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Chapters
Intro: 0:00
Every Frame A Painting: 3:55
True Freedom: 9:19
Cause & Effect (Summary): 33:48
Cause & Effect (Analysis): 36:43
The Other Side: 45:50
Consequences: 1:02:58
Post Script: 1:04:50

No game has true freedom, it can’t. A game is coded, and anything you can do within a game, even glitches, is a product of a line of code that tells the game that it’s possible. Within a gaming context, the idea of freedom is manifested through breaking the rules. Unorthodox skips, glitches, and entering areas the developers never intended you to. True freedom is breaking the laws. Accessing areas you can’t, not being limited by the engine, the game, or the lack of developed out of bounds areas. Nobody could hold a game to this standard, so we settle for a profound trust in what we can see, understanding, much like a magic trick, that we are being deceived. The games that offer the best player freedom are the ones that simply fool the player to a point where, while caught up in the smoke and mirrors, they forget the orchestra of marionette strings strained above them. With that said, Dishonored is a master illusionist.

The streets of Dunwall are quiet, but in the dark corners of the sewers, an infection grows, festers, multiplies, and infects. In an attempt to cull the lower class, Royal Spymaster Hiram Burrows led the rats which were immune to the disease, to the slums where it ran through most of the population as planned...but it didn’t stop there. Rather, the plague spread to the middle class, and some of the upper class, to the point where it seemed the whole city was facing decimation from the plague. The solution wasn’t simple, but the means were. One man, whose name and honour have been tarnished, through the gift of a supernatural entity, was given the power to choose the city's fate. Have it prosper past the plague which would leave it as a mere footnote in the history of Dunwall, or allow it to be the final chapter of the city's story.

Dishonored like many games has an emphasis on player choice. What separates it from its contemporaries is that it is as advertised. Sure, the fate of Dunwall is left up to a binary high or low chaos, but even the smallest of decisions have ramifications that are visible on both a macro and micro level. Your decisions actually matter. A slow methodical approach is therefore encouraged in both story and gameplay, leading to a game that warrants multiple playthroughs and hours of experimentation. Mix this with a story that while simple, has many layers, enough lore to fill a novel, and gameplay that kept me coming back for more and we have a game that despite seeming like something I wouldn’t like, is a product that I feel near embarrassed for not having tried until close to 10 years after its release.

Dishonoured takes an idea that is often fumbled by other developers and genuinely delivers on its promises. I’m sure many more would appreciate this if the game didn’t sell itself short, but others certainly made up for it. Reviews for Dishonored were glowing across the board with many praising its openended level design, but noting that it is a doubleedged sword which offers so much choice in how you approach a level that some may find it ironically unapproachable.

Dishonored 10 Years Later. This Dishonored Critique and Dishonored Analysis is the first part of my Dishonored Retrospective. This Dishonored Review, including the Dishonored DLC Review, specifically a The Knife of Dunwall Review and a The Brigmore Witches Review. Dishonored and Dishonored 2 a regarded well, and I don't see many people talking about Dishonored in 2022. Perhaps we will see why in my Dishonored 2 Review as I'll be comparing Dishonored VS Dishonored 2 and complete my DIshonored series retrospective with a dishonored death of the outsider review. Hopefully, I can also answer if this is the best stealth game. The dishonored ending will be heavily discussed in this dishonored video essay and the lore of dishonored explained. I hope we can get a new dishonored game soon. Made by That Boy Aqua.