So after the very good (gameplay and level design), the good but parts are iffy (story), we now get to the ugly. This game has so many DLC, mircotransaction, freemium bullshit hidden I have no choice but to call it out.
Way back in the spring, I never finished a potential blogpost about the "augment your pre-order" thing Square Enix launched about this game before even announcing...the game. Before any details whatsoever about Mankind Divided was released, Square Enix wanted us to pre-order for a bunch of horrendous shit. Expendables, different jackets Jensen can wear, weapons only available for pre-orders and of course, a day one DLC. The public overwhelmingly called them out on their bullshit so they dropped the pre-order advertising (they just re branded it) and made the day one DLC free.
Day one DLC is my most hated video game thing on this or any planet. I have a hard time believing any worthwhile DLC came into being post-production on a game and hurried along for the day of release. Desperate Measures, the day one DLC for this game, almost looks like a post-production DLC as it's only ONE HOUR long. It's just a side quest loosely based on the main story. However, the game recommends playing the DLC at the end due to spoilers but this side quest takes place about one third of the way into the story. I smell bullshit.
Why Am I Here?
This side quest makes no sense to play after completing the game. It deals with an event that happens at the beginning of the game and after learning who the villain is later in the story, makes this entire side quest a waste of time. I know it's supposed to be a little side story that happens during the right time in the side story but that just begs the question, "Why isn't it THERE?" Why is it separate from the main game? Also, why do I have to re-spec my character? My skill tree is empty at the start of this.
Desperate Measures is in a section called "Jensen's Stories" on the main menu. It's where one more DLC as of this writing has come out, the one featuring Pritchard that I referred too and no, I'm not the least bit angry about that. This one is 12 dollars and I'm sure this side quest could have been in the main game. And apparently, you need to re-spec your character again. What? Why? Ugh. My head hurts already.
Also on the main menu, is a game mode called Breach. This mode, you'll be surprised to learn, is garbage. Why is this shitty free-to-play mobile game included? I only played about an hour of it but it's so, so bad. The controls feel like they should have been done with a touch screen and the difficulty of the levels went up astronomically fast. Why? You know why.
Microtransactions!
Game developers have gotten kind of smart about them since Dead Space 3 as you kind of have to look for them. They aren't in your face in AAA games (mobile games though, sure). And, just like in Overwatch, the games balance didn't feel like it was necessary to buy them. The problem though is that this game sets a precedent on how they can sneakily make their way into games in a way they feel mandatory, eventually, in future games. It's like Square Enix turned the douche nozzle up one notch just to see what they can get away with and if successful, they could turn it up another notch in the next game and so on.
A co-worker* of mine complained that a lot of the cool late game guns from Human Revolution are not in Mankind Divided, not in the game world anyway. He browsed the mircotransactions for the hell of it and what do you know? You can buy them there. I only barely noticed as I played the game the right way, unlike my co-worker peasant, and only looked for those guns to resell in in game shops. I didn't think much of it and just assumed I didn't find them for whatever reason. He wanted to use them because he plays Deus Ex guns-a-blazin lethal style like a lowly serf. He looked for them with purpose and they are not there.
*This is unrelated but today I was talking with him about Dishonored 2 and he said he wasn't a big fan of stealth games. BWAH? How is he a big fan of Deus Ex and NOT a big fan of stealth games????? Deus Ex is very stealth heavy. Jesus man. Ya think you know a guy.......
The most egregious change I saw was with the Praxis Kits. Praxis Kits are this games ability points for your skill tree. In Human Revolution, you get them from leveling up, found hidden in the world, or bought from in game shops. In Mankind Divided you still get them from leveling up but if you can find one in the world, I'm still looking. Okay I lied a little. I found one...after looting the body of the final boss. You know? When ability points are super useful! The end of the game!
This Asshole Has One.
In Mankind Divided, about half way through, Praxis Kits do appear in in game shops. Here is where Square Enix gets tricky. They now cost 10,000 credits. In Human Revolution, they are 5,000 credits. I know there is an in canon reason for the price hike as Limb Clinics closed down after The Incident and they are now rare but Hmmmmmmmmmmm........
For perspective, Deus Ex has always been stingy with credits. I get excited finding a credit chip with 50 bucks on it, for example. I didn't get over 10,000 until late in Mankind Divided so I bought one whole Praxis kit. Not very convenient. You know what is though? You can buy one as a mircotransaction for 2 dollars of real world money. Just 2 bucks. You think maybe, just maybe, that price increase had little to do with lore and more to do with enticing people to buy the microtransaction? I dunno......Buuuuuut, of course it fucking did and there are reports that Eidos Montreal, who actually made the game, didn't want to do any of it.
And what's really sad is that Square Enix has largely stayed away from this bullshit, instead opting for other bullshit. Instead of DLC, they made two whole sequels for the worst Final Fantasy ever. They then sold out the protagonist, Lightning, to appear, in...Louis...Vuitton...ads what? They also claimed that the first Tomb Raider reboot was a failure despite selling 3.4 million copies NOT including digital sales (this was in 2013 too, not 2003), then deciding the way to fix that is make the sequel an Xbox One timed exclusive (it still isn't available for PS4 and PC). Hell, this is a company who only recently decided remaking their biggest game of all time, Final Fantasy VII, might be a good idea while also being hellbent on fucking it up. Seriously? Making the combat system "modern" and going episodic is the dumbest idea ever. Just make the exact same game as the original, step-by-step, with current gen graphics....you morons.
For a second, you thought I was joking about the Louis Vuitton thing huh?
Unfortunately, Square Enix has always had a bit of envy towards the bigger publishers. What's that Dark Knight quote? "You either die a hero or you live to see yourself become Activision"? Just look at their super bizarre and woefully prepared 2015 E3 conference which happened to be their first ever. They got embarrassed I guess and didn't bother in 2016, instead opting for the Nintendo Direct route by streaming stuff. Wow! That envy runs deep. Even Nintendo Squeenix?
This guy happened in 2015 and honestly, I miss him.
As for Deus Ex, we need to call out this DLC/pre-order/mircotransaction bullshit when it happens even in an otherwise great game. When we let this go and say "ah, it's no big deal" publishers are going to get more gutsy. They have tried to emulate GTA/Skyrim, they have tried to chase the sweet COD dollars, they are currently trying to cut themselves a pie of Overwatch, but the worst is chasing Angry Birds/Candy Crush/Clash of Clans/...uh...World of War probably (the Kate Upton one? Is that the one?). Those mobile games nickel and dime massive profits for companies in a way that actually destroys the integrity of the game. It brings the media back to toy status. A cheap toy. That feels awfully regressive. So much for those "are games art?" debates.
Then again, Square Enix published this game. They're usually good at the art part. Terrible at the business part.
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Okay. No more Deus Ex posts for a while.
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