Dishonored Ten Years Later: A Return to the Plaguelands 

I can't thank everyone enough for all the attention this project has gotten, and the amazing comments you've all been leaving, it's really blown me away! I wanted to make a video expressing how grateful I am and to talk about the next steps I'm going to be taking on the channel, so here's a link if you want to check that out! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-cNqMiblnJIs.html As always your views and comments are more than enough but if you'd like to support the channel, consider checking out my Patreon, I'd love to be able to focus on making videos more fulltime and I'll be sharing more updates there! www.patreon.com/Beregond13

I love how the heart in dishonored reveals even guards secrets. I almost wish the chaos system was more affected by that instead. if choosing to kill a guard who robs and beats innocent people ends up lowering chaos instead.

The lore of Dishonored is so good that even with the trilogy having a proper conclusion I want endlessly more comics and books and movies to keep the universe going.

12:27 in fairness, daud doesn’t know that the powers Corvo has is different to his own. Daud only has blink and stop time in terms of the abilities he shares with corvo - which is important because if corvo only uses the abilities daud has than corvo can’t actually escape. Daud couldn’t except from his own cell (minus the bricks).

You know, I think Daud made some of the blunders he did not like ON PURPOSE on purpose, but it does feel very self sabotagy like he subconsciously wanted Corvo to get to him. This is some great content btw :)

Ten years already? I remember when this came out At my friend’s birthday he got Skyrim and Dishonored as gifts He let me play it, good times

Proof, if any were required that the RU-vid algorithm is not a meritocracy. The randomness with which it selcts quality content is so inconsistent that stuff like this gets left behind. I've seen a lot of video essays and this is clearly in the upper echelon. Here's hoping to see your growth. EDIT: Didn't expect to get this much attention on this comment. EDIT 2: The diversity of replies from having a top comment is very interesting. From enthusiastic agreement to the 'Um actually" crowd to people who take things too literally. It's a lotta fun I must say.

I like the Low Chaos version of the ending, naturally, as it feels the most... earned. You got to be quite skillfull to pull it off, and I like that besides Granny Rags, the only person who needs to die might be Havelock. He destroys his own conspiracy in the end because he realizes how utterly inadequate he is compared to you. And once you show up... he can't handle it. He strikes, tries to pull a gun on you... and the Peaceful, Ghostlike Corvo, who never took a life he ever had to proves once and for all that despite this, he was, and still is, the baddest man in the Isles. Seriously, Havelock's animated death is like, an action-movie villain's death. Perfect.

The thing about Campbell being blatantly corrupt and heretical is that it contrasts with Overseer Martin later on, who actually is a vehement abbeyman but climbs to power the exact same way Campbell did. Campbell may not be terribly interesting as a character, but he serves several very important roles that he would no longer be able to serve with your proposed change. For example, his being the leader of the Abbey shows that even Dunwall's most moralistic faction is not a meritocracy. Another is to provide somewhat of an escalation in sympathy leading up to Lady Boyle. Campbell is a cad because it makes killing him a very easy choice for the player. This escalates with the Pendletons who one of your allies is personally invested in, yet they're still reprehensible people. It's not until Boyle that one can have reasonable apprehension toward what they're doing, and that much is reflected in Lord Pendleton's dialogue immediately following the mission. Also consider it's likely that Campbell didn't join the Abbey by choice, but was given up from a very early age. Someone like that, who went through the fatal trials every young Overseer is put through, probably has every reason to want to spit in the face of the strictures they've been raised with. And since you can't leave, why not become the High Overseer? So in that sense, Campbell isnt entirely without depth. Also unrelated and a somewhat minor gripe, but you seem overly concerned with things making perfect logical sense when the thematic purpose they serve is much more important. A religion centred around the eternal persecution of a God probably wouldn't inspire much hope in anyone, but that's just the kind of world Dishonored is, one that has to constantly grapple with chaos and corruption. It may not be realistic that the courstesans are dressed in nothing but raggedy old corsets, but it creates a striking contrast between an opulent bathhouse and its neglected attendants.

I'm such a huge Dishonored fan and was surprised that, when my friend sent me the link to this video, I found that I hadn't already watched it, I absolutely love videos like this and It's a crime that RU-vid decided not to present this to me at all since it's release.

1:08:16 Fun Fact! You can actually avoid the confrontation completely by finding the hiding spot of the witches which is located in a small room at the dock which housed a few weepers and a rune, and incapacitating them. Its incredibly similar to the whaler ambush outside Slackjaws hideout in the Golden Cat where you can incapacitate the whalers hiding on the rooftops and apartments to prevent the ambush and it's nice the devs have properly created a way to avoid detection even in scripted ambushes by completely skipping them for seasoned players to discover. Great video by the way! Always love when people talk about the gem of a game and it's a crime it only has 1k views after 5 months. I look forward to any future retrospectives you do.

Dishonored was a game I kept coming back to despite the hundred odd games in my steam library, the art style combined with the writing and the solid gameplay make for a game that still out preforms most modern games if they don't take the time to polish their systems. Something about jumping around and slaughtering guards like a velociraptor with a jetpack was some of the most fun and natural combat I've ever had in a game. This game feels like it should have come out in 1995 and become a cult classic but instead it came out in 2014 by a fairly major game developer. And it's got inspirations from other games but more or less this is a original work that I haven't seen anything like before. The thief series is the first comparison that comes to mind and the gameplay difference is like night and day.

First playthrough I played Corvo as someone desperate to get Emily back, his daughter. He killed everyone in his way up until rescuing her, after that I played him low chaos, killing no one else. To me at least, the morality behind Lady Boyal and The Twins is; Death is final, there is nothing you can do after you die, if you are alive, even under despicable conditions, you are just that, alive. And able to change your lot.

You are going to the story in detail is when I realized that the lore of Dishonored is so vast. Do make more videos like these.

A fun thing I did in the final vanilla level was turn my back on Havelock after I grabbed Elizabeth's key. Havelock immediately tried to attack me and I parried him, getting the specific animation and killing him, making him the first and final kill of the game

Holy heck this is some high quality content. Barely felt like half an hour

I just wanted to point out that if you do sign your name in the guest book at Lady Boyle's party. Then you can later on find a report that mentions this fact. Ultimately the report concludes that it's likely untasteful humor, but that they will look into it since Lady Boyle died/disappeared that night.

As someone who knows every entry in this series like the back of my hand, I commend this video. It's actually been a year since I last played through them (my total playcount is probably embarrassing though), so this has inspired me to go back once again. Loved the video! I hope you keep going with such great content, I think you're work is clearly quality enough that eventually you'll break ground. If not, just know that either way you've made someone's day :) Excited to see if you cover D2, since I think it takes the level design and interactive systems to the next level; even if I am more partial to the aesthetics and deeply-rooted mystery of Dunwall over Karnaca.

In the brigmore witches, you can off the geezer without killing everyone else. You just have to knock everyone unconscious and move them from the building. I normally knock everyone out in all levels anyway so it was a lot easier to do. Also, wonderful work. It’s stuff like this that I like to see on RU-vid. Having actually thumbnails and sections broken up occasionally with art, having out-takes and an intermission and all the other things you’ve done, it feels like a really well produced doco about dishonoured (which it is). You did this game justice and I look forward to more content like this. Just don’t feel too pressured to meet our expectations because it just makes stuff like this a lot harder to do. Do what you think is good.

It's greatest achievement was it's art/sound and gameplay direction. I can't believe you spent such little time talking about the art, it had such a unique and creative genesis.

I've played this game four times, and I'm *still* blown away by the beauty of the art, the immersiveness of the world, the pathos of the writing, the quality of the game-play and well - literally everything else about it. I sat watching the end credits after they describe what happens after the game ends and I was just. . . . . . . speechless with how great it all was. One of the true masterpieces of gaming, and criminally underrated.

Even after having been so involved in the Dishonored franchise I had no clue you could swap Delilah's painting, even after so many playthroughs I always find something new. Awesome.

the fact that Billie being spared is made canon in the sequel makes the Brigmore Witches all the more underwhelming. I still liked it and even thought of it as a great twist and reveal of where she had gone to but I did not like Death of the Outsider for taking it a little too far.

Going into the Boyle’s party and signing the guest book is still the coolest optional part of the game.

49:50 in my first playthrough, i had left rothwild near her, just to continue exploring the factory, and keep in mind, i hadnt yet got the information i wanted, so when she killed him i went “oh she is trying to force me into doing her bidding by killing the other source of the info”

Been in a Video Game Video Essay kick recently, thanks for giving me more to watch lol

Aw man, I forgot how much I loved this game, thanks for bringing it back to my attention. Good video, well made

Daud definitely knew what he was doing when he put Corvo in that easily escapable vat, he just wanted to face Corvo in a duel.

Amazing video. Im always searching for dishonored content. You deserve so much more subs. Please make one on dishonored 2 and death of the outsider.

Amazing video. I actually sat through the entire hour-I never do that with video essays. It's a shame you don't have more subscribers

Daud dumping you in the vat makes more sense after you play the DLC where you take control of Daud, as Daud doesn't have access to Possession, so he's likely ignorant of that particular power.

I think for Campbell, the nonlethal option is clearly the worse one. He dies either way. The "nonlethal" way just makes it a whole lot slower and more painful, but filled with more shame and despair.

Return to Dark Messiah: of might and magic. Game is an absolute gem, and the pvp was some of the best still to this day. Every class from single player was available as a multiplayer variant, objective / TDM themed gamemodes, doesn't get much better than that.

I played this game exactly once. In that playthrough, I did the Ghost, Poetic Justice, and Mostly Flesh and Steel. It made for an interesting experience, but I definitely look back and wonder if I would have enjoyed it more if I had actually engaged with the magical upgrades. Tried going back to do another playthrough, but just couldn't motivate myself beyond the prologue.

You can stop the attack on the boat before it happens if you explore the docks area just before bringing the engine coil back. In one of the corners behind the boat, the attack force will be holed up, and with bend time and a stun mine, or some grenades, you can easily clear them out without being seen.

1:05:45 "He who gives two options always hides a third." I think this is a great saying to describe what you were saying

The Dishonored series is a serious gem. One of my all time favorite series. I love the art of the game and the art IN the game. My only issue was the fact that I hate when games give you an option of play style and then punish you with a bad ending for playing your preferred way.

You deserve more reps for this

Honestly, I’m blown away by the attention to detail you put into this video. It’s a deft analysis and I couldn’t agree more! Also I wanna make special mention of your vocabulary; it’s extensive and very impressive! I penned at least ten words from this video alone. Excellent work! Keep going :)

Incredible work, I've seen a couple of video essays on Dishonored before but this is one of the most cohesive and well made I've ever seen, period. Keep up the good work

THANK YOU for this epic video, very much appreciated 🙌🏻 I played Dishonored 1+2 and all its DLC‘s several times, going different ways, never a dull moment, and still, seeing your video years later brings back so many fond memories. Definitely my all time favorite video game, wish they would surprise us with another installment, wishful thinking, I know 🙈😂

Great video, and it’s always nice to be reminded just how much I love the Dishonored series! In terms of killing or sparing targets… obviously if I’m doing a kill ‘em all/clean hands run I’ll act accordingly. If I’m doing a pure RP run, though, I spare everyone except Lady Boyle. Because they killed my lover and stole my daughter, so of course I’m not going to give them the easy way out. Really nice getting all the praise for being merciful and ingenious and that, while I’m sat there grinning like a pumpkin at all the horror I’ve inflicted. Don’t fuck with my people, you know? Lady Boyle gets a pass, because having Hiram as a sugar baby isn’t worth whatever the hell Rat Mask has waiting for her. No, it’s a merciful springrazor in the bathroom for her. I also avoid killing as many people as I can in those runs, though while I’ll gently lay guards and weepers and whoever else in the hiding places I’ve found for them, I’m not above yeeting Overseers into corners, because fuck those guys. I won’t kill them, but that doesn’t mean I have to be gentle with them either.

I keep finding all these underrated channels and I couldn't be happier. Thank you for your work.

Just found your channel through this video in my recommendations, great video! Looking forward to more!!

Your conclusion was beautiful, I loved it and felt it deeply, I love Dishonored so much and am so glad to be brought back to it's beauty.

Great an insightful video! I‘m looking forward to your next one on Dishonored 2

I love the variety of content you produce. From ensembles to gritty video essays. Good work 👍

my first big favorite game - time flies, feeling old

201 subs duuuude Congrats man! with your amazingly well theorized video essays, you def earned my sub bro Continue doing what you love and have patience, for I am watching your career with great interest

When I read “ten years later” I had to take a second. Ended up taking more than a second.

Great Video! I watched it over a period of several days and very much enjoyed it. That you have only about 3000 subscribers but 200.000 people watched it speaks for itself. :)

That was a great video! You definitely deserve a larger audience since its clear the effort you've put into this

In dishonored 2, I went around one map knocking out all the guards and putting them in the same pile, I had legit like 15 bodies. I came back and they were all eaten alive by the big things while unconscious. Whoops

Haven't watched any of your videos before but this was a really good video, have subscribed in the hope you do one on dishonoured 2 someday.

For such a small channel I am in love with your ability to make video essays. Keep up the good work!

“And yet you chose mercy… extraordinary”

30:00 the boyles have a tragic overall background in the lore of Dishonored. The “Lady Boyle” who was Burrows’ lover was Waverly in the lore, and canonically in the lore she gets given to brimsby. The island he takes her too is owned by his family as they are quite wealthy, after a short period of time Brimsby dies after he falls off a cliff, supposedly. So waverly takes over the island and fortune of his family and stays there doing whatever she wants basically. After she disappears, esme becomes a worse version of what she was but soon becomes very mature and competent as her sister Lydia is basically emotionally broken. She has her committed to an asylum officially but secretly hides her in the attic of the Boyle manor, she doesn’t want to lose her last sister. In the comic/book publications a cruel user of the Voids power takes Lydia from the house and reveals her at the annual Boyle party where he has her killed, esme , corvo and Emily are all in attendance.

wow I had no clue the expansions had so much content. I guess it's time for me to get back to the first game.

Finally another in depth into the game world and after actions observations video. Subbed to see more stuff like this.

Lady Boyles non lethal option is actually brilliant. "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."- H.P Lovecraft. Tell someone exactly how you will torture them and it will scare them... leaving out details and letting their imagination fill in the blanks will terrify them.

Well said, well shown, you’ve earned my attention Always loved this game, played it upon release as well, but not thoroughly, so it was nice to see this

I didn’t play the Dishonored games. I’m fascinated by the setting, but I’m terrible at stealth games. The Heart was always fascinating to me though. And up until now, after years of knowing about it, I only just now learn that it’s the Empress’s heart. And my mind has been blown like a thrown vat of whale oil.

I watched the entire video from start to finish ready for some binge watching but i was shocked to see that this was the first video essay on a video game of yours on this channel. I'm shocked cause it was so well done!!! Can't wait for what's to come and it's amazing seeing such a big spike in views, hopefully it feels as rewarding as it looks, gl for all that's to come

Can't believe my algorithm blessed me with such a hidden gem, unreal how you don't even have 1k subs, you can now count me as one of them!

Tried playing on hard and was spotted instantly in the shadows 20 feet away. Yeah, the stealth couldve been better

My favourite thing about this game was always the heart even though its made by a literal god it looks like it was forged by some hillbilly lunatic. It brought back memories of seeing people's custom wired speaker set ups and underglow on their cars.

I absolutely loved this game and played it multiple times. At the start of the video when you said "thinking back to my first playthrough.." all I could think of was me getting confused, frustrated, and giving up and not picking up the game again until months later. A fantastic video.

Dude, well fucking done. Can’t wait for Dishonored 2. Is that a Masque of the Red Death reference in the thumbnail? Eyes up Guardian!

3:34 - Btw, you can change this in the files with ease. Rn mine allows me to stack upto 50.

I really enjoyed the video, will you still make one for Dishonored 2?

Amazing video, man. Can't wait to see your other works.

Extremely high quality video. Thank you!

I feel that in some cases you miss the point that no decisions are good in such a bad world and you have to live with everything you've done even if it had unintentional consequences. You don't fully discover or understand the fates of the people you've let live until its too late. No matter who you want to be you don't exist in the world alone and your decisions will be influenced and compromised by your engagement with others, just like the plague and Emily are influenced by you.

This vid took me back! Great analysis. It's amazing how satisfying the gameplay remains to this day. My one big disappointment with the game is how lame the last mission is in Low Chaos. I prefer Low Chaos, but the High Chaos ending has so much more tension and drama. It's almost worth doing High Chaos just to get Pendleton and Martin's hilariously pathetic stand-off. My second (small) disappointment is that you can't do anything for the guy in the flooded district who says he just wants to die somewhere peaceful. I hauled him across the entire map only to have to leave him at the exit. ):

An Incredible video for such a new channel, looking forward to seeing you grow :)

really well put together video essay great job.

i remember the first time i played it, didn't know about the "chaos system" but anyways i tried to bee a good guy and kill almost nobody, it was kinda disappointing having a bad ending just for a couple of deaths, bad people deaths. but anyways the game is really good and still looks good ^^

Really nice Video, i love Dishonored and this Video perfectly captured why that is. It's a Sandbox where you can give less than two shi* about the story and massacre everyone or carefully sneak around, listen to interesting Plotpoints and enjoy the horrifying yet beautiful world that they created. So many people hate on it's "Boring revenge" story but many of them haven't taken the time to explore the Details that make it so goddamn immersive! Still remember being in the Dogcage-Cellar and thinking, wouldnt it be cool to let these Dogs attack their owners? Then searching around finally finding a way to do so was so satisfying ;D

that was a really good listen. thank you for your hard work!

i normally don't watch videos longer than 10 minutes, but here i am, watching an 1.17H video. brilliant work.

Exactly made can’t wait to see more from you my friend

a small detail i like about the ending of the first game is that you can kill Pierro and Sokolov once you've cleared out the Hounds Pitt after you're betrayed. you can also kill Samuel when he brings you to Kingsparrow Island. there's also the fact that you can entirely skip Daud. you don't need to fight him at all. you can even swipe the satchel off his belt and then leave without him or anyone else even knowing you were there. the fact that the game has these smaller details always intrigues me. especially since most people probably haven't discovered them casually playing.

Always a joy to see content still being made of Dishonored. One of my favorite games of all time, puts a big smile on my face. A great video on the game to boot, despite the algorithm just now showing it to me lmao.

This was an amazing video you can feel the passion and hard work that went into this video. Time to sub

Dishonoured made me deeply claustrophobic. The indoor sections are always the hardest and scariest for me.

Broo for the havelock one, i just took the key and ran lmao. Cutscene saved me

I always hated how they retconned Lady Boyle's fate, it took the sting out of the darker aspects to the non-lethal ending. Yeah it's a horrible fate, but that's what makes it so effective at making you question if the non-lethal option is really the best one. I also the felt that the non-lethal method for the Pendleton twins was the most anti-climatic, you don't even see them.

During the missions 'High Overseer Campbell', towards the end in the area where you escape on the boat with Samuel, you can listen & watch as two guards are talking; both of them seem to be very close friends & one of them has the plague. As they have a very emotional conversation the one with the plague knows he has to die & so his friend kills him to end his suffering. This is only low chaos though, if high chaos is active the event is a lot more disturbing as the friend just kills him, no emotional conversation, just murder. These little details to me are quite significant, it shows that not all guards are bad completely bad people; makes the game more immersive & adds more realism to it.

Awesome video, I just went through all the Dishonored games recently and I enjoyed them all. Definetly looking forward to your coverage of Dishonored 2.

This is such a well put together vid and analysis man! Great quality and I can’t wait to see what you make next

Aww this was absolutely great. I definitely am not only subbing but I'm going to keep up and make sure I see all of your new content.

Something cool with Daud is that if you use the heart on him after your fight, it will say it doesn’t forgive him and that you should kill him

Everything you say here is greatly put. I'm very surprised you don't have more subs. You definitely deserve millions with this kind of content

Great job making this video the effort really showed!

This was so well done you definitely deserve more subs

That note you get from sparring Lady Boyle, I think that’s if you don’t kill all three sisters as I got that note and rune even after eliminating my target.

Love this, amazing video!!

You have been blessed by the algorithm. Give thanks to your new, unknown, and fickle God. All seriousness, congratulations and I look forward to future works.

An all time video essay man. I've watched this maybe a dozen times, you've got shades on Noah Gervais and Warlockracy. Just awesome.

Great video. Dishonored is my favourite game of all time, and this video does it justice.