For Dishonored 2, Former Kidnap Victim Emily Kaldwin Becomes Playable Damsel Causing Distress

Right on the heels of E3 2015, here's the spectacular teaser trailer to Dishonored 2, sequel to the immersive, open world RPG that's a favorite of this blog, featuring a great reveal at the end:

Rare to big budget games, one of the two playable characters is female, and a significant one at that: Emily Kaldwin, the daughter of royalty whose kidnapping and rescue drove the entire plot of the first game. In the sequel, however, she becomes an active participant in a larger story, whose choices the player can shape. (Players can also be Corvo, the silent assassin/bodyguard from the first game.) As such, Dishonored 2 comes across as a direct response to Anita Sarkeesian's famous complaint against the "Damsels in Distress" trope used in so many games, from early 2013. I even wonder if lead Dishonored designers Harvey Smith and Raphael Colantonio made Emily playable partly in response to that very video.

In fact, I just asked Harvey that very thing, and hopefully I hear something back. Meantime, read our extensive coverage of the first Dishonored below:

• How Dishonored Honors Thief: Arkane's Harvey Smith and Raphael Colantonio on Dishonored's Debt to the Immersive Stealth Classic
• The Story of Dishonored: How the Hit Game's Immersive Narrative Was Crafted and Told
• Dishonored Players Evenly Choose High Chaos "Evil" & Low Chaos "Good" Endings; Creators Harvey Smith & Raphael Colantonio Have a Theory Why
• Dishonored's End: Harvey Smith & Raphael Colantonio on Designing a Game That Changes Based on Player Behavior

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