Dishonored

Dishonored is a rare gem that treats players like intelligent, creative individuals capable of crafting their own stories within a meticulously designed world. You play as Corvo Attano, a wrongly accused bodyguard navigating the plague ridden city of Dunwall. What makes this game transcendent is the unprecedented freedom in how you approach every situation. The game gives you supernatural abilities like Blink, Possession, and Bend Time, then steps back and lets you experiment. Want to ghost through levels unseen? Go for it. Prefer creative carnage? Equally viable. Your choices genuinely matter, shaping both the world and the ending you receive. The level design is architectural poetry. Each mission is an intricate puzzle box with multiple solutions that reward exploration and creativity. Dunwall itself feels alive, a breathtaking steampunk dystopia where Victorian aesthetics meet whale oil technology and eldritch mysticism. What resonates most is the moral weight of your actions. Dishonored doesn't preach, it simply shows consequences. Every death matters. Every choice ripples outward. The game respects your intelligence and agency in ways few others do.

What an incredible game! I just replayed it again in 2026 and it has aged beautifully. Everything about it is just as much fun today as it was back in 2012 when it released. I like to play as the Royal Protector, a shadowy guardian whom kills no one and leaves no trace of evidence behind. I spend my time lurking on the rooftops and in the sewers, choosing to bypass the danger in favor of a more secretive routes. When I find the target I am charged to eliminate, I find other means in which to dispose of them. They might be scared for life, but they'll live. And, just like a whisper on the wind, I am gone. Not a soul having been aware of my presence the whole time. This is a legendary title and one every stealth fan needs to play.

ꨄ My rating: 9/10 ꨄ Pros: - The gameplay is amazing. Stealth mechanics are very complex due to the game providing many different ways of approaching your target in each mission, both lethal and non-lethal. The combat despite not being the main focus of the game is also very fun and more detailed than I expected from a "stealth game", since you have plenty of different abilities, some of them more lethal than others. - The story isn't very complex and doesn't have any crazy plot twists, but it does have different endings depending on how you decide to play and which side quests you decide to do in each level. - Despite the game being linear with many different levels, they all offer side quests and secrets which can contribute to a good or a bad ending depending on how you approach them, rewarding exploration. - The graphics are very good for its time and the game has a very unique artstyle which reminds me a lot of impressionistic art paintings, which are also present in the game as collectibles. Cons: - Despite the game having plenty of cool lethal abilities to use, you're not actually rewarded for using them since killing too much will lock you out of a good ending, forcing you to see the "bad" of the game if you decide you want to have some fun using all the stuff you want to unlock. - The story falls a bit short, and made me feel like I absolutely HAD to play the DLC's to enjoy the game more, especially since they're connected to the sequel.