Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

CD Projekt Red should have played this game before developing Cyberpunk 2077.

IMAGINE not following up on this AMAZING game, and doing some shitty Avengers game instead.

DO NOT RUN IT ON DX12, YOU WILL BE FLOODED WITH BUGS
---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☑ Beautiful
☐ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS
---{ Gameplay }---
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't
---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf
---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ Grandma
---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☐ Decent
☐ Fast
☑ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer
---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☑ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls
---{ Grind }---
☐ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☐ Isn't necessary to progress
☑ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding
---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☑ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life
---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☑ Average
☐ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond
---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money
---{ Bugs }---
☐ Never heard of
☐ Minor bugs
☑ Can get annoying
☐ Significant, nothing but a big terrarium for bugs
☐ Call the exterminators
---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☑ 8
☐ 9
☐ 10

bro Adam Jensen is so cool I wish sunglasses were real

Good game overall, an evolution from Human Revolution but more of the same so don't expect a big change.
Plays better as a stealth/hacker type of game as the gun fighting and the AI are the weakest parts. The story is ok but I didn't like the cliffhanger at the end.
If you want to skip the credits press Alt + F4, is going to ask you if you want to close the game, press Esc and it will go to the menu and give you the final achievements.

"I once thought I could save the world... now look at it."
Ah, Deus Ex. Conspiracy theories and stoic heroes in snazzy trench coats with a lot more going on than meets the eye in a gritty post-cyberpunk world teetering on the precipice, driven to the brink by utterly deplorable villains who want nothing more than to push it over the edge, then remake what's left into whatever they want. It's a franchise that not only begs for a new title, but also a remake of the original games with the caliber of gameplay that the newer titles have brought to the table. The question remains though: will we ever get it? Given the absolute state of Embracer Group, and the fact that they bought Eidos Montreal... the answer remains to be seen.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution, this game's predecessor, was, and still remains, THE game that brought Deus Ex back to life as a franchise. As thought-provoking as it was entertaining, Human Revolution still boasts some of the best gameplay, world-building, character development, and overall writing I've personally experienced in gaming thus far. So, how does Mankind Divided stack up? In my opinion, it's a simultaneous step up AND down.
Gameplay-wise, there are serious sweeping quality of life improvements made across the board from Human Revolution, and ones that still hold up almost a decade later. Everything from hacking to movement, weapon handling, customization, dialogue, and player abilities has been honed and refined to a T. However, I wish I could say the same for the game's quality assurance and control. For whatever reason, I encountered various bugs that would either freeze the game, or just outright prevent it from loading and force me to alt-tab, bring up the task manager, and kill the game. There was also a couple instances where characters would get stuck on chairs or other parts of the environment they're meant to interact with. Bit of a nitpick, but even installed on an M.2 SSD, the initial load times could be quite lengthy, too.
Visually, the game is quite detailed and realistic, even if those details come at an unnecessary performance cost. However, overall character design, whilst incredibly detailed, is quite muted for new characters compared to Human Revolution. They're rather bland, and suffer from not having anywhere near as much screen presence or memorable visual traits as their Human Revolution predecessors. Also, with the exception of a proud few, much of them also either don't do much in their introductions, or really endear themselves to the player, leaving them to have to learn more about them as they go along. Thankfully, what little characters return from the previous game get some appropriate, if at times jarring visual upgrades. (Yes, Pritchard, I'm looking at you.)
Audio-wise, the game's pretty richly detailed, and the UI thankfully doesn't have as many stock sounds as the previous game's did. Gunfire and combat overall are pretty punchy. However, I don't know what happened with the game's music, but for whatever reason, has nowhere near as much impact as Human Revolution's. Like with the new characters mentioned above, the new tracks seem to be... subdued in the impact they make, like they want so desperately to hold your attention, but someone or something is holding them back. It's strange, especially considering how effortlessly memorable Human Revolution's soundtrack still is, more than a decade later.
Now for story. This one's tough, since Human Revolution's story was just so good, and not much was hidden in the game in order to really understand it, save for extra details that go to enhance the characters and world-building even further. In Mankind Divided's case, the main story works well enough to not overstay its welcome or lose the player along the way, but various aspects of it require careful scrutiny, some in-depth investigation in-game, and a decent amount of thought to make it better than just "OK." Where the game truly shines though are its side missions, almost all of which come with fairly interesting storylines and characters. One overarching side mission, however, basically (and frustratingly) goes nowhere, and begs for more details and a satisfying conclusion, especially in a follow-up game. Worse, and insultingly, in said mission's "resolution," the game basically shrugs and tells the player to "figure it out."
Of course, one has to acknowledge the elephant in the room: Mankind Divided was quite painfully obviously meant to be the middle chapter of an incredible trilogy... that we still have yet to see the finale of. It's also the second of a prequel trilogy to a game that is widely considered to be one of the best ever made. While it does an excellent job of tying into the original game and its predecessor, it still feels... incomplete. While by no means a half-baked rush job, story elements were obviously left out on purpose, likely for a follow-up that may never materialize at this point.
Overall though, despite some glaring problems and issues, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided has aged pretty well. Here's hoping it gets a much-deserved sequel that opens the doors for bigger and better things for the franchise.
My final verdict:
I like it.
Thanks for reading my review. Hopefully, it was informative, and that you enjoyed it.
Until next time, whenever that may be, this is Valkinsenn, signing off.

Please Please Please Eidos finish this series