I just finished playing through the games again and thought it'd be worth discussing and hearing what others think, favorites, plot, mechanics, characters, etc.
I still don't think the first one has been topped in terms of story personally,. The allusions to real life conspiracies and predictions makes it very immersive and believable. 100% better than the Square Enix games, except for the stealth gameplay.
I tend to keep going back to Human Revolution because of the art style, atmosphere, music and addictive gameplay. It's top notch. Stealth gameplay specifically is really fun despite the AI being pretty dumb. Downsides being they put ******* everywhere but the woke elements are tolerable compared to today's games. Unfortunately the original version is no longer available for purchase.
The director's cut version while better in some aspects (level design and boss battles) includes that ****** DLC that was shoehorned into the middle of the game which wrecks the pacing. It also runs like **** on PC without alot of tweaking. The atmosphere in the DLC is still good but I can't stand the character
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Keitner (Kikener
), a feminist Mossad agent who you are supposed to sympathize with and kill the blonde White commander for. There is also the typical jewish trope of the base being an allusion to a nazi concentration camp doing involuntary medical experimentation
, it's beyond cringe
Overall, I'd say it's a worth sequel to Deus Ex and offers a lot of player choice.
Mankind Divided I avoided for years because I thought it would be absolute ****. However, it turns out to be genuinely quite enjoyable despite the pozzed Aug Lives Matter ****. There are feminist overtones (aggressive, overly numerous female cops, super competent woman tropes) but are generally not that bad until the DLC. Another downside is the shoehorning of ******* all over Prague where they make no sense (shop keepers, police, etc.). Wish there was a mod to remove all that.
The gameplay takes what was great about HR and expanded and refined it greatly, 100% the star if the show here. The level of detail and design of the levels are also much improved with many secrets and ways to go about completing objectives. The new graphics engine is very pleasing on the eyes too and runs way smoother than HR.
Story is interesting in the beginning but gets predictable fairly quickly
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You meet the bad guy very early and it's obvious he is the main villain and not a twist, I also thought Rucker was an interesting character and see allusions to real life issues with state violence and accusations
IMO the main story is not as interesting as the side missions, but there are way more side missions than HR and they are pretty diverse in content. A lot of them revolve around detective work and exploration, which I found enjoyable as I try to find all the secrets in games. Overall would recommend.
UPDATE: Finished All DLCs
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Desperate Measures - It's about breaking into the Tarvos Security HQ to find out who doctored the surveillance footage of the train station bombing. It's pretty easy and short, only about 1 hour of gameplay, but nothing really notable to talk about other than the antagonist, Lt. Whittaker, is portrayed to be an belligerent, white guy who you are supposed to dislike off the bat. The presentation felt rushed and not on the same level as the rest of the game.
System Rift - Much larger area to explore with the same level of detail as the main game. The premise is you have to work with Pritchard from HR again so he can access a super secure data vault for a client. Plenty of bonuses for exploration and looting. The story sucks and is even more libtarded than the main game. Pritchard has been modeled horribly, his attitude is even more irritating and effeminate than HR, but they also made him look like a ***** too. In HR he looked like a dude who worked out, now he's a soyboy with a huge nose and a receding hairline. Then there is the hacker you are supposed to work with; a fat, ugly **** mary sue who condescends both Jensen and Prichard and seemingly knows everything about hacking, proclaims to be of the top 2. Very difficult to like. If you skip all that the gameplay is alright.
A Criminal Past - This one I was the most hopeful about, but it was the worst of all of them. I quit playing 3/4 of the way through. It's a prequel to the main storyline where you get sent to some jail in Arizona to track down a would be terrorist plot. You're sent undercover to blend in and are stripped of all your augs and have to work your way back up. The gameplay is still fun here in figuring out how to get back on your feet, but again the story is ***. The first character you run into is some ripped black guy who is described as the "one everyone is the prison looks up to" (
) he helps you out. Then there is this obese, repulsive white guy who recognizes you as a cop from Detroit, but doesn't know your name. He is portrayed as the typical dumb hick who is supposed to be hated. Half of the corrections officers are bull ***** who keep trying to act tough and never shut up. It's all so ******* cringe. The people who made this slop are a waste of oxygen.
It's all good, I kind of want to replay it again anyway and try another approach, after I get it set up and working on W10 that is.
