History YMMV / PAYDAY2

** Shadow Raid gets a lot of love for its very non-linear design (to the point where the map's main objective, stealing UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga's armor, is completely optional), vast piles of loot to collect, and for being accommodating to players of all skill levels.
** The Yacht Heist is widely considered to be the best stealth map the game has to offer. Unlike other stealth offerings, you don't have to worry about cameras spotting you, and only deal with civilians and guards. You can pocket quite a lot of side-loot, such as vases and artifacts, and the map is symmetrical on both sides, meaning if one way is blocked by a guard, you can hop over to the other side to pass them.

** The VideoGame/GoatSimulator-inspired heist with the crew literally finding goats with cocaine [[AssShove shoved up their...]] yeah. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded.]]
--> '''Bain''': This is gonna be a ''weird one'', gang.

*** And during Halloween events, it gets even more ridiculous with the Headless Dozer. Armed with either [[DoubleWeapon two Titan safes]] [[DropTheHammer on a pole]], or the same LMG as a Skulldozer, he doesn't even have a head to shoot, and a riot shield mounted on his back, removing both methods of killing them quickly.

** The "Hoxton's Revenge" job shows that the FBI believe Vlad to be an honest citizen. The next heist released, Meltdown, has the gang [[spoiler:steal ''nuclear warheads'' for Vlad.]]

** The Commissar on higher difficulties, the FinalBoss in the Hotline Miami heist, packs a [[{{BFG}} light machine gun]], a weapon normally reserved for the Death Wish-exclusive Skulldozers. If he isn't eliminated quickly, he'll more than likely down the crew a few times.
** Somewhat mitigated in that if you don't aggro him after the vault opens and simply hang back, the police will kill him for you.
** [[spoiler:Hector]] doesn't pack as much of a punch due only using an IZHMA shotgun like the black Bulldozer, but also has a lot of health on par with a Bulldozer except the massive headshot multiplier.
*** That is, of course, if the crew decides to fight [[spoiler:Hector]] in loud. If they deal with him in stealth, he goes down in a single hit from the weakest weapon.
** Captain Winters is a more prevalent example. Upon his arrival, the assault turns endless, enemies become stronger (damage resistance up to 50%), and his team will ''never'' budge from their position. While explosives and sniper rifles make engaging him much easier, anyone who lacks any sort of DLC will find him nigh-unstoppable, and those with DLC can have significant issues even getting near him.
** His shields always rotate against the attacker, making outflanking them difficult.
** Each one of his Phalanx units boasts 3000 health, comparable to a ''Bulldozer''.
** Some of the locations his team gets stationed are easily some of the worst imaginable; in Hoxton Breakout Day 2 and Big Bank, he stays at the front entrance, which tends to be choked tightly (making it much harder to outflank him), or out in a lot of sniper fire.
*** Not so much in Hoxton Breakout Day 2, as although outflanking him horizontally is more difficult, outflanking him ''[[DeathFromAbove vertically]]'' is much easier, due to the way the room is designed.

** For Stealth: The Yacht Heist is widely considered to be the best stealth map the game has to offer. Unlike other stealth offerings, you don't have to worry about cameras spotting you, and only deal with civilians and guards. You can pocket quite a lot of side-loot, such as vases and artifacts, and the map is symmetrical on both sides, meaning if one way is blocked by a guard, you can hop over to the other side to pass them.

** Update 237. The main meat of the update was [=EOS=] integration, with the idea being simple (even agreeable) on the surface; matchmaking between the Epic Games Store and Steam versions, ala ''VideoGame/RocketLeague'', ''VideoGame/{{Paladins}}'' and ''VideoGame/FallGuys'' -- the game even went free on the former store on the 8th June, 2023 to promote this functionality. However, the system was over-designed, the matchmaking was (and remains) very buggy, the game has no proper offline functionality anymore, and the player has to make do with a friends list system that felt rushed together. The games' insistence on requiring friend codes to add people from outside of Steam (which is entirely unnecessary, as a feature of [=EOS=] allows games to merge friends lists, ''regardless of platform'') also did not go down well. Players naturally compared the backlash to Crimefest 2015, and the icing on the cake was that Linux support (a port that was ''already'' about to be locked out of the Crude Awakening heist due to issues Overkill had announced ahead of time) was ''completely'' dropped, which even Windows players found to be a ruthless decision on their part. While Overkill did address this almost a week later, the issues with matchmaking still persist, making players wary of the company, and their reasoning for breaking Linux support came off as [[CrypticallyUnhelpfulAnswer vague and unhelpful]].

** Update 237. The main meat of the update was [=EOS=] integration, with the idea being simple (even agreeable) on the surface; matchmaking between the Epic Games Store and Steam versions, ala ''VideoGame/RocketLeague'', ''VideoGame/{{Paladins}}'' and ''VideoGame/FallGuys'' -- the game even went free on the former store on the 8th June, 2023 to promote this functionality. However, the system was over-designed, the matchmaking was (and remains) very buggy, the game has no proper offline functionality anymore, and the player has to make do with a friends list system that felt rushed together. The games' insistence on requiring friend codes to add people from outside of Steam (which is entirely unnecessary, as a feature of [=EOS=] allows games to merge friends lists, ''regardless of platform'') also did not go down well. Players naturally compared the backlash to Crimefest 2015, and the icing on the cake was that Linux support (a port that was ''already'' about to be locked out of the Crude Awakening heist due to issues Overkill had announced ahead of time) was ''completely'' dropped, which even Windows players found to be a ruthless decision on their part. As of writing, Overkill has remained silent on the matter, and this update alienated a lot of people.

** The Big Bank, Hotline Miami, and Hoxton Breakout jobs are widely considered the best jobs in the game and all three came out back to back to back. The next job, White Xmas, was released for free so it dodged most of the heat (on top of having a potentially ''very'' high payout), but when the next paid DLC, The Diamond, came out it was quickly blasted for not living up to the epic scale of the other three, being derided as 'too easy' and 'not worth the price.'

** Update 237. The main meat of the update was [=EOS=] integration, with the idea being simple (even agreeable) on the surface; matchmaking between the Epic Games Store and Steam versions, ala ''VideoGame/RocketLeague'', ''VideoGame/{{Paladins}}'' and ''VideoGame/FallGuys'' -- the game even went free on the former store on the 8th June, 2023 to promote this functionality. However, the system was over-designed, the matchmaking was (and remains) very buggy, the game has no proper offline functionality anymore, and make do with a friends list system that felt rushed together. The games' insistence on requiring friend codes to add people from outside of Steam (which is entirely unnecessary, as a feature of [=EOS=] allows games to merge friends lists, ''regardless of platform'') also did not go down well. Players naturally compared the backlash to Crimefest 2015, and the icing on the cake was that Linux support (a port that was already about to be locked out of the Crude Awakening heist due to issues Overkill had announced ahead of time) was ''completely'' dropped, which even Windows players found to be a ruthless decision. Af of writing, Overkill has remained silent on the matter, and this update has alienated a lot of people.

** The revamped EXP points system. Heists that you haven't played in a while will get a boosted amount of EXP you can earn while heists you keep playing over and over have your EXP gains reduced (up to 100% possibly). The boosts are removed without applying if you buy a contract, but the penalties continue to stack and apply. This is also differentiated between normal and pro versions of a heist, meaning it's possible to have a penalty to a heist but a bonus to the pro job variant and vice versa. Patch 35 revised the system so that EXP bonuses (stealth and heat bonuses) only max out to 25% while penalties incurred from playing the same heist too many times also got reduced.
** The same system also includes a "custody penalty" that kicks in if you finish a heist in custody, where you lose a sizable chunk of the EXP you could have earned. This is extremely punishing on heists that can give a lot of EXP, since these obviously tend to be the harder jobs. Naturally, the mechanic is heavily disliked. This penalty was greatly reduced as of Update 25.1.
** Stealth bonus EXP, where you get an EXP booster to use on your next job if you complete a day/heist in stealth. Many people tend to restart if stealth is botched just to get the bonus.
** Equipping weapon mods to your guns costs money which has to be repaid every time the mod is added, even if it was previously attached and removed. This makes it nearly impossible to experiment with different loadouts or to change pieces on a job-by-job basis (except by buying a second copy of the gun and modifying it for a different purpose, which gets ''even more'' expensive) until you get a significant amount of spending cash. Somewhat lessened with the Gage Courier Pack DLC, which requires you to collect packages in the levels to get the attachments, but they can be attached without cost once you have them, allowing you to swap one between several different weapons per heist if the need arises.
** Civilians, in a nutshell. If it isn't bad enough that they can get brave and try to call the cops, but bugs can mean they ignore shouts to get down if they've started calling, requiring you to melee or shoot them for a good nagging and a fine. There are even player mods that change the warning text to ''"Walking Cop Alarm Exterminated - Pay $X for Bain's Therapy"''.
** Flashbangs. They make you deaf and blind you for a good several seconds. Flashbangs spawn out of thin air with very little warning and it's possible to get blinded multiple times in a row. Looking away from the flashbang can reduce the duration of the effect, but good luck being able to do it consistently if you can't tell where they spawn. A dev went on to say that flashbangs only occur if SWAT are near you and if players are camping. Some heists force you to camp by nature in order to survive, which means you get to enjoy going blind every few seconds for daring to play the heist how it's supposed to be played. While the Enforcer's Stun Resistance skill could reduce the duration of the flashbang effects by up to 75%, it's a bit far up the skill tree and it also means that you'll have to sacrifice a few useful skills from other trees to get Stun Resistance just so that you don't go blind so often. Thankfully, several updates made dealing with them easier, by putting the stun resistance ability as the aced version of the Resilience skill, and making flashbangs an actual entity with a delay before explosion, including audible beeps and visible flashing light, and making them destructible without setting them off.
** Clients using player models, more specifically their heads as mentioned in GoodBadBugs above, for detection rather than the player camera/viewpoint like the host does. This can cause a lot of seemingly unfair scenarios where clients get spotted in places where the host is completely obscured due to their character model poking out of cover for the guard to spot. This is further compunded by the occasional desync the game occasionally suffers from time to time.
** The driving physics in the Car Shop job are a scrappy mechanic for many. Not only is it an UnexpectedGameplayChange, the steering is stiff and the physics are floaty, which makes it very easy to spin out or even flip over. Combine the wonky physics with the extremely strict escape timers on difficulties above Overkill and you have a recipe for keyboard smashing. It got better in the Meltdown heist, at the very least because there wasn't any time limit (and also technically optional).
** Escape missions, which can trigger if a heist goes loud and/or if the group didn't buy the Expert Driver asset. Escape missions basically extend the overall main mission since you're forced to guard all the loot you acquired (if any) and wait for the new escape vehicle to arrive and move the loot to that one while enduring a time limit to get out. Originally, the game didn't have the Expert Driver until a later patch, which made escape missions nearly pointless since anyone can buy the asset as long as one player had the Inside Man[[note]]Now Sixth Sence[[/note]] skill aced. Worse yet, if you get an escape during a Diamond Store job, you’ve pretty much got no way to secure all of the loot. To top it off, nearly every heist that has come out after release doesn't have escape sequences, which seems to be the developers taking in the negative feedback given about escapes.
** The game takes up almost 80GB of storage space, and it needs a few GB more to unpack any new archives the game downloads in any given update, meaning the game size goes to about 86GB until an update finishes, no matter how small the update is due to how many files an update may change.

** Update #228 has Overkill claim to have "removed" cloud saving support on [=PC=] when playing the Windows and Linux (and Steam Deck) versions [[https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/218620?emclan=103582791433980119&emgid=3290465838274755717 with the developers stating that they wanted to "ensure stability of saves between OS's"]], which is an odd reason to give as the steam cloud functionality has worked fine since the port released in 2016, [[https://steamcommunity.com/app/218620/discussions/search/?q=save&gidforum=364039531219417817&include_deleted=1&p=1 the steam forums have very few complaints about such issues occurring out in the wild]], and the save files between the ports are identical in every way (which is ''unusual'' among native Linux ports; saves are usually incompatible because their files are different code-wise), so their reasoning comes off as flimsy, and appears to be an excuse to enforce segregation of the ports. [[https://modworkshop.net/mod/39730 Manually moving saves is still possible]], now it's just made more convoluted for those who dual-boot or have a Steam Deck, as the Linux Port now uses Linux specific saves meant for Steam Deck backups, not the save used by Windows that it otherwise used to use.

** In a meta example, the developers themselves seem to absolutely ''adore'' the concept of an SMG with 80 damage and only one or two magazines in reserve, as we have several clones of both the base Krinkov (weapons with two extra mags and decent base accuracy and stability, the [=CR 805B=] and Jackal) ''and'' Armored Transport's Swedish K (weapons with only one extra mag and middling accuracy and stability and typically no fire-mode selector, the Tatonka and [=MP40=]).

* TierInducedScrappy: The Flak Jacket is often considered the worst armor to use in the game, because it neither provides any dodge bonuses (the Ballistic Vests can provide a bit of dodge with the Crook deck, even the heaviest one), provides only some armor (compared to more armor from the Combined Tactical Vests), and with Die Hard aced the Heavy Ballistic Vest protects you just as well as the Flak Jacket but with more movement speed. Anyone who uses the Flak Jacket may get themselves called a noob by peers due to this.
** The same applies to the Hitman deck, which has the dubious distinction of being the only deck with a significant ''penalty''. Especially now that dual-wielding pistols no longer requires the Hitman deck or a specific skill, ''nobody'' ever uses it anymore.
** Hardly anyone invested points in the Technician Tree, since it doesn't contribute to supporting supplies (like the Mastermind's Doctor Bag, Enforcer's Ammo Bag, or Fugitive's First Aid Kit), nor does it have many benefits over what the Fugitive and Ghost tree provide in stealth. It doesn't help that the Sentry Gun is another tier-induced scrappy. That said, it was RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap with the addition of the "Jack of All Trades" skill, which normally lets you place and interact with deployables twice as fast as normal (which especially stacks well with the Mastermind's boosts to deployment speed for first-aid kits and doctor bags), and when aced allows you to carry a ''secondary'' deployable, with half as many instances as you'd get if it were a primary one (e.g. only one body bag case even if you have the skill to carry two).
** ''No one'' uses the Armor Bag. As it uses up the equipment slot usually reserved for supply bags or an ECM jammer, the explanation is obvious. Even with the above "Jack of All Trades" skill, nobody uses it when they can just as well carry around a single extra ammo bag or ECM.
** And, finally, melee. Out of over a hundred different weapons and counting with ''every'' update, only five are even barely useful without significant skill investment; the four status effect weapons, which either tase or poison on hit, and the ice pick, which has top stats in every respect except charge time. Even with skills, some of which are actively detrimental, there are still a few dozen or so knives, five machetes, three hammers, and a variety of gimmick weapons ranging from a chainsaw to a medieval buckler to an ''improvised Aamerican flag spear'' that all have no special functions or even uniqueness to them beyond cosmetic differences, and were all pretty much a waste of time to use until a couple perk decks got an unexpectedly insane multiplier to melee damage.

** Rust. Many people expect the badass senior biker portrayed by ''Creator/RonPerlman'' would be a natural fit, given he'd already played Clay in ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy''. Apparently not, as what they got was a grumpy old biker, who drops swears liberally, to the point of it sounding incredibly monotonous. Not helping is that Rust has such a low vocal range, it sounds like as if he's ''bored of heisting'' and wants to do literally anything else. It didn't help matters is that on his [[https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/72ucal/sup_muthafuckas_ron_perlman_here_dont_be_shy_ask/dnlha4x/?context=1 Reddit AMA]], Perlman more or less confirmed that he [[MoneyDearBoy only took up the role for a paycheck]].

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: At the end of Rats, Hector suggests that the crew visit Colombia sometime. [[spoiler:In Hoxton Revenge, Hector is the traitor and is put down. The trip will never be a reality (unless the gang decide to go after Hector's organization as penance for Hector's actions), and considering he was working against the team the entire time, it was never going to be.]]
** One of [[spoiler:Hector's post-mission messages "Thank you for being forthright."]] becomes much, ''much'' darker when you realize that [[spoiler:almost everything he said in the time the crew knew him was a lie.]]
** The mission name for [[spoiler:Rats and Watchdogs]] becomes a whole lot darker with the knowledge that [[spoiler:the latter was a setup, and that Hector was a rat for the entire game up until his death.]]

* HarsherInHindsight:

** Election Day, where you rig an election on behalf of a Republican politician, may just be a bit uncomfortable after the allegations of electoral fraud by Donald Trump in the 2020 Presidential Election and [[Sandbox/StormingOfTheUnitedStatesCapitol the Capitol Riots.]]

* DorkAge: 2015 was a very divisive period for the game, to the point that it'd be shorter to list the updates that ''didn't'' result in a BrokenBase. Between a massive number of crossovers (before 2015, the Payday series had only had four, with the first game having one with ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' and the second getting ones with ''Franchise/JohnWick'', ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami'', and a melee weapon in reference to a ''ComicBook/TheWalkingDead'' game that Starbreeze had just announced; 2015 had six in that year alone), a pair of highly controversial events with the Hype Train and Crimefest 2015, the addition skins with stat boosts that required opening safes to get, as well as broken promises that they'd never add mictransactions, which resulted in large-scale uproar (including review bombing that knocked well over 15% off the game's Steam User review score), to the point where the Steam Community moderators for the game made headlines when they went on strike in protest of the game's direction, only relenting when they were given a public interview with the game's Community Manager to voice the fanbase's concerns. After a rocky start to 2016 (which saw a largely unpopular crossover with VideoGame/GoatSimulator and a Perk Deck rebalance which was widely considered to make the game's balance problems worse), however, the game managed to WinBackTheCrowd in the Spring, with some well-received updates (including a free crossover with Film/HardcoreHenry that was received nearly as well as the Hotline Miami DLC and a rerelease of the first game's Wolf Pack DLC that was free to players who owned the original), attempts to better listen to community feedback (including lengthy open betas for new balance changes), and, most significantly, "freeing up" the microtransaction system (by removing the drills and letting players just open any safes they get for free) as part of Update #100. Update #200 made skins drop from heists and are now treated as common rewards.

** The civilians to a certain part of the fanbase, mostly [[TooDumbToLive due to running into the crossfire]] and [[WhatAnIdiot getting themselves killed]], as well as the female civilian's screaming.

* SpecialEffectsFailure:

** Update #228 removed steam cloud support for transferring saves between the Windows and Linux versions of the game, [[https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/218620?emclan=103582791433980119&emgid=3290465838274755717 with the developers stating that they wanted to "ensure stability of saves between OS's"]], which is a strange reason to give as the steam cloud functionality has worked fine since the port released in 2016, [[https://steamcommunity.com/app/218620/discussions/search/?q=save&gidforum=364039531219417817&include_deleted=1&p=1 the steam community forums have zero complaints about such issues occurring out in the wild]], and the save files between the ports are identical in every way (which is ''unusual'' among native Linux ports; saves are usually incompatible because their files are different code-wise), so their reasoning comes off as really flimsy, and appears to be an excuse to enforce segregation of the ports. [[https://modworkshop.net/mod/39730 Manually moving saves is still possible]], now it's just made more convoluted for those who dual-boot or have a Steam Deck. Even more bafflingly, the game ''still syncs all the save files'' between the ports, the Linux Port now uses Linux specific saves meant for Steam Deck backups.

** Update #228 removed steam cloud support for transferring saves between the Windows and Linux versions of the game, [[https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/218620?emclan=103582791433980119&emgid=3290465838274755717 with the developers stating that they wanted to "ensure stability of saves between OS's"]], which is a strange reason to give as the steam cloud functionality has worked fine since the port released in 2016, [[https://steamcommunity.com/app/218620/discussions/search/?q=save&gidforum=364039531219417817&include_deleted=1&p=1 the steam community forums have zero complaints about such issues occurring out in the wild]], and the save files between the ports are identical in every way (which is ''unusual'' among native Linux ports; saves are usually incompatible because their files are different), so their reasoning comes off as really flimsy, and appears to be an excuse to enforce segregation of the ports. [[https://modworkshop.net/mod/39730 Manually moving saves is still possible]], now it's just made more convoluted for those who Dual-boot or have a Steam Deck. Even more bafflingly, the game ''still'' syncs over all other save files related to the game bar one (the '''actual''' save data containing game progress), and even syncs over the Linux specific saves meant for Steam Deck backups that the port now uses.

** Update #228 removed steam cloud support for transferring saves between the Windows and Linux versions of the game, [[https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/218620?emclan=103582791433980119&emgid=3290465838274755717 with the developers stating that they wanted to "ensure stability of saves between OS's"]], which is a strange reason to give as the steam cloud functionality has worked fine since the port released in 2016, [[https://steamcommunity.com/app/218620/discussions/search/?q=save&gidforum=364039531219417817&include_deleted=1&p=1 the steam community forums have zero complaints about such issues occurring out in the wild]], and the save files between the ports are identical in every way (which is ''unusual'' among native Linux ports), so their reasoning comes off as really flimsy, and appears to be an excuse to enforce segregation of the ports. Manually moving saves is still possible, now it's just made more convoluted. Even more bafflingly, the game ''still'' syncs over all other save files related to the game bar one (the '''actual''' save data containing game progress), and even syncs over the Linux specific saves meant for the Steam Deck, meaning this also screws over Steam Deck users who use Windows PC's for much the same reason.

** The Border Crossing heist isn't looked upon favorably in comparison to other heists. While the heist being made was understandable from a financial viewpoint[[note]]''VideoGame/RaidWorldWarII'' being a flop, the aftermath of the investigations on Starbreeze, ''and'' the failure of ''VideoGame/OverkillsTheWalkingDead'', all of which lead Overkill to make more content for Payday to keep the company afloat.[[/note]], Border Crossing was heavily criticized for being mostly a rehash of many previous assets (the American side was using assets borrowed from Big Oil and Rats, and the Mexican side was very obviously using assets from both Firestarter and Optimal-Day 2 of Big Oil in every inch of the map). This didn't stop some from buying the new DLC in hopes of Overkill improving their financial situation, and while the San Martin Bank Heist still has ''some'' reused assets (from Big Bank, the same computers are used, along with the vault, and even the Beast drill being reused), it was significantly less noticeable (assets were retextured for a start) and was mostly agreed to be a drastic improvement in terms of level originality and the fin factor, with the only main complaint being the poor performance.

** The Border Crossing heist isn't looked upon favorably in comparison to other heists. While the heist being made was understandable from a financial viewpoint[[note]]''VideoGame/RaidWorldWarII'' being a flop, the aftermath of the investigations on Starbreeze, ''and'' the failure of ''VideoGame/OverkillsTheWalkingDead'', all of which lead Overkill to make more content for Payday to keep the company afloat.[[/note]], Border Crossing was heavily criticized for being mostly a rehash of many previous assets (the American side was using assets borrowed from Big Oil and Rats, and the Mexican side was very obviously using assets from both Firestarter and Optimal-Day 2 of Big Oil in every inch of the map). This didn't stop some from buying the new DLC in hopes of Overkill improving their financial situation, and while the San Martin Bank Heist still has ''some'' reused assets (from Big Bank, the same computers are used, along with the vault, and even the Beast drill being reused), it was significantly less noticeable (assets were retextured for a start) and was mostly agreed to be a drastic improvement in terms of level originality and fun.