Death Stranding - Review Thread (see staff post for discussion guidelines)

[Crushed]

Here's the thing - most open world games focus on what happens when you arrive at your destination. The space between the objective and starting point is useless, empty space - you hold forward on the stick and you go. There's not usually much there.

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I feel like this is a massive overgeneralization that is generally untrue, and a description of a scenario where the game state is constantly reset to 0 to frustrate progress until you do busywork to start it again sounds absolutely awful.

 

[Deleted member 28386]

...Since when did a game over 80 become divisive. Anything over an 80 is good. Especially mid to high 80s, which this.Spider-Man and Horizon, Fire Emblem, Luigi's Mansion. Come on now.

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Since we've sat through two years of Kojima touting around on his arm celebrities only tangentially related to gaming, while they constantly grin and say he's changing the world of gaming forever. I imagine if such loaded language describing the game in previews over the last couple years hadn't primed a large part of this community to believe Kojima was about to become the Deathwing to gaming's Azeroth, we wouldn't be thinking much of something in the 80's scale as divisive. Overhype is the death of us all. It's the reason Jim Sterling's review of BotW nearly made Era implode when any reasonable response would be that it's just one person's opinion and who cares anyway?

 

[ItWasMeantToBe19]

Jedi Fallen Order is totally going to Shadow of Mordor it's way to GOTY.

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It's very similar to Sekiro and has zero chance of beating Sekiro for GotY because of how similar it is.

 

[Pascal]

I couldn't disagree with that IGN quote more.

On paper, yes, but it's the mechanics that completely change things up.

Here's the thing - most open world games focus on what happens when you arrive at your destination. The space between the objective and starting point is useless, empty space - you hold forward on the stick and you go. There's not usually much there.

Death Stranding inverts that - the arrival at your way point isn't usually the payoff - it's the journey.

Here's some examples..

I need to reach my objective in a stony field with large chasms running through it. I had a lot of things to carry and could barely walk with them so I loaded everything into a truck and hit the road. Unfortunately, I tried to jump a large chasm and missed - the truck fell into the chasm. Ruined, I climbed out of it and tried to consider my options. However, this commotion triggered a nearby camp (they have these pylons which scan for cargo). You can hear them above the chasm and then they start climbing down after me. So I open up the truck inventory quickly, grab a few supplies for combat and run.

Then I spent time taking out the patrol one by one (non-lethal - since killing leads to a voidout which blows a huge crater in the map).

After dispatching them, I returned to the truck and transported things piece by piece up the side of the chasm back to the surface. Carrying everything would be too difficult so I made my way to the bandit camp where the enemies had arrived from. Managed to steal one of their trucks and get back to my pile of stuff where I could load it up. I was able to continue my delivery route to the next way point until BTs appeared and the battery on the truck ran low (and since I wasn't in the Chrial network, I couldn't build a charge station). So I grabbed the key items for the mission and continued on foot, sneaking through BTs. Eventually, I made it to the top of a mountain (looking something like Mars at this point) and used the steep terrain as an excuse to run down the hill while trying to keep balance. Then - the objective was reached.

A simple little story but it's this type of occurrence - things going wrong on the road - that makes for such a memorable time.

Click to shrink...

Pretty much what I was hoping for the actual gameplay to be like. Emergent stories popping up from things not going exactly how you planned. And I like the idea of having to go non-lethal to prevent voidouts. Sounds like it could lead to some pretty tense moments. Really interested to see just how much the world will change over the course of a playthrough.

 

[modiz]

I couldn't disagree with that IGN quote more.

On paper, yes, but it's the mechanics that completely change things up.

Here's the thing - most open world games focus on what happens when you arrive at your destination. The space between the objective and starting point is useless, empty space - you hold forward on the stick and you go. There's not usually much there.

Death Stranding inverts that - the arrival at your way point isn't usually the payoff - it's the journey.

Here's some examples..

I need to reach my objective in a stony field with large chasms running through it. I had a lot of things to carry and could barely walk with them so I loaded everything into a truck and hit the road. Unfortunately, I tried to jump a large chasm and missed - the truck fell into the chasm. Ruined, I climbed out of it and tried to consider my options. However, this commotion triggered a nearby camp (they have these pylons which scan for cargo). You can hear them above the chasm and then they start climbing down after me. So I open up the truck inventory quickly, grab a few supplies for combat and run.

Then I spent time taking out the patrol one by one (non-lethal - since killing leads to a voidout which blows a huge crater in the map).

After dispatching them, I returned to the truck and transported things piece by piece up the side of the chasm back to the surface. Carrying everything would be too difficult so I made my way to the bandit camp where the enemies had arrived from. Managed to steal one of their trucks and get back to my pile of stuff where I could load it up. I was able to continue my delivery route to the next way point until BTs appeared and the battery on the truck ran low (and since I wasn't in the Chrial network, I couldn't build a charge station). So I grabbed the key items for the mission and continued on foot, sneaking through BTs. Eventually, I made it to the top of a mountain (looking something like Mars at this point) and used the steep terrain as an excuse to run down the hill while trying to keep balance. Then - the objective was reached.

A simple little story but it's this type of occurrence - things going wrong on the road - that makes for such a memorable time.

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thats an awesome story.
great analysis video btw!

 

[Titik]

The game is getting fantastic scores but I hope this at least tempers down on the whole self indulgence thing with Kojima and his enablers.

 

[peppersky]

From the IGN review, thought this was interesting

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That's kinda hilarious.

The worst part of their review was the fast-travel system. Like I can see why it is restricted to certain points and that's totally fine, but the 4 cutscenes that you all have to skip individually sound like torture. MGS4 at times had the exact same problem.

 

[vestan]

Hearing that there are backtracking moments in this game really has me bummed. I absolutely loathe backtracking in any game. I'm so glad DMC5 got rid of that shit but to see it pop up in Death Stranding of all things is just :/

 

[Proven]

Even the more positive reviews feel like they're battling with the game.

One review that gave the game an 8.5 said he struggled and wondered if he would ever play the game again, one outlet gave the game a 9 and said its sluggish.

The reviews don't seem to match the scores in a lot of cases.

 

[Hilarious_Bearious]

I couldn't disagree with that IGN quote more.

On paper, yes, but it's the mechanics that completely change things up.

Here's the thing - most open world games focus on what happens when you arrive at your destination. The space between the objective and starting point is useless, empty space - you hold forward on the stick and you go. There's not usually much there.

Death Stranding inverts that - the arrival at your way point isn't usually the payoff - it's the journey.

Here's some examples..

I need to reach my objective in a stony field with large chasms running through it. I had a lot of things to carry and could barely walk with them so I loaded everything into a truck and hit the road. Unfortunately, I tried to jump a large chasm and missed - the truck fell into the chasm. Ruined, I climbed out of it and tried to consider my options. However, this commotion triggered a nearby camp (they have these pylons which scan for cargo). You can hear them above the chasm and then they start climbing down after me. So I open up the truck inventory quickly, grab a few supplies for combat and run.

Then I spent time taking out the patrol one by one (non-lethal - since killing leads to a voidout which blows a huge crater in the map).

After dispatching them, I returned to the truck and transported things piece by piece up the side of the chasm back to the surface. Carrying everything would be too difficult so I made my way to the bandit camp where the enemies had arrived from. Managed to steal one of their trucks and get back to my pile of stuff where I could load it up. I was able to continue my delivery route to the next way point until BTs appeared and the battery on the truck ran low (and since I wasn't in the Chrial network, I couldn't build a charge station). So I grabbed the key items for the mission and continued on foot, sneaking through BTs. Eventually, I made it to the top of a mountain (looking something like Mars at this point) and used the steep terrain as an excuse to run down the hill while trying to keep balance. Then - the objective was reached.

A simple little story but it's this type of occurrence - things going wrong on the road - that makes for such a memorable time.

Click to shrink...

I was starting to worry that the game might not be for me, but this story has got my hype kicked back up to 11. This is exactly the kind of tense, organic gameplay I'm interested in.

As always, you've given me valuable knowledge and guidance. Thank you!!

 

[Betty]

It's funny, because that moment in the bottom MGS4 gif was actually one of my favorites of the entire game. Maybe I'm a masochist but I find it very compelling when games try to make you feel the suffering or the struggle of the game character. It's one of the things I loved the most about The Last Guardian and Red Dead Redemption 2. That build up and struggle often makes the catharsis of payoff that much more powerful.

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It's not just your fav, it's a favourite moment of many.

 

[Mezoly]

Happy to see many here are excited about a game that is divisive.

I don't know if I'm gonna like it from reading all the reviews but as sure as hell I'm excited to play it and start it.

 

[MThanded]

I couldn't disagree with that IGN quote more.

On paper, yes, but it's the mechanics that completely change things up.

Here's the thing - most open world games focus on what happens when you arrive at your destination. The space between the objective and starting point is useless, empty space - you hold forward on the stick and you go. There's not usually much there.

Death Stranding inverts that - the arrival at your way point isn't usually the payoff - it's the journey.

Here's some examples..

I need to reach my objective in a stony field with large chasms running through it. I had a lot of things to carry and could barely walk with them so I loaded everything into a truck and hit the road. Unfortunately, I tried to jump a large chasm and missed - the truck fell into the chasm. Ruined, I climbed out of it and tried to consider my options. However, this commotion triggered a nearby camp (they have these pylons which scan for cargo). You can hear them above the chasm and then they start climbing down after me. So I open up the truck inventory quickly, grab a few supplies for combat and run.

Then I spent time taking out the patrol one by one (non-lethal - since killing leads to a voidout which blows a huge crater in the map).

After dispatching them, I returned to the truck and transported things piece by piece up the side of the chasm back to the surface. Carrying everything would be too difficult so I made my way to the bandit camp where the enemies had arrived from. Managed to steal one of their trucks and get back to my pile of stuff where I could load it up. I was able to continue my delivery route to the next way point until BTs appeared and the battery on the truck ran low (and since I wasn't in the Chrial network, I couldn't build a charge station). So I grabbed the key items for the mission and continued on foot, sneaking through BTs. Eventually, I made it to the top of a mountain (looking something like Mars at this point) and used the steep terrain as an excuse to run down the hill while trying to keep balance. Then - the objective was reached.

A simple little story but it's this type of occurrence - things going wrong on the road - that makes for such a memorable time.

Click to shrink...

This is the best endorsement so far.

Sounds like understandably its not for everyone but its inversion of focus can be rewarding and dynamic.

 

[MetalGearZed]

From the IGN review, thought this was interesting

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See, I'm still so curious. Maybe the reviewer is right and I'd hate it, but this sounds like something I'd enjoy.

 

[jawzpause]

Reviews seem a lot more negative than the score they're giving. Will have to pick this up and decide for myself

 

[Alienous]

I have to admit that my first thought at the 6.8 from IGN was "Ah good. Someone else that can't stand his thing". In a way it was strangely cathartic, so when other, far better reviews rolled in, I actually felt much more likely to get the game. I think I'd have been really annoyed had everyone given it 9s and 10s, because Kojimas shtick and the following it generates grates so much I'd feel like he'd fooled everyone all over again.

These scores are much more grounded. He makes, on balance, good games that some people think are amazing and others terrible. That's about where he lands. He's like Tarantino. Good but lauded so much by his fans that they never restrain his worst indulgences which tend to get the better of him.

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I saw the IGN review similarly. I find it more reliable to look at the criticisms in a low scoring review (are they deal breakers for me?) and extrapolate the rest of the game is fine or good.

I have more faith in how interesting the experience might end up being than a Kojima game being considered an uncontested masterpiece.

 

[Deleted member 37928]

It seems that yet again Kojima struggles with the open world formula. A game that is 40-60 hours long that is heavily constructed around meaningless fetch quests and long stretches of slow traversal needs as many surprises and non-repetitive sequences as possible. But to have the same three slow cutscenes play every time Sam gets to a safehouse just makes me wonder if Kojima understands the recent criticisms of the open world genre at all (or the criticisms of his own recent work). His conceptual and story-based ideas just seems to be out of proportion when faced with the actual gameplay systems that keep everything together. But I guess this is the reality of a game director that says that watching at least one movie a day is one of his main sources for creative thinking and who is now completely in charge of his own company. For better or worse is the sentiment here I believe.

 

[Anya7890]

I couldn't disagree with that IGN quote more.

On paper, yes, but it's the mechanics that completely change things up.

Here's the thing - most open world games focus on what happens when you arrive at your destination. The space between the objective and starting point is useless, empty space - you hold forward on the stick and you go. There's not usually much there.

Death Stranding inverts that - the arrival at your way point isn't usually the payoff - it's the journey.

Here's some examples..

I need to reach my objective in a stony field with large chasms running through it. I had a lot of things to carry and could barely walk with them so I loaded everything into a truck and hit the road. Unfortunately, I tried to jump a large chasm and missed - the truck fell into the chasm. Ruined, I climbed out of it and tried to consider my options. However, this commotion triggered a nearby camp (they have these pylons which scan for cargo). You can hear them above the chasm and then they start climbing down after me. So I open up the truck inventory quickly, grab a few supplies for combat and run.

Then I spent time taking out the patrol one by one (non-lethal - since killing leads to a voidout which blows a huge crater in the map).

After dispatching them, I returned to the truck and transported things piece by piece up the side of the chasm back to the surface. Carrying everything would be too difficult so I made my way to the bandit camp where the enemies had arrived from. Managed to steal one of their trucks and get back to my pile of stuff where I could load it up. I was able to continue my delivery route to the next way point until BTs appeared and the battery on the truck ran low (and since I wasn't in the Chrial network, I couldn't build a charge station). So I grabbed the key items for the mission and continued on foot, sneaking through BTs. Eventually, I made it to the top of a mountain (looking something like Mars at this point) and used the steep terrain as an excuse to run down the hill while trying to keep balance. Then - the objective was reached.

A simple little story but it's this type of occurrence - things going wrong on the road - that makes for such a memorable time.

Click to shrink...

This kind of sounds like fighting the machines in horizon. I'm sold.

 

[Minilla]

Not the same thing.

The issue seems to be that some critics don't find the gameplay fun at a certain point. Destiny has plenty of fetch quests but they're almost always short and the core gameplay never stops being fantastic. It's also not a story-heavy game like Death Stranding is. Expectations are different and context is important.

IGN gives an example of a fetch mission that took 50 minutes and was frustrating the whole time. There is nothing like that in Destiny. It's a different kind of game.

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Might want to read some of the impressions just above about how involved a mission can get. Sounds fantastic.

And Destiny, I only play to catch up with friends from other countries on party chat, I got bored of the D2 downgrade a longtime ago.

I'm glad a AAA is taking a risk here. Can't wait to dive into this. The multiplayer aspect sounds great

 

[Knight613]

I really am shocked to find out the stealth and combat is poor. Even an unfinished game like MGS5 had GREAT combat and stealth. Kojima already had a blueprint!

Good boss battles would be great to break up the monotony of GTA side questing in a barren world.

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Do you think he took all of the MGS code/previous works with him when he left Konami or something? He made this game in less than 3 years with no help from a Konami for more employees. Gameplay was never going to be on the level of MGS.

 

[peppersky]

The game is getting fantastic scores but I hope this at least tempers down on the whole self indulgence thing with Kojima and his enablers.

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Oh, you know it won't. If MGS4 wasn't enough to stop it nothing is.

 

[Fezan]

I couldn't disagree with that IGN quote more.

On paper, yes, but it's the mechanics that completely change things up.

Here's the thing - most open world games focus on what happens when you arrive at your destination. The space between the objective and starting point is useless, empty space - you hold forward on the stick and you go. There's not usually much there.

Death Stranding inverts that - the arrival at your way point isn't usually the payoff - it's the journey.

Here's some examples..

I need to reach my objective in a stony field with large chasms running through it. I had a lot of things to carry and could barely walk with them so I loaded everything into a truck and hit the road. Unfortunately, I tried to jump a large chasm and missed - the truck fell into the chasm. Ruined, I climbed out of it and tried to consider my options. However, this commotion triggered a nearby camp (they have these pylons which scan for cargo). You can hear them above the chasm and then they start climbing down after me. So I open up the truck inventory quickly, grab a few supplies for combat and run.

Then I spent time taking out the patrol one by one (non-lethal - since killing leads to a voidout which blows a huge crater in the map).

After dispatching them, I returned to the truck and transported things piece by piece up the side of the chasm back to the surface. Carrying everything would be too difficult so I made my way to the bandit camp where the enemies had arrived from. Managed to steal one of their trucks and get back to my pile of stuff where I could load it up. I was able to continue my delivery route to the next way point until BTs appeared and the battery on the truck ran low (and since I wasn't in the Chrial network, I couldn't build a charge station). So I grabbed the key items for the mission and continued on foot, sneaking through BTs. Eventually, I made it to the top of a mountain (looking something like Mars at this point) and used the steep terrain as an excuse to run down the hill while trying to keep balance. Then - the objective was reached.

A simple little story but it's this type of occurrence - things going wrong on the road - that makes for such a memorable time.

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Posting it again so people should know what they are getting into. Seems like perfect game for me. Just want to know one thing. Is open world like botw or AC origins

 

[modiz]

It's very similar to Sekiro and has zero chance of beating Sekiro for GotY because of how similar it is.

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from's games lack accessibility which always prevented them from winning many GotY awards, jedi has a much better shot at getting awards than them.

 

[Loudninja]

The game is getting fantastic scores but I hope this at least tempers down on the whole self indulgence thing with Kojima and his enablers.

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What?

 

[Rondell Dobard]

I couldn't disagree with that IGN quote more.

On paper, yes, but it's the mechanics that completely change things up.

Here's the thing - most open world games focus on what happens when you arrive at your destination. The space between the objective and starting point is useless, empty space - you hold forward on the stick and you go. There's not usually much there.

Death Stranding inverts that - the arrival at your way point isn't usually the payoff - it's the journey.

Here's some examples..

I need to reach my objective in a stony field with large chasms running through it. I had a lot of things to carry and could barely walk with them so I loaded everything into a truck and hit the road. Unfortunately, I tried to jump a large chasm and missed - the truck fell into the chasm. Ruined, I climbed out of it and tried to consider my options. However, this commotion triggered a nearby camp (they have these pylons which scan for cargo). You can hear them above the chasm and then they start climbing down after me. So I open up the truck inventory quickly, grab a few supplies for combat and run.

Then I spent time taking out the patrol one by one (non-lethal - since killing leads to a voidout which blows a huge crater in the map).

After dispatching them, I returned to the truck and transported things piece by piece up the side of the chasm back to the surface. Carrying everything would be too difficult so I made my way to the bandit camp where the enemies had arrived from. Managed to steal one of their trucks and get back to my pile of stuff where I could load it up. I was able to continue my delivery route to the next way point until BTs appeared and the battery on the truck ran low (and since I wasn't in the Chrial network, I couldn't build a charge station). So I grabbed the key items for the mission and continued on foot, sneaking through BTs. Eventually, I made it to the top of a mountain (looking something like Mars at this point) and used the steep terrain as an excuse to run down the hill while trying to keep balance. Then - the objective was reached.

A simple little story but it's this type of occurrence - things going wrong on the road - that makes for such a memorable time.

Click to shrink...

Exactly the kind of game I wanted.

 

[Mediking]

I couldn't disagree with that IGN quote more.

On paper, yes, but it's the mechanics that completely change things up.

Here's the thing - most open world games focus on what happens when you arrive at your destination. The space between the objective and starting point is useless, empty space - you hold forward on the stick and you go. There's not usually much there.

Death Stranding inverts that - the arrival at your way point isn't usually the payoff - it's the journey.

Here's some examples..

I need to reach my objective in a stony field with large chasms running through it. I had a lot of things to carry and could barely walk with them so I loaded everything into a truck and hit the road. Unfortunately, I tried to jump a large chasm and missed - the truck fell into the chasm. Ruined, I climbed out of it and tried to consider my options. However, this commotion triggered a nearby camp (they have these pylons which scan for cargo). You can hear them above the chasm and then they start climbing down after me. So I open up the truck inventory quickly, grab a few supplies for combat and run.

Then I spent time taking out the patrol one by one (non-lethal - since killing leads to a voidout which blows a huge crater in the map).

After dispatching them, I returned to the truck and transported things piece by piece up the side of the chasm back to the surface. Carrying everything would be too difficult so I made my way to the bandit camp where the enemies had arrived from. Managed to steal one of their trucks and get back to my pile of stuff where I could load it up. I was able to continue my delivery route to the next way point until BTs appeared and the battery on the truck ran low (and since I wasn't in the Chrial network, I couldn't build a charge station). So I grabbed the key items for the mission and continued on foot, sneaking through BTs. Eventually, I made it to the top of a mountain (looking something like Mars at this point) and used the steep terrain as an excuse to run down the hill while trying to keep balance. Then - the objective was reached.

A simple little story but it's this type of occurrence - things going wrong on the road - that makes for such a memorable time.

Click to shrink...

I hear you... but this sounds similar to that same moment to moment gameplay that got so old and repetitive to me in MGSV that I dropped it. "When things go wrong, thats when the fun begins!" Ehhh...

 

[GymWolf86]

where is the guy who told me that the game is not divisive? breakerofbullshit or something similar lol...

 

[Jarmel]

Man this is probably going to get savaged once the public starts playing this. The way the Beastcast is describing this game...

 

[J_ToSaveTheDay]

I couldn't disagree with that IGN quote more.

On paper, yes, but it's the mechanics that completely change things up.

Here's the thing - most open world games focus on what happens when you arrive at your destination. The space between the objective and starting point is useless, empty space - you hold forward on the stick and you go. There's not usually much there.

Death Stranding inverts that - the arrival at your way point isn't usually the payoff - it's the journey.

Here's some examples..

I need to reach my objective in a stony field with large chasms running through it. I had a lot of things to carry and could barely walk with them so I loaded everything into a truck and hit the road. Unfortunately, I tried to jump a large chasm and missed - the truck fell into the chasm. Ruined, I climbed out of it and tried to consider my options. However, this commotion triggered a nearby camp (they have these pylons which scan for cargo). You can hear them above the chasm and then they start climbing down after me. So I open up the truck inventory quickly, grab a few supplies for combat and run.

Then I spent time taking out the patrol one by one (non-lethal - since killing leads to a voidout which blows a huge crater in the map).

After dispatching them, I returned to the truck and transported things piece by piece up the side of the chasm back to the surface. Carrying everything would be too difficult so I made my way to the bandit camp where the enemies had arrived from. Managed to steal one of their trucks and get back to my pile of stuff where I could load it up. I was able to continue my delivery route to the next way point until BTs appeared and the battery on the truck ran low (and since I wasn't in the Chrial network, I couldn't build a charge station). So I grabbed the key items for the mission and continued on foot, sneaking through BTs. Eventually, I made it to the top of a mountain (looking something like Mars at this point) and used the steep terrain as an excuse to run down the hill while trying to keep balance. Then - the objective was reached.

A simple little story but it's this type of occurrence - things going wrong on the road - that makes for such a memorable time.

Click to shrink...

Damn, this perspective is really shifting me into full gear!

 

[Jeffram]

A score I expected, would probably be a bit lower if not for the brand name of Sir Kojima Sensei. I saw trouble the moment he needed a 50 minute demo to show what the game is about and still fail, and traveling all the way to Germany just to announce his buddy Keighley in the game, and that you can piss in the game.


People expected His Higness Kojima Sensei to deliver the definitive game of this generation, with a score at least in the mid 90s.

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There's a boatload if 9+ scores?

 

[IamFlying]

I've already finished the game a few days ago - my review will be online (for a non-English media) in a day or two (I am also a full-time game developer). But looking at the IGN video review, IMO, we have another Alien Isolation situation - the structure of the review is very shallow (yes, I know we all have some huge NDA restrictions to conform) and need different angles when reviewing an unusual game like DS.

Dark1x DF's video, even though it is not a review article is much more informative about what the game is trying to do. As expected the DS will be a polarizing game, been so different in its execution, but IGN's approach, sadly, is a low-grade affair.

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And why are you focusing on the IGN review? There are very well written reviews out there with a similar score and many badly written reviews with lower or higher score.

 

[adumb]

It's reviewing like challenging works in other mediums often do, and that's EXCITING. You should be excited by this.

I know that for all the bluster about video games being art, 'gamers' don't actually want that. They don't want what that entails. Because this is exactly the kind of thing that entails. They just want their hobby validated by The Smart People, and to be praised for having such good taste in electronic toys.

I haven't played it yet. I might hate it. I might love it. Both are, apparently, very possible outcomes. But I'm looking to find out! The 'AAA' video game space is so incredibly safe and conservative 99.9% of the time, it's exciting to have something that very clearly isn't.

 

[Jojo Sonoshe]

Classy

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About as classy as the idol worship the media and fans have thrown his way during the entire gestation of this game.

 

[Mediking]

He probably should just make a movie next time. Or maybe a seasonal TV series.

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Nah, he needs to make an anime

 

[ScribeofGeadhain]

I went 80-84.

 

[rude]

So far non of the videos i watched showed or talked about hades were you fight mads....

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Reviewers can only describe specific story/gameplay events up to Chapter 3 iirc.

 

[Segafreak]

Reviews seem a lot more negative than the score they're giving. Will have to pick this up and decide for myself

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Such is the case with big brand names/studios in the industry, if exact product was made by lesser known people the score would be way lower.

 

[Proven]

I also find it interesting how almost every review I have read so far has commented that the game will be divisive. Even the perfect scores note that the game won't be for everyone. I've never really seen a game get good scores but then simultaneously say it is divisive

 

[vestan]

I couldn't disagree with that IGN quote more.

On paper, yes, but it's the mechanics that completely change things up.

Here's the thing - most open world games focus on what happens when you arrive at your destination. The space between the objective and starting point is useless, empty space - you hold forward on the stick and you go. There's not usually much there.

Death Stranding inverts that - the arrival at your way point isn't usually the payoff - it's the journey.

Here's some examples..

I need to reach my objective in a stony field with large chasms running through it. I had a lot of things to carry and could barely walk with them so I loaded everything into a truck and hit the road. Unfortunately, I tried to jump a large chasm and missed - the truck fell into the chasm. Ruined, I climbed out of it and tried to consider my options. However, this commotion triggered a nearby camp (they have these pylons which scan for cargo). You can hear them above the chasm and then they start climbing down after me. So I open up the truck inventory quickly, grab a few supplies for combat and run.

Then I spent time taking out the patrol one by one (non-lethal - since killing leads to a voidout which blows a huge crater in the map).

After dispatching them, I returned to the truck and transported things piece by piece up the side of the chasm back to the surface. Carrying everything would be too difficult so I made my way to the bandit camp where the enemies had arrived from. Managed to steal one of their trucks and get back to my pile of stuff where I could load it up. I was able to continue my delivery route to the next way point until BTs appeared and the battery on the truck ran low (and since I wasn't in the Chrial network, I couldn't build a charge station). So I grabbed the key items for the mission and continued on foot, sneaking through BTs. Eventually, I made it to the top of a mountain (looking something like Mars at this point) and used the steep terrain as an excuse to run down the hill while trying to keep balance. Then - the objective was reached.

A simple little story but it's this type of occurrence - things going wrong on the road - that makes for such a memorable time.

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Sounds so fucking good. This is the general idea I got from watching the E3 2018 trailer and TGS gameplay video. It's about the journey and the memorable moments like that while out on the trail which really amplify the experience. MGSV's systemic design was great so I'm glad Kojima decided to stick with it for Death Stranding.

 

[DangerMouse]

I still think that snowy mountain mission sounds intense as hell and I want to play it.

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Yeah.

 

[Deleted member 37917]

As expected, definitely not my kind of game. Easy pass even on PC.

 

[Soj]

Watched a bunch of reviews and I still can't tell if I'm going to absolutely love this game or if it's going to bore me to tears.

 

[chris 1515]

85 opencritic and 84 metacritic, the game is a bit divisive but not a bad game.

 

[Deleted member 51789]

But a score of 4 always meant a bottom of the barrel shit. 5 never meant a middling, serviceable game. And below 5 are just variing degrees of awful. Doesnt really matter if its 4 or 2. Game scores can only be compared in the same genre was what i was saying. You cant compare death stranding's score to that of a sports game

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But I think that's the person your replying to's point. 4 *shouldn't* be the bottom of the barrel - that's what a 1 is for. If it doesn't matter if a game got a 2 or a 4, then what the point of having a 1-3 in your review scale?

 

[ZeoVGM]

Might want to read some of the impressions just above about how involved a mission can get. Sounds fantastic.

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I read that. That specific quest sounds interesting. But I was pointing out that comparing long fetch quests in a narrative-driven game to what are generally very quick fetch quests in a looter shooter doesn't really work.

 

[karmitt]

It's very similar to Sekiro and has zero chance of beating Sekiro for GotY because of how similar it is.

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Does it have an easy mode?

 

[ILPUMAGUERRIERO]

I couldn't disagree with that IGN quote more.

On paper, yes, but it's the mechanics that completely change things up.

Here's the thing - most open world games focus on what happens when you arrive at your destination. The space between the objective and starting point is useless, empty space - you hold forward on the stick and you go. There's not usually much there.

Death Stranding inverts that - the arrival at your way point isn't usually the payoff - it's the journey.

Here's some examples..

I need to reach my objective in a stony field with large chasms running through it. I had a lot of things to carry and could barely walk with them so I loaded everything into a truck and hit the road. Unfortunately, I tried to jump a large chasm and missed - the truck fell into the chasm. Ruined, I climbed out of it and tried to consider my options. However, this commotion triggered a nearby camp (they have these pylons which scan for cargo). You can hear them above the chasm and then they start climbing down after me. So I open up the truck inventory quickly, grab a few supplies for combat and run.

Then I spent time taking out the patrol one by one (non-lethal - since killing leads to a voidout which blows a huge crater in the map).

After dispatching them, I returned to the truck and transported things piece by piece up the side of the chasm back to the surface. Carrying everything would be too difficult so I made my way to the bandit camp where the enemies had arrived from. Managed to steal one of their trucks and get back to my pile of stuff where I could load it up. I was able to continue my delivery route to the next way point until BTs appeared and the battery on the truck ran low (and since I wasn't in the Chrial network, I couldn't build a charge station). So I grabbed the key items for the mission and continued on foot, sneaking through BTs. Eventually, I made it to the top of a mountain (looking something like Mars at this point) and used the steep terrain as an excuse to run down the hill while trying to keep balance. Then - the objective was reached.

A simple little story but it's this type of occurrence - things going wrong on the road - that makes for such a memorable time.

Click to shrink...

Damn, what a trip. Can't wait!

 

[Mik317]

About as classy as the idol worship the media and fans have thrown his way during the entire gestation of this game.

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or maybe they just don't feel the same way as you do about things?

why do yall jump so quickly to people just blindly praising everything....

 

[ItWasMeantToBe19]

It's reviewing like challenging works in other mediums often do, and that's EXCITING. You should be excited by this.

I know that for all the bluster about video games being art, 'gamers' don't actually want that. They don't want what that entails. Because this is exactly the kind of thing that entails. They just want their hobby validated by The Smart People, and to be praised for having such good taste in electronic toys.

I haven't played it yet. I might hate it. I might love it. Both are, apparently, very possible outcomes. But I'm looking to find out! The 'AAA' video game space is so incredibly safe and conservative 99.9% of the time, it's exciting to have something that very clearly isn't.

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I mean, again, a lot of the criticism is that there's 10-12 hours of cutscenes that are viewed as extremely terrible. That's not really pushing video games as art as much pushing that Kojima is really bad at directing and writing basic dialogue.

 

[Mediking]

It's very similar to Sekiro and has zero chance of beating Sekiro for GotY because of how similar it is.

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Jedi has actual customization... Seki doesn't. Seki won't beat Jedi