Dev_Anj on 25/4/2015 at 03:31
Well, JC Denton goes to New York because the naval ship filled with the virus leaves for New York before he knew of it. If the ship had blown up in Hong Kong, then I think there would be no reason to revisit New York, and JC would only visit Staton Dowd in the graveyard, which is a pretty short interlude anyway.
But then they would need to make a new area for Hong Kong, and I imagine it would be miles away from the area we visit in the game, as it seems to be in the middle of the city and a huge ship would be at a dock on the ocean. So it would be a completely new level that you could possibly not return from. There's no guarantee it would be better than the dock level we already got though.
froghawk on 25/4/2015 at 14:14
Quote Posted by heywood
Deus Ex is a very long game by modern standards. These days, gamers are pretty used to starting and finishing AAA games in a week or even just a weekend. I don't think you can enjoy Deus Ex as much if you try to binge play it. One of my best Deus Ex games took me a month to finish, as I played a few hours every other night and explored everything, something like 45 hours of game time I think.
At least according to Howlongtobeat.com, Human Revolution is equally long - and it has the exact same arc. The hubs disappear and it's mostly hostile territory with a little more linearity (and even moreso with the director's cut, since missing link is added). I never felt this was an issue with the original, but it did strike me as a problem the first time I played HR. I liked it better the second time around, but the finale is still no A51.
Thor on 25/4/2015 at 20:14
[Contains Spoilers, but everyone viewing this thread should have played the game anyway]
Hong Kong was teh best shit ever. Does that count as the first part? I remember it being somewhere more in the middle/second half. That's where I got the weapon I used for the rest of the game. Few quick slashes into Gunther's face with that beauty and he's dead as a doornail.
I only played it a few years ago but I already forgot so much. I don't remember what's the location of a place where end goal was some ship thingy (but held up high somehow?) but I think it was nearer the end. I liked that too. Paris was nice too. It was at least satisfying to get past it. I guess that's my experience throughout the whole game, actually. Not always enjoyable, but immensely satisfying somehow after completion.
Also I didn't like Hell's Kitchen. I got Paul killed there and only later was told I could have saved him. And battery park was the worst place in any game ever lol... starving children yay. Also cannot express enough how ugly that place in particular was. Underground it got better though.
So no, I think in the 2nd half, while it got different, it had all the momentum built up - story, gameplay (augmentations, weapons) to actually start enjoying more of the rest of the game.
[slight offtopic ramble]
Holy hell, I've forgotten enough to give reason for a replay. Only I do remember how that game had some of the worst graphics in any game ever. Only Hong Kong didn't look like utter shit all the time cause it at least had some color here and there.
Chade on 26/4/2015 at 11:57
The second half was less interesting, but the game as a whole was better off for it. Taking a bit of time off while the story is nearing it's climax, to go run some quests for the local grocer and chill out for a while, is something I can only get behind if I don't much care about the main story anyway (e.g., the elder scrolls games), or I can revisit the quests I missed whenever I liked (e.g., err ... also the elder scrolls games).
Fallen+Keeper on 28/4/2015 at 12:24
I liked the second half much more than the first one, minus the catacombs.
I especially love Vandenberg, the Cathedral and the Ocean Labs.
Area 51 was interesting but confusing, overfilled with enemies and felt similar to Soulforge Cathedral in some way.
Dev_Anj on 28/4/2015 at 16:36
Quote Posted by Fallen+Keeper
Area 51 was interesting but confusing, overfilled with enemies and felt similar to Soulforge Cathedral in some way.
The simple reason Area 51 and Soulforge Cathedral feel so similar, to me atleast, is that they are clearly made keeping gameplay challenges in mind, in games that feature spaces that are built to feel lived in and sensible (well, within the limitations of the technology anyway). That's why both have utterly convoluted pathways, overtly nonsensical rooms, areas overtly built around one or several mechanical challenges. Both levels also feature a non conventional bossfight, as in there's a boss who's invulnerable and in a position of power, and you need to tinker with things around the level to get to the boss which exposes you to the hazards of the level.
I think that both are decent levels for throwing a straight up tough mechanical challenge to the player and testing his/her skills in several areas. Both are a bit too bloated for their good though, especially Soulforge Cathedral.
demagogue on 10/5/2015 at 02:07
When I read that in the retrospective, I remember thinking that's exactly how I always felt about it, that Duclare Chateau was where the plot crested, or anyway managed to drive itself to on its own steam, and it was puttering ahead on fumes after that, although the gameplay was still interesting. So I wasn't the only one thinking that.
I'd put it in terms of the player's MO being the engine of the plot. There's such a strong drive in the first half where you're trying to get a handle on what's happening, and that's driving you scene to scene. In the second half, the global MO (where everything is headed) largely drops out and is replaced with local MOs for every level to do this or that little thing without feeling how it really fits into the whole.
The plot design in DX is one thing that's made me think about player MO in game design generally ever since.
heywood on 10/5/2015 at 12:10
Yeah, I know what you mean. Except for me, I would put the crest at Morgan Everett's rather than Chateau Duclare. Lot of stuff revealed there. But the Morpheus conversation was a high point for me because it was the point where I realised that the AI(s) weren't just tools for the different factions but had their own ambitions and delusions of grandeur. Yes, I was a bit slow to catch on to that :)
