Dishonored 2

[peter]

Hey! Picked this up for a fiver the other day (just burning up the remaining portion of a voucher I'd got for Christmas) and have been playing it for a few days and am really liking it!.

A Bethesda production (and I just love to have that Skyrim association pop up at the front end of any game) it is described as an action adventure sandbox game (what is the difference between a sandbox and an open world game - can anyone elucidate me?). After an opening scene you get the option of playing as a female or male character, and once committed you are bound to your choice. The game can pan out very differently depending on whether you go stealth or combat -and different for these for either the male or female option. Then yet further differences are introduced by the skills you opt for (big differences by all accounts) - and the whole being tied up with different endings, making the replay possibilities much more significant than with other games.

Though I'm only just getting up to speed with the gameplay (it ain't an easy game to master - you have to put in the work) I hear that each different section of the game introduces new twists that keep it fresh and interesting and stop you from simply 'coasting' once you get the hang of it. The game is challenging, no question - but in a good way because it's making you work out how to achieve an end, not simply repeat an action over and over until, one time, you happen to get it right. This is a game where, newborn like, you are dumped in a dangerous and violent city and you have to use all of your will and build to survive - oh, and you are rewarded with better endings dependant upon the fewer people you actually kill. You have to search the environment, gather your kit and solve the puzzle of survival with pretty minimal help from .... we'll, anywhere really. This is no hack and slash brain dead affair - this is intelligent gaming that makes you work bloody hard to survive, but repays in buckets of enjoyment and satisfaction while you are doing it.

[Avatar]

In theory, sandbox and open-world are much the same.

Sandboxes may be less structured or provide more freedom, but open worlds are supposed to also offer that sort of level of freedom. (But open-world is not always open-world.) (E.g Witcher 2)

--A

[peter]

I read somewhere that sandbox is sort of about world building (Minecraft being the ultimate example) but that being so, I can't see this game really qualifying - In fact I can't see anything other than Minecraft qualifying!

[Avatar]

Doesn't have to be world-building in a literal sense, in which you actually build things.

Warband, for example, is a sandbox world where you can do whatever you want without having to follow any sort of pre-set story-line.

--A

[Rigel]

not simply repeat an action over and over until, one time, you happen to get it right.

I see you haven't gone for a pacifist run yet

Earlier this summer I ran through the original, both DLCs, and then the sequel. The first game by far has the best story and greatest emotional impact, so I'd recommend you go back and play that one.

I still haven't picked up Death of the Outsider. One of these days...