Game hands out XP like candy and the two basic builds seem to be stealthy or fighty you could do a middle ground I suppose but that's it. which aug to install, which skills to pick. Except that there's no building character by making exclusive choices w.r.t.
The dumbed down mechanics are obvious skills are gone, it's just augs basically. I played HR for the first time last weekend and couldn't bring myself to finish it. I give it another try, as the game itself is boring and a slog, but I like the story, but I'll most likely uninstall and get myself a good game movie on Youtube to keep in my collection. On my pacifist run I've already purchased every augment I deem important, thus rendering every new Praxis Point I get useless Not being able to save Malik as I didn't had EMPs on me + there were none to be grabbed in the level itself was quite annoying
For unknown reasons you need to stand up while hacking a computer, thereby alerting all enemies in a zone if that computer happens to be the security hub to disable cameras/robots/turrets, especially if you're on pacifist and only KO those few enemies on the path you've been taken so far really don't flow well with the overall design of the level, which means you're constantly searching for those access points/routes if you don't want to face a horde of enemies You also notice that in quite a few levels the alternate routes of backdoors, punchable walls, air vents etc. While on a pacifist run you really notice how artificially stretched the levels are: several locations with multiple levels populated with the same enemies while you need to go from A to B - and right now just before jumping on the ship towards Megan and the other hostages it's really a slog Also the non-combat routes for bosses really shows that they were additions after the game has already been released, as it's almost always "Hack computer -> change turret targeting -> win" You need to have certain augments at specific times if you do a pacifist playthrough: without hacking turret, Icarus landing system or punching walls you have to use the normal routes with many enemies or need to face bosses in combat Augmentation system is dumbed down with heavy reliance on either energy recharge or eating food, and for unknown reasons your additional energy cells > 2 aren't allowed to be recharged using your passive energy regeneration After just having done yet another Deus Ex 1 playthrough I saw Human Revolution + Mankind Divided for cheap on GoG and got both, and I'm currently playing Human Revolution, but sadly it doesn't live up to Deus Ex or any other really good game that you can play again each year: