I really couldn't care less about harmless DLC like that. I just hate when it's MONOPOLIZED by DLC. If a game has unlockable costumes in no small number, and even MORE costumes as DLC, I'm fine with that. Even better if the DLC makes them unlockable, as well! Sure, some people might be pissed that they paid for something yet it's not available until they meet specific criteria for it, but personally I prefer a reward to follow a challenge any day, because that makes the reward all the sweeter. Arkham City could be better in this regard, since there are far more costumes acquired via DLC than there are naturally unlocked through the game, but at least the DLC doesn't monopolize them all.
But I listed Dead Space 2 and GTAV as containing grievances for me in how their DLC operated, DESPITE not "monopolizing" particular content, because of the pay-to-win aspect of those digital unlocks. You get special suits unlocked during DS2, and you got special costumes for beating DS1 as well, and each game added more in DLC. I would be fine with that, except DS2 introduced "Hardcore Mode", which was a new difficulty that limited your saves to 3 attempts, so you couldn't simply "save often" to reduce the game's challenge, you had to be CAREFUL, and there were many clever tricks players could use to make the most of their resources and survive this incredibly challenging, awesome difficulty. You'd unlock various suits by collecting their schematics and taking that to the nearest store, but you'd have to buy the suit to acquire it, and each suit offered its own special attribute (more damage with x weapon, 10% off store items, 50% stasis recharge time, etc) so they were designed to be chosen with utility in mind. But when you first outfitted a new suit, it would heal Isaac up to full HP, and players used this sparingly and strategically to give a free heal when they needed to make the most of the medpacks. Similarly, other tricks would fully heal Isaac, but it was the new suits equipping trick that made me hate the DLC suits. Those suits would be free in the store once your game registered the digital unlock. So now, for the rest of the game, you have a completely free, full heal, anytime you want it. Granted for a 1-time use, but when you're thrown 5 of them on top of the 5+ the game already has, that's a TON of easy resources tossed at the player, completely rendering much of the challenge of Hardcore moot.
Yes, player discretion can circumvent these, but that's really not the point. If I select a difficulty setting that promises to push me, I shouldn't HAVE to handicap myself further by deliberately avoiding aspects of the game to preserve the challenge. It's both worse and not as bad in GTAV, because the game never really pushes you, so nothing is totally lost by the free weapons. But you still miss out on a completely different experience thanks to the DLC. The last time I played GTAV, I was experiencing a new game for several days while not connected to the internet, and this game was an experience of "how it was meant to be played", because I got no free weapons, no special unlocks. Just the base game. And I loved it. When I got my internet connection back, I was sad to see all that free shit instantly put back into my game. =(
