Is Death Stranding a good "podcast game"?

jon bones · Apr 22, 2020

Going through a few PS4 exclusives I missed before next gen hits and saw DS on sale.

Is this a good "put on a podcast and deliver stuff" game like Euro Truck Sim? I know there's a lot of story stuff early on but I'll probably skip a bunch of it if I can, assuming there's a relaxing podcast game underneath.

Fj0823 · Apr 22, 2020

jon bones said:
Going through a few PS4 exclusives I missed before next gen hits and saw DS on sale.

Is this a good "put on a podcast and deliver stuff" game like Euro Truck Sim? I know there's a lot of story stuff early on but I'll probably skip a bunch of it if I can, assuming there's a relaxing podcast game underneath.

Yes.

Musubi · Apr 22, 2020

100%

Your walking for several minutes on end. Rinse and repeat. Great to just grind out missions and zone out.

Lord Moriarty007 · Apr 22, 2020

Hell yes. When a cutscene or call from another character just mute the game and pause your podcasts.

hydruxo · Apr 22, 2020

Yeah. You can do a bunch of deliveries and kind of zone out for the most part.

jon bones · Apr 22, 2020

Hell yeah, thanks guys

Einchy · Apr 22, 2020

Funny, I just brought this up in another thread today:

Einchy said:
I only do this for multiplayer games but recently Death Stranding ended up being perfect for this. It was pretty relaxing listening to Reply All while driving around delivering stuff.

I'd almost say podcasts are mandatory for Death Stranding.

NightShift · Apr 22, 2020

It is. It even feels like the devs wanted the text logs in the game to be audio logs so you can listen to them like podcasts similar to MGSV but didn't have the budget.

Khanimus · Apr 22, 2020

100%

You can go a looooong fucking time between hearing any new or interesting dialogue. Even most deliveries are filled with nothing but some pointless vapid chatter unless there's an actual cutscene. Hell, if you're set on building up infrastructural systems to make your deliveries easier, that's the perfect time to load up some podcasts.

Fat4all · Apr 22, 2020

think of it like one of those truck sim games

spend a bit of time with it alone, getting used to how things work, and as they slowly start adding new things, you can get into a rhythm and listen to podcasts while you play

Jawmuncher · Apr 22, 2020

When you're messing around the world doing side-quests? yes.
Not when those cutscenes hit tho lol.

CelticKennedy · Apr 22, 2020

Does the game still block Spotify on PS4? I actually wanted to listen to the game's soundtrack while I play. Really surprised Kojima didn't have some sort of portable music player in the game. It seems like you can only play unlocked tracks in private rooms or on built structures. Unless I totally missed something after 80 hours of playtime. Haha.

NickatNite · Apr 22, 2020

Yes,

Jawmuncher said:
Not when those cutscenes hit tho lol.

Of course not, 'cause that's when you change the TV channel.

Border · Apr 22, 2020

It seems like a lot of the game's big moments require you to hear a specific song at a particularly pivotal and inspiring event or circumstance. So I'd say that no, it's probably not a good podcasting game if you are interested in all the dramatic effects that DS has to offer, but it is probably still quite playable while listening to something completely unrelated. Kojima would definitely be disappointed to learn that you were hearing the McElroy Brothers dick around while you ascended a mountain and first saw your destination pop up on the horizon.

Cactuar · Apr 22, 2020

Depends om what you're doing and where you're at in the story but in general, yes. If you're setting up an intricate network of ziplines, gathering up some ceramics to get your roads in order or just performing some basic bitch deliveries feel free to have a chill time.

LiquidSolid · Apr 22, 2020

hydruxo said:
Yeah. You can do a bunch of deliveries and kind of zone out for the most part.

I wouldn't go this far, you still need to be aware of your surroundings so you don't stumble and damage your deliveries, but you can definitely listen to podcasts while still paying enough attention to not fuck up.

FlowersisBritish · Apr 22, 2020

Its probably the best podcast game there is. I stand by this, but that game desperately needed a cassette player or something built-in. They give you a great bunch of Lowroar songs you can only listen to in your room or when Kojima wants to make you feel wanderlust.

Duncan · Apr 22, 2020

Oh yeah, it was the only way i can actually finish that game lol

And I say this as someone who considers it a GOTY contender that year.

MrConbon210 · Apr 22, 2020

There's a few times where the game does start up a song in the middle of a main mission and listening to that really sets the mood and atmosphere. I recommend podcasts for any of the side deliveries but to hold off when you do a main mission.

Hybrid Rainbow · Apr 22, 2020

MrConbon210 said:
There's a few times where the game does start up a song in the middle of a main mission and listening to that really sets the mood and atmosphere. I recommend podcasts for any of the side deliveries but to hold off when you do a main mission.

This exactly. I actually looked forward to long missions because it meant I was about to hear a new piece of music play and I wanted to listen while I walked.

Kthulhu · Apr 22, 2020

Absolutely. Not a ton of ambient music and there's no Walkman like MGSV.

Biggersmaller · Apr 22, 2020

Yup! I immediately associate Chapo, Talking Simpsons, and various true crime podcasts whenever I boot it up.

Teuthex · Apr 22, 2020

I've been doing this, and it's been great. Other great "podcast games" for me include the Souls series/Bloodborne/Sekiro.

HardRojo · Apr 22, 2020

I don't really listen to podcasts, but yeah during standard deliveries you could probably do that.

NickatNite said:
Yes,

Of course not, 'cause that's when you change the TV channel.

Yep, and since you're on HDMI changing channels won't do shit so you don't miss the excellent cutscenes.

Schopenhauerian · Apr 22, 2020

jon bones said:
Is this a good "put on a podcast and deliver stuff" game like Euro Truck Sim? I know there's a lot of story stuff early on but I'll probably skip a bunch of it if I can, assuming there's a relaxing podcast game underneath.

Yeah, if you're not too interested in the cutscenes, you can definitely skip them (press 'Options' to pause the cutscene, then the right arrow on the d-pad to confirm the skip).

You'll definitely want to turn off the 'BT Encounter Warning' cutscene, which you can do within the game's settings (set 'BT Encounter Warning' to 'First Time Only', as shown in the image here).

WRT something that a few others have mentioned:

Border said:
It seems like a lot of the game's big moments require you to hear a specific song at a particularly pivotal and inspiring event or circumstance. [...] Kojima would definitely be disappointed to learn that you were hearing the McElroy Brothers dick around while you ascended a mountain and first saw your destination pop up on the horizon.

MrConbon210 said:
There's a few times where the game does start up a song in the middle of a main mission and listening to that really sets the mood and atmosphere. I recommend podcasts for any of the side deliveries but to hold off when you do a main mission.

Hybrid Rainbow said:
This exactly. I actually looked forward to long missions because it meant I was about to hear a new piece of music play and I wanted to listen while I walked.

If you wanted to know ahead of time when these songs will occur (maybe to turn off podcasts just for those specific missions), someone put together a list: (SPOILERS) Here is a full list of Death Stranding in-game songs and the routes that trigger them (SPOILERS).

That list has spoilers though, so to list just the early ones that can be identified solely by an Order #, without any reference to story events (almost all of the story missions have an Order #):

Order 1:
Order 3:
Order 11:
Order 13:
Order 14:
Order 18:
Order 28:
Standard Order 229:
Order 35:
Order 38:
Order 41:
Order 44:
Order 46:
Order 51:
Order 52:
Order 55:
Order 59:
Order 62:

Ravelle · Apr 22, 2020

Teuthex said:
I've been doing this, and it's been great. Other great "podcast games" for me include the Souls series/Bloodborne/Sekiro.

For me it's Monster Hunter, Planet Zoo and Elite Dangerous.

PhantomArtifice · Apr 22, 2020

For sure.

Midgarian · Apr 22, 2020

There's a few times where the game does start up a song in the middle of a main mission and listening to that really sets the mood and atmosphere. I recommend podcasts for any of the side deliveries but to hold off when you do a main mission.

Hybrid Rainbow said:
This exactly. I actually looked forward to long missions because it meant I was about to hear a new piece of music play and I wanted to listen while I walked.

I think it still works since the game is explicit with song credits popping up on screen whenever they start.

But I'm with you guys when gaming in general. I find it sacrilegious to not have my full attention towards a game while playing it.

Perhaps the exception to that is when doing generic sidequests, 100% completion runs, grinding etc.

But main story thread, initial run through a game I can't bring myself to lose focus from the game. Such is my melodramatic respect for my favourite medium :)

Alek · Apr 22, 2020

I find that listening to a podcast or anything like that really sullies the experience of games like Death Standing, where the developer had a very clear design intent, and player experience in mind.

Even if that experience is intentionally quiet and slow paced - which may bore some players - playing a podcast, or music over it detracts from the design intent and emotions that the designer wanted you to feel while playing the game.

The only games that I would feel were 'podcast games' are games that have moments that aren't really ever intending to be immersive, and feature a lot of moments that you've already experienced. Games like Rogue likes, where I'm just running the same dungeon over and over with different weapons. Even then I wouldn't play them with a podcast on out of the gate.

Schopenhauerian · Apr 22, 2020

Midgarian said:
I think it still works since the game is explicit with song credits popping up on screen whenever they start.

True, you could just pause the podcast whenever you see a song credit come up.

That list I mentioned above is mainly handy for folks who missed some of the songs (several can be missed if you don't take a specific route to the destination): if a song that you haven't yet heard in the game is added to your private room's collection (after finishing a mission), then you missed hearing it during the mission.

spman2099 · Apr 22, 2020

It is one of the BEST podcast games.

That being said, there is a ton of radio chatter in the first couple of chapters of the game. Those people will not shut the fuck up. Don't worry about it, though, that calms down quite a bit as things progress.

You will be interrupted by nonsense cutscenes occasionally, of course. However, the bulk of that game is traversal. So, it wasn't a problem for me. Oh, and don't even bother listening to the people who you deliver packages to.

ZeroX · Apr 22, 2020

I couldn't imagine playing it without podcasts

Honestly it's brain dead enough that you can just put an iPad with a TV show in front of the screen and watch that and occasionally glance up at the game

Chettlar · Apr 22, 2020

Yes but not initially.

Wait until you've gotten way in. The story bits deserve your full attention. They can be a bit weird sometimes, but the story is great on the whole, and I love the music and presentation.

Even then the game stands on it's own imo.

GungJoe said:
I find that listening to a podcast or anything like that really sullies the experience of games like Death Standing, where the developer had a very clear design intent, and player experience in mind.

Even if that experience is intentionally quiet and slow paced - which may bore some players - playing a podcast, or music over it detracts from the design intent and emotions that the designer wanted you to feel while playing the game.

The only games that I would feel were 'podcast games' are games that have moments that aren't really ever intending to be immersive, and feature a lot of moments that you've already experienced. Games like Rogue likes, where I'm just running the same dungeon over and over with different weapons. Even then I wouldn't play them with a podcast on out of the gate.

Yeah for some games like destiny I have to do this, but I agree a lot of times when I stop and pay full attention to a game, it really helps.

Death Stranding is a game that really creates this wonderful world that you have to sort of invest in. It's rewarding if you do, but it can be boring doing so, so it's easy to see why people don't.

Evilmaus · Apr 22, 2020

The game excels at creating an atmosphere. Some of it's best moments are found in the isolated beauty of its environments. I'd say listening to a podcast would kill that atmosphere.

So, no. Not for me at least.

Dever · Apr 22, 2020

Yes when you're doing side-deliveries/building roads and stuff.

I'd turn it off when doing the main deliveries. The silence is an intentional part of the design, I feel. And in the main missions, you'll probably have more radio chatter, Low Roar songs and cutscenes obviously.

gosublime · Apr 22, 2020

I have always wanted to do this with certain games - and DS would be one - but I just can't. Putting on any sort of music/podcast/anything else while I'm playing a game just takes me out of the game too much. I also do the same with other media - I can only really focus on one thing at a time. The only thing my brain can sort of cope with is music and reading but it has to be either fairly ambient music or music I know so well it fades into the background.

HotAndTender · Apr 22, 2020

Yeah although i enjoyed the quietness, sounds of the world and Sam talking to himself.

kiguel182 · Apr 22, 2020

I played a lot of it with podcasts on. It's pretty awesome for that.

Much · Apr 22, 2020

You could argue that it is, but I feel like it completely ruins the experience for me. I guess I'm one of the those weirdos that enjoys the silence of the game and being able to listen to rainfall and the wind blowing as I do deliveries. :P

Dussck · Apr 22, 2020

I don't know. It's not the way I would play that game, for sure. I want the sounds, music and ambience of that game in my ear. My biggest joy was just being in that crazy world, living in it.

ty_hot · Apr 22, 2020

I dont think it is a podcast game at all, except if you decide to travel on the same area constantly (I did it for a while to build some stuff), otherwise it always feels like I would be missing something if I had podcast on. Imagine not getting that vibe when a new song starts to play. On top of that, BT encounters still make me nervous and I am about to finish the game (apparently). I tried to play once while listening to some youtube video and it didn't go well, now I only play it when I am focused (and I dont want to lose any cut scene either).

jon bones · Apr 22, 2020

CelticKennedy said:
Does the game still block Spotify on PS4? I actually wanted to listen to the game's soundtrack while I play. Really surprised Kojima didn't have some sort of portable music player in the game. It seems like you can only play unlocked tracks in private rooms or on built structures. Unless I totally missed something after 80 hours of playtime. Haha.

wait PS4 games can block Spotify? that sounds dumb as hell

CelticKennedy · Apr 22, 2020

jon bones said:
wait PS4 games can block Spotify? that sounds dumb as hell

I believe so. Similar to how developers can block the ability to stream games on the system as well.

It seems like I mostly see Japanese developers using these features.

Elfgore · Apr 22, 2020

Just be prepared to stop it frequently when you hit a BT zone every fifty feet.

CelticKennedy said:
I actually wanted to listen to the game's soundtrack while I play. Really surprised Kojima didn't have some sort of portable music player in the game. It seems like you can only play unlocked tracks in private rooms or on built structures. Unless I totally missed something after 80 hours of playtime. Haha.

I looked extensively. You cannot. Though you totally could in MGS V. Just not in the game that's literally about walking.

dbcyber · Apr 22, 2020

It definitely is. I find that it actually helps more. After putting 60 hours into the game and getting burnt out, listening to my playlist or a good podcast has provided 2nd wind to play it. Hopefully enough for me to finish it now.

J-Skee · Apr 22, 2020

When you're not doing story stuff, for sure. There's so really good music that plays in some missions that's worth listening to.

Crossing Eden · Apr 22, 2020

Jawmuncher said:
Not when those cutscenes hit tho lol.

ESPECIALLY when those cutscenes hit.

shaneo632 · Apr 22, 2020

Definitely.

Deleted member 54216 · Apr 22, 2020

Podcast game Lmao, this generation 😄

Rendering... · Apr 22, 2020

Absolutely, especially if you're trying to rebuild the road system fast, like I did, and you've got to transport a lot of materials back and forth.

It can be quite a soothing process, actually. I went for many relaxing drives in the middle segment of Death Standing.

Is Death Stranding a good "podcast game"?

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