History ScrappyMechanic / DeusEx

* Despite an attempt to make melee attacks flashier (via the, admittedly cool, retractable blades in Adam's mechanical arms), the system itself faced its fair share of criticism. The main problem is that there's no melee ''combat'' to speak of. All you can do is take an enemy down by approaching them and pressing a button when a prompt appears. The take-down happens in a cut-scene, and aside from choosing a lethal or non-lethal variety, you're uninvolved - there's no QTE, you don't even need to ambush the enemy or approach them correctly - and while the animations are fun, they play every time, are unskippable and get tedious after a while. Also, the mechanic clashes with the energy management system. Take-down is a power, and using it costs an entire energy "cell", meaning that without energy, you cannot use melee at all. You can replensih energy quickly via consumables, but they are rare, and because the last cell in your energy pool regenerates over a short time, and most other powers expend energy gradually, players tend to stay on that one regenerating cell at all times and don't bother with consumables at all, which is ''usually'' enough, but when you need to combine take-downs with other powers like stealth or super-speed, suddenly you're out of your element. ''Mankind Divided'' would slightly adapt the energy bar to be a single "charge meter" that refills fully over time, while limitations appear in the form of "Activation Costs" for available augmentations.

* Despite an attempt to make melee attacks flashier (via the, admittedly cool, retractable blades in Adam's mechanical arms), the system itself faced its fair share of criticism. The main problem is that there's no melee ''combat'' to speak of. All you can do is take an enemy down by approaching them and pressing a button when a prompt appears. The take-down happens in a cut-scene, and aside from choosing a lethal or non-lethal variety, you're uninvolved - there's no QTE, you don't even need to ambush the enemy or approach them correctly - and while the animations are fun, they play every time, are unskippable and get tedious after a while. What's worse, the mechanic clashes with the energy management system. Take-down is a power, and using it costs an entire energy "cell", meaning that without energy, you cannot use melee at all. You can replensih energy quickly via consumables, but they are rare, and because the last cell in your energy pool regenerates over a short time, and most other powers expand energy gradually, players tend to stay on that one regenerating cell at all times and don't bother with consumables at all, which is ''usually'' enough, but when you need to combine take-downs with other powers like stealth or super-speed, suddenly you're out of your element. ''Mankind Divided'' would slightly adapt the energy bar to be a single "charge meter" that refills fully over time, while limitations appear in the form of "Activation Costs" for available augmentations.

* Despite an attempt to make melee attacks much flashier (via the, admittedly cool, retractable blades in Adam's mechanical arms), the actual system itself faced its fair share of criticism. The main problem is that there's no melee ''combat'' to speak of. All you can do is take an enemy down by approaching them and pressing a button when a prompt appears. The take-down itself happens in a cut-scene, and aside from choosing a lethal or non-lethal variety, the player is uninvolved - there's no QTE, you don't even need to ambush the enemy or approach them correctly - and while the animations are fun, they play every time, are unskippable and get tedious after a while. What's worse, take-down is a power which always costs an entire energy cell, meaning that without energy, you cannot use melee at all. The last cell replenishes itself over a short time, but other energy cells can only be restored via rare consumables. Most players tend to stay on that one regenerating cell at all times, which is ''usually'' enough, but it prevents you from getting tactical and combining take-downs with other powers like stealth or super-speed. ''Mankind Divided'' would slightly adapt the energy bar to be a single "charge meter" that refills fully over time, while limitations appear in the form of "Activation Costs" for available augmentations.

* Even big fans of the ''System Rift'' DLC will admit that the developers' choice to stop the plot cold in its tracks, 3/4s of the way through the runtime, to force players into a JustifiedTutorial regarding "Breach Mode", a multiplayer gamemode[[note]]which would later be spun off into an unsuccessful standalone title, ''Deus Ex: Breach'', for which this DLC serves as the prologue to that mode[[/note]] doesn't serve the story any favors. It doesn't help that the tutorial relies on default keybindings that the player may have changed hours before that point, forcing them to either rebind (or remember) what keys they were relying on, as the plot won't progress until the player goes through a number of mandatory button commands.

* Despite an attempt to make melee attacks much flashier (via the, admittedly cool, retractable blades in Adam's mechanical arms), the actual system itself faced its fair share of criticism. It wouldn't be a problem if the game actually ''had'' a melee combat system. Instead, all you can do is take an enemy down by approaching them and pressing a button when a prompt appears. The take-down itself happens in a cut-scene, and aside from choosing a lethal or non-lethal variety, the player is uninvolved - there's no QTE, you don't even need to ambush the enemy or approach them correctly - and while the animations are fun, they play every time, are unskippable and get tedious after a while. What's worse, take-down is a power which always costs an entire energy cell, meaning that without energy, you cannot use melee at all. The last cell replenishes itself over a short time, but other energy cells can only be restored via rare consumables. Most players tend to stay on that one regenerating cell at all times, which is ''usually'' enough, but it prevents you from getting tactical and combining take-downs with other powers like stealth or super-speed. ''Mankind Divided'' would slightly adapt the energy bar to be a single "charge meter" that refills fully over time, while limitations appear in the form of "Activation Costs" for available augmentations.

* Melee weapons were reduced to the, admittedly cool, retractable blades in Adam's mechanical arms, and the arms themselves. Wouldn't be a problem if the game actually ''had'' a melee combat system. Instead, all you can do is take an enemy down by approaching them and pressing a button when a prompt appears. The take-down itself happens in a cut-scene, and aside from choosing a lethal or non-lethal variety, the player is uninvolved - there's no QTE, you don't even need to ambush the enemy or approach them correctly - and while the animations are fun, they play every time, are unskippable and get tedious after a while. What's worse, take-down is a power which always costs an entire energy cell, meaning that without energy you cannot use melee at all, and because the last cell replenishes itself over a short time, but others can only be restored via rare consumables, most players tend to stay on that one regenerating cell at all time, which is ''usually'' enough, but it prevents you from getting tactical and combining take-downs with other powers like stealth or super-speed. Finally, there's almost no progression available for melee - just one upgrade that allows you to take two enemies down at once, which you will rarely need.

* The "universal ammo" system was ''intended'' to fix one of the original game's biggest drawbacks -- namely, having numerous types of ammo that, depending on the player's completionist tendencies / preferred weapon / playstyle, they could either not have enough of, or have too much and no weapon to use it with. To that end, the developers decided to create a "choose any weapon you want" mentality for the sequel, which was intended to allow players versatility in finding their own style and never leaving them at a disadvantage... except it ''always'' leaves the player at a disadvantage. Ammo clips aren't always dropped at the same rate, the threats get much heavier by the time the final level rolls around, and once you're out of ammo for one weapon, you're out of ammo for '''all''' weapons. It doesn't help that heavy weapons would take off a third of an ammo bar (or more) per shot, quickly running dry and forcing you to rely on melee. It also had the knock-on effect of making the Toxin Blade, a unique weapon you find early on in the game in a sidequest that's impossible to miss, one of the most powerful weapons in the game -- one players [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome were advised]] to rely on in a pinch, as it would do damage over time so long as the player [[CherryTapping hit them once or twice]]. The mechanic appeared in other games before and since, but the hate for it in this case was partially because the wide variety of custom ammo types and ammo management was a major part of the first game, and partially because, again, a single ammo source powers '''every''' weapon in the game - other games with ammo sharing at least have the courtesy to not restrict your pistol or assault rifle ammo just because you fired a sniper rifle or rocket launcher too often - so not playing "smart" enough by conserving ammo at just about every turn could lead to the game being UnwinnableByDesign once the player runs into unavoidable guards in [[spoiler:the ruins of the UNATCO base]]. This ammo system was completely jettisoned for the [[VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution next game]] in the series, to ''much'' more positive response.
* The attempt to make the game run better by practically restarting it during every loading screen causes several issues, even for modern systems. The game was built on the infamous "Flesh Engine" (a heavily-modified version of Unreal Engine 2004) which had to dump critical system processes between each area (which is to blame for the smaller map sizes; the memory simply can't handle it), causing black screens and frequent crashes. If you have multiple monitors, the resolution changes every loading screen which is extremely immersion breaking (it does change back once the loading is done, so at least settings aren't affected). Short of relying on a fanmade tool (the ''Visible Upgrade'' mod), the game is nigh-unplayable on some systems.

* The inventory system was changed from an 8x6 grid system (which allowed the player to hold different weapons and items, while ammo was stored elsewhere) to a "list" system, which had a set limit of 12 spaces. While the decision to allow inventory stacking for certain items (beyond Biocells and Multitools) and limit weapons to a single inventory space was generally praised, it came at the cost of the inventory being reduced to a paltry ''12'' squares. This made the InventoryManagementPuzzle of the first (already loathed by some fans) even worse, as it forced you to almost always jettison items or weapons, particularly as you had to balance having a stack of healing items, Biocells and Multitools (a mainstay of every playstyle) with a slim 9 squares to devote to weapons and miscellaneous items. It didn't help that a key deficiency in the maingame (picking up extraneous weapons you didn't need) reared its head again in this game, particularly if you already had certain weapons you were relying on and didn't want to pick up any other classes. ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' jettisoned the system in favor of the original game's "grid-based" setup (with inventory upgrades youl could unlock, to boot), which was much more warmly received.

** [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome There was never a need to upgrade the Computer skill]] past Trained level -- simply hack the console, wait a few seconds and skip through the emails or quickly turn off the cameras before logging out. The painstaking work on the developers' part to set up a framework where you could write down notes on passwords and keycodes within your Infolink, learn the lore of various side characters and run to [=ATMs=] constantly for money went out the window when you could automatically keep relevant emails with passcodes/logins or drain the entirety of an [=ATMs=] funds in one shot. Several gameplay mods rework computer hacking to make it more valuable, via locking off certain consoles behind higher skill levels and rebalancing ATM rewards.

* The "universal ammo" system was ''intended'' to fix one of the original game's biggest drawbacks -- namely, having numerous types of ammo that, depending on the player's completionist tendencies / preferred weapon / playstyle, they could either not have enough of, or have too much and no weapon to use it with. To that end, the developers decided to create a "choose any weapon you want" mentality for the sequel, which was intended to allow players versatility in finding their own style and never leaving them at a disadvantage... except it ''always'' leaves the player at a disadvantage. Ammo clips aren't always dropped at the same rate, the threats get much heavier by the time the final level rolls around, and once you're out of ammo for one weapon, you're out of ammo for '''all''' weapons. It doesn't help that heavy weapons would take off a third of an ammo bar (or more) per shot, quickly running dry and forcing you to rely on melee. (It also had the knock-on effect of making the Toxin Blade, a unique weapon you find early on in the game in a sidequest that's impossible to miss, one of the most powerful weapons in the game -- one players [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome were advised]] to rely on in a pinch, as it would do damage over time so long as the player [[CherryTapping hit them once or twice]]). The mechanic appeared in other games before and since, but the hate for it in this case was partially because the wide variety of custom ammo types and ammo management was a major part of the first game, and partially because, again, a single ammo source powers '''every''' weapon in the game - other games with ammo sharing at least have the courtesy to not restrict your pistol or assault rifle ammo just because you fired a sniper rifle or rocket launcher too often - so not playing "smart" enough by conserving ammo at just about every turn could lead to the game being UnwinnableByDesign once the player runs into unavoidable guards in [[spoiler:the ruins of the UNATCO base]]. This ammo system was completely jettisoned for the [[VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution next game]] in the series, to ''much'' more positive response.

* Melee weapons were reduced to the, admittedly cool, retractable blades in Adam's mechanical arms, and the arms themselves. Wouldn't be a problem if the game actually ''had'' a melee combat system. Instead, all you can do is take down an enemy, by approaching them and pressing a button when a prompt appears. The take-down itself happens in a cut-scene, and aside from choosing a lethal or non-lethal variety, the player is uninvolved - you don't even need to ambush the enemy or approach them correctly - and while the animations are spectacular, they play every time, are unskippable and get tedious after a while. What's worse, take-down is a power which always costs an entire energy cell, meaning that without energy you cannot use melee at all, and because the last cell replenishes itself over a short time, but others can only be restored via rare consumables, most players tend to stay on that one regenerating cell at all time, which is ''usually'' enough, but it prevents you from getting tactical and combining take-downs with other powers like stealth or super-speed. Finally, there's almost no progression available for melee - just one upgrade that allows you to take down two enemies at once, which you will rarely need.

* Melee weapons were reduced to the, admittedly awesome, retractable blades in Adam's mechanical arms, and the arms themselves. Wouldn't be a problem if the game actually ''had'' a melee combat system. Instead, all you can do is take down an enemy, by pressing a button when a prompt appears. The take-down itself happens in a cut-scene, and aside from choosing a lethal or non-lethal variety, the player is uninvolved, and while the animations are creative and spectacular, they play every time, are unskippable and get tedious after a while. What's worse, the takedown expends an entire power cell, and because the last cell replenishes itself over a short time, but others can only be restored via rare consumables, most players tend to stay on that one regenerating cell at all time, meaning you cannot easily do combos like taking the enemy down after approaching them while invisible or by running up to them. Finally, there's little to no progression available for melee. You can only use one upgrade that allows taking down two enemies at once, which you will rarely need, but other than that, you can take down any non-boss enemy from the start (you cannot attack bosses in melee just because until you suddenly can).

* The Praxis Kits awarded by the ''Season Pass'' are, in a first for the franchise, one-time-only use items that are not awarded at the beginning of each new game, but awarded ''once per player's Square-Enix account''. Said Praxis Kits are awarded through a "Storage" submenu, ostensibly designed to deliver items from the various DLC packs to the player's account (and which can be used across multiple playthroughs, if stored there). The problem is that, once the Praxis Kits are withdrawn from Storage, they become PermanentlyMissableContent for ''all future playthroughts'', even though these were part of a paid Deluxe Edition pack players spent real money on, and for a single-player-only experience. This is in stark contrast to the previous title's bonus items, which were awarded at the start of a new game, regardless of whether or not they were a Square-Enix member. While this was likely done so as not to take away from the microtransaction backend of the game (it maintains a separate cash shop where the player can purchase Praxis Kits or Crafting Parts at any time), to say this caused fan backlash is an understatement. Players are generally advised to keep a save from the beginning of their very first New Game profile, becuase once the items are withdrawn from the player's storage (a separate menu in the Pause screen, independent from the storage Adam Jensen has in his apartment) and the player overwrites it, those items are lost forever.

* Aiming, in general, is incredibly archaic even by the standards of the era. To even consider hitting someone at range with any weapon, you have to stand completely still in the open, and keep your crosshair focused on them as the reticle narrows in. Firing before you're fully honed in will likely make you miss horribly or simply skim your target. Even having that weapon type's skill mastered still has a slight randomized spread every shot which probably will make you load that quicksave repeatedly until you finally get that headshot with a tranquilizer dart on a non-lethal run. Naturally, melee weapons don't suffer this, but then, getting close to an alert enemy can get you killed real quick anyway.
* Looting items off of corpses can feel incredibly clumsy, especially with modern RPG standards and the game's more detailed InventoryManagementPuzzle. While finding ammo for the guns they need, players can expect their inventories to constantly be filled up with useless junk they don't need, forcing them to stop constantly and either jettison or rearrange their setup. The developers seem to have presumed that every player needed a Combat Knife and base Pistol in their inventory, even if they're trying to actively avoid such items. If you want to move a body, you have to pocket its junk before you can do so, adding on to this clumsy system (and making it more likely than an enemy will catch you trying to move said body). Certain gameplay mods like ''Revision'' add an "Item Refusal" system that allows the player to selectively refuse picking up certain items, in an attempt to alleviate the problem.

* The hacking system was revamped to make it much more interesting for players, as an ad-hoc minigame that ''also'' conferred experience (both from hacking the computer/keypad and from specific bonuses found within "system nodes"), money and additional items that could further trivialize the process. This would be tolerable if it were used infrequently, but given that keys, lockpicks and multitools no longer exist, you'll be using it for absolutely ''everything'', from opening doors to disabling security grids to hacking computers to reading emails. The minigame quickly becomes tedious, but it's at times necessary to advance the plot. It doesn't help that the system gives so much EXP at later stages once you're familiar with it (managing to hack every node) that it has a knock-on effect on the flow of gameplay, making even the Ghost and Smooth Operator bonuses (generally awarded for feats of skill) pitiful when you crank out a good ''2,000 experience'' or more if you get into a room full of computers and manage to max-hack all of them. This was changed in ''VideoGame/DeusExMankindDivided'' to not only play faster (along with adding back Multitools, which can be crafted), but rebalance the system to also give XP to players who found the keycodes legitimately (just entering the normal code in ''Revolution'' did not confer any XP bonus, nor did the rare "Automatic Unlocking Device" items found during the game).

* The Praxis Kits awarded by the ''Season Pass'' are, in a first for the franchise, one-time-only use items that are not awarded at the beginning of each new game, but awarded ''once per player's Square-Enix account''. This is in stark contrast to the previous title's bonus items (which were awarded at the start of a new game, regardless of whether or not they were a Square-Enix member). While this was likely done so as not to take away from the microtransaction backend of the game (it maintains a separate cash shop where the player can purchase Praxis Kits or Crafting Parts at any time), to say this caused fan backlash is an understatement. Players are generally advised to keep a save from the beginning of their very first New Game profile, becuase once the items are withdrawn from the player's storage (a separate menu in the Pause screen, independent from the storage Adam Jensen has in his apartment) and the player overwrites it, those items become PermanentlyMissableContent.

* Aiming in general; to even consider hitting someone at range with any weapon, you have to stand still and keep your crosshair focused on them as the reticle narrows in. Firing before you're fully honed in will likely make you miss horribly or simply skim your target. Even having that weapon type's skill mastered still has a slight randomized spread every shot which probably will make you load that quicksave repeatedly until you finally get that headshot with a tranquilizer dart on a non-lethal run. Naturally, melee weapons don't suffer this, but then getting close to an alert enemy can get you killed real quick anyway.
* Looting items off of corpses can feel incredibly clumsy, especially with modern RPG standards and the game's more detailed InventoryManagementPuzzle. While finding ammo for the guns they need, players can expect their inventories to constantly be filled up with useless junk they don't need, forcing them to stop constantly and either jettison or rearrange their setup. Combat knives are the prime offender, especially if a player is going to be toting around the OneHitKill Dragon's Tooth Sword. Oh, and if you want to move a body, you have to pocket its junk before you can do so, adding on to this clumsy system. Certain gameplay mods (like ''Revision'') add an "Item Refusal" system that allows the player to selectively refuse picking up certain items, in an attempt to alleviate the problem.
* It was possible, during the NoGearLevel in the [=MJ12=] [[spoiler:prison under UNATCO Headquarters]] to inadvertantly pick up your modded weapons when you were already carrying a "base" version of the weapon (any of the pistols, shotguns or assault rifles), which would cancel out any upgrades you had invested into them. This forced the player to redo the InventoryManagementPuzzle all over again, dropping their non-unique weapons, picking up the originals and then picking everything back up again. This problem was addressed in ''Invisible War'' by unique weapons that used different models from the base weapons (and were upgraded on a separate path), while ''Human Revolution'' finally addressed the issue by [[https://www.reddit.com/r/Deusex/comments/4ntzsv/is_there_a_point_in_buying_praxis_kits_during_the/ implementing code]] to make certain weapons "merge" their upgrades if a modded weapon was picked up after a non-modded one.

** Swimming was generally considered the weakest of the skills -- despite setting up situations where the player could swim through maintenance systems or tunnels to reach their targets, those instances were few and far between, and the game already offered a limited-use item, the Rebreather, that trivialized swimming anyhow. To note, this was an opinion shared by the developers of the Playstation 2 port, ''The Conspiracy'', which specifically added in additional underwater tunnels to make the skill a more attractive proposition for players. Subsequent games in the franchise would ditch swimming altogether.
** Environmental Resistance had the same issue, in that the disposable armors and suits -- Ballistic Armor, Thermoptic Camo and Hazmat Suits -- were shied away from by players, due to being unwieldly and inefficient. Instead of wearing down based on damage sustained (whether by bullets, radiation or other external factors), each suit relied on an arbitrary timer that was ineffective for extended engagements and didn't confer notable benefits at lower skill levels. (It didn't help that the Hazmat Suit, [[BlatantLies despite stating otherwise]], doesn't stop EMP, fire or electrical damage suffered by the player.) They had limited situational use in many stages due being both rare items, unable to stack more than one copy together, and running out too quickly during enemy engagements, and players were already given better options with utility Augmentations like Regeneration and Cloak, which made JC effectively invisible for long stretches of time once upgraded or made him NighInvulnerable and able to soak up damage (radiation, fire or otherwise) for an extended period. The ''GMDX'' mod removes many of the deficiencies -- suits can now be stacked or repaired by Biocells based on the requisite skill level.

* The "Jensen's Stories" DLC missions, particularly ''Desperate Measures'' and ''System Rift'', are generally derided -- not for the quality of the missions themselves, but for being completely divorced from the main game. They cannot be accessed at any time as part of a normal playthrough, are set at an undetermined time in the game's timeline, slightly mess with the continuity by giving the player access to gameplay abilities they normally don't get until late in the normal story (having the neuroplasticity calibrator, which allows you to use any augs without power drain) and generally take place in isolated locations that could have been integrated into the regular plot with little-to-no overlap. Unlike ''Human Revolution'' (where both the ''Tong's Rescue'' and ''Missing Link'' missions were integrated into the game proper for the Director's Cut release), no such treatment was given for ''Mankind Divided'''s missions.

* The "universal ammo" system was ''intended'' to fix one of the original game's biggest drawbacks -- namely, having numerous types of ammo that, depending on the player's completionist tendencies / preferred weapon / playstyle, they could either not have enough of, or have too much and no weapon to use it with. To that end, the developers decided to create a "choose any weapon you want" mentality for the sequel, which was intended to allow players versatility in finding their own style and never leaving them at a disadvantage... except it ''always'' leaves the player at a disadvantage. Ammo clips aren't always dropped at the same rate, the threats get much heavier by the time the final level rolls around, and once you're out of ammo for one weapon, you're out of ammo for '''all''' weapons. It doesn't help that heavy weapons would take off a third of an ammo bar (or more) per shot, quickly running dry and forcing you to rely on melee. (It also had the knock-on effect of making the Toxin Blade, a unique weapon you find early on in the game in a sidequest that's impossible to miss, one of the most powerful weapons in the game -- one players [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome were advised]] to rely on in a pinch, as it would do damage over time so long as the player [[CherryTapping hit them once or twice]]). This ammo system was completely jettisoned for the [[VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution next game]] in the series, to ''much'' more positive response.

* While the decision to allow inventory stacking for certain items (beyond Biocells and Multitools) was generally praised, it came at the cost of the inventory being reduced to a paltry ''12'' squares. This made the InventoryManagementPuzzle of the first (already loathed by some fans) even worse, as it forced you to almost always jettison items or weapons, particularly as you had to balance having a stack of Biocells and Multitools (a mainstay of every playstyle) with a slim 10 squares to devote to weapons and miscellaneous items. It didn't help that a key deficiency in the maingame (picking up extraneous weapons you didn't need) reared its head again in this game, particularly if you already had certain weapons you were relying on and didn't want to pick up any other classes. ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' jettisoned the system in favor of the original game's "grid-based" setup (with inventory upgrades youl could unlock, to boot), which was much more warmly received.

** Environmental Resistance had the same issue, in that the disposable armors and suits -- Ballistic Armor, Thermoptic Camo and Hazmat Suits -- were shied away from by players, due to being unwieldly. You couldn't stack them -- despite each suit took up one inventory square, each extra suit you found beyond the original (fully-charged) had to be left behind. They had limited situational use in many stages due to a timer that ran out too quickly during enemy engagements, and players were already given better options with utility Augmentations like Regeneration and Cloak, which made JC effectively invisible for long stretches of time once upgraded or made him NighInvulnerable and able to soak up damage (radiation, fire or otherwise) for an extended period. The ''GMDX'' mod removes all of these deficiencies -- suits can now be stacked or repaired by Biocells based on the requisite skill level.

** Environmental Resistance had the same issue, in that the disposable armors and suits -- Ballistic Armor, Thermoptic Camo and Hazmat Suits -- were shied away from by players, due to being unwieldly (you couldn't stack them -- each suit took up one inventory square), having limited situational use in many stages due to a timer that ran out too quickly during enemy engagements, and already giving players better options with utility Augmentations like Regeneration and Cloak, which made JC effectively invisible for long stretches of time once upgraded or made him NighInvulnerable and able to soak up damage (radiation, fire or otherwise) for an extended period.
** [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome There was never a need to upgrade the Computer skill]] past Trained level -- simply hack the console, wait a few seconds and skip through the emails or quickly turn off the cameras before logging out. The painstaking work on the developers' part to set up a framework where you could write down notes on passwords and keycodes within your Infolink, learn the lore of various side characters and run to [=ATMs=] constantly for money went out the window when you could automatically keep relevant emails with passcodes/logins or steal the entirety of an [=ATMs=] funds in one shot. Several gameplay mods rework computer hacking to make it more valuable, via locking off certain consoles behind higher skill levels and rebalancing ATM rewards.

* While the decision to allow inventory stacking for certain items (like Multitools and Bioelectric Cells) was generally praised, it came at the cost of the inventory being reduced to a paltry ''12'' squares. This made the InventoryManagementPuzzle of the first (already loathed by some fans) even worse, as it forced you to almost always jettison items or weapons, particularly as you had to balance having a stack of Biocells and Multitools (a mainstay of every playstyle) with a slim 10 squares to devote to weapons and miscellaneous items. ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' jettisoned the system in favor of the original game's "grid-based" setup (with inventory upgrades youl could unlock, to boot), which was much more warmly received.

* In the original version of the game, the pre-order bonus items (which include multiple unlocking devices and two bulky weapons) get dumped into the player's inventory at the beginning of the first level proper, not only making it extremely unwieldy for players in the early game due to the initially-limited inventory size, but also potentially forcing you to either carry around the weapons until you found more ammo for it, or just dumping it because you were playing a non-lethal build and didn't want it anyway. The ''Missing Link'' DLC would later do the same thing in the Director's Cut, forcing you to carry around ''all'' the modded weapons you had on you at the time the mission started (the standalone DLC originally promoted BagOfSpilling -- you only had access to a limited number of Praxis Kits and weapons for the duration of the DLC), and couldn't use them unless you (a) has invested more Praxis Points into upgrading your inventory again, and (b) found ammo for it, which may not even be awarded or in short supply during the mission. The Director's Cut would later integrate the pre-order items more organically into the world, while ''VideoGame/DeusExMankindDivided'' took a workaround for them, via allowing the player to put certain items and weapons in a "Storage" menu that's independent from the main game and tucked into an account menu, and allowed the player to access them anywhere in the gameworld.
* The hacking system was revamped to make it much more interesting for players, as an ad-hoc minigame that ''also'' conferred experience (both from hacking the computer/keypad and from specific bonuses found within "system nodes"), money and additional items that could further trivialize the process. This would be tolerable if it were used infrequently, but given that keys, lockpicks and multitools no longer exist, you'll be using it for absolutely ''everything'', from opening doors to disabling security grids to hacking computers to reading emails. The minigame quickly becomes tedious, but it's at times necessary to advance the plot. It doesn't help that the system gives so much EXP at later stages once you're familiar with it (managing to hack every node) that it has a knock-on effect on the flow of gameplay, making even the Ghost and Smooth Operator bonuses (generally awarded for feats of skill) pitiful when you crank out a good ''2,000 experience'' or more if you get into a room full of computers and manage to max-hack all of them. This was changed in ''VideoGame/DeusExMankindDivided'' to not only play faster, but rebalance the system to also give XP to players who found the keycodes legitimately (just entering the normal code in ''Revolution'' did not confer any XP bonus).

* The "Jensen's Stories" DLC missions, particularly ''Desperate Measures'' and ''System Rift'', are generally derided -- not for the quality of the missions themselves, but for being completely divorced from the main game (they cannot be accessed at any time as part of a normal playthrough via the gameworld), set at an undetermined time in the game's timeline, slightly mess with the continuity by giving the player access to gameplay abilities they normally don't get until late in the normal story (having the neuroplasticity calibrator, which allows you to use any augs without power drain) and generally take place in isolated locations that could have been integrated into the regular plot with little-to-no overlap. Unlike ''Human Revolution'' (where both the ''Tong's Rescue'' and ''Missing Link'' missions were integrated into the game proper for the Director's Cut release), no such treatment was given for ''Mankind Divided'''s missions.

** Environmental Resistance had the same issue, in that the disposable armors and suits -- Ballistic Armor, Thermoptic Camo and Hazmat Suits -- were shied away from by players, due to being unwieldly (you couldn't stack them -- each suit took up one inventory square), having limited situational use in many stages and better-serving players with utility Augmentations like Regeneration and Cloak, which made JC effectively invisible for long stretches of time once upgraded or made him NighInvulnerable and able to soak up damage (radiation, fire or otherwise) for an extended period.