4.5/5 ★ – nate_mckeever's review of Dishonored: Definitive Edition.

Dishonored is excellent. I remembered loving the OG back on the 360 and this remaster/CE was an absolute treat. I think the setting is easily pretty S-tier. Dundalk and its history and people are intriguing. The steampunk meets eldritch vibe is total NateBait™. A little grimdark, a lotta weird, with a splash of turn of the century Victorianism/Quasi-Lovecraftian (kinda, maybe…). I like the universe a lot. Corvo’s story in particular is a delightfully wild ride. And the art direction is great too imo. Instead of really trying to push the fidelity and go for a hyper realistic look, Arkane leans into a wild claymation-esque almost expressionist aesthetic- and I love it. It’s an actual style, not just trying to make things real life and then some. Where the game really shines is in the gameplay though. The verticality in level design leads to tons of different ways to approach the scenarios and Corvo’s varied toolkit are too much fun. I did a low chaos, mostly stealth centered run this time and loved the mix. Occasionally i would just run and gun (because why not? lol). I was 2 achievements away from 100% on the 360, so I’ve done some work in this game. I’m kinda thinking about trying to grab the plat- but too much on my plate right now. All that being said, imo- this is a pretty strong should play, maybe even must play in my book.