I just finished Dishonored. I thought it was one of the more challenging games I've played on the Unreal Engine, since it sort of requires you to fence by parrying, you can take damage while in the middle of your attack animations, and enemies have unblockable moves like the front kick that knocks you back. That being said, that actually made it more challenging and awesome to rush headlong into enemies and try to take them down with the sword like some kind of kabuki hero.

I understand that the game is supposed to play out differently if you manage to sulk through the missions without killing anyone, or while killing few NPCs. I don't know, I think that would be next to impossible to do without effectively cheating by save scrumming. The fact is, if you alert a single enemy, all the enemies on the map that are anywhere nearby dogpile you and you're forced to kill them. The game really limits your non-lethal options...you can RNC unaware enemies, but that becomes impossible once they are attacking you, and you can only carry 10 non-lethal rounds for your crossbow. So it's sort of like if you get attacked by more than 10 enemies you pretty much are forced to slaughter them.

I actually tried to have a low-lethality game. Before each mission I stocked up on non-lethal ammo and spent lots of time trying to sneak around to use the RNC. But basically, a single slight screw up and the result is a huge melee like at the end of Homer's Odyssey.

The other thing is that after you spend lots of time looking through walls with Dark Vision and sneaking around trying to get the perfect RNC, and then things go wrong and you die, it's like AARRRRRHHHHH do I want to spend another 10 minutes painstakingly trying to repeat all my steps so they work out this time, or do I just want to forget about stealth, attack everyone directly, and just get on with the story already?

Has anyone played this game and had any success attempting a no-kill or "low chaos" game? Any thoughts on whether the game works well when played that way, versus just trying to proceed through and meet all the objectives?

Since it's one of my favorite games:

Yes, it's actually quite doable: Use Blink to get out of problems, stick to roofs and high ground. Stop time if necessary.

Long range blink is almost like an "I win" button. You can use it to speed run entire maps.

Don't stand and fight - run and fly

I guess I didn't appreciate how powerful some of the tools the game gives you are to just bypass everyone in the way you're describing. In the past whenever I've played similar games my stealth approach would be to stealth neutralize everyone, but since I suppose you could just bypass the whole map, in Dishonored there is a lot less need to try and neutralize all NPCs.

The first time I played through, yes, I reloaded from saves a LOT. The second time though, when I knew how to use my tools, it was a ton easier, even on the harder modes. When you mess up and the guards come running, you blink to a high point somewhere, hide out, and get yourself a drink until people wander off. Yes, they always reset to their normal positions. Plus, the maps are really well done. There's usually three or four routes to anywhere.

As with most stealth games, it wouldn't be very fun if a serious slip-up resulted in an actual full lockdown, with the VIPs escorted out or locked in panic-rooms, and large mobs of armed guards going on the prowl, and lasting for hours. So if you bollocks up, just leg it, or load your quicksave.

Doublepost. How em-bare-assing.

So you end up with the Area 51 soliders in Deus Ex:

*Rocket explosion and multiple assault rifle shots*
[a few seconds later]
"Nah, it was just a homeless guy"

Oh right, another homeless guy with a RPG and an assault rifle in the middle of Area 51.

Considering Area 51 is in Nevada, there could plausibly be some very well armed hoboes. See: Cliven Bundy.

Precisely. As Jack points out, upgrading Blink makes stealth a whole lot easier. Enemies never look up; if you're above street level (pro tip: you can stand/crouch on top of streetlights), you're damned near invisible, unless somebody on a balcony sees you. Bend Time is also extremely useful, if expensive. Possession is situational, but has its uses.

But yeah. Dishonored is less about choking out every motherfucker in the map and more about ghosting past them.

Side note: what does RNC stand for?

You hold your tongue! When I discovered that they were gonna make me not kill people to get the good ending, I became Telecorvo, Restrictor of Airways. I made a point of not leaving any motherfucker conscious if I could help it.

That seems like a whole lot of unnecessary work. O.o

I hate leaving a hostile motherfucker around. If they're gonna punish me for killin', then damnit, I'm gonna leave those motherfuckers unconscious.

Though isn't it weird how guys you knock out in vidjagames NEVER get back up unless someone shakes them awake? "Nope! Corvo/Garret/Jensen knocked med own fair and square, I ain't getting back up 'till one of my teamies tags me back in."

Let's be honest, if you're just doing your regular rounds, waiting to go home so you can drink beer and complain about the draft, when a ghost magically appears behind you and chokes you, are you REALLY going to get back up and start making noise? You done your duty!

That also explains why in some games downed enemies don't hang around forever. As soon as they don't hear your foot steps, they make a break for it.

RNC stands for "rear naked choke", or "hadake jime". See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rear_naked_choke

That's how I always end up playing. My instinct is to make my way systematically from enemy to enemy and try to choke them all out, because it feels safer than trying to sneak past them. I mean, they can't see me if they're unconscious, right?