For some reason, I had a hard time getting into the story. I agree that the writing and voice acting were all very well done, and the various letters, books, and notes strewn about levels really helped flesh out the background story and the game world in general, even eavesdropping on enemy or NPC conversations was useful/enlightening on many occasions. However, I struggled to really get engaged with or care about the story. I wanted to and, objectively, I can appreciate how well told it is, but I personally wasn’t hooked immediately. I think it came down to Corvo being so silent. Leaving his personality so blank makes sense to allow players to project whatever persona they choose onto him, which helps when the gameplay is so open-ended. But from a story standpoint I had a hard time getting emotionally engaged in his plight when he remains faceless and speechless the whole time. The developers may have intended the real connection players made to be with Emily, Dunwall itself, and the other NPCs, merely using Corvo as an avatar to interact with them, and near the end of the game I did care more than I did at the beginning, but it took me a while to get there.