ROLLING THE DICE IN DISHONORED 2 PART 1

Putting Arkane’s whalepunk immersive sim on shuffle.

- Alex Spencer

THE RULES

1 Powers and playstyle chosen by the dice.

2 Roll for new rules each mission.

3 Stick by them, no matter what.

Stepping off the boat and onto the shores of Karnaca for the first time, Emily Kaldwin—former empress of this entire land—has two things of note to her name. The 172 runes, courtesy of the 100% save file I nabbed off the internet, and her instructions: Shadow Walk—Rob the shop—Kill only target.

The variables will shuffle for each mission, thanks to a slightly elaborate system we’ll dig into shortly. But for now, let’s focus on honoring these ones. It’s probably worth mentioning that the target of this mission isn’t even in this first level—we’ll be getting to her later—so for now, it’s just a case of not killing anyone. Luckily, my first power has non-lethal applications.

I spend a chunk of the runes unlocking and fully upgrading Shadow Walk. In its final form, I can not only transform Emily into a black smoke creature that creeps across the ground on its sharp fingertips but slip through rat tunnels and take out multiple enemies with tendrils of darkness (kind of like The Darkness, remember that?). It’s an ability I’d never rush to choose myself, honestly—which is the point of this whole exercise, pushing me to experience a game I’ve completed multiple times in a new way.