Is it finicky? The stealth system is very basic and based on line-of-sight and sound (for human enemies). As long as you aren't running, it's actually incredibly trivial to stealth through levels without being seen. Even the bots aren't really a problem, since they have static patrol paths and limited line of sight.
Fun fact about stealth mechanic rewards in the original: they don't vanish if you did the offensive approach! You could get the most xp by first killing everyone and then run around through tunnels and obstacles to get the other half of the xp
I remember the escape from his brothers apartment in hells kitchen especially fondly because of that. First you slaughter everyone so your bro is safe for offensive reward, then you run through the level for the discovery rewards such as enabling the turret which shots the now non-existing enemies (the brother dies if you don't block him by standing in the way so risky to do earlier) and finally escape through the window. 3 routes and you get all the xp :)
When bro, the great pacifist, has killed absolutely everything in the hotel, walk out together with him through the front door, where he spontaneously drops dead for no reason at all because the script says he should.
I did love that game
You meet him again later iirc, though only very briefly.
States as such here (Spoilers, of course): [0]
Whaat. I must've played DX at least a couple dozen times and I never found a turret in the hotel?
I might misremember though... It's been almost 20 years after all ;)
Also in Hong Kong (and a spoiler) was this way of completing an objective that I didn't realize was possible until I saw it on YouTube [1].
The rest of the game is an absolute marvel of design. Even for a modern game the level design and depth of the story is remarkable. The game doesn't even look half bad if you install modern texture packs. It's a shame that the themes of the original were dumbed down significantly in the sequel.
I started another play through recently exactly for this reason:
> Smith: Deus Ex and Dishonored both involve a plague, and they both involve powerful, corrupt elites turning the disenfranchised against each other. When some states discouraged the wearing of masks or sheltering in place, somebody inevitably linked me the opening cinematic. ‘Why contain it? Let the bodies pile up in the streets’.