Newsy, news!

Lately I've been trying to write as many reviews as possible to try to keep the Steam store page for I Game, I Saw, I Conquered (it's here if you want to, you know, make it 9 followers) poppin' for my 8 (yes, an entire 8!) followers.  As a result, I haven't really written much about any current items of interest.  A few items have popped up that are of great interest to me personally and that might interest one of the other eight people out there.

Interesting news tidbit #1

There's a Theme Hospital re-boot in the works!  I've mentioned my love of this childhood favorite many, many times on this here blog (not as much as Mass Effect, but still...a lot).  The original creators have founded a new software company, Two-Point Studios, and have been developing the modern version of the 1997 classic.  From the videos that have been released it looks like the same goofy sense of humor has been infused into TwoPoint Hospital--there are patients wandering around with lightbulb shaped heads who have a case of "lightheadedness," and require treatment via having their lightbulb heads taken off with a special machine and replaced with an actual head.  Here is the trailer:

I've been floored since initially hearing this news and have now taken to trying to track down any little pieces of information about the new game.  It's slated to be released this year and, if you're as excited as me, you can sign up for updates at https://www.twopointhospital.com/.  You can also wishlist it on Steam and bounce in your chair like a toddler.  That's probably just me.

Interesting news tidbit #2

The crew from Inquisition.

Supposedly there's a new Dragon Age in the works.  There have been Tweets and many gaming news sources have been reporting it this week.  This is a little surprising because much of everything that we've been hearing from BioWare has been targeted toward the upcoming multiplayer Anthem.  The news about Anthem has been slightly mixed with statements that it won't actually be released until 2019.  It also seems like some of the last news we heard was that the A-team was completely dedicated to the creation of Anthem.  So, if this Dragon Age thing is actually happening, my guess is that it's in the very early, early stages.

One of the most concerning parts of this Dragon Age related news is that there was much talk about including more "live elements."  What exactly does "live elements" mean?  Dragon Age:  Inquisition included multiplayer, so probably at least some sort of multiplayer.  There has been some speculation about co-op (which would be kind of cool).  At this point everyone also knows that EA's stance on any new games seems to be that they need to include an ongoing source of revenue...this means some sort of soul-sucking loot crates/boxes and an in-game system that encourages the purchases of said crate/boxes.

As a fan of the Dragon Age series, I really hope that they don't ruin the game by focusing solely on ways to suck people into microtransactions.  I've always loved BioWare for their single-player focus, strong storytelling, and great characters.  Lately it seems like they're being pushed away from this model and fans haven't been too happy (Mass Effect:  Andromeda...).  I've read several speculative articles that the future of BioWare could hinge on the success or failure of Anthem.  All this Dragon Age talk could be for naught, and realistically a new game is probably several years in the future.

Here's a link to a PC Gamer article about the new Dragon Age:  http://www.pcgamer.com/mark-darrah-confirms-that-bioware-is-working-on-a-new-dragon-age-game/

A Borderline Recommendation for Borderlands

There are some games that I absolutely love and will publicly laud with no apologies (the Mass Effect trilogy).  Then, there are the games that I loathe (Spelunky and roguelikes in general).  It's more difficult for the games that lie somewhere in the middle.  The Borderlands series has always been set firmly in my "meh" zone.  Since I recently played through the magical episodic adventure Tales from the Borderlands, I had a weird hankering to go back and replay the Borderlands series.  I'm 95% done with Borderlands and am ready with a fresh perspective.

When Borderlands originally came out in 2012 it seemed to contain some exciting new concepts.  Yes, it was going to be a shooter, but it was also going to be an RPG.  This seemingly strange combination of two unlikely genres peaked my interest and I added it to my Steam library.  I don't think I've revisited it for at least five years...so, it has been awhile.

This time around I decided to play as Brick since I had played all the other characters.  Playing as melee oriented characters in a shooter is probably one of my least favorite things to do and I think I've had the least fun playing as Brick.  I had way more fun playing as Lilith or Mordecai.

Pros:
--Quirky humor and characters.  This is the main reason that I've stuck with the Borderlands series over the years.  There's always some whacky, weirdo who wants to send you on a quest to rescue their pet skag or retrieve their increasingly zany lost audio diaries.  I can truly appreciate the dark humor and weirdness.

--Character choice that offers enough variety for replayability.  Each character has his/her own playstyle and can be even further personalized through the RPG talent points system.  You can also find character mods that enhance your chosen abilities scattered throughout the game.

--Co-op multiplayer that is built around the four main characters.  I've only ever played with one other person, but it's very apparent that the characters were designed to take on a sort of traditional RPG multiplayer role--Brick is the tank, Lilith is the healer/magic user, Mordecai is the long-range specialist, and Roland is the support specialist.  I've always been intrigued by the idea of having tougher enemies with better loot as you increase the number of players in the game.

--Tons of loot.  If looting is your thing...there are boxes, lockers, chests, lockboxes, toilets, garbage piles, dumpsters, skag piles...I could go on, but  I'm going to stop.

--Gun variety further adds to personalization of your character.  Each character has certain talents that are oriented toward a certain type of gun/damage.  Brick, for example, has one set of talents that increases the amount of rocket damage he does (I hate rockets...so didn't take that one).

--Large variety of equally depressing environments.  Pandora is clearly only for the desperate.

--Variety of enemies to shoot.  Bandits, rakk, skags, bugs, Crimson Lance....tons.

--Minimal Claptrap.  Thank baby Jesus.

Cons: 
--I'm going to call this one identity crisis.  The idea of combining a shooter and an RPG was kind of awesome.  The execution of this combination is, well, a bit lacking.  The shooter aspect of the game isn't as good as other games that are purely shooters.  Shooting stuff just doesn't feel as fun.

--Loot wheel of failure.  I've found myself frustrated at the loot drops.  It feels like the only loot that drops is at least five or more levels below the level of my character.  Rarely do I find a gun that is of a similar level...and then it's usually a type of gun that I don't really want to use.  When you don't find decent guns for a good chunk of time it can make for a lot of dying.

--The run-around.  I always try to manage my completion of missions in a logical order that cuts down on the amount of travel.  Finish off all the missions in one area and then move on.  Many times throughout the game I've found myself finishing off missions only to then get a brand new bundle of missions for the same area!  This is something that has driven me bonkers throughout the series.

Borderlands is a game that I neither love, nor hate.  It's entertaining enough that I can keep playing, but I just don't get as much of a sense of satisfaction that I do from other games.  If you love shooters, there are better shooters out there.  This goes for the RPG aspect as well.  As a result, I can only cautiously recommend Borderlands. 

Underrated Episodic Fun

I am not really sure where episodic story games fall in the world of gaming.  Are they too casual for those who consider themselves to be more "hardcore?"  Or too simplistic?  It just doesn't really feel like they get much attention.  This is unfortunate because I've had a lot of fun and had to really think through some difficult choices in several of them.  I recently decided to revisit (and finally review) one of my favorite episodic story games, Tales from the Borderlands.

Tales from the Borderlands follows the TellTale pattern of taking a pre-existing fandom and spinning off a choice based series of stories set in a specific universe.  The Borderlands games are a whacky combination of FPS mixed with RPG and a wicked sense of strange humor.  Taking those genres and throwing them together into an episodic story game seemed like a misstep, but somehow it works.  It more than just works though, it's one of the best TellTale games.

The story is centered around two very different characters--Rhys, who is your typical Hyperion corporate climber, but who harbors a not-so-secret vein of admiration for Handsome Jack--and Fiona, part of a sisterly duo of Pandoran con-artists who are out to land a big score.  You begin the game playing as Rhys, who has recently found out that he is up for a promotion, and who is heading to the office of his boss to receive the good news.  Once there, he discovers that his boss has been replaced by an arrogant, jackass named Vasquez.  Rather than receive his promotion, Rhys instead finds himself demoted to "head janitor" and is looking for a way to get back at Vasquez.  He overhears a conversation about a possible deal to buy a vault key and decides that stealing the key would be the perfect opportunity to get revenge.  Rhys teams up with his accounting buddy, Vaughn, and his requisitions pal Yvette, to steal $10 million from Hyperion to land on Pandora and buy the key out from under Vasquez.  What could possibly go wrong?

It turns out that everything could go wrong.  The entire idea of two mid-level corporate idiots navigating the dangerous world of Pandora, even for a short trip, is laughable.  Things go bad from the start--Rhys and Vaughn get lost and end up getting attacked by the locals (bandits...of course) and barely manage to make it out of that scrape.  They finally make it to the deal and have to try to negotiate a deal with August (a Pandoran gangster/pierced scumbag) and Sasha (Fion's con-artist sister).  The deal seems to be progressing well when Sasha starts acting weird and decides she doesn't want to sell the key.  It looks like the deal has gone south, so Rhys has to come up with some way to salvage it...

At this point the perspective changes to that of Fiona.  It turns out that the vault key was a fake all along and that Fiona and Sasha, with the help of their master con-artist adopted father, Felix, have set up this entire elaborate scheme.  You play as Fiona and get to see the work to set up the deal as it plays out.  Fiona enters the scene as Rhys is trying his absolute best to save the deal--she knows that Rhys can use his echo eye to scan the vault key and that he will know it's a fake.  She has to slip an electronic device onto the case that will scramble the signal from his echo eye.  With some crafty help from Sasha, Fiona manages to get the device onto the case.  The deal seems like it's actually going to go through, Rhys opens the case and is awed by the key and Vaughn offers to pony up the cash.  Disaster strikes when the vault key is accidentally dropped and broken, revealing that it is a fake, and the party is massively crashed by Zero (a vault hunter from Borderlands 2) and a large contingent of angry bandits.  In the chaos the money is stolen and Rhys and Vaughn decide to team up with Fiona and Sasha in an effort to get it back.

The rest of the story follows this unlikely team as they try to recover their stolen money, then stumble onto a horde of Atlas technology that promises to lead them to an actual vault.  The journey is filled with action packed moments, a boatload of choices, and a wide range of emotions--from laughs, to being grossed out, to being sad.

Pros:

--Borderlands characters and related humor.  If you're at all familiar with any of the Borderlands games you will enjoy the zany humor infused throughout the game.  It's dark, it's violent, and it's hilarious.  Bandits entertain you with their typical mix of strange talk--meat bicycles, face pizzas...that kind of thing.  Some of your favorite vault hunters make an appearance or play a big role in the story--Zero, Athena, Brick, and Mordecai all pop up at some point.  Other characters from the series also play a large role--Handsome Jack, Scooter, Janey Springs, and even Loader Bot.  Thankfully, there's no Claptrap.

--Storyline that follows two characters.  Switching back between Rhys and Fiona provides the opportunity to make choices and mold those characters into who you want them to be.  It also is a fun way to provide background on both characters and give them more of their own story.  I cannot remember if I've played any other TellTale games that have used this character switching approach.

--Same graphical/art style as the Borderlands games.  Having 2K work hand in hand with TellTale helped make the game feel like another piece of the Borderlands series.  Pandora and Helios felt like the same places, but that we got to experience them as different characters.

--Amazing soundtrack and opening sequences.  I really enjoyed the music that they sprinkled throughout the game and loved the credit sequences at the beginning of each game.  There are some cool songs as well as some music from Borderlands throughout the series.  (I wrote about this here).

--LoaderBot.  They managed to take one of the most annoying foes from Borderlands and turn it into a lovable, loyal, robot buddy.

--Choices that feel meaningful.  Yes, I know that it's the illusion of choice, but dammit if those choices aren't tough!  In a few seconds you have to decide whether or not to trust the AI version of Handsome Jack (don't do ti!  Or do...it's up to you...which is my point).  TellTale are the masters of this particular illusion.

--A fun story.  It zigs and zags all over the place and you have no idea how things are going to end up, but the journey is an absolute blast.  Sprinkled throughout are tons of moments where you will be laughing (or possibly crying).

--Weirdly gross moments that add to the flavor of the story.  They involve an eyeball and a face.  That's all I'm going to say.

Cons:
--QTE sequences that feel weird on a PC.  I kind of like them, but I know that some people loathe them.  They're super easy with a keyboard.

That's really my only con...I have genuinely enjoyed this series both of the times I have played through all five parts.

If you're a fan of the Borderlands series, someone who wants to play a less serious (but still fun!) TellTale game, or just someone who's looking for something new you really should check out Tales from the Borderlands.  It's by far one of my favorite TellTale series and one that didn't get the attention and love that it really deserved.  I think I actually liked it better than Borderlands:  The Pre-Sequel. 

I love Sticky Cows!

Every once in awhile we all need a game that is just absolutely silly--the kind of game that's mostly about laughing and doesn't take itself too seriously.  The kind of game that includes fart jokes, cows that stick to rolling objects, and classic stories and artwork being turned into hilarious Monty Python-esque cutscenes.  Well folks, I present to you Rock of Ages and it's newer, cooler brother Rock of Ages 2.

I guess that if you had to classify the Rock of Ages games you could pick from a variety of labels--tower defense, comedy, sports (yup...if you consider skee ball a sport), racing, strategy...these are just a few listed on the Steam store page.  The general gist of the games is that you play as a famous boulder wielder (Sisyphus in the first game and Atlas in the second) and using your mighty boulder you must defeat other historical figures in a race around an obstacle course.  At the bottom of the course is your fort (and the fort of your opponent).  To win you must destroy the door to your opponents fort and squish them with your boulder.  Usually this takes about 3-4 rounds of rolling.  Between each turn, while your boulder is being re-chiseled at the top of the course, you can place obstacles on your opponent's side.  These obstacles range from stone walls that can block (but be destroyed) part of the course, windmills that can blow a boulder off course, catapults that can damage a boulder, and, my personal favorite, sticky cows!  They are cows that stick to boulders which serves to slow them down.  The challenge is to figure out the best place to place your obstacles so that the course is harder for your opponent.  You also have to be pretty good at steering your boulder around the course--if you fall off of the course your boulder must be place back on the course, which costs you time.

Each level has a specific theme and/or enemy who you have to defeat.  The cutscenes between levels are absolutely ridiculous...sort of a weird mash-up of Monty Python and an art history class.  In the first game there are tons of nerdy references that will make you crack up.  The first game follows a chronological path through history while the second game lets you choose your enemy from a larger map.  There are "bosses" sprinkled around the map which are basically battles where you figure out how to use your boulder to attack and destroy it.

Besides just the story mode there is also a skee ball mode, which plays exactly like regular skee ball--you navigate a course and try to land your boulder in the highest valued hole--and there are also a few multiplayer modes--you can play the classic Rock of Ages mode where you place obstacles and try to be the first to squish your enemy or there's obstacle course mode where you race someone down a course filled with pre-set obstacles in a best of five match.

These two goofy games are guaranteed to have you laughing.  Or questioning your sense of humor.

Pros:

--History/Art History nerds will enjoy all the various historical characters sprinkled throughout the game.  It's fun to play against and squish all those people you spent ages learning about in school.

--Stupid funny.  The jokes aren't exactly high-brow--there's lots of fart noises, girlish screaming, and just general silliness.  Monty Python level silliness...but what nerd doesn't like Monty Python?

--Each course presents a new challenge.  Some have lots of curves, while others might have gaps that require precisely timed jumps.

--Unlockable boulders.  As you progress and defeat enemies you unlock new boulders that have varying abilities (and are also funny).  Each unlocked boulder allows you to choose one that caters to your playstyle--maybe you need a strong boulder to destroy lots of obstacles or a super fast boulder to avoid them--you can choose!

--Multiplayer.  There's even competitive leaderboards if that's what you're into.

--Some strategizing required.  It's not extremely tough to figure out and you can mostly win without too much planning, but there are a few levels that require some forethought.

Cons:

--Both games are fairly short (if you just play story mode).  I finished story mode in the first game in 3 hours.  The second game clocked in at about 7.  Get them on sale.

--Not a huge replayability factor.  They seem like the kind of game that you play through once and then pick up later on a whim.

--Humorless people will probably think they're incredibly stupid.

Here are the trailers just so you can get an idea of what the gameplay is really like:

That's the first game--which was released in 2011, so it's a bit on the older side.

And here's the second one, which was released in 2017, so it's sparkly and new!

Mercy and Chaos in Death of the Outsider

Way too often DLC can feel like a huge ripoff--you spend a not insignificant amount on additional content only to find out that it's inadequate in quality or quantity.  I've made that mistake several times and my wallet has regretted it.  When I bought Dishonored 2, there was a package deal that included the DLC, Death of the Outsider, for 50% off.  I decided to take the package not really knowing much about the quality of the DLC.  The crazy part is that I think I actually enjoyed the DLC more than I did the base game!  It's definitely worth picking up.

Meagan/Billie is on a mission to kill a god.

(Minor Dishonored 2 character spoilers ahead!  A friendly warning.)

Late in the base game Meagan Foster (AKA Billie Lurk) reveals her dark past as a former assassin and sidekick of Daud, the royal assassin himself.  There's a very tense moment between Emily (and probably Corvo, but I didn't play as him) and Meagan as this fact is uncovered and then Emily leaves to finish off Delilah.  It seems like Meagan/Billie genuinely feels regret for the role that she played in the death of Jessamine Kaldwin.  Helping Emily seems to be her way of seeking forgiveness.

In Death of the Outsider you play as Meagan/Billie as she embarks on a mission to rescue her former murderous mentor--Daud--from forced imprisonment by a gang.  After rescuing Daud, he ropes Meagan into a quest that sounds absolutely crazy--entering the void and killing the Outsider.  There are tons of questions that abound regarding this scenario--is the Outsider a god?  Can he even be killed?  Daud has been extremely weakened by his imprisonment and forced "magical fighting" stint--he doesn't have long to live.  Meagan feels a sense of loyalty to Daud and promises to carry out this insane sounding quest.

Pros:

--Meagan/Billie's powers are a lot of fun.  At first I was really skeptical, but after figuring out how to master them...I liked them better than Emily's powers (with the exception of Domino...which is awesome).  Meagan's powers include--foresight, which allows you to send your spirit out and allows you to scout ahead,  semblance--which allows you to impersonate an NPC that you've knocked out for a short time, and displace which functions very similarly to dark reach and is used for rapid movement/maneuvering.  You are able to use your powers much more often thanks to the fact that the use of elixirs isn't required in the DLC.  Your energy automatically refills and requires a relatively short period of waiting.

Meagan/Billie is aided by special void powers...and even an artificial eye and arm.

--No low chaos/high chaos achievements or endings.  This is something that some people might not agree with, but I found it to be a good choice.  When players are basically offered the "good ending" or the "bad ending" it really seems to push them toward playing in a specific way.  In DotO, you can play however you want and don't have to worry about the consequences.  Knock everyone out or stab them all...it's your choice (unless you want to do all the contracts...which I'll get to next).

--Contracts!  Black markets now offer "contract" missions that require you to perform certain tasks on each level for some extra coin.  These tasks vary and could be something like stealing an item from an NPC or, in one particularly homicidal mission, killing all the Overseers/Oracular sisters on an entire level.  Some contracts are more like challenges on specific levels.  I enjoyed the fact that there were tasks to accomplish outside of the main storyline.

--Fun/interesting levels.  One specific part of the story involves a bank heist.  The best part is that there are many ways to accomplish your heist--you can barge in with guns blazing or you can stealthily attempt to steal an entire vault...or you can do something in between.  There just so happens to be a contract that will pay you if you don't harm (that also means knocking out) anyone in the bank.  This added challenge meant you had to be extra stealthy and creative.

I also thought it was great how they re-used the Conservatory level, but that it felt so much different than it did during the base game.  You really get a sense of the chaos that ensued after Delilah was dethroned--the place has been torn apart and is absolutely crawling with Overseers.  It's not very often that a re-used map feels like something new.

--Plenty of content for the money.  One full playthrough for me clocked in at 17 hours.  You're not getting a measly 3-5 hours of additional gameplay, but a meaty chunk of slaying.

--Performance seems better than in base game.  My settings didn't default to "very low" and instead started on "medium."  I don't really understand why, but I'll take it!

Cons:

--Ending was fairly bland.  You dispose of the Outsider and....that's pretty much it.  I wanted to know more about Megan and her future plans...sadly, it's more about the Outsider than anything else.  I wish there could have been more about Meagan, Dunwall, and what the future looked like with Emily back on the throne.

But, I suppose that's a door that can remain open for a possible next game in the series.  Could there even be a next game now that the Outsider is gone?  I certainly hope so.

I would recommend Death of the Outsider to anyone who enjoyed Dishonored 2.  Meagan's powers are fun and the fact that you can use them more often means that there's less sitting and waiting.  The story isn't the strongest aspect of this DLC, but the fact that you can make your own choices about so much of what goes on is a welcome change from the base game.  I wasn't so non-violent...I stabbed a lot of Overseers/Oracular Sisters--53 on one level, but I generally would knock guards unconscious.  I'm just nice like that.

Making Dumb Mistakes in Dishonored 2

Players can choose between Corvo or Emily in Dishonored 2.

I spent most of my holiday break splitting time between two games--XCOM2:  War of the Chosen and Dishnored 2.  Dishonored 2 sat firmly on my wishlist for over a year.  Not because I didn't think it would be good, but because I kept reading negative reviews about the way the game performed.  I had no desire to spend money only to be frustrated by bugs or lag.  After having finished my first playthrough, I can report that the game runs well and I didn't encounter any bugs or crashing issues.  The real question that lingers is...was it as good as the original Dishonored?  Almost.

The story starts off with Emily Kaldwin, who's all grown up and is the current Empress, attending a regular day at court.  It's a special day because it's the anniversary of her mother's death and there are special activities planned to honor the memory of the last empress (if you want to know that entire story I would recommend checking out the original Dishonored).  Emily takes the throne and prepares to meet with foreign dignitaries and those who want to pay their respect to the memory of her mother.  Unfortunately, a group of conspirators use this occasion as an opportunity to quickly subdue Emily and take the throne.  One of these despicable characters is none other than Delilah Copperspoon (who you might not remember from the first game--she was a character in the Brigmore Witches DLC), a powerful witch who is claiming to be the illegitimate daughter of the last emperor.  It's at this point that players are given a choice--you can choose to play as Emily Kaldwin or you can choose to play as Corvo Attano (the royal protector and protagonist from the original game).  I decided to choose Emily since I wanted to opportunity to see how much her powers differed from what I remembered of Corvo's.

The rest of the story follows the character you chose (Emily for me) as he/she attempts to unravel the story of Delilah and to pick off her closest allies one by one.  I don't want to spoil it, so I'm not going to say much more about the story.  One thing that I will say about it is that I didn't think it was quite as compelling as the story in the first game.  But, if we're being real, is the story really the focal point in Dishonored?  I'm going to say...not really.  The stealth system and gameplay is where Dishonored really shines.

Besides choosing a character, you also have to decide how you're going to play.  Are you going to be the merciful non-assassin who stealthily incapacitates enemies but lets them live?  Or are you going to be a killing machine who destroys anything in your path?  Being stealthy requires some serious patience--there's tons of sneaking and lurking and waiting for just the right moment to strike.  It's not for everyone.  I decided I was going to be the merciful type and go for a playthrough where I wouldn't kill anyone (which is always much more difficult than it sounds).  I played through about half of the game and managed to avoid killing a single person.  Then, on one of the levels that turned out to be one of the longest, I somehow accidentally killed two people (I'm still not completely sure how this happened).  Like a dummy, I decided to power ahead rather than re-playing the level and avoiding the two deaths that I had somehow caused.  I missed getting the "clean hands" achievement by just two stinkin' deaths.  Now I'm faced with replaying my game from the point of the deaths.  Sigh.

Anyhooo...here's what I liked and disliked about Dishonored 2.

Pros:

--Stunningly beautiful settings.  Every level looks fantastic and you could feasibly spend many, many hours just taking in the scenery.  The downside to all this beauty is that you need a newer graphics card to be able to truly enjoy it.  I was slightly bummed that my 4 year old PC (which I know is verging on ancient in technological terms) defaulted to "very low" settings for almost everything.  I allowed myself a few moments of turning it up to "medium" and then decided that a smooth game with crummy, low textures would be preferable to a beautiful, jerky one.

--Exploration that yields benefits.  I am a completionist who will try to make an effort to explore as much as I can.  The nice thing about that specific playstyle is that you are rewarded by recovering coins, paintings (worth a lot of coin), blueprints, and extra runes and charms.  You can opt to rush to the objectives on each level or you can take the time to discover new and hidden places.

--Choice of protagonists.  It was refreshing to be able to choose between Emily or Corvo.  There's definitely replayability built into this decision.  They are both supposed to have differing powers the lend them their own unique playstyle.  Emily's "far reach" ability is very similar to the blink ability that Corvo had in the first game, but it offers slightly more versatility.  Not only can you navigate over the landscape quickly, but you can also use it to grab items (and even bodies) from far away.  Emily's other unique abilities include dark shadow, which allows her to turn into a weird, shadow monster that is stealthier; doppelganger, which allows her to summon a decoy version of herself; and domino, which links targets together allowing you to incapacitate or kill multiple enemies at a time (I loved this ability.  It makes those situations with more than one guard a billion times easier.)

--Choice of playstyle.  I enjoy the fact that you don't have to kill a single enemy if you don't want to.  This is completely true in Dishonored 2, unlike other games where you will inevitably have to face off against a boss who you MUST kill.  With every single boss-like character there was a non-lethal option (even for the final boss).  Finding the non-lethal option can require some work, but it's always there.

Another of the options that I felt was interesting took place at the beginning of the game after I had chosen my character.  Players can choose whether or not they accept the mark of the Outsider.  Accepting the mark means that you have access to magical powers.  To me this seemed like kind of a no-brainer kind of decision...why wouldn't you accept the powers?  They are what makes the game fun!  I guess if you're feeling particularly hardcore or like someone who wants to shun the help of a questionably motivated character, that you can opt out of receiving his special powers.

Something that I've always enjoyed about Dishonored is the fact that there is almost always multiple ways to solve a problem.  There's not one set way that you must navigate an area or to eliminate an enemy.  You always have options and can find one that suits your own playstyle preferences.

--New enemy type.  The clockwork soldiers are a new type of enemy that force you to rethink the way you play.  These obnoxious, mechanical devices have vision in the front and the back.  This means that the usual tactic of sneaking up on someone from behind does not work.  Instead you have to figure out a way to sneak in from the side and rewire them.  I mostly opted to avoid them if it was possible.  Taking them on headlong isn't advisable.

Cons:

--The story isn't bad, it just didn't feel as memorable as Dishonored.  There was more of an aspect of running for your life in the first game that made it feel more...desperate.  There were plenty of twists and turns in the first game while the second seems to hold steady through the entire game.

--Serkonos just isn't as interesting as Dunwall was in the first game.  Sure, it's rundown and poor, but without the weird, eerieness of the rat plague it doesn't have the same feeling.

--Puzzle levels.  I was not a big fan of either of the levels that were more puzzle-like (The Clockwork Mansion and the Crack in the Slab).  For me, the best part of Dishonored is the ability to stealthily take out your enemies and to fully utilize your abilities.  I didn't feel that I was able to do this on either of the levels.  Navigating the moving walls and contraptions in the Clockwork Mansion was novel at first, but was annoying by the end of the level.  Crack in the Slab offered up the unique ability to alter time and I will admit that I thought it was kind of cool how you could use the device to see the past.  The frustrating part of that level was the inability to use your powers and the fact that you had to rely on shifting between the past and the present.  I just didn't like it--I'm sure there are some people out there who loved it.

Overall, I would recommend Dishonored 2.  Even though I don't think the story was as memorable as the first game, the gameplay is still a ton of fun.  There's much satisfaction to be had in figuring out the perfect way to stealthily take out a group of enemies.  The fact that players are given even more flexibility in how they want to play makes it fun for both stealthers and slayers.