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Serious Business - Is Dishonored better than Thief?

Which is the better game / series?


  • Total voters
    173

Child of Malkav

Erudite
Joined
Feb 11, 2018
Messages
3,039
Location
Romania
I also remember being disappointed by combat. I enjoyed Dark Messiah of Might and Magic
and expected Dishonored's combat to be better but it wasn't at all. I had high expectations
after Arx Fatalis and Dark Messiah but Dishonored was a mayor let down in comparison with
those games. .

Why would you expect the combat to be better than in a game where combat was pretty much the only focus?

I just replayed DM this year. While it's still a fun game, I think it's a little overrated due to nostalgia. It really hasn't aged that well to be honest, and compared to Dishonored, it feels pretty clunky.
I'm also replaying it. I don't think it aged poorly at all. It feels better than a lot of other games. It is a bit clunky when it comes to movement, true, but in Dishonored it's refined, more smooth, more responsive. That's how I consider it anyway.
And the melee combat is also really good. Plus the spells, they're not many but quite varied, and not OP.
The only OP thing is the kick, but it's like that because of the physics\ragdoll system they have. If you kick an NPC nothing spectacular happens, but if they're near stairs, ledges, spikes, fires etc., they literally fly across the room. Which is really fun.
 

JDR13

Arcane
Joined
Nov 2, 2006
Messages
3,994
Location
The Swamp
I'm also replaying it. I don't think it aged poorly at all. It feels better than a lot of other games. It is a bit clunky when it comes to movement, true, but in Dishonored it's refined, more smooth, more responsive. That's how I consider it anyway.
And the melee combat is also really good. Plus the spells, they're not many but quite varied, and not OP.
The only OP thing is the kick, but it's like that because of the physics\ragdoll system they have. If you kick an NPC nothing spectacular happens, but if they're near stairs, ledges, spikes, fires etc., they literally fly across the room. Which is really fun.

Mechanically, DM definitely aged poorly in some ways. Using ladders is more dangerous than half the enemies. I'm pretty sure I died more times from falling off a ladder due to imprecise controls than from actual combat. Like I said, it's still a fun game though.
 

Silly Germans

Guest
I also remember being disappointed by combat. I enjoyed Dark Messiah of Might and Magic
and expected Dishonored's combat to be better but it wasn't at all. I had high expectations
after Arx Fatalis and Dark Messiah but Dishonored was a mayor let down in comparison with
those games. .

Why would you expect the combat to be better than in a game where combat was pretty much the only focus?

I just replayed DM this year. While it's still a fun game, I think it's a little overrated due to nostalgia. It really hasn't aged that well to be honest, and compared to Dishonored, it feels pretty clunky.
Its from the same studio and it also features melee combat. I certainly didn't expect them to downgrade on game play
mechanics they had already done.

What is the focus of Dishonored ? Going by the posts so far, it sounds like it was supposed to offer both,
stealth and combat but excelled at neither.
 

JDR13

Arcane
Joined
Nov 2, 2006
Messages
3,994
Location
The Swamp
I also remember being disappointed by combat. I enjoyed Dark Messiah of Might and Magic
and expected Dishonored's combat to be better but it wasn't at all. I had high expectations
after Arx Fatalis and Dark Messiah but Dishonored was a mayor let down in comparison with
those games. .

Why would you expect the combat to be better than in a game where combat was pretty much the only focus?

I just replayed DM this year. While it's still a fun game, I think it's a little overrated due to nostalgia. It really hasn't aged that well to be honest, and compared to Dishonored, it feels pretty clunky.
Its from the same studio and it also features melee combat. I certainly didn't expect them to downgrade on game play
mechanics they had already done.

What is the focus of Dishonored ? Going by the posts so far, it sounds like it was supposed to offer both,
stealth and combat but excelled at neither.

So because it's from the same studio and also features melee combat? That's pretty fucking dumb to be honest. Dishonored doesn't focus entirely on combat like DM.
 
Joined
Feb 8, 2020
Messages
387
Dishonored is a Dmc type of a game, it's not hard, but you can pull off a lot of stylish stuff.

It offers tons of playstyles, while thief is mostly pure stealth, no point in comparing them.
 
Last edited:

passerby

Arcane
Joined
Nov 16, 2016
Messages
2,788
Blink, double jumps, automatic parkour, teleporting for takedown animations and other simillar overpowered movement powers trivialize gameplay in modern games completely, no skill, or thought required, it's all just awesome button mashing.
 
Last edited:

Silly Germans

Guest
I also remember being disappointed by combat. I enjoyed Dark Messiah of Might and Magic
and expected Dishonored's combat to be better but it wasn't at all. I had high expectations
after Arx Fatalis and Dark Messiah but Dishonored was a mayor let down in comparison with
those games. .

Why would you expect the combat to be better than in a game where combat was pretty much the only focus?

I just replayed DM this year. While it's still a fun game, I think it's a little overrated due to nostalgia. It really hasn't aged that well to be honest, and compared to Dishonored, it feels pretty clunky.
Its from the same studio and it also features melee combat. I certainly didn't expect them to downgrade on game play
mechanics they had already done.

What is the focus of Dishonored ? Going by the posts so far, it sounds like it was supposed to offer both,
stealth and combat but excelled at neither.

So because it's from the same studio and also features melee combat? That's pretty fucking dumb to be honest. Dishonored doesn't focus entirely on combat like DM.

And that is an excuse to have worse mechanics than a game they already did ? The trailers and many presentations of the game feature
vividly the action aspects. On first look, it is everything but clear that the game doesn't focus on combat. I didn't expect it to be a combat
simulator revelation but at least to be on par and to fix obviously broken things like the overpowered kick. I don't see how that is dumb,
uninformed perhaps and optimistic admittedly.
 

JDR13

Arcane
Joined
Nov 2, 2006
Messages
3,994
Location
The Swamp
I also remember being disappointed by combat. I enjoyed Dark Messiah of Might and Magic
and expected Dishonored's combat to be better but it wasn't at all. I had high expectations
after Arx Fatalis and Dark Messiah but Dishonored was a mayor let down in comparison with
those games. .

Why would you expect the combat to be better than in a game where combat was pretty much the only focus?

I just replayed DM this year. While it's still a fun game, I think it's a little overrated due to nostalgia. It really hasn't aged that well to be honest, and compared to Dishonored, it feels pretty clunky.
Its from the same studio and it also features melee combat. I certainly didn't expect them to downgrade on game play
mechanics they had already done.

What is the focus of Dishonored ? Going by the posts so far, it sounds like it was supposed to offer both,
stealth and combat but excelled at neither.

So because it's from the same studio and also features melee combat? That's pretty fucking dumb to be honest. Dishonored doesn't focus entirely on combat like DM.

And that is an excuse to have worse mechanics than a game they already did ? The trailers and many presentations of the game feature
vividly the action aspects. On first look, it is everything but clear that the game doesn't focus on combat. I didn't expect it to be a combat
simulator revelation but at least to be on par and to fix obviously broken things like the overpowered kick. I don't see how that is dumb,
uninformed perhaps and optimistic admittedly.

I think it's fairly logical that a game which isn't completely focused on one thing usually isn't going to be as good in one particular aspect as a game that is focused on that aspect.
 

Silly Germans

Guest
Adopting and transferring working mechanics from your former game to your new game, which features the same
game play aspects, seems logical to me. Why would you make it even worse ? That seems strange to me.
Why make the game play worse for gods sake if you are capable of a good implementation ? Because it isn't the
focus of the game ? I find that disappointing and i think its legitimate.
 

JDR13

Arcane
Joined
Nov 2, 2006
Messages
3,994
Location
The Swamp
Adopting and transferring working mechanics from your former game to your new game, which features the same
game play aspects, seems logical to me. Why would you make it even worse ? That seems strange to me.
Why make the game play worse for gods sake if you are capable of a good implementation ? Because it isn't the
focus of the game ? I find that disappointing and i think its legitimate.

It doesn't play worse. I just replayed DM and it was clunky as hell by comparison.

It's ok to have different opinions though. You didn't like Dishonored as much, and that's fine. Maybe you'll like the sequel more.
 
Joined
Dec 24, 2018
Messages
1,892
I think Dishonored (by which I mean both games, the series overall) would have been a lot better in terms of gameplay if they did two things:

1. Make health potions much more scarce, and make them take somewhat longer to heal. Comparable to a health potion in Thief, or slower. Similar delay on food. IIRC Dh2 did at least add a setting to do this, but I don't remember how much effect it really had.
2. Make powers cost health (with the more powerful ones killing you immediately if you're not at say 90% health or better), and delete mana from the game. As I understand it, this was originally how they worked. It would have made the use of powers much more rare, making them feel more special and also balancing them. It would be in keeping with the tone of the setting as well - witchcraft isn't safe and friendly. On that note I'd also argue all bone charms should have come with some downside.
 

Silly Germans

Guest
Adopting and transferring working mechanics from your former game to your new game, which features the same
game play aspects, seems logical to me. Why would you make it even worse ? That seems strange to me.
Why make the game play worse for gods sake if you are capable of a good implementation ? Because it isn't the
focus of the game ? I find that disappointing and i think its legitimate.

It doesn't play worse. I just replayed DM and it was clunky as hell by comparison.

It's ok to have different opinions though. You didn't like Dishonored as much, and that's fine. Maybe you'll like the sequel more.

I am talking only about the melee combat game play, i do not the judge overall game-play as i have barely played it. But lets rest that
point.

Which games are most similar to it ? It didn't feel like Thief to me and it isn't a combat focused game, i hear, but what is it ?
Does it play like the new Deus Ex games or more like Bioshock ?
 

JDR13

Arcane
Joined
Nov 2, 2006
Messages
3,994
Location
The Swamp
I am talking only about the melee combat game play, i do not the judge overall game-play as i have barely played it. But lets rest that
point.

Which games are most similar to it ? It didn't feel like Thief to me and it isn't a combat focused game, i hear, but what is it ?
Does it play like the new Deus Ex games or more like Bioshock ?

It's nothing like Bioshock. I guess you could say it's similar to Deus Ex in some ways, although the setting couldn't be more different. Like Deus Ex, most missions give you a choice between taking a stealthy route or fighting your way through.

The world in Dishonored is pretty unique and has a very distinct art style. That was one of my favorite things about the game. It's not for everyone though.
 

DalekFlay

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Oct 5, 2010
Messages
14,118
Location
New Vegas
Dishonored is really easy, even on the highest difficulty. However it's often not pointed out that Dishonored 2 is significantly harder. I'm not saying it's some super difficult game, but if you want to fully stealth it on the hardest difficulty you're going to be challenged. Enemies notice you a LOT easier than in the first game.
 

toro

Arcane
Vatnik
Joined
Apr 14, 2009
Messages
14,756
Dishonored is a Dmc type of a game, it's not hard, but you can pull off a lot of stylish stuff.

It offers tons of playstyles, while thief is mostly pure stealth, no point in comparing them.


There are exactly 2 playstyles: with Blink and without Blink. The rest is irrelevant.
 

markec

Twitterbot
Patron
Joined
Jan 15, 2010
Messages
50,750
Location
Croatia
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I finished both Dishonored games without using any powers or gadgets, going full stealth without killing anyone. That in my opinion is the best way to play those games.

Even then both of them are very easy, second one being a bit more difficult.

Personally I prefer Dishonored games over Prey, mostly due preference to steampunk setting and bigger more open maps to explore.
 

Silly Germans

Guest
Are levels designed to be explored or do you simply have to reach the end of a level
to progress ?
 

JDR13

Arcane
Joined
Nov 2, 2006
Messages
3,994
Location
The Swamp
Are levels designed to be explored or do you simply have to reach the end of a level
to progress ?

I thought you said you played it some. It really doesn't seem like you've played it at all.

Why don't you just try it for yourself instead of asking all these questions? It's easy to find a Steam key for less than $10
 

Silly Germans

Guest
I played it for an hour or two and that was is years ago. My impressions back then were so bad i never
touched it again and forgot almost all about it. The only things that stuck were some of the reasons why
i stopped playing it.
I actually consider giving it a second chance and buying it since the games are now on gog. This is exactly
why id like more information about it. But the trailers and and most videos don't look like my cup of tee, on
the other hand some people say its good and has stealth game play.
 

Child of Malkav

Erudite
Joined
Feb 11, 2018
Messages
3,039
Location
Romania
It has stealth gameplay. In D2 you have many options for non lethal moves even during combat. Don't expect the level of stealth to be the same as the one in Thief\SC.
 

Jugashvili

管官的官
Patron
Joined
Aug 20, 2013
Messages
2,632
Location
Georgia, Asia
Codex 2013
The world in Dishonored is pretty unique and has a very distinct art style.

┌─┐
┴─┴ヘ
ಠ‿ಠ - *tips cogdora*

xJDvj1s.jpg
 

Beggar

Cipher
Joined
Dec 7, 2014
Messages
735
Are levels designed to be explored or do you simply have to reach the end of a level
to progress ?
Just look at the design and the cutscenes, trailers etc. What can you expect from it? It's trash. Anyone who's defending it is the same kind of idiots that yell and rate your post shit when you post "DS1 over DS2 is not even a discussion".
 
Joined
Dec 24, 2018
Messages
1,892
Dishonored is really easy, even on the highest difficulty. However it's often not pointed out that Dishonored 2 is significantly harder. I'm not saying it's some super difficult game, but if you want to fully stealth it on the hardest difficulty you're going to be challenged. Enemies notice you a LOT easier than in the first game.

I sort of see what you're saying, but also sort of disagree. Personally I found Dishonored 2 to have easier stealth. This is because I'm accustomed to Thief's style of stealth where if you would be visibly harder to see, you'll probably be better hidden from AI (within reason for technology of the time - silhouette / line of sight detection wasn't implemented), and Dishonored 2 did have something close to this detection model. Dishonored 1, on the other hand, shadows did not conceal the player at all. I know there was the whole lean shit, but I didn't find myself leaning very often so I didn't really take advantage of it. But I did get caught a lot because I was expecting hiding in some pitch black corner while enemies walked in a bright lit area would keep me hidden, but they would see me perfectly. So Dishonored's less realistic stealth made it harder for me, and Dishonored 2 having more realistic stealth made it easier.
 

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