Say whatever you want regarding Deus Ex: Mankind Divided’s gameplay. It may be a good game, but its microtransactions system is pure shit.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided has received pretty high scores all around. Many, including those in Digital Crack, feel the game is great as-is, with great balance in the leveling system. Well, leave it to Eidos Montreal to fuck with that, as they introduced a microtransactions system AFTER the game released that breaks that balance.
The chief upgrade mechanic in the game centers on “Praxis Kits”. Every time you level protagonist Adam Jensen up, you receive a Praxis Kit. Usually, it takes one or two Praxis Kits per Aug upgrade. These Kits are perfectly spread out during a campaign when you factor in side quests. By the time Adam reaches later levels, he almost feels overpowered with his abilities. Again, this is possible within the game itself.
What if “almost overpowered” isn’t enough? What if a player wants to completely dominate the campaign without much effort? Eidos Montreal has you covered.
Available now in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided’s cash shop is an option that allows players to buy extra Praxis Kits. For those who do not want to level up naturally and just want to buff Adam up quickly and painlessly, these microtransactions are available as a shortcut. There are also Credits – in-world currency – available via microtransactions. The Credits are also plentiful during the game – but what’s the harm in offering them in big chunks for real-world cash, right?
The “harm” is that players who run this route are potentially breaking the game. As it is, the game is perfectly balanced and does not require the microtransactions to help. This is not a biased judgement on my part; the Eidos Montreal Community Manager himself took to Reddit to say as such. What reason, then, could there be for these microtransactions other than a blatant cash grab for impatient players who don’t want to buff up within the system and prefer to buy their way through?
There are usually apologists who accept these microtransactions as a way of limiting the amount of time it takes them to play through the game. The “time vs money” argument is always used in those cases. If a player values their time over their money, they would be more willing to purchase any microtransactions that facilitate saving time. And I may understand that in the case of cosmetic microtransactions that do not alter the game, like Overwatch’s loot boxes. They’re still bullshit, because they demand players fork over real-world money for in-game swag, but it’s only for the pursuit of cosmetic-only skins or emotes. What happens if the microtransactions give players measurable benefits in the game world? Is it ok to sell power for money? That’s what Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is currently doing with its Praxis Kits microtransactions.
Bottom line: if a microtransaction is selling the equivalent of power, it is a bullshit microtransaction. It is meant to cheat the game and beat it will very little effort. Eidos Montreal did Deus Ex: Mankind Divided a disservice. By taking a really good game and adding an “easy mode” via microtransactions, they have guaranteed that some players will not see the true awesomeness of the game. Instead, they’ll put the controller down quickly, say, “I beat it!” after skating past, then toss the game in the pile to sell to GameStop.
