I have mixed feelings about Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.
I like a lot of the ways the mechanics have been refined from DXHR; I like that Eidos Montreal paid attention to how stupid the idea of "boss fights" in a Deus Ex game is. Overall, mechanics-wise, this is a great sequel to DXHR.
But there's something just plain missing, and that's, for lack of a better term, the heart. I'm anticipating more hours of a fun stealthy choice-of-options game, but I'm already convinced that there's zero chance that it will give me anything to chew on, mentally, and isn't likely to even keep me attached to the character I'm playing. With only mechanics and no heart, this is simply not worthy of the Deus Ex name; it's just cyberpunk Thief.
The original Deus Ex was a masterpiece in many ways - and notably, the stealth gameplay and shooter aspects were not high on the list: for example many shooter and stealth game fans rag, accurately, on the stupid guard AI. DXIW, despite the crappiness in which it was soaked by having to fit onto an Xbox, still set up some questions about what it means to be human, what free will is, the difference between guilt and responsibility, and such. DXHR utterly failed there (the pot-laden voiceovers that took the place of endings were particularly insulting) but at least the character was discovering himself and experiencing pathos, traversing an arc from naivete to action about the conspiracies around him.
But this time around, Jensen's story is already done, and on-screen he's just a rubber-chicken stand-in for a protagonist. Rock, Paper, Shotgun has described well: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/08/26/deus-ex-adam-jensen
So Eidos Montreal is now zero for two on showing the slightest clue about, let alone grokking, what made Deus Ex such an interesting and seminal game. I'm not exaggerating when I ask, is the studio suffering from an institutional form of autism, where they are incapable of empathy with players or understanding player' viewpoints?
In a way, it's worse than Squenix. Squenix despises their players, and has made it a solid expectation that their games will actively insult one's intelligence. But Eidos Montreal seems to be unable to comprehend who their players even are.
I like a lot of the ways the mechanics have been refined from DXHR; I like that Eidos Montreal paid attention to how stupid the idea of "boss fights" in a Deus Ex game is. Overall, mechanics-wise, this is a great sequel to DXHR.
But there's something just plain missing, and that's, for lack of a better term, the heart. I'm anticipating more hours of a fun stealthy choice-of-options game, but I'm already convinced that there's zero chance that it will give me anything to chew on, mentally, and isn't likely to even keep me attached to the character I'm playing. With only mechanics and no heart, this is simply not worthy of the Deus Ex name; it's just cyberpunk Thief.
The original Deus Ex was a masterpiece in many ways - and notably, the stealth gameplay and shooter aspects were not high on the list: for example many shooter and stealth game fans rag, accurately, on the stupid guard AI. DXIW, despite the crappiness in which it was soaked by having to fit onto an Xbox, still set up some questions about what it means to be human, what free will is, the difference between guilt and responsibility, and such. DXHR utterly failed there (the pot-laden voiceovers that took the place of endings were particularly insulting) but at least the character was discovering himself and experiencing pathos, traversing an arc from naivete to action about the conspiracies around him.
But this time around, Jensen's story is already done, and on-screen he's just a rubber-chicken stand-in for a protagonist. Rock, Paper, Shotgun has described well: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/08/26/deus-ex-adam-jensen
So Eidos Montreal is now zero for two on showing the slightest clue about, let alone grokking, what made Deus Ex such an interesting and seminal game. I'm not exaggerating when I ask, is the studio suffering from an institutional form of autism, where they are incapable of empathy with players or understanding player' viewpoints?
In a way, it's worse than Squenix. Squenix despises their players, and has made it a solid expectation that their games will actively insult one's intelligence. But Eidos Montreal seems to be unable to comprehend who their players even are.
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