Catching up on the past couple months:

• Dishonored
  

  61 hours playtime

  37 of 80 achievements

What can I say about Dishonored that hasn’t been said before? It’s an utterly fantastic game, one of the best I’ve ever played, and I loved every moment of it.

I’ve never really been fond of stealth sequences in action games, so imagine my surprise that not only did I love the stealth in Dishonored, but I ended up going for a non-lethal, never-spotted playthrough just because it felt like the right way to play. And, to my surprise, it was actually far more satisfying than the violent, action approach. There’s something much more powerful about sneaking up behind a guy undetected, choking him out, and then just leaving him there - a far more effective demonstration of power than just stabbing or shooting someone.

I loved the world, the story, the characters (I was surprised by the voice actors listed in the credits), and the sheer pleasure of sneaking around the world - each confrontation felt like a delightful puzzle. I was constantly surprised by how flexible the game was - each area or obstacle seemed to have 3-4 different approaches, and often it was only after the confrontation was complete that I’d realize all the other paths that I could have taken.

I loved Dishonored enough to do a second playthrough, violent and ruthless this time. It was still fun and enjoyable, but sneaky and non-lethal felt far more so, and seemed like the way the game was meant to be played.

That’s right, I went off-Steam. I was so excited for Nier Automata (to have a better sale), that I remembered that I had picked up the original Nier on clearance years ago and never played it. So I decided to dust it off and fire it up. To my surprise, it was great.

Nier was really refershing, as evidenced by the intro that begins with a woman shouting and swearing - a clear sign to the player that this isn’t your typical RPG. The characters were very unique and interesting, the most unique and memorably characters I’ve seen in an RPG since Planescape Torment. The story and setting were good, the locations ranging from standard fantasy to lovely and haunting spaces. The combat was fun and engaging. The music was fantastic, setting the mood wonderfully - I can’t say enough good things about the music.

I was surprised how much of what I found in the Nier Automata demo was present in the original Nier - the combination of melee and ranged attacks; the changing camera angles that change the game from a third-person action RPG to a side-scrolling platformer or top-down brawler; the bullet-hell enemy attacks; the over-the-top boss fights. It was clearly better executed in Automata, with a larger budget, but the inspiration was there in the orignal Nier.

Speaking of the boss fights, they were incredible - enormous fights, some ranging across an entire town, and over-the-top in the most epic way.

On the downside, the game clearly had more ambition than budget and time. The graphics are fine but hardly impressive, and the camera employs a depth-of-field effect that makes images on the periphery of the screen appear as if someone smeared vaseline all over the screen. The 2D side-scrolling sections are more novel than they are enjoyable, and the side-quests - while occasionally amusing - are almost all tedious gather / fetch quests.

But I still loved my time with it, and highly recommend it to RPG fans. It’s a great way to pass the time while waiting for Automata to become more affordable.