When comparing Dishonored vs The Stanley Parable, the Slant community recommends Dishonored for most people. In the question“What are the best singleplayer games on Steam?” Dishonored is ranked 8th while The Stanley Parable is ranked 20th. The most important reason people chose Dishonored is:
Depending on player action, the world can change in drastic ways. A violent player will find that disease-carrying rats will multiply in number depending on the number of people killed, while a pacifist player who eliminates enemies with nonlethal options may will find the world easier to explore.
Specs
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Pros
Pro The world (and difficulty) changes based on your actions
Depending on player action, the world can change in drastic ways. A violent player will find that disease-carrying rats will multiply in number depending on the number of people killed, while a pacifist player who eliminates enemies with nonlethal options may will find the world easier to explore.
Pro Non-lethal options aren't always better
One weakness of most stealth games is that it's almost always better to play nonlethally. In Dishonored, choosing the nonlethal option on an assassination target is often a fate worse than death. For instance, one woman can be delivered to her secret stalker, the overseer of the anti-magic church can be branded as a heretic and punished by the church, and a pair of brothers can be sent to slave in the mines they once owned.
Pro Discusses the illusion of choice in games
One of the main themes of the game is the illusion of choice that's presented in games. While a player can make a vast number of decisions in the game, the narrator reminds the player he can only make decisions that the game allows him to and how the game manipulates the player into making them. The narrator points out that not just common choices such as what path to take to get from point A to point B, how to approach a certain situation or what ethical choices are available are limited to the game's designers having thought of and implemented those aspects of the game, but decisions such as purposeful suicide, not taking action, disobeying instructions and even turning off the game are only there if the game allows them to be there.
Pro Exceptional narration
Excellently crafted, hilarious writing delivered by a well spoken, charismatic British narrator. Kevan Brighting has become somewhat of a cult success since the game due to its cult like status which just shows how deserving he is due to how well done the narration of the game is done.
Pro The game has a lot of different endings to find
There are numerous ending to the game that appear to play out even when the player makes the same choices as their last playthrough.
Pro Insightful commentary on state of game design
The game tackles topics such as ludonarrative dissonance, choice in games, narrative limitations, etc while mostly focusing on the relationship between the game and the player in terms of storytelling in a very meaningful, educated and entertaining way.
Pro Points out narrative limitations in games by encouraging breaking narrative structure through gameplay
The game encourages players to explore decisions that would change the meaning of the presented story. What if you took a left turn where the game asked you to take a right? What if you decided not to push a big red button needed to continue playing because you didn't agree with pushing the big red button? What if you died in a boss battle? How would that affect the narrative of the game?
The game rewards you for not following the "intended" narrative structure of the situation in order to point out how the structure is unavoidable in games as a whole. The process of attempting to break the structure can be highly satisfying in The Stanley Parable and can help you better notice limitations of narrative in other games.
Pro A few nods to other games can be seen throughout the game
References to other games including Half-Life 2, Portal & Minecraft can be found throughout the game.
Cons
Con Selecting and using is difficult
Because the ability to use thing is dependent on the position of the character is it sometimes difficult to pick up guns from NPCs or us things. Sometimes you have to remove guard bodies just to pick up their gun.
Con Harder difficulty level does not change AI
Instead of a "better" AI in higher difficulties just like in a Call of Duty guards just need a lot of ammo to take them down (if you do not aim the head) .
Con It doesn't rely on sound or light as a means of stealth
Dishonored clearly borrows a lot of elements from Thief, but sadly, not its ancestor's most important traits. Where Thief cared about the materials you walked on, and had guards that would vocalize constantly to let players know where they were, Dishonored merely relies on whether or not a player is running (loud mode) or crouch-walking (quiet mode), and it feels less satisfying than Thief. Likewise, stealth is based primarily on line of sight in Dishonored, whereas Thief considered light and dark as well; a player cloaked in shadow could not be seen, even if he was standing directly in front of his target.
Con Buggy when switching to sights.
Sometimes when aiming with a gun that has an ACOG the aim totally messes up aiming downside without a reason.
Con Taking down targets can feel unsatisfying
While the build up to getting to a target is great, talking them down does not always feel satisfying. Thankfully, this option is rarely available. While it does not ruin the game, it would be nice if conversations felt more fulfilling than this.
Con More an interactive story than an actual game
The Stanley Parable is not much of a game in the strictest sense but more an interactive story or interactive "art".