Recent reviews by Teletext Wizard

Long term fans of the franchise, average joe gamers & subscribers to more recent interpretations of the stealth genre have collaboratively produced a mixed bag of responses to this latest reboot of the Thief franchise. To add my own views to this melting pot so far, after the first 2 chapters of the game, I find it to be quite gripping & immersive, & desire to play more.

My entry into the prologue section was jarring to me as a gamer, stood next to a sleeping drunk on a day of festivity in the city; the subtle but inviting glow of various loot items kicked off my looting instincts immediately. I can't imagine whether previous thief fans will have been struck with nostalgia but I as a newcomer was hit with a wave of intrigue. What holiday is this? Who is this drunk man & why am I here? Things begin to assemble as I meet fellow Thief Erin, where I find out that we are both working together on a heist; there she is, sprinting from roof to roof, & there I am awkwardly sneaking from point A to point B with the occasional nugget of tutorial info.

Erin's character as a hot-tempered & perhaps over-confident prodigal thief begins to come together, while Garrett's responses indicate a more careful & honed Thief, which synergises well with, & mitigates the potential loss of immersion due to, the incremental introduction of Garrett's various methods through tutorial; the argumentative chemistry between the two thieves was a bloody brilliant way of contrasting their methods & thus the methods that will apply throughout the game. Rather than the game itself instructing you on the right play style in black & white, you have two human beings, both competent thieves, arguing at intervals. The fact that you are one & not the other, however, gives an effective indication of the right way to play. And the other reason? I won't spoil it for you.
And in the process, I came to relate to Garrett as a calculated character who thinks twice before he knocks someone out, in contrast to Erin. I thus not only learnt how to play Garret, but also effectively became him.

And from there on, my mind was the thing I depended on the most, whether I chose to conceal myself in a metal closet, climb to a higher altitude or straight up knock a character out. Knocking a guard out is an acceptable option, but is made out to be something of a big deal as is appropriate to Garrett's character as showcased in the prologue. Again, the game nudging you towards being Garrett.
Erin, appearing to have been killed in a ritual with an arcane book & ring, also appears in Garrett's visions once in a while. The second time, Garrett straight up passes out. I'm not joking.
This leaves me wondering so far whether Garrett is being overcome by remorse, or whether... Erin is not entirely dead? Whether the ritual had some very peculiar side effects indeed?

The gameplay, like many stealth games, requires patience & intuition. Thus not only are moments where you feel ultra sneaky while looting to your heart's content, but there are also moments of frustration & challenge enough to really stretch & strain you, culminating in one of two magnitudes of payoff once you find a solution.

The first is that you just snuck past/outwitted a bunch of guards & feel gratified thus, whereas the second larger payoff is another answer to one of the burning questions you may have. Such questions may include:
Is Erin dead? What did that ritual actually do? What purpose will these artefacts serve?
The most fulfilling way to find my answers is to see for myself... to keep playing.
In summary, Thief has proven to be as divisive as marmite running for presidency of the United States. If Marmite were clever enough to use character development as a creative way to nudge you towards how the game wants to be played, that is.

Just be wary that it might not be your thing, but otherwise, you should by all means jump straight off that fence singing, strap fireworks to said fence & douse it in kerosone followed by igniting the pile & watching it go up in a bang.
I don't feel this reboot into the current gen could've or should've been done any other way, but the originals deserve a look.

(Be wary of bugs though. Chapter 2 used to crash until I tried playing in windowed mode).

(Might be spoilers. Tread with care)

Play one of several races. Loot, craft, enchant, fight with weapons or wizardry. Generic sounding? In theory. In practice? Whimsically & groundbreakingly awesome on so many levels. In what other open world game do you get to climb giant mountains, for crying out loud?

Though widely viewed as less magical than its predecessor in terms of its atmosphere by Oblivion fans, it is also rightfully recognised for its own grittier aesthetic which complements the celtic/norse house style of the UI in a way that brings the feel of the frosty homeland of the nords forth like nothing else.
Also, it arouses further intrigue to see the empire hanging in the balance, & even the Blades forced from their former glory into, um.... well, nine gods know where.

Then we have the DLC. Dawnguard? Meh, but having more content for Skyrim was bliss in itself, so I approve.
Dragonborn? Now we're talking; what better than to get a glimpse of the Dunmer culture once more, served alongside a deeper exploration of Hermaeus Mora (the fact that his quest was connected to the core game's main quests was a neat introduction to daedric quests, but a bit desperate) as we delve into his realm of apocrypha.
Hearthfire? Never bought it myself, but eh, if you WERE looking to build your very own ingame house....

But I must digress. Skyrim: Legendary edition is out there in case you hadn't already caught onto this masterpiece. Although after clocking an, ahem, 800 & over hours of gameplay, I'm not quite as ecstatic these days, I reccommend giving Skyrim... a try? No. This thing was a turning point for my gaming career, from pure nintendo into the world of PC gaming. Go whole hog or go home; you have an albeit small country to fudge around in.

When I first got hyped for dishonoured, I expected something dark & gritty, akin to the first trailer made for it, & of course, the box art. Yet a sure fire way of knowing something is just darn well good fun is when even despite going for a more cartoonish style, you sure as hell don't lose faith in it.

The variety of spells you can cast, the number of objects to interact with & the number of paths you can take to completing your objectives make the game itself way bigger & bolder than issues regarding art style. But even so, the fact that taking a high chaos path (yes, there are two possible paths to take & plenty of choices adding up to this, whether to knock-out or kill a patrolling guard etc.) involves countless cc of spilt blood, epic assassination finishers & even dark, rainy conditions on the final level as opposed to sunny ones (it's called pathetic fallacy, ask an english teacher) speaks volumes, so perhaps the switch to the more cartoony style is not without a greater literary purpose.

In that manner, it's akin to Far Cry 3 in that the end appears quite bittersweet due to the violent actions required to get to that point, except this time it makes just a bit more sense because the game gives you a bit more choice in the matter.

And a low chaos run (complete with the challenge of hiding bodies safely, & of course, intriguing alternative ways of sorting out your targets) turns out to be a refreshing challenge if you ever get tired of just straight up killing your enemies the old fashioned way (which in itself is varied enough in both methods & consequences to stop that happening any time soon).

A must have if you enjoy sheer & utter carnage, but not a half bad option if you'd rather take a non-lethal path.