Support NeoGAF

[Floody]

I'm surprised, this is the first big game to come out in a while. Maybe people just didn't like the first game, I didn't.

I don't think it was that, probably much more to do with the crap marketing, and it releasing during the few weeks the UK sees the sun.


Also,damn didn't realize how bad Square are doing lately, if FF15 bombs (unlikely, I know), they'll be in a real bad spot, wouldn't be surprised if they'd end up like Capcom if that happened.

 

[EdwardTivrusky]

It's a shame it's not doing so well but i am part of the problem. I loved the first game and this one is on my radar but i have too much of a backlog and a couple of games on the go so i was saving DX:MD until later in the year when i have more time to play it and appreciate it.

At least i'll be helping to give the game "legs" i suppose.

 

[web01]

They failed badly on the marketing side. Ton of people didn't even know this game was coming out. They failed to differentiate from the previous game. And its a sequel that should have been out within 2 years max.

 

[Card Boy]

I can't speak for anyone else but when i see Season Passes, micro-transactions and DLC shenanigans for a single player game i immediately go into 'wait for GOTY Edition at 75% off' mode.

 

[danowat]

I can't speak for anyone else but when i see Season Passes, micro-transactions and DLC shenanigans for a single player game i immediately go into wait for GOTY Edition at 75% mode.

Problem with that is, it just means that the publishers have to continue to look for other revenue streams to claw back the money they lose from people not buying it, it's all a bit of a catch 22 situation.

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

UK has the worst taste in games so I'm not surprised.

 

[The Real Napsta]

It's a great game. If you're on the fence, buy it.

 

[Iceternal]

When you wait 5 years to release a sequel you can't make such a direct sequel both in gameplay and story. You have to change the formula

 

[Bruno MB]

We have data for other European countries and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided didn't seem to have fared much better.

For example, in Germany Deus Ex: Mankind Divided debuted in 3rd place (PlayStation 4 charts) below Madden NFL 17, and in the game debuted in 3rd place too below Assetto Corsa with 3,000 paltry units sold. To put things into perspective, it failed to outperform Quantum Break which sold 3,500 units during its first week (Spain).

 

[Triggerhappytel]

UK has the worst taste in games so I'm not surprised.

A) they released it with fuck all marketing at the hottest time of the year.
B) the UK has very similar taste to North America and most of Western Europe.

 

[YianGaruga]

People blaming the audience or the market is pretty weird to me. ("UK has bad taste", "Gamers are terrible people")

If a company misreads the market or mismanages a project and spends WAY more on a game than it could conceivably sell, that is ALL on the publisher.

There's a way to make games with interesting stories and gameplay options (sounds like MD has that at least) without spending $70m CAD on it. If you put that in an otherwise unappealing package in a very competitive market and ruin it with DLC and bad ports, you can't blame the consumer for its failure. It's absurd.

Hailing DE MD as some shining beacon of originality does seem a bit weird to me as well.

 

[Kill3r7]

UK has the worst taste in games so I'm not surprised.

Glad to see the conversation has come full circle in less than 24hrs. UK has no worse taste than most western countries. Check the first 2-3 pages for proof.

 

[Coxy100]

UK has the worst taste in games so I'm not surprised.

Grow up mate, no need for stuff like that. This isn't GameFaqs.

 

[Necron]

Shame that it isn't selling that well. I'm really enjoying it so far. Hope the additional content in the season pass is good too (haven't bought it yet though).

 

[31GhostsIV]

UK has the worst taste in games so I'm not surprised.

Hey! I'm from the UK, hate football and bought Deus Ex. I don't think it's selling to well because:

a) HR didn't live up to expectations over here (I knew a few people who bought it, including myself - nobody liked it, including myself). Critical reception doesn't necessarily equal buyer reception.

b) Never underestimate the power of Square Enix to leave a sour taste in the mouths of consumers.

c) Deus Ex - the brand - isn't the draw SE assumes it is, and that's without a five year wait for an excellent game (with an abrupt non-ending).

 

[danowat]

Hey! I'm from the UK, hate football and bought Deus Ex. I don't think it's selling to well because:

a) HR didn't live up to expectations over here (I knew a few people who bought it, including myself - nobody liked it, including myself). Critical reception doesn't necessarily equal buyer reception.

b) Never underestimate the power of Square Enix to leave a sour taste in the mouths of consumers.

c) Deus Ex - the brand - isn't the draw SE assumes it is, and that's without a five year wait for an excellent game (with an abrupt non-ending).

I'd be inclined to say that the vast majority of the games buying public don't know Squeenix from Cleenex.

 

[GinoFelino]

I bought and returned it.

It's wholly disappointing both as an entry in the Deus Ex franchise and as a stealth-action game in general.

Word of mouth isn't going to save this one. Also, with the majority of sales being PS4, poor technical performance on that platform isn't going to help matters either.

It's probably going to put the franchise to rest. That sucks; the Deus Ex concept still had potential for a classic. It didn't happen, and judging from Eidos Montreal's skills as a dev and this game's commercial reception, it never will.

 

[leng jai]

It's a great game. If you're on the fence, buy it.

If anything I'd advise anyone on the fence to just wait for a price drop. The game really isn't anything special unless you really loved HR in the first place and just want more of the same.

 

[Succinct Verbosity]

Maybe the publishers should have spent more time and effort advertising the game than interfering with its development.

 

[Alienous]

I could have forgotten it released recently if not for the Jimquisition episodes, so I'd blame the marketing.

 

[31GhostsIV]

I'd be inclined to say that the vast majority of the games buying public don't know Squeenix from Cleenex.

I read this a lot, that Joe Public is mostly uninformed about these things, but given the social media-driven world within which we live and the audience Deus Ex is aimed towards... I can't see it in this case.

By the same logic, the game should have sold a gazillion copies out of the gate because the screenshots make it look like a FPS and uninformed consumers would have bought it expecting CoD.

I bought and returned it.. .

I really enjoyed the game until the final act, so I can't question the quality of the core game. I thought the side quests especially were memorable and enjoyable. I'll concede that the PS4 performance was a bit on the ropey side though - perhaps SE could have spent more time optimising the game, instead of shoe-horning in a microtransaction-driven online mode.

 

[Moff]

I understand, marketing was a mess. Gameplay doesn't appeal to mass market, core gamers are disappointed with the story leading nowhere. I hope there will be a sequel, I still enjoyed it a lot.

 

[PumpkinPie]

The last game cost £17.99, and was quickly down to less. Is this one double the game?

 

[GinoFelino]

The last game cost £17.99, and was quickly down to less. Is this one double the game?

I think you're confusing it with something else there, man.

 

[Majukun]

i would have already bought the game if they didn't put microtransactions in it.
i' aint't gonna support that shit on retail 60 bucks games,sorry

 

[leng jai]

i would have already bought the game if they didn't put microtransactions in it.
i' aint't gonna support that shit on retail 60 bucks games,sorry

To be fair I'm pretty sure 90% of people won't even know there are micro transactions even if they finish the game.

 

[GinoFelino]

i would have already bought the game if they didn't put microtransactions in it.
i' aint't gonna support that shit on retail 60 bucks games,sorry

It's bullshit how Square meddled with the game, but the microtransactions are so shoddily implemented, they might as well not be there at all.

Besides, fully boycotting all games with microtransactions means that you can play, what, 2 retail games a year?

 

[Steve.1981]

That does help a lot, but have you beat the game?...

No, I'm only a few hours in. Still in spoiler avoidance mode!

I do think they've done a good job of world building in game, so far. I just think they could have made more effort to advertise that MD is almost an immediate, direct follow on from the story and events of HR, and that a wait of 5 years is quite a gap for a lot of more (for want of a better word) casual gamers. It's a bit unrealistic to just expect millions of people would still be invested enough to buy the game on release, if that was the thinking at Square Enix.

But like I said, hopefully word of mouth is good and it has legs. Hopefully it sells in the long run.

 

[Lego Boss]

I think the delay kinda killed any hype this game had. It seemed like SE was advertising this game a lot at first, but it all but vanished after the delay was announced.

Yes, I would have bought this in Feb, but as it is now there are too many other things to play and will be coming out.

I will pick it up at some point, but just don't have the time. A shame as it's an IP that I like and really feel I should support . . .

 

[Lime]

Both in terms of the generation and of the franchise: instead of recontextualizing the gameplay in ways that learned from the preceding entry and drew on the technological advancements in more recent hardware, and instead of evolving the visual style to be related yet distinct, they spat up something with the exact same visual style and gameplay that was presented as an incremental improvement rather than a thorough recontexutalization. The things I'd expect a well-heeled team to deliver in terms of city hub structure, mission planning, combat options, etc. after getting feedback from the first game didn't particularly seem to be present in the public presentation of the game, so it just comes off as a two-year sequel getting released five years later.r

This perfectly captures my feelings on the game, at least from the marketing and footage that I've seen, as well as the small tidbit I played at a colleague. On a surface level, the game has almost no special identity that sets it apart from its previous game and this is compounded by having Adam Jensen looking identical to his former self in it again.

 

[AnthonypUK]

probably much more to do with the crap marketing, and it releasing during the few weeks the UK sees the sun.

Exactly, No mans Sky sold more then double on the PS4 what Deus Ex did on 2 consoles, the difference is the way they've been marketed.

 

[Majukun]

It's bullshit how Square meddled with the game, but the microtransactions are so shoddily implemented, they might as well not be there at all.

Besides, fully boycotting all games with microtransactions means that you can play, what, 2 retail games a year?

if it comes to that,yeah..at least not a day one...if they wanna spill more money from a 60 bucks game,i'll just buy it later for less,that's my policy

only game with kinda microtransaction i'm gonna get it's fifa 17 (with the ultimate team),and only because i don't pay for the game

 

[TheProudCanadian]

I'm in Canada, but personally I'm waiting for a price drop even though I'm very excited to play this just because $69.99 over here is more than I can justify for a game in the world of Steam sales. Dark Souls 3 was the last full priced game I bought and I ended up having mixed feelings about it.

I think I'm done paying full price for games period, considering the wealth of cheap games available these days to hold me over while the new hotness cools off. I'm sure others are getting into the same mindset all over the world, and it's going to constitute an increasing burden on early sales numbers over time.

 

[GinoFelino]

Both in terms of the generation and of the franchise: instead of recontextualizing the gameplay in ways that learned from the preceding entry and drew on the technological advancements in more recent hardware, and instead of evolving the visual style to be related yet distinct, they spat up something with the exact same visual style and gameplay that was presented as an incremental improvement rather than a thorough recontexutalization. The things I'd expect a well-heeled team to deliver in terms of city hub structure, mission planning, combat options, etc. after getting feedback from the first game didn't particularly seem to be present in the public presentation of the game, so it just comes off as a two-year sequel getting released five years later.



hashtag auglivesmatter

Well said. It feels like a last-gen game in current-gen clothing. And Human Revolution wasn't exactly breaking new ground from a gameplay perspective at the time, either.

if it comes to that,yeah..at least not a day one...if they wanna spill more money from a 60 bucks game,i'll just buy it later for less,that's my policy

only game with kinda microtransaction i'm gonna get it's fifa 17 (with the ultimate team),and only because i don't pay for the game

Whatever works for you, buddy!

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

To the people saying it feels like a last gen game, are you speaking about graphics or what? Because I'm struggling to think of a big budget game that doesn't feel like a prettier x360 game. Maybe Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis system a little.

How many of the trillion seller games literally had fully functional last gen versions? They failed to build any kind of hype for so many reasons beyond lack of gameplay innovation.

 

[wesleyshark]

A shame.

This game is great so far- started playing last night.

 

[thenexus6]

It's a shame, easily in my top five of the year so far.

 

[Zolo]

Once I saw the season pass and more, I figured I'd just wait til the GOTY edition or whatever.

 

[GinoFelino]

To the people saying it feels like a last gen game, are you speaking about graphics or what? Because I'm struggling to think of a big budget game that doesn't feel like a prettier x360 game. Maybe Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis system a little.

How many of the trillion seller games literally had fully functional last gen versions? They failed to build any kind of hype for so many reasons beyond lack of gameplay innovation.

That's fair, but saying it feels like a last-gen game actually means it feels stale and outdated.

The 5-year gap between games could have provided the developers to make tangible leaps regarding the scale of the environments and the type of interaction you could have with those environments.

That didn't happen at all.

Instead, it's virtually the same scale and level of interaction, but with prettier window-dressing.

 

[ozfunghi]

I'll get it on NX in 6 months!

 

[leng jai]

To the people saying it feels like a last gen game, are you speaking about graphics or what? Because I'm struggling to think of a big budget game that doesn't feel like a prettier x360 game. Maybe Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis system a little.

How many of the trillion seller games literally had fully functional last gen versions? They failed to build any kind of hype for so many reasons beyond lack of gameplay innovation.

Animations and facial expressions would be the first thing.

 

[tuxfool]

That's fair, but saying it feels like a last-gen game actually means it feels stale and outdated.

The 5-year gap between games could have provided the developers to make tangible leaps regarding the scale of the environments and the type of interaction you could have with those environments.

That didn't happen at all.

Instead, it's virtually the same scale and level of interaction, but with prettier window-dressing.

The point being is whether you can point to any game making those tangible scale and interaction improvements over the previous gen.

 

[tuxfool]

I don't like how they changed the voice actor for David Sarif, really poor choice to do that.

The original VA went crazy, what did you expect them to do?

 

[Angel_DvA]

Well I can see why:

- The cover of the box looks like some kind of Deus Ex HR remaster.
- The game itself doesn't really feel like a sequel but much more like a DE HR 2.0.
- The game is disappointing, the ending is just... awful and the scenario so poor it hurts...
- It released 2 years too late and it can't justify it with what we've seen in game.
- The marketing and the Hype wasn't as strong as it was for HR.

I hope Squre /Eidos will still deliver a sequel ASAP with a real ending this time and not a To Be Continued...

 

[GinoFelino]

The point being is whether you can point to any game making those tangible scale and interaction improvements over the previous gen.

Uncharted 4, The Witcher 3, MGS V (compared to MGS 4), Arkham Knight, Hitman, Far Cry and many others are managing just fine.

Again, Human Revolution wasn't exactly groundbreaking 5 years ago.

It's not like they pioneered a certain type of gameplay that they can now build on top of. I think that contributes to the feeling of staleness. It doesn't help that the original Deus Ex did all of this and did it better 15 years ago. Even the environments felt larger in scope and the interactions felt more natural.

 

[31GhostsIV]

Once I saw the season pass and more, I figured I'd just wait til the GOTY edition or whatever.

The worst kind of DLC as well - the 'blatantly cut from the game' kind. There's an episode with the Day One edition (where you get a code in the box, that you have to sign up to a SE account to use, which in turn sends you the PSN code - SE's backward ass bullshit in action) and another story chapter in a couple of weeks.

 

[tuxfool]

Uncharted 4, The Witcher 3, MGS V (compared to MGS 4), Arkham Knight, Hitman, Far Cry and many others are managing just fine.

Again, Human Revolution wasn't exactly groundbreaking 5 years ago.

It's not like they pioneered a certain type of gameplay that they can now build on top of. I think that contributes to the feeling of staleness. It doesn't help that the original Deus Ex did all of this and did it better 15 years ago. Even the environments felt larger in scope and the interactions felt more natural.

All of those are just demonstrations of refinements over a previous gen game. Mankind Divided's systems are are also much more refined over HR. Everything works so much better and in concert with each other. I love those rose tinted glasses over HR, I suggest people go replay that after MD.

Of that list only MSGV and Witcher 3 are massively divergent on the design side.

 

[GinoFelino]

All of those are just demonstrations of refinements over a previous gen game. Mankind Divided's systems are are also much more refined over HR. Everything works so much better and in concert with each other. I love those rose tinted glasses over HR, I suggest people go replay that after MD.

Of that list only MSGV and Witcher 3 are massively divergent on the design side.

I'll have to disagree and state that all of those games made much larger leaps over their predecessors than Mankind Divided.

Also, I don't think MD is much more refined at all. The new augmentations are mostly worthless and the old ones still don't hold a candle to a simple Stun Gun. In terms of environments, although some locations feel like a step up, most of them just follow the same limited design patterns that HR did.

I can't really see how you could accuse me of having rose-tinted glasses regarding HR. I already said its gameplay was barely new when it came out.

Edit: I see you've edited in a little addendum stating that MGS V and W3 are indeed different. Glad you agree.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

That's fair, but saying it feels like a last-gen game actually means it feels stale and outdated.

The 5-year gap between games could have provided the developers to make tangible leaps regarding the scale of the environments and the type of interaction you could have with those environments.

That didn't happen at all.

Instead, it's virtually the same scale and level of interaction, but with prettier window-dressing.

I guess it's just odd when we get absolutely massive sales from annual or semiannual franchises that seem to retain interest despite little or no innovation. Is something samey more stale with a 5 year gap or a 1 year gap?

I feel like it's a misdiagnosis to attribute large scale sales trends to factors like this. I'm not really agreeing or disagreeing about the game's merits or lack of, but are millions of people who bought HR really this discerning? Most of the audience presumably were the same people buying most other major titles, and the underwhelming marketing plus pr backfires feel like they would be bigger culprits. Another major factor, possibly the biggest, is the general lack of franchise awareness and mindshare amongst general audience, which is one big advantage of annual or semiannual releases - It's always on people's lips.

 

[pa22word]

All of those are just demonstrations of refinements over a previous gen game. Mankind Divided's systems are are also much more refined over HR. Everything works so much better and in concert with each other. I love those rose tinted glasses over HR, I suggest people go replay that after MD.

Of that list only MSGV and Witcher 3 are massively divergent on the design side.

I immediately started a new HR run after finishing MD, because of the blue balls MD left me with and...


Honestly, other than the radial UI and replacing protein bars with biocells there's not much of a difference. The cover system is still ass, but I'm playing on a keyboard so it might be better for padwarriors. Level design the integrated hub was a godsend, but really other than that HR is MD. Granted, I play stealth-nonlethal so if you're the shooty type I could see the difference.