Is there a single ability cooler than Blink in Dishonored? First you’re over there. Whoosh! Now you’re over there. It felt like magic at the time, and in the 13 years since Dishonored awakened the world to Blink’s possibilities, I’ve remained resolute in one thought: This thing should be in every game.
Released in 2012 for PlayStation 3, Windows PC, and Xbox 360, Dishonored was arguably the game that put developer Arkane on the map. You play as a man named Corvo, framed for killing an empress he was sworn to protect. From a first-person perspective, you navigate the city of Dunwall — inspired by industrial-era London — on a mission to kill everyone who wronged you and also maybe rescue the empress’ daughter. To accomplish your goals, Dishonored gives you an inventive stealth toolkit, including magical powers that allow you to see through walls or temporarily inhabit NPCs. But all of these abilities are rooted in Blink.
Blink was revolutionary in its simplicity. Holding down the cast button for Blink causes you to generate a small targeting reticle. Releasing the cast button causes Corvo to teleport to wherever you’ve pointed the reticle. That’s it!
The possibilities opened up by Blink are limited only by your imagination. Balconies that previously seem out of reach are suddenly just a blink away. Leaping across rooftops goes from a daredevil feat to a trivial act. Blink can get you through courtyards packed with guards or give you a quick exit from a mansion full of wealthy nobles who want nothing more than to kill you. Learning to use Blink is like learning how to skateboard, then starting to see the stairs and benches of the world not as mere architecture but as a canvas for creativity.
Blink is so fundamental to Dishonored’s toolkit that some speedrunners got in the habit of competing over who could beat the game by using it as minimally as possible. (In 2023, the Twitch streamer Lurven finished the game in 42 minutes using Blink just four times.) Other players took the opposite tack, using Blink for maximum destruction, combining it with Dishonored’s wonky physics system to create bona fide Spartan Kicks.
The sheer versatility of Blink has helped it stand out as one of the coolest-ever abilities in games. Here’s a quick thought exercise: 13 years after the release of Dishonored, imagine Blink in 2025’s biggest games. It largely works! Blink is a natural fit in first-person games like Avowed and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, where it would add depth to already rich stealth components. Action games like Hades 2 and Silksong already have similar dash abilities, so it’s a natural fit there, too — let’s just go all the way! I’d certainly die a lot less frequently were Blink in the shooters Battlefield 6 and Borderlands 4. If [redacted] could Blink in Mafia: The Old Country, then [redacted] and [redacted] probably would’ve lived. Sure, it’d be completely unnecessary in the carefully paced puzzle game Blue Prince, but have you also considered the flip side: that zipping around the mansion would be awesome? Blink in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33? Sure! Why not?
While the above is obviously hyperbole, that it’s so easy to picture Blink in a wide range of games is a testament to its staying power. I’m not saying Blink should be in every game, to be clear. I’m saying it could. Certain actions — running, jumping, climbing — are so foundational in video games as to be second-nature to players; you learn how to jump in Mario, you know how to jump in every game. We’ve learned how to Blink in Dishonored; now let’s Blink everywhere else.
