So a few reviews of the game have said the game's ending is anti-climatic (and/or the story is cliched). I was hoping for something really in-depth, surprising and deep since this game is single player only and besides the great gameplay, should be all about its story.

Without spoiling anything, has anyone thus far been unimpressed with the story? Has anyone made it to the end yet and felt it was underwhelming? Of course, like I said, please don't spoil anything.

Thanks ya'll

I haven't played the game yet, but I wouldn't trust the vast majority of game reviewers when it comes to the story. Heavily cinematic narratives are valued such as Mass Effect and Uncharted. I doubt many people who have played it realize that most of the story is what you create yourself. The story IS the world.

But, I haven't played it yet, so what do I know?

Well that's honestly the impression I'm getting. The story probably isn't "bad" per say, but is most likely pretty straight forward since it's just a revenge quest. I loved Assassin's Creed 2, but to me, that entire game up until the end was just one revenge quest after another. It wasn't until the last hour that I was caring about how it was going to end. I think Dishonored may be the opposite. I won't care about the last hour as much as all the hours I took to get there. Like you said, the story is what you create. I just hope there's DLC that expands on the lore and the parts they don't flesh out.

I would really love to see the world of Dishonored expanded into a larger narrative that has growth potential.

no the story is not deep at all

ps assassins creed is NOT about revenge
i have played all the games

In terms of background lore, world-building, mythology and atmosphere, this game is near-perfect. The fact they created an entire world beyond this one game is something I haven't seen done to the same level of depth since DA:O. Most games, like TES, took years and several games to start expanding on its lore and carving out its own unique niche in the fantasy genre, but Dishonored did this in the span of a single development cycle, arguably in a more unique way. The undertones of spirituality / magic vs. Logic / science are very interesting and strangely relavent to the real world.

I haven't finished the game yet, but so far in terms of plot, dialogue, pacing, and story progression....everything that was right with the lore is what's wrong with these aspects of the story. So far, it seems cliched, paced poorly in terms of plot and character development, dialogue is often bland, and there aren't that many surprises yet. The bad guys, while interesting, seem pretty one dimensional in their motivations thus far, but as I've said, I haven't finished the game yet.

This being said, I have absolutely no doubt that this IP will be revisited. They made this world to last beyond one game, perhaps beyond one genre of game (open world rpg anyone?). We can only hope they work out the kinks next time around.

^this

The actuall drama of the story is not very deep but the story of the world and what happens in it is. Kinda like Half Life 2 I guess but deeper than that

Psychotrip hit the nail on the head there. Amazing universe and all, but the ending and story in general was pretty lacking or standard. I have high hopes already for this game to have some sort of sequel, where they can work on such things.

The world is very well-developed and highly atmospheric. I just love reading all the books/notes/etc in the game world,
and I would say that the setting actually overpowers the story in terms of how through and detailed the city of Dunwall is.

The story is not very complicated, but you meet some interesting characters and unusual personalities. I haven't gotten
to ending, but I've come not to expect much from them. Seems like it's an ongoing difficulty not only in games, but in
books/movies/anime/etc to come up with a satisfying conclusion.

Well I can say one thing for sure. If you kill everything you can, dont ever save anyone (NOT ONE!), slaughter all civillians. On civillians trapped/jailed: You can rescue them first for a humorous comment like "Thank you kind soul for ..." then throw a whale tank in their face. Where was I hmmm... yeah... if you like DARK endings. Play this game as a sociopathic murderer and you will not be let down.

I agree with everyone so far. I'm on the 2nd mission and while I can see the story as "basic", it's by no means a bad or boring story. The comparison to Half Life 2 is pretty strong, not just in the environment and world they've created, but also the way in which the world itself plays a larger role than the overall narrative. HL2's world was so amazing to me that when I first played it, I just wandered around looking at everything and exploring. It wasn't even open world or an RPG, but I was fully immersed in what they created. I feel the same way in Dishonored. Reviewers have complained that the mysteries aren't all solved. I guess if you look at the age of the reviewer you'll see why they say that. Most young reviewers grew up with their narratives spoon fed to them and want their hands held. Half Life 2 never explained who the Gman was. But 10 years ago people LOVED that about the game. Yet, Dishonored reviewers are complaining that the Outsider isn't fully explained.

I can see why Prometheus didn't do well in the theaters or with critics. No one wants to speculate anymore. They want everything shown to them so they don't have to think. Even if Dishonored ends with the little girl being put on the thrown and giving some cheesy speech to Corvo about saving the day, I'll still be happy I played it because the Outsider is a mystery and the world is so unique. Like was said in this thread; it's amazing they did all this in one development cycle.

Maybe I don't relate to most gamers where story is concerned. Case in point, I wished the Mass Effect 3 ending I got was better, but I was okay with the conclusion. Unless something really lame happens down the road, I'm loving this game so far and I like the mystery of the lore.

I think speculation is part of the fun. Never knowing for sure how things are is a mystery that keeps you guessing and keeps things interesting.

The story is very straight forward but has a few twists.

Revenge does NOT fix everything.

I smell another RAGE type game coming on after about 3 hours of play time

Not at all. The game is quite long.

The story IS basic, but the world design and lore make it pretty great. I don't think the story is going to surprise anyone in it's plot points, but the characters are all very well done. The ending was a little anti-climatic, however, only about 30 seconds long for my pacifist playthru. I expected more, but I guess the game does do a good job of telling you what happens to characters and what the results of your actions are during gameplay if you are paying attention, so I guess not a whole lot needed to be said at the end. Still, I'm hoping other endings are a little longer.

Well the good thing is if they want to expand the ending(s) and flesh things out a bit more, there's always DLC. Mass Effect 3's stock ending was poor, but the extended cut they released DID work and explained things better. I don't want all the mystery explained in a game. I want to have to think about it. It keeps me intrigued and makles replay value A LOT higher, because I will actually WANT to explore the world again to see if I notice something different the next time.

So no one has said the ending svcked or was bad. I personally liked the game RAGE. But the ending was so short and abrupt and flat out dull. It also leaves you hanging like, what the hell happens next? The characters were bland too, but the gameplay and visuals were amazing in my opinion. I was afraid that Dishonored would suffer the same fate as all the recent games Bethesda has published, but not developed (Brink, Rage, etc).

That is completely dependant on gamestyle I only used 9 hours on it on my homicidal slaughterfest walkthrough on normal. Playing either very hard or going full stealth/non lethal and I imagine the game will be thrice as long. So maybe 25+ hours.

For completionists you probably have ALOT more gametime on your hands. If you are a perfectionist and want all achievements Im guessing youll need 3 playthroughs... which actually isnt bad. The gameplay is really fun so you wont get bored and the different endings adds to that.

without spoiling the endings, I'm assuming you'll come to a point in a mission where you have to chose a path and that path will result in the one of three endings? I'm only killing around 8 people a mission, so my chaos level is pretty low. All I've heard in regard to that is you either get a lighter or darker ending based on that stat.

The main story isn't
The world is
some of the characters are.

I would say that the story is very basic "A bodyguard is framed for the murder of the empress and seeks justice, But the plot is as deep as you make it.

On my first play-through I made the choice to not kill civilians or targets that I didn't "know" had done anything wrong, But I "put down" weepers and "eliminated" guards.
It was not until the very end when I saw "HIGH CHAOS" flash across the screen that I realized my hypocrisy and I felt ashamed.

The story gave me the opportunity to preserve or destroy life, It was the plot that formed as I played through the story that had depth.

The main quest is not very deep.

The world is rich and could greatly be expanded on.

The characters are very nice if you listen to what the Heart has to say about them.

Like the rest, I found the story to be fairly standard fare and no great shakes. This is not necessarily a bad thing, just somewhat disappointing considering the amount of effort and creativity that went into creating the world in which the game exists. That being said, the existence of that "Downloadable Content" button tells me that Arkane has something up its sleeve for the future. Whether this will be something to more fully flesh out the existing story or something completely different remains to be seen, but I have high hopes in light of what is already there.

You are 100% correct. After playing another couple hours I'm completely immerced in this game. I'm maybe 10 hours into it so far and I'm loving it. Don't get me wrong, I loved RAGE as well, but I know a lot of people were dissapointed in it. I wasn't though. This game is just another great game from Bethesda.