Dishonored 2
Tags: sci-fi

Plot synopsis:
=== Setting ===
While players begin and end the game in Dunwall, much of the story takes place in the coastal city of Karnaca, the capital of Serkonos that lies along the southern region of the Empire of the Isles, whose chief exports include silver. Unlike Dunwall, which relied on whale oil for power, Karnaca is powered by wind turbines fed by currents generated by a cleft mountain along the city's borders, though the winds that blow over and into the city cause it to be rife with dust storms, most notably within its mining district which led it to be known as the "Dust District". At the time the game begins, two factions, the Howlers and Overseers, engage in violent conflict within the district, with the Howlers seeking to oppose the new Duke and his government following the passing of its previous Duke, leading to the Grand Serkonan Guard, Karnaca's law enforcement and military, erecting defensive barriers called Walls of Light in response to the disarray.
=== Characters ===
The main characters of Dishonored 2 that the player can control are Corvo Attano (Stephen Russell), a former bodyguard turned assassin and the main character of Dishonored; and Emily Kaldwin (Erica Luttrell), the former Empress of Dunwall. The game's main antagonists include Luca Abele (Vincent D'Onofrio), the new duke of Serkonos following the passing of his father Theodanis; and Delilah Copperspoon (Erin Cottrell), a witch and the antagonist of the previous game's DLC packs, The Knife of Dunwall and The Brigmore Witches, along with being the half-sister of Emily's deceased mother; promotional material from the special collector's edition of the game references her as "Delilah Kaldwin".
Other characters in the game include: Meagan Foster (Rosario Dawson)—the captain of the Dreadful Wale; Paolo (Pedro Pascal)—leader of the Howler Gang; Mindy Blanchard (Betsy Moore)—Paolo's second-in-command; Mortimer Ramsey (Sam Rockwell)—a corrupt officer of the Dunwall City Watch; Liam Byrne (Jamie Hector)—the Vice Overseer of Karnaca who opposes the Howlers; Anton Sokolov (Roger L. Jackson)—Dunwall's genius inventor; the Outsider (Robin Lord Taylor); and Jessamine Kaldwin (April Stewart)—Emily Kaldwin's mother, whose spirit was trapped in The Heart.
=== Plot ===
Fifteen years after Corvo Attano restored Emily Kaldwin to the throne following the assassination of her mother, Dunwall has prospered under her reign. However, a serial killer by the name of the "Crown Killer" has been brutally murdering Emily's enemies, leading many to believe that Emily and Corvo are responsible. During a ceremony in remembrance of Jessamine Kaldwin's assassination, Duke Luca Abele of Serkonos arrives with the witch Delilah Copperspoon, who claims to be Jessamine's older half-sister and the true heir to the throne. The Duke's men then attack, killing Emily's loyal subjects. Delilah manages to subdue Corvo and steal his powers. At this point, the player chooses whether to continue as Emily or Corvo. Depending on the player's choice, the other character will be turned to stone by Delilah while the player is knocked out and locked in Emily's quarters. The player is able to escape the room and flee to the Dunwall docks, where Meagan Foster is waiting. Meagan reveals that she was sent by Anton Sokolov to warn Emily and Corvo about the Duke's coup. Meagan shelters the player on her ship, the Dreadful Wale, and heads for Karnaca, the capital of Serkonos and where Delilah began her rise to power. During the voyage, the player is visited by the Outsider, who offers them supernatural powers and instructs them to stop Delilah.
Upon arriving in Karnaca, the player discovers that the city has fallen into decline due to rampant corruption and mismanagement, as well as a severe bloodfly infestation. The first task is to rescue Sokolov, who was kidnapped by the Crown Killer. Infiltrating Addermire Institute, where the Crown Killer is reportedly hiding out, the player discovers that the Crown Killer is in fact the alter ego of Karnaca's Chief Alchemist, Alexandria Hypatia (Jessica Straus). Hypatia accidentally created the Crown Killer persona when she tested an experimental serum on herself, and the Duke exploited her by using the Crown Killer to frame Emily. The player has the choice of either killing her or curing her condition. After investigating Addermire, it is made known that Sokolov was imprisoned by Kirin Jindosh (John Gegenhuber), the Duke's Grand Inventor and creator of the clockwork soldiers. The player enters Jindosh's Clockwork Mansion, kills him or performs an electrical lobotomy on him thus stripping him of his intellect, and frees Sokolov. Sokolov then directs the player to eliminate Breanna Ashworth (Melendy Britt), the curator of the Royal Conservatory and witch working for Delilah. The player enters the Royal Conservatory and discovers that after Delilah's defeat at the hands of Daud, it was Ashworth that created a ritual to bring Delilah back from the Void. Ashworth is eliminated by way of a fatal attack or having her powers removed.
With Delilah being too powerful to defeat by normal means, Sokolov suggests the player investigate the home of mining magnate Aramis Stilton (Richard Cansino). Three years prior, Ashworth conducted the resurrection ritual at Stilton's manor. Stilton was driven to reclusion, barricading himself in his mansion. The player can gain access to the mansion by assisting one of two factions in the area, the Howler gang led by Paolo or the Overseers led by Vice Overseer Liam Byrne. Alternatively, the player can steal information from both factions without giving them assistance. Upon entering Stilton's mansion, the player discovers that Stilton had gone insane after witnessing Delilah's resurrection. With the aid of a timepiece granted by the Outsider, the player travels back in time and observes the Duke, Jindosh, and Ashworth pull Delilah from the Void. Afterwards, Delilah siphons part of her soul into a statue, effectively making her immortal. The player invades the Duke's palace to eliminate him and retrieve Delilah's soul. After either killing the Duke or working with his body double to depose him, the player finds the statue and extracts Delilah's soul. With Delilah's soul in hand, the player returns to Dunwall for a final confrontation with Delilah. On the way, Meagan admits that her real name is Billie Lurk, a member of Daud's gang who helped assassinate Jessamine. The player has the option to kill Billie and Sokolov before returning to Dunwall Tower. As the player makes their way up, they learn that Delilah is in the process of conjuring a painting capable of rewriting reality into any way she sees fit. After reuniting Delilah with her soul, the player may choose to kill Delilah or trick her into trapping herself inside her own painting.
There are multiple endings based on whether the player caused high chaos by indiscriminately killing guards, civilians, and people capable of improving Karnaca, or achieved low chaos by refraining from taking lives. In the High Chaos ending, the player is faced with the choice of freeing Emily / Corvo from petrification or leaving them that way forever. If Emily is not left in stone, she becomes a vengeful empress and brutally purges Delilah's supporters, with Corvo by her side in one form or another. If Corvo leaves Emily petrified, he takes the throne for himself and becomes a brutal tyrant known as Emperor Corvo "the Black". Meanwhile, Karnaca is either ruled by a new tyrant or collapses completely into anarchy and, if still alive, Sokolov becomes a broken man after having borne witness to the perversion of his work and is exiled to his home country. In the Low Chaos ending, the player frees Emily / Corvo from their imprisonment. A council of representatives takes charge in Karnaca and brings the city back from the brink. Emily becomes a fair and just ruler, reuniting the Empire with Corvo by her side. Sokolov, proud to see his work used for good, returns to his home country. Regardless of either ending, if Meagan is still alive, she readopts her identity as Billie Lurk and leaves to search for Daud.

Review: Not quite the sequel i expected. Dishonored 2 has a nearly identical problem to Deus Ex - Mankind Divided. Both look much better than the predecessor, both play better, both have more varied level design but both also feature a noticeably inferior story, while coming out during a way too crowded release window. Dishonored 2 fares even worse with its narrative, as the 1st game's DLC went over similar territory. Calling both of these a well done standalone add-on is fairly fitting and the ability to either play as Emily or the returning Corvo (appropriately voiced be the former Thief VA) doesn't change all that much. I even played thought the game as both, while going for opposite play styles and even forwent getting the supernatural powers for Emily. My reward were many trophies but the song mostly remained the same. I would even say that playing aggressively is more fun than trying to be a ghost but the first game had the same issue. The game is also again too cartoonishly violent for its own good. Stealth fans will obviously need to get it but the longer Definitive Edition of the 1st game feels like a more complete package and a sequel will need to break new ground in terms of setting and themes. Not that I expect one due to the middling sales. The same goes for a new Deus Ex game (The stealth genre is apparently going through rough times.) 8/10