Dishonored, BioShock, Prey 2017 and Half-Life are the reasons I completely believe video games are an art, completely beautiful in visuals, gameplay and world building. Truly masterpieces

@viewtiful1doubleokamihand253

5 ай бұрын

Anything artificial is an art piece. Because there is art knowledge to how it is supposed to be done utilized in the making of it.

@HydraKittten

5 ай бұрын

@@viewtiful1doubleokamihand253 I completely agree, my comment was more saying my view on videogames as a unique form of art, and not a collection of different forms, which i use to be conflicted on

@batmanvsuperman_

5 ай бұрын

I know this will bring out the trolls since most haven’t touched/completed the game… i would confidentally add Alan Wake II to that list.

@corttanos7895

5 ай бұрын

And more games need to be made in their image! I’m starvinggggg

@TheWingus

5 ай бұрын

I'm still waiting for Prey 2017 to get its due. There's been a big run on Dishonored and We Happy Few (for better or worse) content over the last few months but I'm waiting for my favorite content producers to get to Prey 2017, which has been one of my all time favorite games since I first played it like 2 years ago.

When this game came out, I was discussing it with a college teacher of mine. I was studying game design so talking about recent games with your teachers was pretty standard. She was an industry veteran who had worked about 20 years in the industry before starting to teach around 10 years before I met her. She told me that she wasn't at all surprised over artistic successes of Dishonored and that when she had played it, she felt like everything in the game was intentional. At least from an aesthetic perspective. And the reason she said that Dishonored was so artistically successful was because Arkane's staff at the time was older than most other game studios. IIRC she said that the average age of a game developer in most other studios (in 2012) was around 35-40, while everyone at Arkane was at least 40 and most were over the age of 45. The people making the first Dishonored game were some of the most experienced developers in the business. And that's pretty cool I gotta say.

There's always been something very comforting and cozy about the city of Dunwall and Dishonored's art style and visuals, it's certainly not a world I'd want to live in because no one wants to get eaten alive by plague rats, but aesthetically it's just oozing with a kind of atmosphere that I rarely see in other games. Just seeing a screenshot from the game makes me feel warm and nostalgic for some reason, and I don't think I'll ever experience a connection with any other game as deep as the one I have with the first Dishonored, not even the sequels as much as I love D2 and DOTO. Oh and I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who adores The Flooded District mission, it gets a lot of hate but it's always been my favorite mission to replay.

@drakep.5857

5 ай бұрын

Dishonered 2 has my most favorite setting of any video game ever made. An endlessly creative, alien, cosy, badass, cool, and scary city of wonders on the edge of a fantastic, yet extremely grounded and real world. I could fall asleep anywhere in Karnaca, and it's the one fictional world I think I'd be okay with taking a vacation to!

super impressed that you're managing to get as many videos out as you have given your situation, and that it's all still up to your usual high quality! thank you for all your hard work, and looking forward to what else you've got coming

I love how you are working in 21:9. It feels really nice and unique among games essayists.

@nak_attak

5 ай бұрын

wide phone screens unite!

@user-kf7oq6uw8f

5 ай бұрын

@@nak_attak yeah, all 27 users with them. What a shame it's not for the remaining 99.9% of viewers with 16:9 monitors.

@anusername8350

5 ай бұрын

There are pixels on my phone screen that haven't been used in 2 years getting a workout with this video

@nyan4x

4 ай бұрын

​@@user-kf7oq6uw8faren't 99% of phones on the market nowadays wider than 16:9? ultrawide monitors aren't uncommon too. split between people who benefit gotta be more like 40:60, not 1:99.

@fredrikfredrikfredrik

4 ай бұрын

@@user-kf7oq6uw8f The choice of aspect ratio isn't exclusively to fill the screen of the viewer. It is common to choose an aspect ratio for aesthetic reasons. For example, I and multiple filmmakers and youtubers think 4:3 looks pretty nice despite the fact that most people will not be viewing content on a 4:3 monitor.

The moment the Dishonored REALLY clicked for me, the moment I noticed how truly unique it is, was during my third playthrough when I started paying attention to the world design, I wasn't fully fluent in English the first two so a lot of it passed through me, the third time though, I was consistently shocked by the game I thought I knew, every single little detail changed the way I saw the game

@phelot8814

4 ай бұрын

So why don't you enable subtitles in your native language for the first time?

@inaciomirandatt6470

4 ай бұрын

@@phelot8814 there aren't subtitles for in-game written textures and the original xbox 360 release didn't have a Portuguese translation

@phelot8814

4 ай бұрын

@@inaciomirandatt6470 ok, it's a pity.

I still firmly believe Blink was the single most important mechanic in this game's amazing visuals. The fact you can just swoosh places with minimal conveniently placed boxes, loose bricks, and out-of-place pipes (as opposed to something like Assassin's Creed) gave the game's visual design so much more freedom and let it create these incredible paintings in every scene without making everything look and feel too "videogamey"

This deserves a place on my "Gems" playlist, guarranteeing me to watch it every few months. I want to thank you, leadhead, for showing me dishonored with your old videos. I wouldn't have found it otherwise. Dishonored lead me to my obsession with immersive sims, resulting in me currently designing my own imsim.

Played Dishonored for the first time in prep for this video and it changed the way i look at video games

@batmanvsuperman_

5 ай бұрын

Played Dishonored for the first time this year … wow. Wonder how developers felt during its release. Probably how devs feel this year when Baldur’s Gate 3 dropped. It raised the bar.

I have spent about 170 hours in this game upon writing this. And the world they made feels like a place i visit anew every time I replay it. One of the greatest of all the times to come ;)

Comment before I finish the video: I've played so many hours of dishonored 1 and 2. Putting so much time into pacifist run etc. I love that game and series.

@batmanvsuperman_

5 ай бұрын

I found 12 different ways to end Dishonored … I stayed up all night experimenting. I loved it.

Dishonored is a masterclass in visual design, and I'm glad you've talked about. Btw your voice and flow is lovely, after watching your Disco Elysium Introspective, I was inspired to practice on my own vocal training, soo thx. (Edit) grammar lol.

@ayumelove

5 ай бұрын

thats so great to hear. IF I may ask, how are you practiceing vocal training? I would love to practice as well. Thanks

Once again Dishonored video... I already know I'll feel obliged to replay the game for a thousandth time after watching it

@adamkrzeslak4326

5 ай бұрын

Found out there's another one coming after watching the video, can't wait replay it yet again when it releases

I super appreciate that you fixed your lighting and color grading to match your background shots. It looks so seem less- people always forget to match those and it always looks so artificial but in some shots in your video it looks like you’re literally sitting in the game world irl it’s great

I remember watching a Dishonored let's play when I was a kid and really loving it but unfortunately I never got to play it because my PC was really bad at the time. Then I just kinda forgot about it. Glad to see it's not just nostalgia, maybe I should give it a go sometime

@tonoornottono

5 ай бұрын

it’s a great game. that’s a bug fact.

@thirduncle5366

5 ай бұрын

Definitely go play it. It's often on sale and really cheap too. Like under 5 bucko's cheap.

@cool_bug_facts

5 ай бұрын

@@tonoornottono Cool bug facts: my job is being taken over :(

Love all of yours Dishonored videos, this one included. Never played DLCs before watching them, and when loved them even more than i thought

With the post void steam background too, hell yes

i absolutely love dishonored especially because it's a spiritual successor to thief im so excited for Arkanes Blade game

@batmanvsuperman_

5 ай бұрын

Dishonored came out first …

@notlucas7078

5 ай бұрын

@@batmanvsuperman_ Thief came out in 1998 what are you talking about?

@AchronTimeless

5 ай бұрын

@@batmanvsuperman_ Uh, Thief came out 1998, Dishonored came out 2012

@batmanvsuperman_

5 ай бұрын

darn title reboots, never knew there was an old school version

The broader video game essay algorithm is sleeping on this channel. No reason the average video here should have any less than 100,000 views. Generally speaking, when I find a smaller channel I really like it eventually blows up (e.g. Jacob Geller, NCG, warlockracy, etc - I got into all these channels just before they really started getting big) so I think my algorithm is tailored to the point that it’s a good predictor for KZread success- I think it’s only a matter of time that you blow up significantly in numbers. These vids have all the qualities of other channels that do well but your perspective is unique enough to make it not seem like just another VE channel

Always delighted to see videos on Dishonored- something about the world at the moment is drawing me back to it

thank you!! the personal project i'm gonna be working on has a focus on non-linear levels so this has really helped me think about how to go about making those levels look and feel good :)

Truly a masterpiece of gaming I personally like the 2nd one more because it expands so much of the world but I understand it doesn't have that same watercolor artstyle as 1

@schakalicious6023

5 ай бұрын

Imo the first was just a tighter game in general. It’s perfect The second is amazing but I don’t consider it a masterpiece like I do the first. Maybe it’s nostalgia?

@BlueBeetle1939

5 ай бұрын

@schakalicious6023 possible because I only played them a few years ago back to back and honestly didn't even notice the change in art direction at first

@schakalicious6023

5 ай бұрын

@@BlueBeetle1939 the change in art direction is a factor but really the level design was just better imo. I have a few gripes with the second game and i can’t think of a single flaw in the first

@drakep.5857

5 ай бұрын

Dishonered 2 and prey are the most greatest immersive sims ever made and Dishonered 2 is a magnificent work just as if not greater than the first game, just in different ways, and I'll die on this hill

@modestestmouse4820

5 ай бұрын

@@schakalicious6023 I don't think it's just nostalgia. I think 2 had great gameplay and level design, but the story was weaker. The first game did everything right

Hearing your voice change over the years is really fascinating, you sound so fucking pretty!

@LaGamerLia666_old

5 ай бұрын

hell yeah i hope to sound like leadhead eventually

I've been obsessing on the amazing angles and framing in dishonored for the past year and couldn't find anyone else talking about it so thanks for making a video on it despite everything, good luck with life

Always love a great video on one of my all time favourite immersive sims ♥️, especially to this high of a quality! I seriously adore your use of green screen game footage, it’s always done so well in each and every video!

YESSSSS I've been wanting youtube content about art direction in games you're amazing

OMG, thank you for mentioning Victor Antonov, it makes so.much.sense now why parts of this game felt so familiar!

What an amazing video!!! This was my first video of yours, and I absolutely loved it! I also love Dishonored, I’m looking forward to watching your other videos on it! 😊

Dishonored was my first fps game I have ever played back when it came out on the 360, I was really young and it became "The Nostalgia game" for me. I bought it again 8 years later on PC and it made me just as amazed as back then, it's a game I won't ever mind coming back to.

Off topic, but I just wanna say that it’s been a while since I’ve watched one of your videos and your voice really took me off-guard. Your voice training (I’m not sure if that’s the right name to call it, but you get what I mean I’m sure) is paying off super well, congrats!

I remember your dishonored vid years ago... You've come a long way,cheers to you and you future videos.🎉❤

I am so happy to hear that you're proud of your videos on the Knife of Dunwall and the Brigmore Witches, cause they're honestly still my favorite videos you've done

Couldn't agree with you more about the moment atop Kaldwin's Bridge. To me it's one of the moments that truly encapsulates what this game is about. I love that reaching the highest point is optional too, it's out of the way from where you need to get going, and that kind of feels in line with the amount of choice the game gives you in gameplay and story. It feels like the game is saying that even these moments of reflection are optional

your videos hit so hard emotionally, they're great

Seeing Leadhead vids released during the week makes my wait for the weekend even more tense

Another great video!! I love the way you make your point and conduct the video

your content is amazing god it makes me so happy

even when i knew the first dishonored, I played the second game first, fell in love with it deeply and to this day everytime i hear "on the sands of Serkonos" i get shivers.

I found your channel because of dishonored video, now i see dishonored again. It was so fun to see you change and now.. we are back here.

forgive me if this is inappropriate, but your voice sounds amazing! it’s been incredible listening to the change and hearing real confidence in your voice like this. i can hear the smile. it’s really nice.

That 180 turn in mirror's edge gave me whiplash

This is a fantastic analysis, honestly genius and poetic. I’ve never seen aspects of the game approached from this perspective. Your thoughts on Kaldwin’s Bridge sealed it for me. This is a truly amazing video, incredible work. 😇🙌🏻

The curtains are never just blue. I'm writing working on my third book in this sci-fi/fantasy series. And everytime I've had to make a decision like that, I did it with great care and consideration to what the thematic images meant. The curtains are only blue if you are a boring author that is more concerned about commercial viability than creating art.

I love when you make dishonored vids!

thank you for making this video, i played this game for the first time at the age of 12, that was 8 years ago, and i have never found a game that made me look in awe at the enviroment more than dishonored has, not even the sequel. even to this day i find myself replaying it just to take a stroll through the streets of dunwall.

Dishonored my beloved.

thank you for telling more people about the beauty of dishononered! also i feel like i should replay it again!

Gotta play this game, thanks for showing it off

I love the physics cards hanging from the windows!

Well said Leadhead - I feel a visit back to Dunwall soon.

almostdeadagain been there for YEARS! gosh. Love them already.

dishonored my beloved!!! i absolutely LOVE this game im seriously obsessed, thank you!!! i love seeing it get any amount of recognition because it seriously just goes so hard!!

Omg that painting is awesome

Ok I watched to the end and I LOVE your car interior!! Did you do it yourself? Is it painted directly onto the ceiling or is it some kind of fabric?? It’s so beautiful!!

The REALLY fun part is when you realize a lot of this is stuff that wouldn't work as well in film. A lot of the most memorable aesthetic experiences in Dishonored 1 and 2 depend on the camera being you, and you having the freedom to go where you want. Watching Batman dramatically overlooking a city street isn't quite the same as being Batman looking down at the hapless goons below. Those animation tricks and little mechanics you mention can't really work the same way in any other medium. Other games often try to achieve artistic beauty by becoming like film. Dishonored achieves it by being like a videogame, maximizing the aesthetic qualities that only interactive media can bring forth fully. It's visually impressive to see the Clockwork Mansion move, but slipping inside the walls and experiencing how it's all designed to fit together is what sells it. That's what really makes it seem like a place that could be real, if only you accept the validity of the world.

Wonderful video!! 💜

is that a mf mark of the outsider tattoo that's swag as hell

DISHONORED MENTIONED, WHAT THE FUCK IS A HIGH CHAOS RUN

@19:30 or so: there is in fact a third option. You can shoot Daud mid-speech, if you're not up for a Metal Gear post-boss conversation. It achieves similar symbols to the scripted choice of killing him, but instead of making the choice a visual metaphor for the pointlessness of the act, it turns into a bit of a reflection of the brutality of just leaving another corpse in a street already choked with them.

Playing Dishonored for the first time was a great and unique experience for me, I was sick with a high fever when booted up Dishonored for the first time and just got sucked into the world. What a great game I need to revisit at some point and the art direction, more games should strife for something like Dishonored instead of trying to photorealistically replicate reality, Dishonored will still look great after 50 years unlike any modern game going for realism.

And another video to my Dishonored playlist. Good, good.

Dishonored is my gaming love

You were not kidding about that selfie

I love DIshonored, the stylized art and the entire vibe is such a cool and immersive way of experiencing Dunwall.

I seem to remember that the level designers working on Dishonored included some talent who worked on Half Life, (that's actually what put this game on my backlog all those years ago) and if that's true I can absolutely see how that could be, through your video. Thanks for once again moving this game higher on my list, now I gotta play it!

currently in a really shitty time in my life, and seeing you uploaded a new dishonored vid genuinely made me happy. looking forward to your next one! btw, fell in love with your channel because of your dishonored videos, you are amazing. really hope you can find a place with your girlfriend soon

Another banger dishonored video. Which also means I now have to play the game again...

Keep up the good work!

Glad to see Dishonoured getting some love. I'm so glad I played it when it came out.

babe wake up new leadhead just dropped

I've always loved the stylised aesthetic of Dishonored, but I especially love the moments in Dishonored 2 where the sunlight just bathes Karnaca's already great framing with those luscious golden hour vibes

Hope ur ok bby, I remember finding you when I was 15, and had been obsessed w ur artworks since

I love these video essays so much. If it weren't for Penelope I don't think I would have started taking interest in the lore of so many types of games. Not even the lore, but things like game design and graphical choices (as mentioned in this video) really opens the eyes on the beauty of gaming

I love Dishonored and Dishonored 2 so incredibly much, and yea, the first time I played Dishonored I was completely enamored by the world it put me in, it has influenced my own writing so incredibly much.

17:00 as a Level Designer I can say, it was probably both. These things start harmless enough and escalate over time. That’s what being a Game Dev is like and why it’s so Fun! Also, I think art is as much about the consumer, as it is about the artist. I always shut my artist friends up, when they try to explain to me, what this abstract painting of a smudged circle is about. If they would’ve wanted to tell me, they would have told me. Instead, they decided to communicate the raw emotion by shapes and colors, which makes me feel something that’s unique to me. Games and Art are abstract languages by which we communicate the shared human experience. If this Level means that to you, it does mean that.

First ultrawide video ive ever seen, awesome

damn just in the first 4 minutes you introduce and explain things ive never heard about. very impressive stuff. I love Dishonored's aesthetics and i appreciate how you put that to words. I don't like dishonored 2's world and design as much, mostly in regards to the plot, how they changed the outsider, and how a lot of things are copied although there is no looming threat of rats, cultists and plagues.

holy shit i love your new voice and the nails and hair and everything

oh boy a new Leadhead video

Oh nice, I just started playing Dishonored yesterday lol

I'd never really thought about Dishonoured, I just passed it by. Before your credits started to roll, it was purchased on steam. Thanks as always!

Yay leadhead vido

Dishonored 2 is one of my favorite games of all time. The gameplay and world-building are near-perfect, and it is one of those games I can replay over and over again. Dishonored 1 though is lesser in this regard, but the art style and graphic design are uniquely gorgeous. A true work of art.

awesome post void steam background

YAAAAAAY ANOTHER LEADHEAD DISHONORED VIDEO

when I played Dishonored i was scared that I would get a bad ending cause I thought i would suck at the game but uh Dishonored is really good like really good and very beautiful like you said so good video and also CAR TOUR YIPPEE. also merry Christmas i think unless there are videos before Christmas then merry Christmas on them.

i saw this video and was immediately like OMG NEW LEADHEAD VIDEO AND OMG ITS ABT DISHONORED NO WAY THATS AWESOME I JUST HAD A DISHONORED HYPERFIXATION FUCK YEAH!

I remember watching rendogg play this game when I was like 7 or 8. It was my first introduction to games other than like Minecraft. It’s a very nostalgic one for me

LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOOOO LEADHEAD DISHONORED VIDEO THIS IS WHAT WEVE BEEN WAITING FOR

Amazing video, and perfectly timed as i am yet again replaying the OG dishonored, this time restricting myself to only use Overseer weapons, and follow the 7 strictures best I can. This game really is an artistic masterpiece. I'd also love to hear your thoughts on D2 and DOTO sometime. Iirc you said d2 was missing the magic and i wonder if that still holds true for you?

Will you talk about Karnaca? Such a beautiful city

I am not a visual artist and visual intuitions are normally lost on me. Thank you for your thorough explanation. Even though it's, as you say, not as personal I still found incredible value in your interpretation on Dishonored. Thank you

I might need to play dishonored now

I’ve always considered dishonored to be the best game ever made, not because of one aspect or gameplay element, but in its entirety, it’s always going to be my favorite game no matter what

Your car is awesome :)

and it will never stop be

Played a few hours of Prey and really liked it. I have been meaning to play Dishonoured but never got around to it.

Great video.

The Darkness 2 mentioned wohooo, underrated gem!

Also a read of the scene with the dancers: Its a pair of people who are getting to be intimate with each other in a context that actually allows for that. That's not a provocative dance, even for the eras they are calling on to create Dunwall's aesthetic and culture, and they seem to be dancing for nobody but themselves.