I'm just gonna do a short review since as of writing this it's near 4am.
Basically, what I was going to write formatted into a bulletpoint list:
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+ More forgiving with morality system
+ Improved difficulty and general stealth, enemies now actually have eyes and hit HARD, making stealth have much more tension since you are a glass cannon
+ WAY better combat, balanced better in lethal and non-lethal, making combat have much more of a fun factor in either way since you are a glass cannon
+ World feels just as alive, if not more so than it's predecessor
+ NG+ is incredibly fun and giving you access to the other character's powers is a fantastic idea
+ More memorable and better designed levels
+ Emily's powers are much welcomed additions that make every encounter much more interesting, although Corvo returns if you want familiarity or a change in thought from Emily's playthroughs
+ Bonecharm Crafting is fucking genius but can be very OP
+ Black Bonecharms are literally broken but (almost) all of them change the experience in such a way that it loops back around to being balanced (usually)
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= Voice acting for Corvo and Emily are greatly performed and greatly appreciated, but sometimes unnecessary in certain instances
= I really wish the story had more interaction between Corvo and Emily beyond the intro, ESPECIALLY with both of them having the Mark of the Outsider, but I understand why they didn't do so
= Corrupt Bonecharms are really damn cool, but most have such heavy downsides that they're not worth using the upsides for
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- Weaker story, although still far from bad or boring
- INCREDIBLY weak OST compared to it's predecessor
- Softlocks in certain missions under specific circumstances (incredibly rare, but it happened to me once)
- Not unplayable but far from amazing PC port, crashing while loading new areas is a very real possibility albeit rare and usually has an autosave happen right as you enter the area
- No "shall we gather for whiskey and cigars tonight?". I'm still salty about that.
I'd say Dishonored 2 is an 9/10, easily being much better than it's predecessor in... almost every way. I do wish the story was just ever so slightly better and I wish Karnaca felt as deeply disturbing and interesting as Dunwall was, but I do love this game a lot, flaws and all.
(I do like Corvo's playthrough a little more, honestly. I love Emily, but I just can't not love Corvo for being one of the best dads in the game industry.)
Basically, what I was going to write formatted into a bulletpoint list:
-------------------------
+ More forgiving with morality system
+ Improved difficulty and general stealth, enemies now actually have eyes and hit HARD, making stealth have much more tension since you are a glass cannon
+ WAY better combat, balanced better in lethal and non-lethal, making combat have much more of a fun factor in either way since you are a glass cannon
+ World feels just as alive, if not more so than it's predecessor
+ NG+ is incredibly fun and giving you access to the other character's powers is a fantastic idea
+ More memorable and better designed levels
+ Emily's powers are much welcomed additions that make every encounter much more interesting, although Corvo returns if you want familiarity or a change in thought from Emily's playthroughs
+ Bonecharm Crafting is fucking genius but can be very OP
+ Black Bonecharms are literally broken but (almost) all of them change the experience in such a way that it loops back around to being balanced (usually)
-------------------------
= Voice acting for Corvo and Emily are greatly performed and greatly appreciated, but sometimes unnecessary in certain instances
= I really wish the story had more interaction between Corvo and Emily beyond the intro, ESPECIALLY with both of them having the Mark of the Outsider, but I understand why they didn't do so
= Corrupt Bonecharms are really damn cool, but most have such heavy downsides that they're not worth using the upsides for
-------------------------
- Weaker story, although still far from bad or boring
- INCREDIBLY weak OST compared to it's predecessor
- Softlocks in certain missions under specific circumstances (incredibly rare, but it happened to me once)
- Not unplayable but far from amazing PC port, crashing while loading new areas is a very real possibility albeit rare and usually has an autosave happen right as you enter the area
- No "shall we gather for whiskey and cigars tonight?". I'm still salty about that.
I'd say Dishonored 2 is an 9/10, easily being much better than it's predecessor in... almost every way. I do wish the story was just ever so slightly better and I wish Karnaca felt as deeply disturbing and interesting as Dunwall was, but I do love this game a lot, flaws and all.
(I do like Corvo's playthrough a little more, honestly. I love Emily, but I just can't not love Corvo for being one of the best dads in the game industry.)