Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is a game that offers a surface level replication of everything that made the original good. It looks and feels like Deus Ex until you realize it doesn't have an inch of the depth its predecessor had, neither in terms of story nor gameplay. Everything in Mankind Divided, along with Human Revolution for that matter, is a simplification, a reduction or a poor imitation of what made the first game in the series a classic. You have fewer interesting augmentations (with skills being entirely removed), smaller, less imaginative levels and less thematic depth. The latter is the absolutely worst part of the game. Is there a single conversation, side quest or memo that isn't about human augmentation? Did any of the writers ever stop to consider if this theme was even a good metaphor for real life racial tension (hint: it isn't)? MD has this weird, myopic focus on this one topic to the exclusion of everything else, resulting in a game world that, like its cyborg protagonist, feels totally artificial. If the gameplay made up for it, that would be fine, but it doesn't. Everything is too easy. You level up so fast you get access to most of the powerful skills right away, making the majority of encounters a cake walk. You're never forced to choose between mutually exclusive skills like in the original. You find hidden stashes of items *everywhere*, meaning you're swimming in ammo and money a few hours in. And the level design is so generous in the amount of ways it allows you to traverse it that you never, ever feel stuck or challenged. Can't hack a terminal? Rest assured, there is a weak wall right next to it that you can punch through, a datapad in the next room with the code on it or a conveniently placed vent in the ceiling that you can use instead. I have almost nothing good to say about this game. It looks and sounds pretty good, I guess. Other than that, I find it overhyped and underwhelming.
This game - considered a bonafide CRPG classic by most - is a disappointment for one reason: Its gameplay does not hold up. It's not a matter of archaic UI's, confusing journals or other things one might associate with old games. The EE fixes most of these issues, and even if it didn't I'm perfectly used to playing games like Fallout 1 and 2 along with Planescape Torment, games that are known to unintuitive, wonky and somewhat outdated. No, Baldur's Gate is simply a game that fails to challenge or provide fun combat encounters. I went into it expecting tactical battles where I'd have to utilize potions, spells and weapons in a variety of ways in order to beat colorful and differentiated enemies. But most battles are against samey looking goblins, gibberlings and goblydoinks that simply line up for the slaughter, while all I have to do is press the attack button and watch the animations play out. They're spread out across dozens and dozens of samey looking forests and mines that my OCD compels me to clear, but provide me with no exhiliration or excitement at all. It's been a chore, really, and the only reason I carry on is to import my character into the vastly superior Baldur's Gate 2. I don't know if it's an issue with the EE or if I'm merely a much better player than 15 years ago, but I don't remember this game being so easy. In my 27 hours of playing, I've had a total of five hard battles. Most of them in Durlag's Tower, a dungeon that appears to have been designed by someone else entirely. I went into this game well aware that it's unremarkable in the story department, that the companions have no personality to speak of and that most quests are of the basic "go fetch my boots from a bridge troll" variety. I didn't mind that. What I did mind is that what I had percieved to be the game's saving grace, its combat, was no good. Now I just hope Baldur's Gate 2 holds up better so I haven't wasted my time playing the first one.
This game is appealing in many ways: great voice acting, nice artwork and a fun, novel concept, but it's all pointless because this is - no exaggeration - the easiest game I have ever played (and yes, I'm playing on the hardest difficulty). I'm 20 hours into the game, but already after 10 hours I began noticing that I'd reliably win battles by 50 points or more. Now I win them by 100. The AI simply doesn't have the skill or the cards to ever challenge you, resulting in every battle being a foregone conclusion and, as such, completely devoid of tension or challenge. The player's cards are simply overpowered to such a degree the poor AI can do nothing to stop you. This, in turn, leads to resource management being pointless. You never face the hard choice of say, spending 200 gold on saving a civilian or conserving that same pile of gold for a better card, because your cards are already more than sufficient. And besides, resources are so plentiful - and cards and upgrades so cheap - that you will never run short of gold, wood and recruits (the games' three resources). I suppose you could say that challenge or resource management is not the point of this game, but why include card battles and resource management, then? I think it's pretty clear CDR wanted to make a tactical, challenging RPG-lite, but merely failed. I suppose you could also forget everything I said and enjoy this game for its story, artwork and choices. And many people might! But for me, this stuff is pointless if it doesn't rest on a foundation of good, fun, challenging gameplay (they're called games for a reason). You shouldn't buy Thronebreaker unless you're a massive fan of everything Witcher, or if you really, really like interactive novels with scarcely any gameplay worth speaking of.
