Secrets and Connections (spoilers)

[crimsoncantata]

It's not unusual for a game to have a few hidden jokes, or callouts and references to other games and movies. While I was too swept up in the story to notice many in my first playthrough, maybe sharper-eyed players can help me fill out this list. 

*Grim Fandango- I wonder if Aquino's collapsible scythe wasn't a tip of the hat to Manny Calaveras, another Reaper with a need for portable harvestware. Could just be a case of convergent evolution, of course.

*Bioshock Infinite- Probably not intentional, but the eighteenth century icongraphy combined with the social stratification theme and Daisy Fitzroyish Danton put me in mind of this game more than once when playing.

[crimsoncantata]

How could I forget this one: The T.N. Juan who authored Nelson's philosophy book is clearly The Nameless One from Planescape: Torment, in a reference so perfect I practically cheered when I came across it.

[crimsoncantata]

Whoever drew up the rules for the rebellion in their alleyway HQ seems to have learned a lesson (or two) from Fight Club.

[Grundislav]

A few references to my previous games:

The sign in Fripp Square (where the small raven is perched)

The biplane in the hobby shop

The crushed skeleton on the sporting goods floor of Wally's

I never played Bioshock Infinite, so any similarities are purely coincidental!

[Rocka3030]

Mabel Cody Bi Plane -  A Golden Wake 

[crimsoncantata]

You should try Bioshock:Infinite! (the first few chapters, at least). It's star may have faded a bit since release, but given how much you enjoyed the aesthetics of Dishonored, I think you'd find a lot of food for thought. Also, now that I think on it, an awful lot of ravens.

Secretwise (or semisecret, at least), there's a very nice visual touch in the DecanterVision where, as the Reaper is revealed to be a doctor, two vines wrap around a distant winged statue to recall a caduceus.

[Grundislav]

Yes the caduceus was fun to include, glad you spotted it!

There's also classical references to death imagery, namely the mannequins under Wally's representing souls in the River Styx, along with the token behind the eyes of the painting being a reference to the practice of putting coins on the eyes of the dead.

[crimsoncantata]

The Styx imagery I got the first time around, but I didn't make the pennies-of-the-dead connection until I listened to the commentary. I admit, my first thought was more toward those peephole paintings in Scooby-Do (something about the portrait's sly expression just suggests mischief...).