Dishonored and its excellent sequels are some of the best stealth sims out there. Sliding and surging through the intricate levels, Corvo is a protagonist in whose hands you feel powerful. Your vengeance is swift, as most of your enemies don't see you coming.
The games reward patience and repeat playthroughs as the player explores all of the possibilities waiting in the levels. Pull the cities back from the brink or lord over the madness. And the awesome characters of the Dishonored world enhance the already superb gameplay. Let's look at some of their more memorable quotes from the series.
10 The Outsider Speaks
"How you use what I have given you falls upon you, as it has to the others before you. And now, I return you to your world, but know that I will be watching with great interest."
The Outsider is a mysterious figure that will return throughout the game to counsel, mock, or warn Corvo, and his dialogue reveals much about the world's unknowns.
As such a spellbinding character, The Outsider also possesses some of the best lines in the game. The beauty in this first quote is how it encapsulates the spirit of the Dishonored series. Players have the freedom to choose the powers they want, and those choices determine how the game is played. Different skills influence a playthrough in how Corvo achieves his goals.
9 Crash The Party
"Half the city can see the lights from the party, and they dream of the delights inside. Will you tear it all to pieces? Either way, it's Lady Boyle's last party."
Lady Boyle's Last Party is hailed as the best level in the first game, and it's a delicious treat for Corvo. As the player worms their way into the exclusive event, The Outsider ponders the inequality of the city, where the rich survive while everyone else suffers.
Everything about the quote reflects the events of the party. Corvo must sneak in from the slums to reach this extravagant display of wealth. The delights inside are the excesses of the wealthy. And Corvo is free to destroy it all.
8 Blood Doesn't Wash Off
"Strange how there's always a little more innocence left to lose."
The Dishonored saga begins with Corvo as the bodyguard of his Empress, and it ends with him... far from that. But losing innocence is not specific to one person in the series. All encounter the shocking blunt force of reality, and life is not what it was.
The Outsider has been around for centuries, so he's witnessed the cyclic nature of humanity. The naivete washes away and a hard shell remains. Men and women and children all fall prey to the loss of innocence. Corvo's life is just one thread among millions.
7 Blinded By Vengeance
"All things end, all things burn to ash. But you, my friend, burn bright."
The Outsider appears in every game and every DLC of the Dishonored series, so he gets a sizable chunk of screen time. Thank goodness, he doesn't waste it. The chaos, the violence, and the uncertainty of Dunwall are all concentrated in the words that The Outsider shares with the few lucky enough (or doomed) to commune with him.
Corvo and Daud are more similar than you'd expect at first encounter, but their paths lead where few men can reach. They are killers without equal, and they burn hot.
6 The Wise Queen
"It’s a funny thing, ambition. It can take one to sublime heights or harrowing depths. And sometimes they are one and the same."
Emily Kaldwin is a treasure. She's a handful in the first game when Corvo must protect her from the malicious intent of the scheming individuals who seek the throne, and she's two handfuls in the sequel when players can harness her vast powers to reclaim her position as Empress from the corrupt allies who betrayed her and the conniving Delilah who usurped her. Ambition drives so many of the political backstabbing in the game, and Emily knows full well how that life poisons even the best of people.
5 An Assassin With A Conscience
"I’ve learned that our choices always matter, to someone, somewhere. And sooner or later, in ways we cannot always fathom, the consequences come back to us."
The assassin Daud understands the ties between someone's actions and their fate. The ending of any Dishonored game is always connected to the choices that the player makes. Were you a vengeful wraith that sowed discord and spread death throughout the city? Then the world you helped destroy may very well crumble around you and there's no one to blame but yourself. Did you stay your hand when your enemies were at your mercy? Then maybe the chaos will be mended and the order can be restored. Time will tell.
4 How The Mighty Fall
"Dunwall Tower is not so tall that it can rise above the stench of death."
The residence of the Lord Regent, who betrayed Empress Kaldwin and Corvo. And The Heart knows the secrets of all. The pulsing organ reveals the darkest thoughts of the people around you, and it peels back the layers of history in Dunwall. The tower is an intimidating structure, but it is just as guilty as the rest of the city. Death oozes out of the walls, and the Lord Regent cannot escape his past.
3 A Dirty World
"You are like the rivermen. They spread their nets wide, and pull up all manner of things. The sweet, the deadly, the poisonous, all together in one catch."
Between The Outsider and The Heart, all manner of dark words rises to the surface. Corvo listens to an orchestra of pain and suffering. There is no purity in the world of Dishonored. It's all been soiled by the ill deeds of twisted men and women. The Heart shares the truth of the world, and it's not pretty. The series does not shy away from the dark corners of life, but the shadows threaten to overtake the world.
2 Mere Mortals Cannot Fathom
"The one who walks here is all things. Cradle songs of comfort and bones gnawed by teeth."
Using The Heart while traversing The Void gives us some insight regarding The Outsider. That's a mouthful, to be sure, but it's true. The Void is a fascinating place where reality is supplanted by otherness. We're not entirely sure what it represents, but it seems to be some dimension between worlds, and it is the domain of The Outsider. And the shadowy figure does not reveal much of himself. He's old and he's powerful, but The Heart tries to untangle that mystery a little bit for us.
1 Awaiting The Return
"I am coming. People of Karnaca, you will hear from me again."
Whether you're playing as Emily Kaldwin or Corvo Attano, these are chilling words. But they're also words of hope because we want them to come again! Originally, these words are half-promise, half-threat, but we see this as the chance of another Dishonored game, which we heartily endorse.
The series has some fantastic dialogue and even better gameplay, so let's hope that the stealth sim comes back for another day in the sun—or the shadows, depending on how you like to hunt.