Awesome stealth action game where you play as an assassin with magic.
I played this entirely on Steam Deck at normal difficulty. The game played extremely well on 40hz/fps with high settings. I completed the main campaign but skipped the DLC for now. May come back to it. I collected most of the runes/bone charms and as many of the optional objectives I could find.
The story in this game grabs you from the very beginning. You play as the empress's and her daughter's protector in a steampunk-inspired kind of world. The game starts out with you being framed for the empress's murder and her daughter's kidnaping. Shortly after this you gain magically abilities form "the outsider" which you can enhance as you collect certain items. As you progress through the story you find out why you were framed and there are many twists and turns (not all that surprising but felt like good story telling). This game does a great job with immersing you into the story and world. I had a hard time putting it down.
The world is very detailed and the different zones for each level feel unique and inspired. From the slums, to rich neighborhoods, to military(ish) sites. You get to explore the rich world, discover interesting NPCs, and just really take in all this game has to offer. A lot of the characters are engaging and I found myself getting attached to or hating them (depending on where they stood). Even 11 years after release this game still feels relevant today, and I believe that is mostly in part to the world building they did.
Gameplay is very immersive as well. You can play the game without killing a single person, or assassinate everyone in site. There are many ways to complete objectives and the abilities you gain throughout the campaign give you a real freedom in choosing how you want to approach things. I had a hard time deciding which abilities to focus on early on but it becomes more clear as you progress through things and find your playstyle. Depending on which avenue you take (non-lethal vs lethal) does impact future levels and did seem to have some consequences at the end of the game, but it didn't seem "too" consequential. I had a lot of fun playing the vengeful assassin on my first play through. I may go back and take a more measured approach later on but we'll see.
Overall, I had a blast with this game. It offers an amazing blend of gameplay, story, and world building that I have not experienced in a while. Highly recommend if you haven't played.
I played this entirely on Steam Deck at normal difficulty. The game played extremely well on 40hz/fps with high settings. I completed the main campaign but skipped the DLC for now. May come back to it. I collected most of the runes/bone charms and as many of the optional objectives I could find.
The story in this game grabs you from the very beginning. You play as the empress's and her daughter's protector in a steampunk-inspired kind of world. The game starts out with you being framed for the empress's murder and her daughter's kidnaping. Shortly after this you gain magically abilities form "the outsider" which you can enhance as you collect certain items. As you progress through the story you find out why you were framed and there are many twists and turns (not all that surprising but felt like good story telling). This game does a great job with immersing you into the story and world. I had a hard time putting it down.
The world is very detailed and the different zones for each level feel unique and inspired. From the slums, to rich neighborhoods, to military(ish) sites. You get to explore the rich world, discover interesting NPCs, and just really take in all this game has to offer. A lot of the characters are engaging and I found myself getting attached to or hating them (depending on where they stood). Even 11 years after release this game still feels relevant today, and I believe that is mostly in part to the world building they did.
Gameplay is very immersive as well. You can play the game without killing a single person, or assassinate everyone in site. There are many ways to complete objectives and the abilities you gain throughout the campaign give you a real freedom in choosing how you want to approach things. I had a hard time deciding which abilities to focus on early on but it becomes more clear as you progress through things and find your playstyle. Depending on which avenue you take (non-lethal vs lethal) does impact future levels and did seem to have some consequences at the end of the game, but it didn't seem "too" consequential. I had a lot of fun playing the vengeful assassin on my first play through. I may go back and take a more measured approach later on but we'll see.
Overall, I had a blast with this game. It offers an amazing blend of gameplay, story, and world building that I have not experienced in a while. Highly recommend if you haven't played.