Getting back into Death Stranding. This game is so good. (No spoilers, please)

entremet · Dec 30, 2020

I put Death Stranding on hold last year and never came back. But I knew I needed to spend more time with it, so with the holiday time off, I decided to move it to the front of my backlog.

During my original sessions, I enjoyed it, but felt the narrative was a bit slow in the beginning. I'm a huge Kojima fan, but a big part of that fandom is his wacky stories and characters. But, at least in the beginning, there's a lack of urgency. Yeah, you're tasked with "connecting America", but that's it?!

With MGS1 you had Liquid Snake and co taking over a nuclear base.

With MGS2 you had the fast paced Tanker incident.

MGS3 you had to rescue Sokolov.

etc.

Yeah, I know it's not an MGS game, but just talking about Kojima's story hooks and how they drive you forward. I have not played MGSV yet btw.

However...

The mechanics and environments are fantastic! Movement is very fun. It reminds me of Breath of the Wild here. Climbing is fun. Even crossing streams is fun. This is mega important in a game where the main mechanic is traversal. The environment, which is more realist compared to Breathe of the Wild, is still very carefully designed. Again, making moving around very engaging.

And then there's the resource stuff with building units and roads. I love that shit too as a former SimCity superfan. In terms of progression, I'm in Chapter 3, after the first boss encounter.

I'm playing on a base PS4, but the game is incredibly beautiful, even on my 4k TV. Framerate is solid and controls are amazing. I heard the PC version has some amazing upgrades--resolution, UW support and higher framerates. That sounds great honestly.

Kojima may get the rep as the Auteur guy in gaming, but his skills with creating mechanics are underrated. Go back and play MGS1, the game made modern stealth games fun. That's not easy. Especially in 98, when gamers were trained to Rambo everything lol.

Marcus Aurelius · Dec 30, 2020

It's a 6/10 at most. A great time waster.....If you go into it with little investment, which is what I did. As soon as I realized how shit the plot was, I would play it making deliveries with Youtube videos playing in the corner. If anything it demonstrated how Kojima is one of those developers that actually needs to be kept on a leash. His head is well and truly wedged up his own ass, and it shows very easily in his games when the shackles are off. Even the traversal felt like eurojank.

EatChildren · Dec 30, 2020

Genuinely one of my favourite games of all time. An absolute anomaly in the AAA space, the likes of which I don't think we'll get for a long, long time.

My Blue Heaven · Dec 30, 2020

a fun enough and interesting game with basically horrible boss fights, i'm not even sure why they bothered with them lol.

entremet · Dec 30, 2020

My Blue Heaven said:
a fun enough and interesting game with basically horrible boss fights, i'm not even sure why they bothered with them lol.

Yeah, that first boss fight was wacky. Combat is lacking here, but I don't mind as combat is not the main thing.

Ponchito · Dec 30, 2020

I loved it. The world, mechanics, story and characters. I found all of these lonely deliveries very relaxing.

Loreth_94 · Dec 30, 2020

Beat the game for the first time on PC last month. I really really liked it. I wish we got more games with higher budgets be able to create more unique things like it.

DrFunk · Dec 30, 2020

Can't wait for you to meet Heartman. Believe me, you won't forget that cutscene

Kyuuji · Dec 30, 2020

One of the best games of this past generation. An almost meditative experience. The focus on isolation and dealing with inner conflicts definitely spoke a lot to anxiety, depression and parts of the trans experience for me so it made quite a personal impact. I never thought it would end up eclipsing my appreciation of MGS but it did just that by the end.

AzorAhai · Dec 30, 2020

An incredible experience in terms of sound, art, themes, atmosphere and especially gameplay. Definitely GOTY 2019.

Some flaws prevent it from becoming a 10 though (poor writing, poor combat and the scarcity of memorable sequences compared to the game's length).

Torpedo Vegas · Dec 30, 2020

It looked good.

Transistor · Dec 30, 2020

Death Stranding has the best sense of climbing and verticality I've ever felt in a game. Having to use the equipment at your disposal to traverse was such a great thing.

Also, there is some fucking oscar-worthy acting in

that final scene with Die-Hardman. Tommie Earl Jenkins acted his ass off in that scene

Rassilon · Dec 30, 2020

Great game.

It was the second Platinum I got during lockdown, was really enjoyable to go the extra mile and jump through the various hoops to get all the trophies.

mhayes86 · Dec 30, 2020

It was interesting, and though I didn't love it, I'm glad I played it. One of my favorite aspects of the game was actually the "inventory management" of adjusting your boxes and tools for traversing the terrain. I'm so glad I played online, because I had pretty much zero interest in resource acquisition to build up the environment for easier/quicker travel. Environments were interesting, story was just as ridiculous as I expected, and I kind of enjoyed the dark, isolated and somber tone of the game.

Potterson · Dec 30, 2020

I like it for a while but after 15 hours of walking I decided to watch the rest on YT for the story. Yup, gameplay just got frustrating after a while.

entremet · Dec 30, 2020

mhayes86 said:
It was interesting, and though I didn't love it, I'm glad I played it. One of my favorite aspects of the game was actually the "inventory management" of adjusting your boxes and traversing the terrain. I'm so glad I played online, because I had pretty much zero interest in resource acquisition to build up the environment for easier/quicker travel. Environments were interesting, story was just as ridiculous as I expected, and I kind of enjoyed the dark, isolated and somber tone of the game.

Yeah, it's funny how all those little mechanics are fun. It's very intentional. Even using button pressure mechanics for the menu confirms.

Rover_ · Dec 30, 2020

mine is with a friend, i'm waiting for him to give it back to me so i can resume playing.

it's one of the most unique AAA games that i've played and i can't stop thinking about it. in fact, when i was playing i was focusing on the main quest but now that i lent the game and spent some time away i'm feeling the urge to explore more and do more side stuff, maybe even go for the platinum.

i love and cherish these "isolation" experiences in gaming, thats also why i tend to play Fallout or any RPG solo wanderer, if the game allows me.

cowbanana · Dec 30, 2020

One of favorite games from last year, playing on PS4, and an all time classic. I enjoyed pretty much everything about this game, from the story and characters to the traversal gameplay and overall world design. What a breathtaking and unique experience. I bought the PC version the other day and I'll do a second run through the game once a little more time passes.

pksu · Dec 30, 2020

Loved the game. It's always great to see AAA games without constant shooting and killing. And the world was something else than the generic boring ass wasteland.

My Blue Heaven said:
a fun enough and interesting game with basically horrible boss fights, i'm not even sure why they bothered with them lol.

Yeah forced fighting sections, what were they thinking?

I finished most of the bosses in like a minute by standing still and spamming grenades. One of the bosses couldn't even do any damage at all. Cliff Unger segments could have been interesting but they decided to turn the game into a bad TPS shooter.

The whole game feels like inverse Dark Souls where you can't really fail.

RowdyReverb · Dec 30, 2020

I really wish they'd patch it or release a PS5 remaster. I haven't played it, but the polarizing nature of it is fascinating to me. I wonder where my opinion will fall

AuthenticM · Dec 30, 2020

I fucking loved everything about the building and infrastructure side of the game. Legit addicting. I really hope that we get a sequel that improves on everything.

That said, my god is the story complete shit. One of the worse that I have ever witnessed in a video game.

Camwi · Dec 30, 2020

It's funny because while I consider the game to be a masterpiece, at the same time I can totally understand how someone could find the game to be boring garbage.

Transistor · Dec 30, 2020

My Blue Heaven said:
a fun enough and interesting game with basically horrible boss fights, i'm not even sure why they bothered with them lol.

It should have been done without the boss fights, yeah.

Iucidium · Dec 30, 2020

I hope there will be a PS5 patch.

Greywaren · Dec 30, 2020

I bought it a few days ago and I'm waiting to finish a couple of games before jumping in, but I'm very excited. I don't know if I'll enjoy it, but I certainly want to find out why people find it so special and unique.

Lobster Roll · Dec 30, 2020

My Blue Heaven said:
a fun enough and interesting game with basically horrible boss fights, i'm not even sure why they bothered with them lol.

Still can't believe the one with

Troy Baker

made the final cut of the game. That boss battle would've been panned by every critic had it come from any other studio.

My Blue Heaven · Dec 30, 2020

Transistor said:
It should have been done without the boss fights, yeah.

the final boss makes sense given the stick and rope theme of the game but some of the others are just like uhh ok i basically can't lose but it's still taking a while. sure whatever lol.

Marcus Aurelius · Dec 30, 2020

AuthenticM said:
That said, my god is the story complete shit. One of the worse that I have ever witnessed in a video game.

It's amazing that your statement is putting it lightly. Fucking 'ell. One of the worst stories I've ever experienced in a game. "Here, have some lore barf dropped on your head in the form of walls of text that we all know you're incredibly unlikely to read, and even if you do, it will still be a mission to make sense of it.".

My Blue Heaven · Dec 30, 2020

Lobster Roll said:
Still can't believe the one with

Troy Baker

made the final cut of the game. That boss battle would've been panned by every critic had it come from any other studio.

see while that one was also flawed i get what they were going for. the second to last one was just unapologetically awful.

Duncan · Dec 30, 2020

It is legitimately one of the most unforgettable experiences of this generation. In ways that make me scratch my head but mostly in amazement as well.

I'm not gonna lie though, this is a podcast game.

Bundy · Dec 30, 2020

entremet said:
I put Death Stranding on hold last year and never came back. But I knew I needed to spend more time with it, so with the holiday time off, I decided to move it to the front of my backlog.

During my original sessions, I enjoyed it, but felt the narrative was a bit slow in the beginning. I'm a huge Kojima fan, but a big part of that fandom is his wacky stories and characters. But, at least in the beginning, there's a lack of urgency. Yeah, you're tasked with "connecting America", but that's it?!

With MGS1 you had Liquid Snake and co taking over a nuclear base.

With MGS2 you had the fast paced Tanker incident.

MGS3 you had to rescue Sokolov.

etc.

Yeah, I know it's not an MGS game, but just talking about Kojima's story hooks and how they drive you forward. I have not played MGSV yet btw.

However...

The mechanics and environments are fantastic! Movement is very fun. It reminds me of Breath of the Wild here. Climbing is fun. Even crossing streams is fun. This is mega important in a game where the main mechanic is traversal. The environment, which is more realist compared to Breathe of the Wild, is still very carefully designed. Again, making moving around very engaging.

And then there's the resource stuff with building units and roads. I love that shit too as a former SimCity superfan. In terms of progression, I'm in Chapter 3, after the first boss encounter.

I'm playing on a base PS4, but the game is incredibly beautiful, even on my 4k TV. Framerate is solid and controls are amazing. I heard the PC version has some amazing upgrades--resolution, UW support and higher framerates. That sounds great honestly.

Kojima may get the rep as the Auteur guy in gaming, but his skills with creating mechanics are underrated. Go back and play MGS1, the game made modern stealth games fun. That's not easy. Especially in 98, when gamers were trained to Rambo everything lol.

GOTY 2019 and deservedly so.
The exploring makes so much fun. Great game. Weird, but great. An unforgettable experience.

Marcus Aurelius · Dec 30, 2020

Duncan said:
It is legitimately one of the most unforgettable experiences of this generation. In ways that make me scratch my head but mostly in amazement as well.

I'm not gonna lie though, this is a podcast game.

Can you elaborate on this?

Duncan · Dec 30, 2020

Marcus Aurelius said:
Can you elaborate on this?

You ever see postal workers with headphones on? That's why.

Marcus Aurelius · Dec 30, 2020

Duncan said:
You ever see postal workers with headphones on? That's why.

So basically you think it's better as a game that's talked about rather than played?

Duncan · Dec 30, 2020

Marcus Aurelius said:
So basically you think it's better as a game that's talked about rather than played?

No, you LISTEN to podcasts or music while playing the game.

OneThirtyEight · Dec 30, 2020

After playing 60 hours of this exactly one year ago i went from a sceptic who did not like Kojimas previous games to having it as one of my favourite games last gen, if not all time.

Marcus Aurelius · Dec 30, 2020

Duncan said:
No, you LISTEN to podcasts or music while playing the game.

Oh well fair enough. We're certainly on the same page in that regard.

My Blue Heaven · Dec 30, 2020

even with my gripes about death stranding the medium is better with it in it. and by obvious extension the medium is better with kojima in it, even if he says dopey stuff sometimes. the man just gets it, up there with the greats of japanese developers.

as usual it has something interesting to say about our relationship with media as well as totally accidentally prescient about the environment of isolation in which most of us now take part in

brandnewcardock · Dec 30, 2020

About to start it for the first time. Huge Kojima fan. Any thoughts on kb/m vs controller? I have DualSense coming in a few days...should I just wait? I played MGSV with a kb/m and it was perfect, but this doesn't seem like it has similar controls.

Ouroboros · Dec 30, 2020

I dropped it quickly after those misters started showing up. It was just too tedious for me. But damn that opening with the music was well executed. Glad you were able to enjoy it OP!

Dever · Dec 30, 2020

Lobster Roll said:
Still can't believe the one with

Troy Baker

made the final cut of the game. That boss battle would've been panned by every critic had it come from any other studio.

I loved it though.

I was so confused at first considering he had a gun and I had nothing, but quickly figured out to start throwing the boxes at him. I thought it was hilarious, especially when one of the boxes was a Playstation. All of Troy's fourth-wall breaking quips were funny too. Then he takes out his little knife, and I immediately wonder if I can parry it with my strand, and I could! The animation for kneeing Higgs in the stomach, tying him and then kicking him on the ground is immensely satisfying. Then it culminates in a MGS4 callback fistfight, complete with fighting game health bars, and then Amelie drops the Princess Beach bomb LMAO. It was peak Kojima, and I loved every second of it. This is my interpretation I guess, but imo the entirety of Chapter 9 is Kojima poking fun at videogame endings, specifically Metal Gear endings. You know first you fight the big thing by shooting lots of rockets at it, then you do a more personal fight with the main villain, then you save the girl. Chapter 9 does all those beats to trick you into thinking the game is ending, when it's obvious from the start that a game about forging connections shouldn't end with a fistfight.

7thFloor · Dec 30, 2020

brandnewcardock said:
About to start it for the first time. Huge Kojima fan. Any thoughts on kb/m vs controller? I have DualSense coming in a few days...should I just wait? I played MGSV with a kb/m and it was perfect, but this doesn't seem like it has similar controls.

I also played MGSV with kb/m, and I played Death Stranding with a DS4 because I also thought it was too different, but I've seen other people say kb/m is just as good.

Iron Eddie · Dec 30, 2020

I played about 2 hours and so far it's quite boring. Does it get better later on? I respect what's it's trying to do but as a game it's just not that entertaining.

Shopolic · Dec 30, 2020

Death Stranding was an amazing game, it's in my top 10 of generation (maybe even top 5) and enjoyed it for more than 100 hours. But I can't return to it for second time.

grmlin · Dec 30, 2020

I bought during the current sale and played it for two hours maybe. All I can think of playing this is: WTF
I have no idea what's happening and I'm really confused lol

My Blue Heaven · Dec 30, 2020

Walken said:
I played about 2 hours and so far it's quite boring. Does it get better later on? I respect what's it's trying to do but as a game it's just not that entertaining.

if you don't really like the base gameplay loop of portering, traversal, battling the environment etc. yeah i wouldn't waste your time lol

entremet · Dec 30, 2020

Walken said:
I played about 2 hours and so far it's quite boring. Does it get better later on? I respect what's it's trying to do but as a game it's just not that entertaining.

You get better traversal options later. However, if you find the main thing--traversal--boring. I would not try again. I always liked the mechanics. I just put it down because I knew I needed some pretty long sessions to enjoy it.

Dever · Dec 30, 2020

brandnewcardock said:
About to start it for the first time. Huge Kojima fan. Any thoughts on kb/m vs controller? I have DualSense coming in a few days...should I just wait? I played MGSV with a kb/m and it was perfect, but this doesn't seem like it has similar controls.

I'm sure it works fine, but DS has pretty neat controls that were designed with a controller in mind. Basically, the left and right trigger correspond to Sam's left and right arms.

zswordsman · Dec 30, 2020

Walken said:
I played about 2 hours and so far it's quite boring. Does it get better later on? I respect what's it's trying to do but as a game it's just not that entertaining.

Yes it does. I felt the same. Don't stay too long in that beginner area. It opens up a lot once you leave there. You'll get a bunch of new tech and stuff that'll help you on your journey.

youwei · Dec 30, 2020

not many can understand/enjoy Mr Kojima's games , i am really glad that the OP enjoyed the game too

P.S still loving the long cutscenes

Getting back into Death Stranding. This game is so good. (No spoilers, please)

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge

Wonder from Down Under

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge

The Favonius Fox

The Walnut King

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge

Son Altesse Sérénissime

The Walnut King

signature-less, now and forever

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge