I really liked DXHR's art direction and dialogue system too. It had a solid aesthetic vision as its foundation and did a great job exploiting its potential. I even liked the prominent use of yellow. Piss filter jokes aside, it was refreshing to see an AAA game use color in other ways than blue and orange cover art. They also managed to set up some sweet scenes that make the most out of the visual style and music, like Zhao's penthouse, or entering Adam's apartment for the first time.
Yeah, the game nails it in terms of cyberpunk atmosphere and has a unique visual style. I also liked dialogue "battles" in the game, the way they implemented the use of dialogue skill (well aug) is much better than your usual "I win" skill check in most RPGs.
Level design is quite formulaic, lacks larger open areas (due to the engine I guess?) of the original and doesn't have as well developed environment interaction (in first Deus Ex nearly every object you see could be picked up) but it's still miles better in that regard compared to modern titles. It also has very well developed hubs with more and on average better sidequests than the original.
Also, hacking (the way the game handles XP aside) is very well done, it's the best minigame I've ever played and it didn't bother me doing it repeteadly through the game (and I usually loathe minigames and find them to be a chore).
Sure, the game has a lot of flaws too and it's obviously weaker than the original DX. Generally low difficulty, retarded majestic cinematic takedown only melee, those fucking boss fights, the three buttons ending, and so on. I also thought Eliza Cassan had a lot of underused potential and deserved more screen time. I mean, in a game with a plot revolving around conspiracies, misinformation, everyone lies and stuff like that, an AI designed to control the flow of information to the public has a lot to bring to the table in terms of reflecting the core narrative themes.
My problem with difficulty (speaking on my experience on Give me Deus Ex difficulty level, I didn't try out others) is how binary it feels, if you use sticky cover system it becomes one of the easiest games I ever played both in terms of stealth and shooting. If you don't however, it becomes more challenging yes but not in the most satisfactory ways given that the game was built around using cover in both type of playstyles (stealth and shooting). You don't have shadows to hide in, you can't lean and it doesn't have Thief's exquisite sound system (now it's still relatively easy because of low enemy density per level and somewhat limited AI but that's beside the point) while in regards to the shooting part you have your usual tricks/artificial obstacles to try and force you into using cover like a fragile main hero (seriously, even with maxed out dermal armor aug Jensen is barely more durable than your average shirt and tie policeman which makes no fucking sense) and bullet spongy enemies (thankfully, headshots are very lethal with modded 10 mm pistol) that have pinpoint accuracy.
3d person camera switching, time stopping, cinematic takedowns are just horrible. I'm not completely averse to one button takedowns in stealth games but it could have been done like in Butcher Bay which are in first person (doesn't take you out of the game flow) and in real time. I get that they wanted to show off Jensen's char model often for story/role playing/whatever purposes (I think devs even said something similar) but you already see it often in conversations and ladder climbing, you could have just extended that to some other actions as well (again, like in Butcher Bay) and achieved the same effect. I also think takedowns should have only worked when you sneak up behind enemy, engaging him head on in melee combat should be harder.
I really liked weapon modification system (it was a very nice mix of original Deus Ex and IW) but I still found the arsenal somewhat disappointing and a number of the weapons felt redundant even when fully upgraded. For example, what use is a sniper rifle compared to 10mm pistol (with armor piercing and laser mods you both find very early in the game) when there aren't enough large open spaces, it is loud as hell, does less damage on a headshot on heavies and takes up far more inventory space? Same with shotgun compared to just using double takedowns when enemies are that close that shotgun would actually do some damage (not to mention that the game just isn't built for run and gun playstyle) or combat rifle/machine pistol/heavy rifle compared to magnum with explosive rounds that doesn't guzzle up ammo, is incredibly effective for crowd control, takes heavy soldiers down more easily and outright destroys even bots and turrets? Also, no melee weapons which just sucks, no other way to put it.
While I didn't like the way game handled the XP system or the frequency in which you gained praxis points (I usually had every upgrade I wanted within the first hour of Hengsha) some of the other game's notable faults didn't bother me that much. I can see how boss fight were objectively bad in many ways but I found them to be a nice change of pace if you're playing as a stealth char and a reason to use all those sweet weapon mods and combat augs (as a stealth hacker, you are swimming in praxis points before long) while as a combat focused/shooter char it was nice to face off against another terminator. Same with rushed last third of the game/ending, I can easily look past it considering that the meat of the game is so good. Overall while I think HR differs from the original in some crucial ways I find it similar in a sense that for me it is more than the sum of its parts and very enjoyable despite the many flaws, I think saying it's very good for a modern game is selling it short (it's a hollow praise considering most modern games are shit), I'd say it's very good (even great if you have a preference for FPS/RPG/stealth hybrids) period.