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Death Stranding - Review Thread (see staff post for discussion guidelines)
- Thread starter vestan
- Start date
Totally, I also think that digital chumps review is the one on the opposite side of the scale. I've never rolled my eyes so much. But I'm interested to see where the game sits for me.
I'm watching Yongyea's review and I'm even more sold on the game. I wish it was Friday already.
So now it's officially a good game.Oh hey, up to 85 Metacritic.
Thank god we hit that 85 mark. Almost cancelled my preorder.
What a relief! As a Core Gamer I shall never play a game that ranks below an 8.5. I have too much self-respect for that.
You have to have principles. What's a potential delivery man without a code?
45 minutes cutscenes and unsound gameplay mechanics probably put me in the Edge camp. But it seems original enough to try it out for free to check out the gameplay with a gamepad in hands and the scenery. Even though I'm almost sure I won't like it, it has my curiosity so that's something.
Oh lordy... I see what you mean! (Couldn't make it past the 2nd main paragraph.)
The Gamespot review speaks to me. It's very high praise, but at least it has some intelligent takes and makes barely any mention of Kojima.
Personally, I think I'm prepared to handle the typical Kojima self-indulgence (for want of a better expression), but not sure how I'll feel about some of the more out-there stuff (like still mothers and everything BB-related). I love weird sci-fi, but I'm hoping they don't botch those sensitive concepts with terrible representation.
Btw, has anyone seen any hint of:
- Whether you can pause any time, including during cutscenes (PS4 XMB button/suspend are acceptable)?
- Remote play impressions (on Vita or PC)?
There are always exceptions, The Outer Worlds are getting tons of positive talk as well. But look at Crackdown 3, meta 60. Or Days Gone, meta 71. If those were multiplats they wouldn't be hyped prelaunch and there wouldn't be long review threads with people hating and defending, they would just quietly fade away mostly unnoticed.
I mean you've got the big three exclusive console makers in pretty extreme positions.
Sony and Nintendo are at their absolute best right now. Fans have high expectations and are always gonna be looking towards the next big release and hoping it's as great as their recent ones.
MIcrosoft is at their arguable worst right now, so fans are going to be looking towards THEIR next big release in hopes that it'll be the one to get them out of the rut and on par with Sony and Ninty.
Add a dash of console wars to those current situations and you'll get novel-long threads.
I asked the Pushsquare reviewer on their site and they said you can pause any time.
There will undoubtedly be PC mods that will allow that and more.
I'm totally with you. I don't know anything about the BBs yet, apart from Jeff at giant bomb saying it was completely gross and incentive (or something along those lines)
Not long until we find out :)
I got to say, its pretty disrespectful to reviewers that liked the game to say they gave good reviews because of Kojima / Sony. And more so, when this comments come from journalist, highly unethical. We have members in this thread that reviewed the game and liked it. No need for this kind of talk.
Also, thanks for the people that already played the game for the insights in this thread and their reviews. They really helped to understand what is this game.
Cant fucking wait!
Also, thanks for the people that already played the game for the insights in this thread and their reviews. They really helped to understand what is this game.
Cant fucking wait!
In what capacity?
How is that different from saying A24's style of releases or Yorgos Lanthimos' directorial approach made a movie specifically more palatable and engaging, more in sync with one's tastes?
is what you're singling out different from that?
I thought it was disrepectful of Kojima himself to retweet a comment from someone comparing IGN US' review to other IGN countries and questioning the score
Say what you want but some of these reviews have definitely been a bit more lenient because it's a Kojima game.
User warned: Platform warring
Or the ones who've not been lenient have not been so because it's a Kojima game. Bla bla bla bullshit bullshit console wars. Just go away with this crap.
I need to be released from this prison. Is this nonsensical load self-inflicted or something that actually occurs?
I can see this image being a foreshadow for some players whole experience in the game but can't wait to find out for myself.
"Welcome to my 350% weight overload run of DS where I will play the whole game while transporting every item I can craft constantly, and also play without boots"
I would watch the stream
Console wars? I love Kojima and MGS3 is in my top 5 games of all time, I've played nearly all of his games and would have played this on by brothers PS4. Not everyone calling out the high scores is a Kojima/PS4 hater
The high scores do seem to be at odds with the general complaints and negative points of the game (with the actual gamaeplay being one of them)
To be fair, one could just as well argue that a few of the negative reviews may have been partly fueled by a dislike or hatred of Kojima or his fandom (similar to the kind we've seen on this very forum), not based on whimsical or assumed conspiracy, but going by the actual content of some of the more negative reviews.
For example.
AusGamer - 6/10
"Unless you're a super hardcore Kojima fan who's been devouring every single scrap of pre-release info on Death Stranding"
"I cannot in good conscience recommend this game to all but the most rabid fans of Hideo Kojima's work. And even then, I feel like this game may cause some of them to balk and question their devotion. It pains me to say it, but Konami may have been a necessary evil for him, a check and balance against his crazier, more self-indulgent impulses."
Stevivor - 3/10
" Since he struggles to define the genre, we're happy to help – it's one in which a developer aims to make a feature film and then realises far too late in the process that they're developing a game instead…"
" Death Stranding is an irredeemable piece of garbage that should serve as a warning to publishers who give developers carte blanche to create "art"."
" This is Kojima thinking he's woven some amazing allegory about the current state of America."
"and wears a mask that helps to hide a hidden past because Kojima thinks that's cool as hell."
"It's very hard to entertain the idea that Kojima's piece is high art when it's happily spruiking Monster Energy drink"
"Kojima has zero respect for your time"
"While Kojima undeniably needed to be reined in all throughout this entire spectacle"
"This concept truly is the core of the "strand" genre that Kojima thinks he's created"
"though don't get too excited as Kojima in his infinite wisdom decided to put sections of terrain in where helpful objects like this simply can't be built"
"The problem with Death Stranding is that Hideo Kojima has become wholly self-indulgent, making something I'm sure he considers a masterpiece. Death Stranding is anything but, with its head so far up its own ass it's almost funny."
"If this is the type of project that Kojima insists to make, I suggest he move from games to TV shows or feature films."
The Stevivor review in particular is not only at times incredibly petty and needlessly insulting, but it sounds like the author (the sites owner) has a particular and very personal axe to grind with Kojima. In fact he mentions Kojima in a negative light throughout the review, and consistently refers to Kojima specifically in places he should instead be referring to the actual game.
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I am talking about people that insinuate that reviewers who gave a good score did so because they are afraid or there where some sort of benefit. Its an offense to those reviewers.
Agree with first part. Dont agree with the second.
There are definitely some who probably think Kojima has his head up his own arse for sure. There are also plenty of reviewers who are fans of Kojima and have been critical (Brian Altano of IGN for example, think a guy from Giant Bomb as well, to name two)
Right, and I think that will transpire on the forums too, where even some fans of Kojima may dislike the game, because it's so different, and because it's so slow and uneventful in places. I feel like there's a good chance I may be among this group, but I'd still like to experience the game to find out for myself.
Likewise, I think there will be scenarios where people who are not fans of Kojima, or who have never even played a Kojima game, may really enjoy Death Stranding.
I don't think that Ausgamer quote is too crazy really, I feel we often see that an auteur unleashed can result in something excessively self indulgent. It's not specific to Kojima.
Friction/tension between creator and outside tempering influences can create some great art. That's a thing observable anywhere.
I'm a huge fan of Kojima but I've worried about this for a while, even as far back as 2017 when Lynch did his new series of Twin Peaks, which I found far too self indulgent compared to earlier works like Mulholland Dr (maybe a perfect case of where studio pressure and compromise resulted in incredible art)
Friction/tension between creator and outside tempering influences can create some great art. That's a thing observable anywhere.
I'm a huge fan of Kojima but I've worried about this for a while, even as far back as 2017 when Lynch did his new series of Twin Peaks, which I found far too self indulgent compared to earlier works like Mulholland Dr (maybe a perfect case of where studio pressure and compromise resulted in incredible art)
So is it okay to preorder now?Oh hey, up to 85 Metacritic.
Indeed, with some explaining as much as they can (because of embargo) how it's done on purpose and has an actual pay off, and other who simply couldn't "get over it" ;)
"What if BOTW was boring on purpose? What if AC hated you?" so good ^^
Yup. The obsession with Kojima is far more distinct amongst his detractors than it is amongst his fans.
I'll probably fall into that group myself. I'll most likely plat the game down the line at some point but when it's on sale. I guess we'll see how ERA respond later this week
The saltiness over that Edge tweet is sad. Unless I'm mistaken it can happen a lot of the time that reviewers will have to play these games to completion in their down time to reach deadline. So if the expectation is you get some DS coverage in your next issue and you are burning yourself out on a miserable game to meet that deadline, I can see why you'd go "fuck this" and just write your thoughts in a preview instead.
It's funny. I tend to find Kojima's actual plots asinine nonsense that I rapid-fire skip through unless it's an action cutscene, but I'm super intrigued about this game's world, characters, and plot. The supernatural apocalypse + futuristic acclimation to the new normal + clear Escape From New York/Postman/etc influence + the unabashed political themes/commentary...I have to learn more about the narrative and world-building
Not really, plenty of other people who got review copies who have said the game is fun, especially after the opening hours (some people keep parroting Kojima saying the game doesn't get fun until the halfway point - not really what I've been hearing, at least from people who have been liking it).
The only thing you did was completely ignore context, fail to read past the opening paragraph, and willfully reject myriad of impressions of fun and gameplay depth after the opening hours. But continue good sir.
Nothing about high scores is inherently at odds with complaints, but this has been explained so often in every review thread I'm not gonna rehash it.
The narrative that it's "because Kojima", if you intend so or not is originating from fanboy culture in both directions and it's tiring, unprovable and not just disrespectful and ungenerous to reviewers (also in both directions), it's simply worthless as any kind of explanation or argument regardless if you apply it as a positive or negative. Even if I'm assuming best intentions by "scores are higher than they would be because Kojima" and apply that not as "blind fanboys will score Kojima higher regardless if they actually like it" but as "there is something about his works resonating with certain people" it is still a senseless thing to say, because the work that has been received only exists in the form that it has been scored in. Not in any other mental gymnastics form of Kojima not being attached but because his name was brought up suddenly everyone who doesn't like it clearly forces themselves to like it beyond all reasonable complaints.
Agreed.
The mental gymnastics being employed in this thread really is on an entirely new level.
The 'It reviewed well because Kojima made it' argument is especially shit given that a variation of that fallacious argument has been used countless times and levied against countless high-scoring games before.
It's no different than people squealing about how Nintendo games get unfairly high reviews because of fandom and nostalgia.
The truth is we have a lot of people on this board who either don't understand subjectivism or simply can't wrap their heads around the idea that somebody likes something they don't. This is especially ridiculous given that most of these detractors haven't actually played the game yet remain convinced that the critics are giving it a pass as some sort of misplaced fealty to Kojima.
It's puerile nonsense.
Ehhh, you're not wrong but I think this cuts both ways.
Esp. when positive reviews are used as a cudgel to shut down legitimate critique.
Esp. esp. when the vast majority of those positive reviews all got to pains to say, "Buyer beware. This game is awesome but it's also unconventional and not for everyone."
Really does make the obsession over scores especially ridiculous in this thread.
So is this AAA gaming finally having its mother!/Suspiria 2018 moment?
What was the last time a huge blockbuster AAA game was so focused on an idiosyncratic indie-esque divisive design? Like even something like Mirror's Edge was wrapped in an accessible design
What was the last time a huge blockbuster AAA game was so focused on an idiosyncratic indie-esque divisive design? Like even something like Mirror's Edge was wrapped in an accessible design
It appears so, and I can't freakin' wait.
I've never seen a well-reviewed AAA come with so many caveats from those celebrating it.
I personally think it's awesome. It speaks to how different the game is within the generally safe, easy to digest boundaries of the AAA scene.
Fuck this has super long Kojima cutscenes? I was hoping he was done with that given that MGSV was much lighter on story. Sometimes I've only got an hour at a time to play games and I don't want to end up spending an entire session watching cutscenes or end up getting 15 minutes into a cutscenes and have to stop playing only to find out that there's still 30 minutes left. Shit