We all know a truly defining factor of this game is how your actions affect the city. After playing through several Low and High Chaos playthroughs, and spending a great deal of time talking to the characters and exploring to the environment, I've really noticed the difference between both. It's not just a case of: more kills = more rats, weepers, and the city crumbles and less kills = less rats, weepers and the city is reborn. Everyone is affected by your actions. Emily. Samuel. Piero. Havelock. All of them.

And I think the game captures this perfectly. I saw Emily drawing a picture of Corvo standing on top of a pile of dead bodies, blade in hand. She then told me she will make everyone else afraid, like me. Really dark stuff, tainting a child THAT much with your actions.

I was speaking to Piero after and he was generally angry. Not upset or sad - angry. He spoke about how the city would be consumed by darkness and that there was no future for any of them. He is also very suspicious of his allies - . However, on a Low Chaos, he's a completely different person.

Even all of the servants seem to change to how you act.

Then we have Havelock. Without giving away many spoilers, at the end of the game, Havelock is either an angry, corrupt, wreck of a man who'll put anyone else in danger to further his own goals - - or he's a man, still corrupt, but regretful of what he's done, and a much different person in general. Samuel is also pretty different. He starts being a bit more angry at you through the story,
It's very creepy to play, and every time I now play High Chaos... I wish I wasn't! The Low Chaos world is a billion times better (in terms of what I enjoy experiencing more), but this game really hit the nail on the head. It's not the same game with a few extra rats here and there, it's completely different, and thoroughly satisfying to play through both ways and compare how each and every person changes and reacts to you.

I just really want to thank Arkane for the amount of depth in this games 'Chaos' system. Every thing you do is noted and the game forms around that. Even the tiniest things like bounty posters are changed depending on how many people you've killed, if you've been detected, etc etc. Just fantastic.

My first playthrough was a non-lethal one, and I was quite glad with the ending. But, of course, when I went through on a more hostile run the cracks started to show. "High Chaos" really does earn its name.

It's the most brutally obvious at the celebration Post-Regent, with Havelock, Pendleton and Martin beginning to bicker with each-other - I almost skipped that conversation, in truth, because I hadn't expected there to be much difference in dialogue at all. How very, very wrong I was.

It's funny how many people read a thread not only here, also in Skyrim forum or anothers but only from 50 one make a reply (lol). My reply, first I started playing without any kills (where possible) <- I don't know if this is the correct sentence but hope you understandme. Then, at the end (SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!) Nah... just kidding! Now I'm playing killing everything, like the biggest assassin yippee-ki-yay!!!!!!! (lol again) But in every chapter I don't see any difference, I mean, I want a dark place, a cool thunderstorm, people attacking everything that moves, more enemies, etc. I don't talking about playing in hard but the only difference playing in low chaos or high chaos is in one chapter (sorry, not spoiler hehehe) but if you read my post there's a hint.

^

There's way more than one difference between high and low chaos, I assure you. That chapter you were talking about is the most significant difference, but there are way more if you are observant.

No, the last level is a big difference depending on your chaos, but so many others things change as well. Dialogue being one of the main ones. As early on as the second mission you can notice dialogue changes from Low to High chaos if you're observant.