No. Some of my favorite games were not "fun" in the conventional sense, but rather they drew me in and kept me immersed in the world. For example, Planescape Torment's gameplay was mediocre enough that it was best avoided when possible, but the writing is what made that game a classic as it kept players intrigued and captivated. From last year we had RDR2, which was best outside of its linear shoot-bang mission gameplay.
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Death Stranding - Review Thread (see staff post for discussion guidelines)
- Thread starter vestan
- Start date
No. Some of my favorite games were not "fun" in the conventional sense, but rather they drew me in and kept me immersed in the world. For example, Planescape Torment's gameplay was mediocre enough that it was best avoided when possible, but the writing is what made that game a classic as it kept players intrigued and captivated. From last year we had RDR2, which was best outside of its linear shoot-bang mission gameplay.
Gameplay being different doesn't make it good either. I don't get why there is need to praise something just because it's different.
I had very low expectations and I'm really excited now that it turned out good because I'm itching to play something different.
if it weird that a lot of the things Reviewers have complained about are increasing my hype? Like a lonely, empty world with little but important contact with literally other ppl IRL sounds amazing for me personally. I love isolated exploration games. This sounds less action oriented than Botw, MGSV but the general vibe seems cool. I have Friday and the following Monday off, got my 4K set ready and recently got surround sound, I cannot wait. Hope GameStop does an early release on Thursday
Games don't have to be fun. They should strive to be engaging above all else. Gameplay elements can be boring or bad but if it all plays to the overall engagement that the game is striving for then so be it. RDR2 is a good example.
Yes. It's the exact reason why I never replayed the Last of Us back in the day. Loved the story but it was not fun at all. Now the multiplayer? That's as fun as hell. Too bad for the sequel.
In regards to this, I need to have fun while I'm walking around. I already learned that hard lesson from No Mans Sky. I'm not going to actively not have fun and wait for the fun to eventually happen, I know it's never gonna come with a game like this (for me)
So your answer is a game has to be fun to be good? I'm serious with the question. I don't think a game has to be fun or pleasant to be good. Kane and Lynch 2 is my go to example.
So what im getting is; lots of cut scenes. Pick how much stuff you want to carry. Walk to destination. Cut scene. Pick how much you want to carry. Walk to destination. Cut scene.
Im going through MGS V right now in anticipation for Death Stranding. But after reading the reviews for DS why bother?
MGV tPP is one of the goats when it comes to gameplay.
I feel deflated.
Im going through MGS V right now in anticipation for Death Stranding. But after reading the reviews for DS why bother?
MGV tPP is one of the goats when it comes to gameplay.
I feel deflated.
I somehow forgot this game came out this yearit's looking like we already got our GOTY back in march
My GOTY too
A game have to be engaging to be good.
This engagement can be achieved by different elements of it, fun can be one of them.
That's my opinion.
This is my issue in general with modern games. I basically took the last year off of gaming because I was so busy I didn't have time to finish or play anything of significant length. I'm still hyped for Death Stranding, but a 60 hour game takes me like 6 months to finish these days. I fucking long for the days of 10-20 hour AAA games. I want to give Kojima the benefit of the doubt though.
The answer is obviously yes much like with other entertainment media - but you're not really asking that question.
Referencing it specifically to review scores, your actual question is "Do the games have to be fun to be highly-rated?"
Which is obviously still a yes - as MC has plenty of highly rated games that don't fit mainstream definition of fun - Eve Online or The Witness among many.
The flipside is of course that 'definition of fun' is subjective to begin with. In Germany Farming simulator is a popular E-Sport as well as a game. Yet it's obviously not something you'd class with 'fun' in most other parts of the world.
Kojima clarified in a recent interview that he doesn't believe it's a new genre, but wants to emphasise that what he's creating here is new and wanted to give it a label that best describes it. Reviews definitely go about calling it innovative and something unlike anything they've played.
I have no idea where the narrative lands, but a story being weird doesn't exclude it from offering up new things.
Traversal - for one - is nothing like Assassin's Creed, aims for something completely different. DS has mechanics that are structured around encumberement affecting your centre of balance, and navigating the physicality of the terrain is a fundamental gameplay challenge. Improvements to your "loadout" help you overcome these challenges over time. I'm left wondering what other game discourages killing enemies because if you don't carry and dispose of the bodies, they void out leaving a huge crater in the map which further affects the gameplay and how you traverse the world? That's been known for a while. Also, there is no die/fail and repeat state in the game.
Saying that DS does nothing new with a specific kind of online functionality is like saying a game can't innovate because its story has characters in it and that's already been done before, and in that sense, nobody can create something new ever because of what are now artificial restrictions. From what I've read the social aspects sound like something that is on a whole different spectrum compared to what was introduced in Demon's Souls. Players can contribute to building structures and pathways in the world which require variable amounts of resources, and again is something that affects/improves the traversal, your experience as a whole and makes it change over time. These structures can also degrade over time due to the Timefall mechanic, which supports the players coming together to rebuild America theme. What of this did From Software do again? You can be inspired by something but still create something new out of that.
If a game is not fun and engaging there is no story in this world that can force me to slog through it, I learned my lesson with Demons Souls and I havent forced me through any game since. Nowadays you can just watch the cutscenes or read the synopsis if the story has you enraptured but the gameplay has you frustrated.
and scores of such reputable sites as Doritos Weekly? was he in the joke or never figured it out?
Because the text of many of the reviews reads with more ambivalence than the scores assigned would suggest.
Because the people who don't like the game are super passionate about how they don't like it. It's different when reviewers are just indifferent, I guess.
It might be an assistant handling his Twitter, just retweeting any high score they see without verifying if it's real.
Kojima seems in good spirits on Instagram though.
One of the the general themes that I feel like is stated in some but ignored in others is the sense that the game doesn't respect your time at all. It was a 20 hr game stretched to 50 with a mid game that is pure fetch quests.
Alex N said as much on Twitter. This game doesn't respect your time.
do you ultimately feel like spending an hour to deliver a package for no payback was worth your time?
those that hated it said no
Alex N said as much on Twitter. This game doesn't respect your time.
do you ultimately feel like spending an hour to deliver a package for no payback was worth your time?
those that hated it said no
It is the same way it has always been. Enthusiasts, especially "professional" reviewers, have always been swayed towards higher scores by presentation, nice graphics, novelty, marketing machines, original concepts, artistic flair, reputation, and a bunch of others, over actual fun and gameplay.
It's the reason why shit tedious rage-inducing games like Ecco the Dolphin, Donkey Kong 64 and countless others have received incredible ratings across the board despite being, well, shit.
Ecco still brings up bad memories from the old Acer in our family room that I would sneak down and play. That game haunts me
True.
Do you think the fact that your average games critic, who's usually a male in the 30-40 range, is someone who no longer has the time or patience for the bigger time sink experiences could factor into the overall consensus on this game?
DK 64 was amazing at the time.
Way too much of a collectathon nowadays sure, but it's still got great aspects like the minecart stages.
yeah it's not for everyone clearly, but then again there are reviewers who have scored it high, it's sitting with 83% positive ratings on metacritic.
Maybe I was harsh on that one. It does have some qualities, but nowhere near the all-around 90% it got.
either japan import or hope for ebay
How do I get my hands on this beauty?
Ok so why would the best reviews give it a high score then if it lacks gameplay and everything else a game should be? Doesn't make sense to?
The game is too divisive. It is either "the game literally fails as a game" or "the game delivers all fronts"
I feel like Kojima would feel more at home creating a title like GoW, Fallen Order, Gears 5, and Control where it's not an open world title but way less linear than the last generation of titles. Where there are parts where it does open up. As that would be a natural evolution of the titles that were his claim to fame, compared to the task of making an open world game.
Revealed in TGS gameplay demonstration but I'll spoiler tag it.
Timefall (rain) deteriorates player built structures over time unless players maintain it.
Thought the world and characters were going to pull me in like Bloodborne did. Ended up giving up about half way.it's looking like we already got our GOTY back in march
No idea what your last paragraph means or what you understood from what I said. And the folks who have played the game have clearly rated it highly according to metacritic.
my point was don't knock it till you tried it, this game clearly has polarising reviews.
I read all of the quotes in the OP taken from the full reviews and I read 2 of the reviews themselves.
Doing so has reiterated that my personal choice is I will play this game one day once it goes on sale or comes to PS Plus eventually.
Simply put, I have plenty of other of games to play and nothing I've read is persuading me I will enjoy this game more than any of them. In fact it sounds like a game I really would have to be in a very specific mood for.
Perhaps the biggest thing that has confirmed my choice is 40 hours is really fucking long. I just don't have time like that to dedicate at 44 years old, especially when there are a few other games I am interested in.
Enjoy to those who are looking forward to it and honestly it is your impressions I am ultimately most interested in.
Doing so has reiterated that my personal choice is I will play this game one day once it goes on sale or comes to PS Plus eventually.
Simply put, I have plenty of other of games to play and nothing I've read is persuading me I will enjoy this game more than any of them. In fact it sounds like a game I really would have to be in a very specific mood for.
Perhaps the biggest thing that has confirmed my choice is 40 hours is really fucking long. I just don't have time like that to dedicate at 44 years old, especially when there are a few other games I am interested in.
Enjoy to those who are looking forward to it and honestly it is your impressions I am ultimately most interested in.
This probably has something to do with it. Growing up and in my teens and 20's I could sink hours upon hours into games that I'd probably consider slogs these days as an adult. My tastes have matured too, as an adult. In my teens and 20s, guys like Kojima seemed like super deep auteurs with important things to say. Now....I look at most video game stories as passable at best with only a few standouts here and there? It doesn't help that there are SO MANY more entertainment options these days. It's hard for me sometimes to chose playing a repetitive video game with video game-level storytelling over, say, watching a critically acclaimed tv show or movie on Netflix.