The 15 Hour Game that took me 19 MONTHS TO FINISH | Dishonored Retrospective

I wrote this as a bit of catharsis after finally finishing a game that plagued my list for the better part of two years. Dishonored is super tough but I thought a review might go down pretty well! I hope you enjoy it.
Twitch: / mertkaykay
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[@juliavanriel768]

"Not many people seem to have finished Dishonored" Me, sweating, glancing at all my playthroughs going from 'saint of all saint clean hands' to 'hell has been unleashed and it's named Corvo' Also me: oops?

[@Groselha_atomica]

same

[@beanbrain6162]

You are not the only one lol

[@santiagogodoy8211]

Same. I’ve played Dishonored enough to get the platinum trophy on PS4 and finish the Achievements on the 360.

[@beanbrain6162]

@@josemengelez6947 Never doubt it

[@Groselha_atomica]

@@josemengelez6947 the real question is, do you think you'll get your own squad after what happened last night?

[@driftcowboy2925]

My girlfriend's favorite games. She introduced them to me. I blasted through 1 and 2 doing a hardest difficulty pacifist run. Made the first one with no issues. Got to about 3/4s of Dishonored 2 done, and I accidentally clipped into a dude and he fell off a ledge. Counted as a kill, decided to be a mass murderer after that.

[@MartianCandies]

That is completely rational and understandable I hope it was fun (':

[@budemovidjeli3067]

Marrie her

[@allaround360]

That entire digital world sweats even in the absence of your presence. Every moment may be their last moment.

[@angelaolano6080]

I don't know if it exists already, but I feel like a book from some random woman's perspective of her life in this city with god-like men with superpowers, a more than corrupt government, a plague and with all of this steampunk related stuff would be a great reading. Imagine a poor woman trying to find some food and a man with superpowers kills 5 guards in front of her, unleashes a hoard of rats and jumps away in Mario style. "Oh, well. A normal day in this city, I have to go to steal some whale oil to power my kitchen."

[@MertKayKay]

Haha yes! Having to deal with all the witchcraft going on and that weird creepy granny. That would be an awesome book!

[@timvalencia6250]

Not an exact match, but Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare fits that mold pretty well.

[@gargablargblarg]

I love Dishonored…the trials can eat a pair of concrete shoes though. I’m so glad Dishonored 2 doesn’t have anything as arduous.

[@AFacemarkedbyFea]

Dunwaol trials sucks ass

[@Likeabaws1995]

The trails was fun imo

[@AedanBlackheart]

@@Likeabaws1995 your opinion is wrong.

[@spootot]

I grinded so hard to get the achievements for the trials, I'm pretty sure after all these years they're still the rarest achievements in my collection

[@LT-jr3yb]

IT TOOK YOU 19 MONTHS?? It’s one of my favorite game series, by far the best stealth game I’ve ever played. I finished all three games and I’m craving for more haha, the story, the aesthetics, the missions, the characters, the environment!! All amazing. To top it all off you get consequences for how you play in game. It’s just UGGGHHH the best 😭 It’s definitely not a game you finish quickly though, I love to strategize and being able to have that freedom and to have multiple ways to do missions while you still follow a story line is just THE BEST. I’m everywhere with this comment, but seeing a Dishonored review today makes me happy 😂

[@brittanyfeagin2191]

It has a lot of replay value

[@LT-jr3yb]

@@brittanyfeagin2191 100%

[@agbrenv]

it took me about 2 years, I got to the 3rd level with the Simpleton twins and quit the game for almost 2 years (no particular fault of the game, I was just going through a pretty shit period)

[@RhianKristen]

Same. These games and Prey will always be my favourite games of all time. I constantly hope for another entry, but Arcane has said they’re moving on from the story sadly…

[@emilyannafeay]

A true example of a game that’s fantastic but can’t be recommended to just anyone, I feel like you either fall in or bounce right off it. I personally got pissed at being caught over and over and brute forced most of my way through my first playthrough- then came back to learn and appreciate the stealth later. Then back again and again because I just had to see everything I could.

[@MertKayKay]

Yeah exactly! It's such a specific taste 🤣

[@planescaped]

And when I first played it I thought the stealth was super easy, as the powers make getting detected quite difficult.

[@daltongibson1033]

I've always been a massive sucker for storytelling in games- and, in fact, this game is one of the biggest reasons why I love that aspect of video games so much- so when I first experienced Dishonored, I read every single book, note, and audiograph transcript in the game and talked to every named NPC until they stopped having new lines, and I honestly think that's kind of necessary to have the full Dishonored experience. The Loyalists' servants Cecelia and Lydia are the ones that come to mind most; in Lydia's dialogue, she's very playful and even flirtatious towards Corvo, and in Cecelia's dialogue, she starts the game off being very soft-spoken, to the point where Wallace outright interrupts her when she introduces herself and she doesn't even try to continue, and by the end of the game, she becomes much more confident and self-assured, culminating in the second-to-last level of the game. Cecelia also comments that she feels invisible throughout the game, and like no one really notices her, and even comments that she thinks the only reason that Havelock didn't kill her in the end is that he forgot she existed. The game does flesh out the characters, but it's all optional and entirely something you can just. Never see, which I think is both the game's biggest strength and it's biggest flaw. So much thought was put into small details of this game, but so much of that detail is missable. For the longest time, I didn't know that if you brand High Overseer Campbell a heretic, you find him as a Weeper in the Flooded District, even though I branded him and even eliminated his Weeper self nearly every time I played the game. (You'd think his jacket would be distinctive, but all enemies are just yellow when Dark Vision is active, so I never noticed he was that weeper... my over-reliance on that ability is obvious. Also yes I technically did know, because I read the note where he curses you my first playthrough, but I didn't remember it, so I'm going to act like I didn't know). Ultimately, I love the Dishonored series so much that it's in my top 5 series of all time, but until this video, I didn't actually consider the flaws with the game, since I didn't ever really experience them due to my lore-loving, completionist-y way.

[@MertKayKay]

Thanks so much for watching Dalton! I think you've put it really perfectly in so many ways, but to echo your thoughts: the best games really do offer amazing gameplay AND an amazing story. I didn't pay much attention to the story myself but you are correct - it does offer the full experience. This game has a stunning amount of depth

[@Vinssyyy]

Dishonoured was my literal childhood, it was absolutely amazing. The distant memories I have from it reminds me of a Salvador dahli fever dream. I was around 4-5, watching my mum play it. Its something I'll hold close to me for a long while

[@MertKayKay]

That is so sweet! I love those memories of games with parents - my dad is a huge Red Dead Redemption fan and we had similar times together. Thanks for watching the video Vinnie, I appreciate the blessed comment!

[@Vinssyyy]

@@MertKayKay it's my pleasure, your videos are an absolute joy to watch!

[@creed8712]

@@MertKayKay it’s genuinely trippy you hear things like that about modern games. Making me feel old

[@personman1148]

For me that game is Midnight Club 3 and Ultimate Spider-Man.

[@DeathTrailerEishi]

I'm a big Dishonored fan, mostly got the game for the ✨visuals✨but ended up loving it. When you have the time I highly recommend playing Dishonored 2! The game is absolutely beautiful and IMO the plot got a huge upgrade, same as the NPCs. btw big respect for dunwall trials I could lever LMAO

[@MertKayKay]

Thanks Eishi! The Dunwall Trials left me a husk of my former self, although I have to say - if not for Backalley Brawl, I'd definitely do it again. Thanks for the recommendation on 2! I actually really want to do it

[@Kimmaline]

@@MertKayKay I would watch the fuck out of a Dishoroed 2 video from you. After this one? Lol. Um...yes.

[@MertKayKay]

@@Kimmaline Hehe I bought it a few weeks ago! Hoping to get some time for it asap

[@HoloFizz]

@@MertKayKay Keep an eye out for the clockwork mansion level. Imo it's the best of the series. That and the masquerade level from 1 compete for the win. Just thinking about it makes me want to go on another Dishonored binge... time to reinstall. Edit: I forgot to mention 2 adds a bit of qol improvements. You no longer need to be hidden in order to take someone out non-lethally. Much less banging your head against the wall during a no kill no seen run. Not non existent, but definitely less.

[@dylansheppard4114]

New subscriber got recommended through your medium review, a game that should of been something I would enjoy but 20min in I was bored 😅. Dishonored is a fantastic series, I even have the mark of the outsider tattoo on my left hand, as a time starved trophy hunter clean hands and ghost were still really fun to do would love 2 see your review of the series as well as that as you put it in a previous vid little indie gem tw3 wild Hunt would also be awesome...all the best and hope the channel grows even more.... And yeah Birmingham I not great 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@cipherenigma]

Bruh the reason the queen refused to quarantine is bc she wanted to provide aid to those who were sick. Instead her counsel wanted the citizens walled off and left to suffer on their own (you know the thing that ends up happening when they take over) Also what’s the point of Corvo telling the traitors that he didn’t murder the Queen, it’s all part of their plot after all… And what is he suppose to say? I understand the critics I just don’t like the reasoning behind them

[@skyc-1375]

2 details related to main game that you missed: 1) at the lady Boyle mansion you can just go upstairs to all of the rooms of the ladies, and the one on the far side just has a letter that tells you which lady is the lady you need 2) There's actually a 3rd ending. On high chaos. If you don't reach the 2 fast enough and both the guy and Emily fall, you'll get a third ending, and an achievement for it

[@MertKayKay]

These are super cool details! I never managed to get upstairs in the Boyle mansion so I completely missed that! And re: the third ending, there's no achievement for that on PSN so I never even knew to look for it. I assume you're on PC - since PC always seems to get the coolest achievements :D Thanks for sharing!

[@skyc-1375]

Yeah, I played on pc. And it's actually pretty easy to get upstairs in the mansion There's 3 ways: 1. Balcony outside of the mansion that has a single guard 2. That staircase that goes down to the basement also goes up and is 80% of the time unguarded 3. The main big stairway that also has the zapper. But for that you'll need to either fully stop time or posses the guard that stays there to not instantly aggro everyone there Also, love your vids :D

[@MertKayKay]

@@skyc-1375 Ah yes I always tried to go up the main stairs and got absolutely fried :'D Thanks Sky!

[@CalikoiCat]

I've played the first 2 dishonored games and they're definitely up there in my favs, im surprised to hear so few people actually played or even finished it

[@PCJack]

Holy shit, just seen that sub count explode! Looks like you're gonna platinum KZbin! Huge congrats Mert, well deserved! 🙌

[@MertKayKay]

Thank you Jack! 😭😭😭 You the inspiration

[@lukekebell3146]

I enjoyed the story & world of Dishonored but the betrayal by the loyalists 3 head members wasnt a surprise for me really. Kinda saw it coming pretty early on. The reason they betray Corvo is 1) they want to use the princess as a puppet monarch so they can essentially rule through her & 2) use Corvo & the rest of the loyalists as scapegoats to pin the blame on. Apart from the glaringly obvious plot event (that anyone with knowladhe on media would see coming) the game is really good, especially the world building. The sequel is also pretty good (if not better IMO) but is held back by the choice at the start to play as either Corvo or Emily cos the story was better fleshed out for her, while it feels kinda hollow when playing as Corvo (kinda like they wanted to tell her story, but had to add the choice because of upper meddling).

[@primrosett]

I LOVE the sequel, absolutely recommend it!! Way better villain imo and some of the level design is just downright incredible. I think it plays a lot better too; stealth is much easier and more fun imo because there's way more options to go about it. But yeah, it's Emily's story and it deffo feels like Corvo was only put in because... well, it was 2016 and certain players would have been furious if they'd been forced to play a woman.

[@HoloFizz]

Emily has the upgraded version of blink too. It's clear the devs wanted players to pick her over corvo. It was nice having the option tho as it adds to the replayability.

[@drakenfist]

@@primrosett Visually and when it comes to level design I prefer Dishonored 2. It was actually the sequel that made me appreciate the first one a lot more. 2 just has a amazing sense of style to it. I wasn't a big fan of the villain of D2 though, the story and plot being a copy and paste rehash of the Dishonored dlc with a few tiny changes.

[@primrosett]

@@drakenfist i see where you're coming from but Delilah and her crew just have way more style than any of the generic politicians from the first game, so even if she wasn't new, i found her more compelling. Her crew have a lot more color to them too, all having very distinct designs and personalities and levels to match.

[@CalikoiCat]

ok actually i wanna add this to the lady boil part: my friend likes to do this thing where she gets her through to qualify for the passive resault and as the boat leave she just shoots lady boil thus sparing her the potential assault

[@MertKayKay]

Overlord that is the most unlawful good thing I've ever heard. The most evilly good thing. And it still counts as low chaos? :D

[@beanbrain6162]

Wait, how? Whenever I've played, the boat left before the cutscene with the Rat mask man ended, so there was no opportunity for you to shoot her or him How did your friend do this? I'd love to play it out myself :D

[@CalikoiCat]

I've unfortunately been informed that I miremembered the events. What ACTUALLY happened was they were being fired at whole the cutscene was playing and a stray bullet killed her I apologize 😭

[@beanbrain6162]

@@CalikoiCat Aaah i see XD No probs Just gotta incite the same incidents myself Let Choas Reign lol

[@KeithEngel]

I love the Dishonored Franchise, such a great game series and would really love to see Arkane go back to the world after Redfall.

[@SackMan039]

Bruh (bruv?) I live for these hour long deep dives on games i will *probably* never play lmao. For real tho, this is the style of content I wish I was better at. Keep em coming!

[@MertKayKay]

Aww Sack Man!! I will do my best ☺️ thank you very much

[@arlem525]

This video proves how comfortable I am with just my high chaos playthrough. I was very disturbed with how high chaos affects Emily's dialogue at the end.

[@cosminv8751]

I finished Dishonored 5 or 6 times, it's one of the best games for me. Great video!

[@MertKayKay]

Thank you Cosmin! Really glad you enjoyed the video

[@angel__king]

I love this series. Just something about the world, the art design the level design is amazing. Like one of the most popular levels: the Boyle manor, it’s gorgeous inside but outside is haunted by weepers and tall boys. It’s just every mission is amazingly laid out and designed. Also the plague came from the spymaster/lord regent. It started in the middle of the city instead of at the docks like how a rat plague would start. He did it to wipe out the poor and eliminate crime then when it got out of hand and he was at risk of getting caught he killed the empress to avoid responsibility. So if the empress had locked down like he wanted then it would have completed his plan considering that sokolov a genius only created a “cure” a few months after

[@kaialexander6806]

"So Birmingham... if it was nicer" fucking killed me oh my god

[@justrandomstuff6828]

I feel like everyone has the same experience: play it for a while, put it away for some time, give it another try, finish it and then falls in love with it. I swear, i can't get enough of this game, tye second one too, but this game's atmosphere is without equal, Daud's arc is amazing ans the trials are way too much fun, you can play everything as if it were Metal Gear or Devil May Cry and all in between, part stealth, part combat, all fun! I love these mythos, this world, i just love Dishonored

[@pavelZhd]

58:14 when me and my wife were preparing to have our baby we attended the parenting school and among other thing this topic of childbirth being painful was addressed and it was explained a bit differently. Basically as the body goes into the labour is starts producing all sorts of hormones to facilitate the process and one of those hormones bridges a gap in the brain between pain and joy receptors so during childbirth a mother is in a state of enduced masochism with pain being perceived as euphorea. And obviously I have no first hand experience to compare this to, but what my wife told me after the process kind of confirmed it. The early contraction were painful but manageable. And at the peak of the process when is was supposed to be most painful (pardon the detains but she had to have her groin cut because the baby being 2 weeks overdue was quite large) all she could feel was joy.

[@AmbarsRoom]

dude, just watched your Medium review a couple hours ago and now I'm in love with how you talk bout videogames. Already subbed, keep up de awesome work!

[@40blonde88]

Dishonored 2 really improved low chaos gameplay, I really enjoyed how they basically give a non-lethal alternative to nearly every lethal scenario.

[@RaeIsGaee]

I remember a big problem that people had with the game were the powers in the context of how the game wanted you to play it. Specifically, a lot of the powers were incredibly fun to play with - airblasts were my personal favorite - but a lot of the intricate and interesting powers were impossible to use in stealth. That wouldn't be a problem if not for dishonored actively punishing you for being loud and killing people, both through the story and adding enemies. Not to mention that the points you find to actually get skills were incredibly limited. Combined, all of these aspects made stealth players feel like they were having a worst time, since all they got was a double jump while loud players got airblasts and pistols. Which is something a stealth game, or a game that pushes the player to use stealth, really shouldn't do.

[@brysonbridges1496]

Bend time and possession are built for non lethal stealth playthroughs

[@RaeIsGaee]

@@brysonbridges1496 Bend Time doesn't introduce much complexity to stealth, though. It lets you walk by enemies or through gates, and maybe knock a guy out & drag his body somewhere. Compare that to its applications during a high chaos run, where you can; dodge bullets, move enemies to be in the way of bullets, line up several shots, take bullets out of the air, walk through a gate and let enemies die walking through it, etc etc. Not to mention that the ability to take bullets out of the air is one of the main reasons for getting the second tier. Possession is really the only stealth-focused power, and even then it felt rather underwhelming to me personally. It's essentially just another B&E tool, like blink, with little to its possible uses outside of that. The only other stealth-specific skill I can remember is Shadow Kill, which is a completely useless ability if you're going for low-chaos stealth despite clearly being intended for stealth. Compare this to Devouring Swarm, Bloodthirsty, Windblast, etc, and it makes high chaos runs feel wayyy more unique in the mechanics.

[@RocketSlime]

​@RaeIsGae you can do a high Chaos run without actually getting high Chaos ya know right?

[@RaeIsGaee]

@@RocketSlime By restraining yourself from using the full power of your abilities, pistols, bombs, spring traps, etcetera, sure. You essentially just engage stop time, walk around behind any enemies that try to kill you, knock them out, and rinse and repeat until they're all gone.

[@RocketSlime]

@@RaeIsGaee or just use the skill the turns enemies to ashes mwahaha which keeps chaos rating low

[@ArielGMCovers]

I think my favorite thing to come from the Dishonored series is the guy who made so many vids of high chaos runs

[@GuyFarruski]

Sadly I never played Dishonoured but I've always heard it's a solid game.

[@aidengard7644]

In my opinion it holds up incredibly well, even better than the second game especially in its visual style, I highly suggest if you can do so to try it, it is currently on gamepass I believe as I replayed it 5 times due to that fact.

[@drakenfist]

@@aidengard7644 Personally I preferred the visual style of the second game. The first I have come to appreciate a lot more and really do like the level design but 2 on a visual level just had more of a sense of wonder for me.

[@andreja9425]

@@drakenfist yeah I think the warmth and the spanish/south of france style architecture is a bit more inspired and interesting than the cold industrial steampunk fascist state of the first one although both are incredibly beautiful. Amazing games

[@FischerFilmStudio]

Ok, that carpark joke was so subtle, it was genius!

[@MertKayKay]

;)

[@crusaderjuniorrevived6404]

A Congratulations to be an appreciated and well recognized person within the socially public community, mateys. I give you my well due respect and regards

[@MertKayKay]

Thank you so much 💖🥰

[@gaku3217]

I love dishonored and the game has always been pretty easy for me even on harder difficulties. I never thought the daud prison level would take someone hours to complete. Really different experience for different people.

[@kleverkitsune4363]

I absolutely adore Dishonoured as a series. I've beaten every game in the series at least a handful of times, and have even looked into the Tabletop RPG for Dishonoured that they released. Super glad to see more content about it!

[@catchyalata777]

Stumbled across your channel recently and love your content so far. Well-edited, well-scripted, and you are absolutely hilarious in your deadpan delivery. Subscribed!

[@MertKayKay]

Thank you Catchy!! :D Glad to have you!

[@antonioramos6292]

I absolutely love the whole series and would sell my kidney for another one

[@MertKayKay]

I offered my dad to Bethesda in exchange for a full Oblivion port for the PS4/PS5, with trophies, and they ignored me :'( Colin was so excited to go

[@Isilily]

I'm not sure what went wrong for you, but you very much do get the low chaos ending if you only kill a few people. In my first run I definitely killed some guys, even got a high chaos rating escaping from prison and took me until the Boyle party to figure out your targets don't have to be taken out by murder, and ultimately got the low chaos ending. Also thank you for your sacrifice by covering the Dunwall Trials dlc so thoroughly. I never played it because no one ever talked about it, but now I feel as though I've gotten a satisfactory experience of it without affecting my mental health. And another thank you for being the first creator I've seen to point out how Jessamine is inexplicably "beloved" despite all the rampant inequality and disease that she apparently does absolutely nothing about. Playing this post 2020 and hearing how she opposed quarantines and this being seen as a "good" decision for the people sure hits different huh.

[@Predathis]

Dishonored is one of my favourite games but the trials DLC definitely makes me feel like the scared tf2 heavy. Great vid, haven't played the game in years so it was fun reliving it for an hour :D

[@MertKayKay]

Aww Pred!!! Thanks 🥰

[@desertxpunk]

Tried 3 times to finish this game since it released but never made it. Something about it makes it feel like I'm being asked to create my own fun... I do think I remember how most of the light walls popped up after the emperesses death so things may have been much better before the plague(that sounds obvious but hopefully you get it).

[@MrPooleish]

You quip "she probably hates clean energy" but iirc, everything in Dishonored runs on Whale Oil.

[@ninjafri3nd_841]

One of my favorite games ever my father bought it back then to play it together. Sadly he couldn't play a lot thanks to his motion sickness getting worse and worse. But I still happen to think fondly of this game. Also your not the only one taking longer than a few hours of this game. I still haven't completed everything I can with 2 or 3 trophies missing. Guess I'll have to start it again soon.

[@EvilOverlord1662]

I've had Dishonored for about...five years now? I never managed to get past the level where you have to kidnap Sokolov, because I have this weird habit of hyper-fixating on a game for about a week, then not touching it for a few months. That and my obsession with trying to go for the non-lethal route really kills my interest fairly quickly.

[@vidoxi]

this makes me relieved that while i will torture myself with my need for platinums, at least i'm okay with not getting every DLC trophy.

[@raquelavila8516]

Think it is so interesting you mentioned about lots of people not actually playing it. I don’t finish many games and dishonoured is one of the games I have finished it and loved it. Different story with dishonoured 2. Felt like it was such a haunting game. Loved it.

[@rpg500e]

All I can think for the past minutes of the video is that I can't fathom playing this kind of game on a controller. Haven't played this game since it launched, but goddamn... makes me glad I moved towards PC even back then

[@Talled221]

My favorite game series ever, followed by Fallout and Mirror’s Edge. Excellent game, I have tattoos in the art style and plan to get more

[@MertKayKay]

Aww yes brilliant taste! Mirror's Edge especially is incredible and I'm going to be playing that again soon on PS3! Thanks for watching :D

[@u140550]

i'll be finishing this video later, but i am glad to get recommended your video!!! i love dishonored, its so good; and a great replay. also will love seeing you play dishonored 2

[@trashpanda3544]

I absolutely adored dishonored. I bought it in cex 5 years ago for £2 and was expecting it to be kind of shit considering the price but it quickly became my favourite game. I never bought a sequal and dlc so quickly in my life. I finished the game over 2 days and immediately started again to try a different approach. It felt like the game was made just for me. It's disheartening that it bounces off so many people. It's kind of like the dark souls of stealth games in that dark souls is insanely popular and yet very little people actually finish the game.

[@parthashankar892]

It is a bit funny now that you mention it. When I finished Dishonored, I told a bunch of my friends about it and a lot of them knew about it but only a few of them played it and NONE of them finished it. I was really puzzled by it.

[@MertKayKay]

Same! All my friends were like "Yeah I never left the prison, seems cool though"

[@voidshot]

i never thought of it as looking like a painting, that is a pretty neat bit of insight. i have bad eyes and no sense of style so sometimes real life looks like that art style to me

[@sm24644]

Darn it you made me want to play Dishonored again I'm now 12 hours the game. You have a new subscriber thanks for the content hope you hit the 100,000 mark.

[@MertKayKay]

Thank you Santiago! :D I hope you enjoy it

[@teylawhite687]

Oh, I had that experience too, where after I took a break from playing it, I was like „hey, i should probably finish dishonoured, huh? It’s been a WHILE.“ and when i go to load a safe, i am shocked to discover my latest one is from only two months ago (almost exactly, btw)

[@HappyLarry.]

I'm surprised you didn't find people who had finished it, I finished Dishonored and really had no issues with it. I didn't feel a particular desire to play multiple runs, but I enjoyed the majority of the game while I played it (there was one level in a real open area with some of those Half-Life walkers and it pissed me off, but the game was great

[@keljar0]

“I’m playing both sides, so that I always come out on top.” 😂

[@actuallywetsocks2374]

Great video, good pacing, nice script writing. I love the Dishonored series to death, and despite having logged countless hours in both games I still sat through the entire video

[@MertKayKay]

Thank you so much Socks! Really glad you enjoyed it!

[@michaelgreen4807]

I know the pain of the Dunwall city trials. I've been trying for *years* to 100% the game, but I put a few attempts into the hard ones, get pissed off all over again, and drop it for months 😂

[@VoldraLightningfrost]

The Challenge DLC has a bunch of creative levels, and "Back Alley Brawl" Lets you indulge in high chaos consequence free for as many waves as you can survive

[@Birchtd]

Finally managed to catch up with this video. Though i struggle to actually get into the series i very much enjoyed your thoughts. Top as always mert! Can't wait for the next 😁

[@MertKayKay]

No worries Birch! Thank you for watching! :D

[@DuskinCBC]

I love how many options you have in this game. For example, in brigmore witches for the engine coil I explored this whole underground section which was filled with witches that the hatters engineer has gone down and by doing that I found the code to the door. No deal needed with the old guy.

[@HoneyBakeryCakery]

Nothing much to add, just wanted to say I fucking love watching your videos, never fails to give me insight and laughs.

[@MertKayKay]

Awwww you are the best 😭😭 thank you

[@kylebean5743]

Ngl i think the dishonored series was my first hyperfixation lol. I never got to play the dlc, but I got the art book for the second game and it’s just so bad ass. Makes me wanna replay the games again. Also this video awoke a core memory of the dishonored dnd campaign I found online

[@degiguess]

Dishonored was my favorite game as a kid. It came out right around the time I got my own laptop when I was 11 and it was the first game I ever bought and finished for myself rather than one that me and my brothers shared. For that reason it will always hold an extremely nostalgic place in my heart and I truly think it's a game that everybody should play. Dishonored 2 is even more slept on imo, it had rough launch on the technical side and I think that caused people to overlook the fact that it's pretty much an improvement on the first game in every way which is super impressive. Bigger and better levels, more powers, better story, more replayability. D2 genuinely is one of the best immersive sims ever created and I wish more people would see that.

[@Jose23562]

I love Dishonored and have played the first and second one (including DOTO) but after your intro I just realized I never did finish the first game but do know how it ends. Guess I'll have to go back and beat it after the video

[@dantetakari8090]

Thank you for giving me something to listen to at work 😂 I love this game / series as well

[@MertKayKay]

No worries Dante, thanks so much for watching :D

[@Neirean]

One of my favourite games of all time. If you loved this, and don't mind retro graphics, I strongly recommend Thief 1, 2 and Deadly Shadows - all are incredible, and you can see their mark on near on every stealth game made since - including Dishonored.

[@dlldan6897]

Yay new MertKayKay video! Highlight of my day

[@MertKayKay]

Dildan your comment made my evening 😭 thank you

[@el3270]

H-hey.. *blushes* Uh.... I just wanted to say you have a really nice slender tailbone..

[@ohhaideregubay6963]

My love for this game series is not easily expressed, but it brought me so much joy to see a well-done and thorough review. Though many might have felt its impact, I feel like it is a game series rarely spoken about, even though its level design is easily one of the best and most consistent across games. I love stealth games, and the mechanics of the Dishonored series are a large part of the reason why, though I have since expanded in my taste. BIG props to you for the trials by the way. I just was content with platinuming the base game. When I looked through the dunwall trials trophies I was out lol. Thank you for such a good review, and I do hope you play the other games in the series. In my opinion, Arkane took everything good about the first game and elevated it in the second and third titles.

[@MertKayKay]

Thank you Ohhai! :D Absolutely spectacular series that I think a lot of people felt friction with, so it never really got that thorough exploration it deserved. The level design is honestly the best I've ever seen! And thank you so much for watching, I'm really glad to hear you enjoyed it. (and thanks re: the trials, they broke me)

[@dogearflopper7011]

14:03 What a phenomenal joke, holy shit

[@5hane9ro]

I'm kinda shocked to hear alot of this information in the beginning of this video because I feel like I devoted my senior year of high school to beating this game on every difficulty, getting every ending, and doing 100% ghost runs. Such a great game.

[@michelleborchardt199]

I LOVE Dishonored…to a pathological extent. I typically play as a tank in games, but learned to enjoy stealth by playing this game. Was it frustrating and grinding? YES. Did I cuss a blue cloud? YES. But after a time I really developed a better frustration tolerance and eased into it. Eventually I mastered stealth and played the game on all levels available. I enjoyed the story, but the gameplay is so flexible, I kept coming back to try new strategies. As to the story, the high chaos ending where Sam is disappointed with you actually made me sad…otherwise I loved going balls out high chaos, using all methods in creative ways.

[@aidamou]

The Always Sunny convos are top tier! Nearly pissed myself with the ‘Implication’ bit

[@MertKayKay]

Always Sunny references make everything better!

[@SunnyAznable]

To be fair, the love of monarchy is sort of on point- Queen Victoria was a well-loved monarch and uh *gestures at everything that happened in her reign*

[@MegaHasmat]

If you kill a few enemies you still get the good ending. The reason people think otherwise is because the game terribly tutorializes that mechanic. Patstaresat played through recently and killed a ton of people (to intentionally expose himself to something that triggers his ocd or "mind goblins" as he calls them) throughout the game and consistently got low chaos

[@MertKayKay]

That's so weird! Thanks for the clarification. I remember accidentally killing Billie Lurk at the end of my low chaos run in the first DLC and just getting a high chaos rank overall (with 1 other detection) which was really annoying. I assumed it would be the same for the main game. Thanks for ironing that out :D

[@MegaHasmat]

@@MertKayKay i can't speak for that mission since I haven't actually played the dlc, so maybe Billie just weighs heavy on the chaos level. but yeah, it was a misconception I had with the game as well until Patstaresat's series. Felt really silly for all my panicking in my first clumsy playthrough of the game

[@shikkithefirst5393]

You can kill 20% if all opponents and still get the low chaos ending. In dishonored 1 all enemies have the same weighting, but in 2 some weigh more than others but the difference is basically negligable

[@critical-goat363]

I personally never played the game to its entirety, but I did religiously watch my parents play 1 and 2 and found it was an interesting viewing experience and that I did quite enjoy the game, without ever really looking at it under a microscope simply because I personally don't do that. I let other people do it and then become enthralled as I listen to all the things I missed. Anyway, when I tried playing the games because I remembered how much fun it was to watch my parents play, I dropped it really quickly because narratively linear games are not for me, and would much rather grind the shit out of games that let me do anything but the main questline. Anyway, love the video, and I really wish I'd found you sooner, but at least I get to binge everything you have made while I wait for new content.

[@glucosaminecondroitan9135]

Great, funny video! Dishonored is one of my favorite games. I am too awful to stealth so I play as a swashbuckling Corvo. Except for the costume party. That one wasn't hard for me to do the objectives.

[@Charmides_SF]

I think Dishonored is my favourite game of all time. I know it has some problems - it certainly is not perfect - but it is by far the most fun I ever had in a singleplayer game. I even enjoyed the Dunwall City Trials and have probably played through the game over 20 times totaling in a playtime of ~500 hours. Most of the time was of course spent on runs with self imposed challenges, speedruns or doing "impressive" kills / level clears similiar to the ones shown in "StealthGamerBr"'s videos. But you still would have to pay me a lot of money to get all achievements in the DCT while using a controller. Great video! Keep it up! Edit: Now that I think about it since the 500 hours are on steam only and I played it a lot before with a CD install... I probably played it for about 700-800 hours.

[@MertKayKay]

I LOVE the dedication, 800 hours is no joke! Thanks for watching Otto!

[@caitlinhall1903]

I just finished playing this for the first time, and two hours later I see this video has been posted. It took me about a week of doing a couple of hours here and there, and it's really interesting to see how my playthrough is different to the clips shown in this video. I've been bringing your videos all day, they're fab!

[@MertKayKay]

Hey Caitlin! We're so in sync, must be Dishonored season 🤣 what kind of playthrough did you do? And thanks very much, I'm really happy you like my videos

[@caitlinhall1903]

Oh 100% a high chaos run, I'm going to give it a break for a bit then go for a low chaos one. My fave change is at the end of the game I ended up on the roof of the lighthouse and had to save Emily from dangling off the edge, I had no idea it was even possible to save her before then😂 and you're welcome! None of my mates game so it's so nice to have found a channel by a female brit (also the comment about bojo had me crying😂)

[@MertKayKay]

@@caitlinhall1903 Hahahaha I love that I didn't even specify it was BoJo and you knew :'D

[@hiddenshadow2105]

As I am watching, a small nitpick possibly correction: from what I understand, the arc pylons and gates of lights and other public access murder devices were widely introduced after Jessamine's murder by Lord Regent while Corvo was in the prison. As for their relationships: Corvo was 39, Jessamine was 32 and Emily was 10 in the first game, so no, I don't think they had any inappropriate relationships. As for the grooming, Corvo cannot talk his way out of wet bag, takes the poison from the man who obviously wants to betray him, and it was Jessamine who picked _him_ as her Royal Protector despite all attempts to persuade her otherwise; it is obviously just my personal impression but Corvo kind of struck me as ace.

[@MertKayKay]

As for the arc pylons and such - I know that they were implemented while the Lord Regent was in prison, but they can't have been invented/developed in that time, they must have already existed. R&D doesn't move that fast and since they use ships and such still, the distribution would take ages. So my point was more that they were clearly created under Jessamine and then the Lord Regent used them :D

[@hiddenshadow2105]

​@@MertKayKay Actually yes, they were invented in 1833 (the game is in 1837-1838), and Jessamine's benevolence (actual or just perceived) was because she very opposed to their use and only with Royal Regent in power they were implemented. But neither Sokolov not Joplin invented such things by Jessamine's orders. I think Sokolov just invented the prototype sort of because he invents stuff all the time, as a part of his genius thought process ("Hm, can I invent something that shoots lightning? Yes I can!"), and then it was commissioned for City Watch, and Joplin improved on it because he always wanted to one-up Sokolov. (they do have railroads (trams?) for inner-city deliveries, so the distribution within Dunwall itself is probably much quicker than by the ships.)

[@spookypaladin4667]

The first time I ever saw this game was when it came out. I was in the living room and peeked over my father's shoulder. He was loving the game and told me to try it out. So I bought it and fell in love with it, but I totally relate to this. It took me a very long time to complete it even though I loved every second of the game. When Dishonored 2 came out I swallowed that game like hot coffee after a long shift. I adored the dynamic Corvo and Emily had. Needless to say, I think the best trope in any video game is the father-daughter relationship. Clem and Lee, Joel and Ellie, Corvo and Emily, they just have this endless stream of sweetness and feeling of a crudely sewn together family that doesn't click at first but blossoms as it grows. This combined with the amazing ways you could customize your own experience just made this game special. The countless ways you could sneak around or brute-force your way through it all showed a level of care that you rarely see in games, even today. The mechanics, the graphics, the cheesy dialogue, the setting, everything just Works. Even the Disney-esc villains are fun. The twist that you could see coming a mile away was charming because it was obvious they put all they had into it. These games just refuse to show their age and I replay them often to this day. I'm so happy to see that you've covered them. Fantastic work as always and looking forward to more content from you

[@MertKayKay]

Thank you Spooky! I'm glad you loved this game and I'm also glad you have dad-related gaming memories. My own dad to this day is obsessed with the Red Dead series and he and I both exhaustedly played the first together on the old sofa in the 'computer room' - which all houses had back then for some reason lmao. I do really need to play 2 and, yes, I agree, the father/daughter relationship is definitely one of the most heartwarming to explore. Did you ever try Death of the Outsider? Thanks as always for watching Spooky!

[@spookypaladin4667]

​@@MertKayKay I always considered getting the Death of the Outsider, but a flaw of mine is that I get Way too invested into games. I get attached to characters even if their role isn't big or they end up not very memorable for most people. (SPOILERS) So I hated Billie for what she did to Jessamine, though not directly dealing the final blow, and despite forgiving her when the prompt came up - I didn't wanna see her again. (END OF SPOILERS) The idea of playing a whole DLC just for her was very unappealing for the most part haha. I will probably end up giving it a shot at some point since it is connected to a franchise I hold so near and dear to my heart however. As far as the computer room memories - on board there with ya. I remember playing Mario, Zelda and various RE titles with my dad on the old Wii and PC. I genuinely miss those days.

[@ilikevideogames9942]

I’m one of those people who finished both dishonored but I can’t remember what happened in dishonored 2 I just replayed dishonored it’s sooo good it needs a bigger fan base its such a good game

[@Groselha_atomica]

the wikipedia says that jessamine is (or was) 32yo and emily is 10yo, then the empress and corvo only got together when jessamine was 22yo (thank heavens)

[@MertKayKay]

Got my eye on you Corvo

[@Iorekbyrnison100]

Dishonoured 1 and 2 really do seem like games that people respect, but you rarely hear anyone talk about them. They are two of my favorites, and I normally dislike stealth games, probably because I am terrible at it. Dishonoured is special, though. Not really sure why; maybe it's the graphics or the world. Either way, I really enjoy your essays and was glad to hear one based on one of my favorite games.

[@MertKayKay]

Yes I love the visual style of Dishonored especially! It's so unique and I'm stunned that so few other games have taken inspiration from it. Thanks very much for watching Cooper

[@matthewbrayton228]

This was one of my favourite games to platinum - much use of quicksave and quickload for the "no detection" trophy....

[@thesleepydot]

i love your voice and narration. super interesting!! youre underrated

[@MertKayKay]

Thanks Dot! :D I appreciate you

[@33niewiem33]

"Whatever women say" is the funniest thing I've ever heard thank you

[@MertKayKay]

Women and their whims eh

[@RakuraiNetwork]

I'm seeing your increased sub count and I'm so excited for you! Let's gooooooo!

[@MertKayKay]

EEEE thank you Rakurai!! :D Let's gooo!

[@SonofApollo856]

There's also a sequel, an expansion/glorified DLC to the sequel, and many comics with a few actual books. Soooo..... good luck with that. Funny that you mention that the game only has 2 endings. For D1, go high chaos, but don't save Emily. For the Daud DLCs, I can't remember his endings.

[@oberstaffe2733]

I managed to get Dishonored 100% within 69 hours, Trials of Dunwall is just pure hell for the achievements

[@kardelen3504]

All the Sunny references just made this retrospective even more fun!

[@MertKayKay]

Can't have a video without Always Sunny references! One of the best series ever

[@THExRISER]

I'm glad I subscribed, Dishonored is my all time favorite game.

[@MertKayKay]

I'm glad you subscribed too Riser :'( thank you

[@THExRISER]

@@MertKayKay

[@trilbion6319]

I'm about 5 minutes in and already enjoying the video quite a bit. Kinda surprised by the fact it took you a year to beat the game though, since it only took me a month and a half or so to play through. It's admittedly been 2 years since I played through it, but I remember being totally hooked in to the game after the first third or so. Always interesting to see how people react differently to games I suppose. Side note: Your video on "Rachel Foster" is spectacular and I can't wait to watch more of your videos!

[@MertKayKay]

Thank you very much! Dishonored kicked my ass 😎

[@trilbion6319]

@@MertKayKay Upon finishing the video and remembering the trials (which I never got around to playing all the way through), I now completely understand why it took you a year and just have to say; god damn, nicely done

[@MertKayKay]

@@trilbion6319 Thank you very much Tril, this game turned me to dust :D

[@saidinstouch2186]

Is highly recommended Dishonored 2. It smoothes out a lot of the controls and the ability to play as Cisco or Emily really adds diversity to to the playstyle. It's probably one of my favorite games to go back to. Great channel!

[@MertKayKay]

Thanks Saidins! I'd absolutely love to play 2, I think it's on sale right now so I'm just gunning for payday :'D

[@tony_starch]

Dishonored is one of my favorite game franchises, to the point I’ve actually platinumed all three games. I love it so much I actually dream about a new game coming out and playing it lol

[@thrushestrange5822]

One of my fave games ever, one I’ve played 3 times over and never gets old.

[@dlldan6897]

18:00 Same EXACT thing in the United States! I love it here 😍

[@el3270]

hey mama *kisses ur toesies*

[@faithfullkadan2969]

I don't have experience with the first one, but I have played the 2nd an death to the outsider, was hoping to here your thoughts on the story and its characters as a whole but lol it would seem this title wasn't it for you. The art design and landscapes alone are what I love most about this game, this would be the place I'd s.a.o myself into once the tech is out. Hearing your take on Emily's mom an corvo ( them as a whole really) gave me another way to look at them and it makes sense, puts the story in a new light for me. Great video and thank you for your service, stealth runs undetected are ass, you'd get a trip outta one of the levels in the second game where you get to shift back an forth between different timeliness simultaneously so it makes for interesting guard reactions an stealth kills.

[@MertKayKay]

Ah sorry to miscommunicate it - I loved this game! I bought 2 and death of the Outsider to play asap 😁

[@faithfullkadan2969]

@@MertKayKay oh awesome❤️❤️❤️! I feel like they could still do something fresh with franchise now that we know anyone can make a "mark" or become a "Delilah" with the void being a constant no matter whose god. Definitely would like to see more exploration because im nosey an definitely less time on loading screens.

[@Hravokh]

immersive sims. never get enough of those :D glad that Dishonored sort of, kind of brought them back

[@Nickboy275]

I absolutely love dishonored. I cant count how many times ive played 1&2 back to back from start to finish

[@ArkriteTheMad]

If Lady Boyle was a hapless dupe than that little twist is a nice touch. However she's the lover and financier of the main bad guy. So our options are that she's an innocent dupe who unwittingly pays for the regicide and enables all of the horrible things that happens only to be given to a creepy stalker she's forced to kill and then live in exile (with his wealth) due to her being considered a criminal in her home town. or She's a willing participants who's guilty as the others. And then she avoids any justice, is placed instead in a oppertunistic situation where she murders her way into money and continues thriving. Really, the mistake the designers made was either in not making her as over the top evil as the others, or not offering some option where she's locked in a convent for a year or so instead. Me, I like to assume that she was completely in on it... mostly because I played the non-lethal approach the whole game and I kind of shipped her off with El Creepo. 😅 Whoops.

[@bunnyboogi1880]

I don’t even play video games but I love your analysis of them! I like to listen to you while I wash my dishes 😂

[@MertKayKay]

Bunny I am honoured to be your dish washing buddy! :D

[@SageofStars]

I will say, this is one of those stories I liked, and enjoyed a lot. Mind, I do agree, I slid off this one like a dozen times before finally getting into it, and I blame the first three levels for that. The first, the Prison, is a contained sequence of events, designed to help show you the stuff the game allows, but it...doesn't quite work, and since you're missing the coolest tools, the Powers, it doesn't feel quite as fun to play around in. Then, levels 2 and 3(Not counting the inbetween bits at the bar and inn), are the same level, at different times of day. The first section being the exact same, and then a second half that is unique between them. Each one has a load of options, and it does, on replays, allow for a great deal of interactions and consequences for what you did during the prior level. Problem is, those are during replays, and if you DON'T replay them, there's none of that interactivity between them, and you don't notice. This is, BTW, one thing that the sequels/DLCs all improved on. The Daud campaign, being DLC, does not ever leave you powerless, so you always have abilities from the get go, and thus, all the fun toys. Game 2, and Death of the Outsider do the start without powers thing, but 2 gives you a level that's all one street, and all you have to do is get to the end of it. Sure you can explore, but if you want, your goal is just on the other side, and its pretty easy just to run through. Meanwhile the third game hits you with a smaller level, that is really just 6 rooms kind of stapled together, and gives you lots of interactions, but the goal is placed in such away that you only have to go through 3 of them. The others are more for flavor, and money gain. As to the story...yeah, you missed a lot of points there. Most of it's, you didn't read the notes, or listen to the conversations, and instead came up with your own fill ins. From yes, the Empress was a good person, doing things like ending Child Labor and the like, to refusing to simply abandon the poor(That was what was meant by Quarantine, BTW, not what we did for a certain other thing that happened in the real world, but basically put up walls, and let them all die of the plague or starve to death.). Oh, and the plague was the Usurper's fault. He brought it in to 'thin the ranks of the poor' that the Empress' policies were allowing to breed too quickly, in his opinion. And the DLC, I think the only thing that needs to be said is she wonders why Daud wouldn't tack Brigmore Manor as where Delilah Brigmore was hiding...except that's not her name. Her Name is Delilah Copperspoon. Now she is the leader of the Brigmore Witch, but Daud only finds out about that name AFTER he's already going to deal with Delilah herself at the manor, and they come up. Mind, he still takes weeks/months to go deal with her, as he learns where she is during the fight with Billie Lurk Also, the ending has quite a few variations depending on how you did certain things, though the narration is generally one of two things, the images shown have characters that can vary. This is done more so in the sequel though, where there's entire bits where the scene will look entirely different, though again, the narration is one of two, the visuals really do make it something else to see. There's also actually a formula for specifically how many people on every map you can kill, depending on if you kill or 'Dishonor' your targets for that mission. And it does change the final mission in game one, and its first DLC chapter significantly, to the point where it's basically got two final missions, that just happen to use the same map. Now, ignoring the missed story, it is neat to see someone who didn't get into that, but did play around with the systems. Again, this game has so many ways to play it, that it is basically a sandbox of toys, and the Trials obviously allow for a lot of that...I wouldn't know, this is actually the first time I'm seeing them. I own them, to be fair, but if there's no reward in the game for doing something like that, I tend to say screw it. I'm not really a trophy hunter myself(I have a few platinums, and sometimes I'll go after it, if I'm close or love the game enough to do everything, but otherwise not a chance). I do love all the toys you get to play with throughout, though, I will admit, she's not wrong that most of the more fun ones are specifically lethal in nature. That's just how the game was designed at the time, as the idea was that a truly skilled player wouldn't NEED those things to simply move through, so only about a quarter of the powers were non-lethal, and almost none of the gadgets were. I do hope she plays Dishonored 2 at some point, as it DIRECTLY addresses that, giving about a 40/60 split between non-lethal and lethal things instead, encouraging the playthru with the former in a way the first one didn't. Oh, and it has two playable characters, that have their own unique abilities, and a New Game + that means that, once you've finished with both, you can mix and match, and that's always a lot of fun to do. Anyway, this was interesting. It took a few tries to get through it, as I kept having to stop while writing, as it was a lot to get through, but I appreciate the effort that went into this, both the video, but also the game itself. As I said, I've heard horror stories of the trials, so the fact that you could do that impresses me a lot.

[@noahanderson4310]

I played nothing but Dishonored and Dishonored 2 for almost a year because nothing gave me the same feeling as it. I did the challenges for about 5 minutes and never touched it again The Geezer didn't willingly want to gas the mill, it was his helper that set it up that way

[@MertKayKay]

Noah that is self care 😎 you are a smarter person than I. Thank you for watching!