Wrong way round. The patch is live now, it doesn't allow saved games on *this* patch to be used on previous versions.
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Death Stranding - Review Thread (see staff post for discussion guidelines)
- Thread starter vestan
- Start date
Wrong way round. The patch is live now, it doesn't allow saved games on *this* patch to be used on previous versions.
I think the major issue with the idea they put 200 hours in is how long they'd have had code vs when the review came out.
Hard to say. I played MGSV for over 100 hours and loved all of it. But it's hard to imagine the traversal mechanics of DS being as good as MGSV's stealth/combat mechanics.
EDGE will review it next month if they finish the game, and it sounds like they will after reading their preview. Should be interesting.
How are their scores questionable and what is wrong with the writing?
Their Death Stranding review is really well written and surprisingly in-depth, covering a lot of the reasons why some enjoy even the more mundane elements of the game. I might dislike the outlet from a news perspective (as I do all Tabloids), but their Death Stranding review at least is well done.
Here are some snippets from the review. This to you constitutes 8-9 year old writing quality?
"A perfectly monotonous piano line comes in as the gunfire fades away, and a soul-stirring female vocal drowns out the noise in my frantic mind as I putter towards the objective."
"Forced by exhaustion to sit down, I massaged my shoulders and changed my shoes, and as I looked at my chest, comforting my BB's cries, a sincere wave of emotion washed over me, leading to an atomic lump in my throat."
"It thrives in the great in-between and deeply understands the beauty in overcoming adversity, pulling that emotional thread out of its spool and weaving it around a meticulously crafted world that somehow balances oppression and horror with a wistful melancholy."
"By zeroing in on the act of traversal (each of Sam's limbs is tied to a DualShock trigger you can pull to make him steady) Kojima has applied his knack for overwhelming detail and turned the most banal part of modern open-world games into a refreshing revelation."
"There's no negative interaction in Death Stranding, and even within the scope of the limited pool of press playing the game right now, it has enabled some fascinating empathetic behaviour."
"I've become a pathfinder, figuring out new routes to help other players and building bridges to counteract the trauma I've felt when falling down the environment's many chasms."
"Watching the procession of gooey spirits grip your limbs and pull you down into their unholy communal ectoplasm is seriously frightening, made worse by the yelps of your chest-bound infant."
"Death Stranding has a welcome lightheartedness to it then, and as I chugged Monster Energy from my canteen and learned harmonica to comfort my BB, I recalled how The Phantom Pain also managed to balance an affecting campaign and a variety of difficult themes with some genuine humour and silliness, creating a more rounded study of the human experience.
Let me get one thing straight though: Death Stranding is no stranger to thematic difficulty and pulls no punches with its politics."
"Balancing hopelessness with hope in a way that I truly wasn't expecting, a cathartic and welcome feeling in our divided and troubled times, where there are no easy answers to our problems.
"Weirdly, I found it affected me in the same vein as Tetris Effect's Journey Mode, a story with a lot of similar ground about how the human spirit will always persist, complemented by audio-visual synaesthesia."
"Norman Reedus' stoic, emotionally-stunted play of Sam complements Troy Bakers' heel turn as the mischievous nihilist Higgs, whose tale of reckless philosophic antagonism is inherently woven into the story of Lea Seydoux's Fragile, herself responsible for some of Death Stranding's most powerful scenes."
Kojima's poetic affinity for set piece-based linear storytelling shining through and permeating this impeccable open world, with playful echoes of his previous work on the mainline Metal Gear Solid games on display."
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As somebody who's seen quite a few great Pathologic reviews/deep dive into how the game utilises monotonous mechanics to tie together a story told through gameplay this kind of reads like a parody of what Kojima's biggest fan would write.
If it's movement/traversal ability - it does, right towards the end/final mission stuff. And the pace slows down leading into the end cinematics.
Bit immature that he's changed his Twitter name to Hideo Kojima's Death Comedy Strand. I guess they're all really relishing in their negativity surrounding the game.
In any case, it's not a bad review, though I do think Alex is trying to find reasons to justify his negatives beyond that he simply found the game boring. For example, with respect to narrative messaging, it doesn't really matter that the theme of connecting people is the same at the beginning of the game as it is at the end, it's the events that unfold, along with the character experiences, dialogue, emotions etc that associate with the journey that can make the impact.
I also think that if as the author wishes, the game leaned harder into its monotonous or arduous elements and rid itself of the action segments, it would be far more boring and have less diversity in both pacing and gameplay.
I don't know about like but Brad was fascinated by it
in general brad Vinny and Alex seem fascinated by it and it's existence.
It's not immature, it's taking the name of the game and invoking the classic def comedy jam. Come on man
Vinny, Alex, Brad, and Ben have talked about elements they like. Don't know that any would recommend the game overall.
Except I don't think I am. I've listened to the Beatcast, saw that screengrab where they compare the game to ass. Some of the antics over at GB go beyond simply disliking something to verging on seemingly enjoying actively mocking or insulting it. It is what it is.
That should be a good enough reason to give the game a low score.
Alex always does punny stuff with his username on Twitter. You're overthinking it.
You're turning a gag somebody made during a round of Quiplash into a treatice on the entire site's ability to do their job.
I do in fact think you're overthinking it.
You are over thinking Alex's twitter names. He does this all the time with them.
Idk there's plenty of media that is boring but worthwhile so you gotta go a bit beyond that.
It's going to be really interesting when you finally get to actually play the game.
I mean sure he wrote a full review but I am responding to you claim that being "boring" is enough of a reason to give something a bad score.
You should read the review, because he does exactly that. Alex believes the 'boring' parts of the game are more compelling, and it's the mediocre combat & narrative that prevent it from achieving its' potiential.
As multiple people have already said, I'm pretty sure you are. Alex makes pun names like this on his Twitter *all the time.* it's not an insult to the game, it's just a simple, silly joke.
Gotta say, the way you vehemently defend every Sony first party title in every one of these threads is super weird. It's like it's extremely personal for you when anyone doesn't like them as much as you do.
Take it easy, dude.
I've read this post. Some of the touchiness in it goes beyond simply liking something that hasn't been played yet to verging on being overly invested in something they like preview coverage of. It is what it is.
Isnt this alex that reviewed the game? He certanly didnt like the game if he gave a 4 / 10.
Boring but worthwhile? I need some examples of said media that you define as boring and yet still worthwhile.
Surely no one expected anyone but Brad to like Death Stranding. The most shocking thing about the Giant Bomb review is that they even bothered to write a review.
There's plenty of media that isn't entertaining and even boring but is still good on other merits. Like I am not going to say idk Kiarostami's 23 Frames or a installation film is bad on the merits of it being a dry experience. I'm more saying the need of entertainment to be good is becoming increasingly overemphasized in discussing media.
I never said he wanted to dislike the game or that they were biased, in fact I think they've not only explained why they dislike the game in a pretty in depth manner, but I also think I am myself likely to dislike DS based on everything I've read.
My point was merely that GB have been reveling in their negativity around the game in a mocking or excessive way, be it calling it utter crap, comparing it to literall ass, having the mocking pun titles etc.
Some quick examples most films by Ken Loach, Eros Plus Massacre, latter period Kiarostami, Michael Snow films. I mean I get other things out of them but there are definite moments of boredom that you can have with them but they are still rewarding experiences.
Where a lot of the other really bad reviews seemed to complain about it being "boring" or "only getting good later" the giantbomb review actually engaged with the game as it's being described.
Great review, I hope I end up liking the game more than him though!
Great review, I hope I end up liking the game more than him though!
They've been doing more recently, not sure why. Control, Death Stranding. Pretty sure Jeff's working on a Modern Warfare review he said on the Bombcast.
I actually often don't line up with the Bombcrew's opinions at the end of the day. But I still value them highly as an entertainment source and I will always love the Bomb/Beastcast. I've been a Premium sub since day one and I can't see myself quitting any time soon.