies" ”That infest various parts and buildings of the city of Karnaka. It goes without saying that your course of action will have to change based on who (and how many) you are faced with.

    Dishonored 2 - ReviewNot just blades

    Dishonored 2 also retains the trademark of telling the title's story and beautiful background through collectibles and documents.. In fact, it will be very interesting (and for the research maniacs, even fun) to explore and look for letters, newspapers, and much more, which tell a part of Dunwall and Karnaka history, but also of the experiences lived by ordinary people within that society, and obviously on the protagonists of the game and on the secondary characters. Among the most interesting collectibles to find, of course, there are the paintings, which in addition to portraying people of primary interest in the plot, will also be the source of a nice hoard of coins. Another welcome addition is the black market: it is a place where we can buy some vital items with our money, such as vials, ammunition, sharp mines, and even runes (even if not more than one)!

    Dualism, conceptual and artistic

    Dishonored 2 presents a title in which the plot will always follow its right path, but giving us full freedom to choose the path. After the first two missions, it will be impossible not to notice the clear difference in style between the two cities of Dunwall and Karnaka: the colors, the buildings, the people split up, creating two different cultures, even if they belong to the same state. On the one hand, the city that rises vertically, majestic and well-kept, on the other hand, the “jewel of the south”, the southern port with an exotic flavor, which is slowly falling into ruin due to the Duke who governs it. If you think about it, everything in Dishonored 2 will lead to a choice of "white or black", such as the selection of the character, man or woman, to kill or not, to upgrade or remain with the basic abilities, to perform secondary missions or not to find shortcuts ... even the same cover of the game presents a clear break between the two faces (which then present mask, or gag). The bigger message is there, and it's hidden behind all the great storyline and great gameplay. This can be summed up by quoting Sallust, who told us that "Everyone is the creator of their own destiny"… And in this case, del fate of many.

    Dishonored 2 - ReviewTypewriters everywhere

    The attention to detail with which Dishonored 2 was created is undoubtedly meticulous. We are not just talking about graphic details (which, although very good, lack some textures here and there), but how the settings were built ad hoc and enriched: in addition to the excellent level design and suggestive settings, every single room that we will tread in the game has something to tell, not only with documents, but also with the objects themselves available inside them, from typewriters, to the type of food present, to the watches (which we can also make trill to distract the enemies), to the paintings, to the ornaments, to the walls , and so on and so forth. What strikes the graphic sector of Dishonored 2 therefore, is not only the detail, but the real art that has been in the composition of the environments. Apart from a few small imperfections due to the boats on the dock, even the water and its effects have been reproduced beautifully, complete with more or less wavy areas. Right in the water, however, especially during the sequence on the boat, we find ourselves in front of one of the flaws of Dishonored 2: the drop in frame rate. Even if in isolated cases (and in any case not limited only to videos on water), this burden is inexorable, definitely undermining the reactivity and fluidity of action. In any case, we think it's nothing that a good patch can't fix. The graphics engine used is the newest Void Engine, created by id Tech and customized by Arkane herself to accommodate the excellent artistic direction we talked about. The audio sector for its part does its job well, without sync problems in dubbing and with an atmosphere created by the soundtrack worthy of the settings. The work of the voice actors is excellent, including the infamous Oliviero Corbetta in the role of Corvo Attano. Of course, actually hearing this character in the same voice as Detective Goro from "Detective Conan" has a strange effect ...

    modus Operandi: the review you just read was written based on the version PlayStation 4 of the title, after completing the main story with both characters. I also tested the various approach possibilities, as well as the powerless mode and the different levels of difficulty available.

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