Which diffculty should i play Dishonored on?

[v1rus]

First time play through, and cant decide should i go with hard or very hard. I obviously want a challenge, and something along the lines of Dark Souls would do me good. So, hard or very hard?

 

[Gepeu]

I does not matter.

 

[Mikeal]

Very hard, and turn off markers and tips.

 

[cowking]

Spoiler

It's shit.

 

[Roguey]

something along the lines of Dark Souls

Nothing like that here.

 

[v1rus]

So, even Very hard is easy af?

blah. Cant believe I let normies oversell me a game once again.

 

[Jedi Exile]

It depends on what you want. If you want to finish it as soon as possible then choose easy difficulty (there is little point of playing it at all, though). If you like stealth games and want to enjoy it, then go for the highest difficulty. Very hard isn't particularly difficult, but it will require you to actually put some effort in playing the game and think of what you are doing.

 

[Nuclear Explosion]

So, even Very hard is easy af?

blah. Cant believe I let normies oversell me a game once again.

Combat on very hard can be challenging if you don't use the powers, but stealth is easy no matter what.

 

[muds_animal_friend]

Watching a youtube LP of Dishonored requires more effort than actually playing the game itself. Those deaf, dumb, and blind Dunwall guards sure play a mean pinball. Try Dishonored 2 instead. The level design is superior, there are more fine grained difficulty settings, and the guards have a vision cone wider than 15 degrees.

 

[Ash]

So, even Very hard is easy af?

blah. Cant believe I let normies oversell me a game once again.

Ha ha ha. Everyone's fallen for it once or twice. And yes, you're better off playing something not terribly compromised. It's not a awful game, just mediocre. In more ways than just lack of engaging challenge. It's really short. There's a hub level that is damn near pointless. Story and soundtrack are entirely forgettable. Game systems and mechanics aren't very synergistic. for example, the game has exploration elements, yet there's a infinite use heart item that reveals all secrets. Optional or not it's retarded. Lastly, it's nowhere near as deep as games of its ilk. That's a legitimate expectation, though not a fair criticism.

Play it only if you really, really like games in the style of Arkane/Ion Storm/Irrational/Looking Glass.

Prey was somewhat better, though still very much compromised.

 

[Ezekiel]

It was alright. Not a big fan. Stealth is made too easy by the abilities. And the action...



I linked the video at 5 minutes 47 seconds. The sequence is from Dishonored 2, but you can probably play parts of the first game like that too.

 

[v1rus]

Guess I should go with Prey then, since the sole reason I'd play Dishonored was shiny graphics.

Anything else of the newcrap worth a shot? Hellblade Senuas Chronicles look amazing visually, but afaik, it aint much of a game.

 

[Raghar]

First time play through, and cant decide should i go with hard or very hard. I obviously want a challenge, and something along the lines of Dark Souls would do me good. So, hard or very hard?

First one? You should look somewhere on this forum where I posted what you need to change in ini files. I think there is either timer for body removal which you should extend, or a number of max dead bodies which you must increase by a lot. I think there was probably something more, but I don't remember. Also turn off markers.

Dishonored isn't about difficulty it's about enjoying story. But if you want challenge, go for ghost achievement when playing blind ironman. That's actually hard to do in at least three missions..

 

[Nuclear Explosion]

Dishonored isn't about difficulty it's about enjoying story.

No it is not. The story is completely forgettable. Dishonored's attractions are its level design, satisfying melee combat, smooth movement, and aesthetics. Few games have more satisfying first person melee combat or movement.

 

[RapineDel]

I found 1 pretty boring. It was clear they wanted to sell the "play how you want" stuff because Bethesda didn't see a stealth came as being commercially viable. Therefore the level design and stealth aspects are simplified to make room for people who want to brainlessly run their way through the level without thinking.

I did get some enjoyment out of 2. I saw that a steam achievement had 'play through without using any abilities etc.". I couldn't care less about the achievement but figured it had to mean the game was viable to play through Thief style without any of the typical Dishonored bullshit. For the most part this works and the level design is improved from 1. There were a few sections where it was clear it hadn't been designed for you to sneak past anything without killing/knocking something out but it was still possible. Overall it wasn't too bad and I was hoping they'd improve on this in a future game and hopefully focus on the stealth stuff.

However I've started DOTO and it's a step backwards. The level design feels lazy so far (I just got up to the Bank Job and heard some OK things so maybe it will improve) and there's too many times where there's a guard standing there looking in one direction, never moving as to force you to go around another way or use an ability. I didn't bother doing what I did for Dishonored 2 for this reason and while I'll probably finish it to see if it improves, if it doesn't then good riddance to this series as I'll be surprised if it continues after recent sales.

To the OP, if you want to get the most out of it as a stealth game then play on a high difficulty. I've only briefly tried to play it as an action game and it's as generic as fuck. Don't even bother. The best you can get from this series is a watered down Thief experience so go in with mild expectations.

 

[Durandal]

The only challenge that Dishonored provides can only exist in your head.

It's a case of sweet irony where you're given complete freedom but people seek to shackle themselves because exercising your given freedom for just a teeny bit will make it feel like you're breaking the game.

 

[Baron Dupek]

Both sneaking and combat is easy because enemies are blind and deaf (but not like Thief where any form of shadow make them blind) and your powers and abilities make them canon fodder, unless you go full casual and turn your brain off but even then it's not anything special.

Story? What story? Two betrayals (at the beginning and the end) and assassinating VIPs. Plus paranormal stuff with shadow watcher telling you "u r teh CHOSEN ONE!!1"
That's it.

 

[Multidirectional]

I obviously want a challenge, and something along the lines of Dark Souls would do me good.

Then don't play it at all. Otherwise pick hardest.

 

[skacky]

Dishonored can be challenging if you play without powers and without upgrades on Very Hard while playing as violently as possible and aggro-ing everyone, otherwise the game is very easy. The Knife of Dunwall and The Brigmore Witches are overall slightly harder but not by much. Same goes with Dishonored 2. Death of the Outsider however is actually pretty challenging on the hardest difficulty level compared to the others.

 

[Nevill]

Dishonored is very much an 'entertain yourself' game.

You can play it in a safe and boring manner, the game won't demand much from you. Or you could treat it as a puzzle to find new brutal ways to bull through levels.

Spoiler

StelthGamerBR's videos are particularly enlightening about what a game could be like if one wanted it to.

 

[Ash]

Dishonored is very much an 'entertain yourself' game.

In other words, it's shit. You can enforce self-imposed challenges in ANY game in an attempt to get something/more out of it. Dishonored just doesn't give a shit, because it's intended to be mass market. Lets not legitimise such games.

 

[Gerrard]

You have a power that lets you see enemies through fucking walls for fuck's sake.

I did love the inane radiant dialogues between NPCs though. Thanks Todd!

 

[Ash]

You have a power that lets you see enemies through fucking walls for fuck's sake.

Eh, doesn't have to be so bad. Plenty (old) games have that without being shit. The original Deus Ex, for instance. The difference here is the range it enables you to see through walls is considerably shorter than Dishonored, the augmentation requires notable investment to reach this stage, and bioenergy is a more limited source of power. It's good design, unlike Dishonored.

The Batman/Lara/Hacker/Outsider vision type shit present in modern games is just ridiculous in comparison. Extreme range, near-unlimited use. Insultingly bad design.

 

[Great Deceiver]

I played a ghost run on the hardest difficulty and it was quite easy (and boring). I liked the art style and the world design quite a bit (note that I said world design, and not levels - the levels are linear shit and also segmented due to console memory limitations), but if I were to recommend this to anyone I'd recommend playing as a straight FPS, killing everyone. It's probably a lot more fun. Don't buy into the "OMG THIAF" hype, it's nothing like Thief at all and the mechanics don't support playing it as a stealth game, at least not in a satisfying way.

If you self-limit yourself not to use Blink it becomes mildly challenging, but it's still a low-rent game that obviously wasn't designed with that in mind. It's really a standard "I"m an awesome dude with awesome superpowers" game.

I haven't played the sequel yet (bought it, it kinda ran like shit so I gave up after the first level). Maybe it runs better now. I should get back to it.

 

[Multidirectional]

Dishonored 2 is at least a bit more challenging due to enemies being more aware - leaning makes you visible this time and they have better overhead perceptions. At least on highest difficulty. Also there's a custom difficulty option that allows you to make it harder than Very Hard preset, so there's that. Though I got bored before finishing it but it might be because I made a mistake of choosing a chick and I didn't really enjoy her powers. I might give it another go with Corvo sometime.
Still, I don't see myself enjoying it as a proper stealth game, I'm always tempted to go with fast silent killing in Dishonored and if I get caught I play it out instead of reloading.