Obviously gonna contain some spoiler here, as I will simply post a link to my speedrun for the last level of the game on low chaos.

http://youtu.be/b-e32KD35-Q

Last level done in 2:30 from the moment we are given control to the moment we open the door to Emily's chambers.
I had to pick some powers first, since I first did the game in very hard / mostly flesh and steel. I do not count this little manipulation in the countdown.

One thing that actually bothered me a little in Dishonored was that, even with multiple paths, one was always way, way quicker and almost safer than the rest.

During the High Overseer mission, when you reach Hoger street where there actually is the high Overseer, you can just hop onto the ledge and get a complete access to both the interrogation room ( which conveniently contains a book about the Heretic Brand, no need to go to the Archives ) AND the dinning room where Campbell meets with the Captain.
During the Sokolov abduction mission : there is a chain that will bring you straight from the roofs of the nearby buildings to the greenhouse where he is experimenting. So, yeah, you miss the whole house, but there isn't even much to see there. The painting can even be stolen on the way down thanks to an open window.
During the Lord Regent mission, once inside the palace, you just blink on the lamps, then in the LR's room. The broadcast tower is also easily reachable.
For the final level, well just look at my video. I'm quite confident this can also be done with nothing more than just Blink 1. Actually I almost did. But for the sake of "speedrunning", Blink 2 and agility 2 are obvious requirements.

While I strongly support the "take the route you want" approach in a video game, I also am a bit disappointed that sometimes, there IS a direct route which is obviously the "best", since you don't miss so much stuff, and you still can manage to do the mission safely.
Maybe they could have avoid such direct routes. Maybe I'm just a bit disappointed by this fact. Don't get it wrong, though : I LOVED Dishonored. This here is merely the only thing that annoyed me in the end.

I like that there are direct routes, for those lucky enough to have taken them, or for those who play through multiple times. I like that I'm still noticing better shortcuts on my second playthrough. It's probably going to continue to happen on my third playthrough.

Figuring out shorter or easier or "better" routes, or ways to do things, is part of the fun.

Well, it's gold for speedrunning, actually.

Other than that, I mostly found direct routes, and I often found myself back-tracking to explore the content. It felt a bit... It didn't feel fluid, feel me?
The game either lacked some real motivations to flush us out of the main road, or those main roads were really too easy to take. Think about the Flooded District level, which was probably the less interesting one - very linear, in my opinion, up to the multi-segment structure that it was the one and only mission to adopt. Well the dead wagon part was the most open-worlded if I may say so, you could either ride the wagon, light up the survivor's nest to set the tallboys on them, help the survivors but be back to the starting point, etc.
Well what was sad was that there was, actually, nothing special to do here. I mean, I rode the wagon the first time and really wondered "is that it?". I backtracked to see if there wasn't more to do, but the thing with the survivors was pretty small. Having a direct path was anticlimatic here, especially when it was so damn easy to use.

Again, I'm all for direct paths, alternate approach, optimization. It can bring much satisfaction to find a good route and be good at it. Thief and DE:HR did have some shortcuts here and there, but it always relied on some skills, or at the very least, there wasn't a tunnel leading you straight to the boss chambers. Ok I'm exagerating things here, and it's hard to explain my feeling, but... Yeah. They could have made things a bit harder. Just... Close that door. Bury that tunnel. It's one thing to provide shortcuts, it's another to (almost litteraly ) give warpzones.

Not angry, just, after 30h+ of gameplay, feeling that the level design was golden, but really had strange flaws sometimes.

I tried to ride the wagon but a wall of light prevent me from leaving. The dead wagon went through, but if I'd gone through I would have died. Is there a way to disable the second wall of light? Cool, I'll figure it out next time.

The Flooded District is interesting because it's a. the longest level in the entire game because b. it's so linear.

I really like the first section, when you can retrieve your gear, because that section has a lot of verticality and a lot of ways to accomplish your objective, and it also has a lot of lore and atmosphere and world crammed into such a tiny space. The section after that, where you go to Daud's HQ, is also really satisfying; assassinating assassins is fun! The section after Daud is what I have a problem with. I really dislike the linear nature of the mines and that last stretch where you have to avoid the weepers. Then again, I've only played that section with high chaos, yet. Maybe on low chaos I'll appreciate it more.

(It felt too crammed. But maybe that's just my slight agoraphobia coming through.)

I've noticed that some levels are more fun on my second playthrough, with low chaos. For instance, I didn't like The Golden Cat on high chaos, because it was quite literally almost impossible to stealth. On my second playthrough, with low chaos, stealth is a much more reasonable possibility.

As for exploration vs shortcuts ... I think you have enough reason already to explore. You get ruins and money and weapons and bone charms. Getting more of these will help Corvo in later missions. That's good enough justification for me to backtrack the one or two times I've found a shortcut.

Well, I think we can agree to disagree
The Flooded District being the longest mission in the game was probably due to the fact it was so boringly linear... Well, in my opinion! Don't expect too much from the sewers final section in low chaos though : there aren't even any weepers. Just River Krusts and survivors who won't break the detection.

And yeah, I backtracked for runes and charms, essentially. I was thinking more of little sub-zones like the Kernels during the High Overseer mission, which basically contains nothing ( a little stash under a pile of body ) and doesn't even bring you at a good spot inside the palace.
But... naah. It's a strange sensation, mixed feelings. Like somehting was amiss but I can't point it out.

And anyway, my run was improved by about 13sec by soeone else, so I have work to do !

I actually really dig that. It'll be a great little atmospheric breather. The weepers made the last stretch feel like overkill, from a pacing and content standpoint. It's the same problem I had with The Golden Cat in high chaos.


I get the feeling like here and there they wanted to add a little bit extra, but that they didn't have time and/or money. The level and mission design often feel like they're just missing that last 10% that would have made them really brilliant. I'm still very happy with what we did get, however, for the most part.


Get to work.

1:32! Video incoming.
What will be fun will be to do the same to all levels after that. I have the strangest feelings that Flooded District is impossible to finish in 1 minute, though... Wonder why Still, no recovering the gear will definitly help. Especially since I don't have any need for it, although the assassin's part will probably be a bit tricky with no sleep darts.

Here we go :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oEmfV_seDk&hd=1