Death Stranding: 1 Year Later

[Pyro]

*Text links are for if embedded media doesn't load*

(artist is @hatelephant on Twitter)



It's been a crazy year since Death Stranding released.

The game seemingly predicted how we might carry our babies in a pandemic world:




The USPS (United States Postal Service) bringing us (speaking as an American) together:




And despite what Kojima says about not being a prophet, he certainly has an eye towards the future, with this not being his first game to "call it" on aspects of our current day life:





As for the game itself, while I never finished it, I loved it and might've been my GOTY if not for Control. Despite being attracted to the game by its premise and story what kept me was the gameplay. 60-80 hours of delivering packages, uniting folks, and trucking while listening to Eastbound & Down (not even joking lol). My favorite memory was looking at the clock say 12:30 A.M. and deciding I'd build a section of road before going to bed. Next thing I knew I'd connected the northernmost point of the second area to the southernmost and it was 3:00 A.M. The moment to moment is not exhilarating as other games but god damn was it entertaining keeping an eye to the ground and horizon as I moved, sneaking through BT infested lands, and my favorite:

What did you think of Death Stranding? Was it truly "Kojima unleashed" as people joked before release (IMO it actually is)? Did it disappoint or surpass your expectations? How will it be remembered, if at all?

 

[Dreams-Visions]

♥

That is all I have to say about Death Stranding.

 

[EatChildren]

Genuinely one of my favourite games of all time.

 

[RPGamer92]

Just broke 100 hours on it on PC this week. Love this game.

 

[IDontBeatGames]

Death Stranding is a game that makes me legitimately mad at myself. If the game made it quicker to get to Chapter 3, I would have been all in day one and probably playing for weeks but since it took a bit to get there but I played it during the pandemic and completed it. It's an amazing game. It's special and it does something different from the rest of the current video games. There was something special about being Sam and going from one side of the world to the other basically alone. The game is special to me and I will always appreciate it. It's not for everyone and that's understandable but the banging soundtrack plus the world was interesting enough to make me want a sequel or a spin off in the same world.

 

[Chasing]

Keep on keeping on.

 

[TheChungusAmongUs]

One of my favorite games of all time.

Death Stranding predicted that the US postal system would be what saves America.

 

[Traxus]

Profoundly ambitious and uniquely creative. If every AAA game were as wildly experimental these days the games industry be a much richer and varied medium.

I got the digital deluxe day 1 just because I liked the idea and wanted to support projects like this getting funding in the future. I absolutely loved it. I'd have gotten the platinum if it wasn't so time intensive. I hope it gets a PS5 patch one of these days so I can go back and experience it again.

And yes he is a prophet. The themes of social isolation amid an apocalyptic outbreak that drives us apart are exactly what we all found ourselves dealing with several months after release.

 

[PlayBee]

Has it really only been a year

 

[stryke]

GOTY 2019

 

[nogoodnamesleft]

I found it unique, albeit pretentious and boring to play. The only Kojima game I haven't liked

But every now and then I'll put it on and just carry some shit through the fields to relax

 

[ezekial45]

One of the best games of the last decade and its among my favorite games ever made. It's brilliant, and it turned out to be incredibly prophetic--even if Kojima denies it.

 

[MDSVeritas]

It's an incredible game. It didn't jump out as a wildly fun game the first couple times I played it, but I liked the ideas behind it and kept going, playing it over the course of weeks as I found time.

I remember slowly building out the roads in the midwest, setting up zipline paths over the mountains, and just losing myself in the sort of comforting lonesomeness of the world as I found all the various characters in their strange, wonderful eccentricity.

I've adored the main MGS games, and so much of Kojima's work, but this was the first Kojima game where I didn't need the bombast or the strangeness of his style to find the heart of this game just utterly incredible. The cutscenes and story were wonderful and weird but it says so much that I most cherish the moments of traversing a huge barren world, silently thanking some far off stranger for finishing my road, or working my way up a snowy slope, and feeling a kind of deep comfort in what being lost in this game feels like.

I absolutely adore it.

 

[Iori Fuyusaka]

This game came and went.

I forgot it existed and almost no one talks about it anymore.

 

[Pyro]

Profoundly ambitious and uniquely creative. If every AAA game were as wildly experimental these days the games industry be a much richer and varied medium.

I got the digital deluxe day 1 just because I liked the idea and wanted to support projects like this getting funding in the future. I absolutely loved it. I'd have gotten the platinum if it wasn't so time intensive. I hope it gets a PS5 patch one of these days so I can go back and experience it again.

Click to shrink...

This is also part of why I was excited for it. I knew that even if it was bad, that it'd be something profoundly different than what we're now accustomed to in the AAA space. I think Kat Bailey (EiC of USGamer) nailed it in her review when she said it harkened back to the PS2 days, my favorite generation, because you could have games like fuckin' Katamari Damacy right next to Resident Evil 4 on a store shelf.

 

[Elixist]

my Goty and Fukkk theres so much untapped potential in the game. i dream of a like a single player mmo with new toys, materials, enemies added, more creative missions. an AH to trade stuff, Dark Soul ghosts so if your fighting a big enemy maybe you co-op with a ghost doin the same missions seamlessly.

 

[bottledfox]

I need to go back and finish this game. There's nothing else like it in the medium.

 

[Petruccis Biceps]

Loved it, platinumed it.

When I was playing it, our pet was dying due to her hind legs losing function and I remember I'd sit with her while playing Death Stranding a lot. I finally beat the game the day after she passed on and the ending fucking destroyed me. I originally wasn't gonna platinum the game but after beating it, I didn't want to stop because playing it reminded me of her. I eventually sat and played it every day and it still felt like she was with me watching me complete it.

I'll never forget it. I hope there is some kind of sequel.

 

[Shopolic]

GOTY 2019 and one of the best and most addictive games of my life.

 

[Spiderhead]

Never beat it, gave up on it when the game wanted me to go around a mountain.
Wanted to love it.

 

[Aurongel]

I appreciate it's audacious commitment to originality and creativity but holy fuck is it a slog to get through. I feel terrible for not enjoying it more because games as original and daring as this truly are few and far between.

But yeah, it's a hot mess of ideas and philosophies that barely coalesces into anything meaningful.

 

[Deleted member 11796]

Hated it the first time around, quit midway through. Started replaying it again this past week and I kind of love it.

It's got problems, but that delivery gameplay loop is compelling as hell

 

[Tainted]

It's a game which was frustrating to play at times....but also a game I often think about from time to time as it is just so different to everything else out there.

 

[Neiteio]

I genuinely think it's Kojima's best work. It was my GotY last year, which is saying something since 2019 was stacked with incredible Nintendo games and indies like Sayonara Wild Hearts. I wasn't even hyped for Death Stranding, and I was deeply skeptical going in, but it not only told a surprisingly coherent story with emotionally earned moments, but it's also a genuine GAME, mechanically rich and smartly designed. It's a AAA game with an indie heart and the audacity to be unique and fully committed to that uniqueness.

 

[pbayne]

I liked some of the gameplay ideas
But most of the characters are insufferable and the story is poorly paced/gets pretty dumb towards the end.

 

[cvbas]

Eerily predictive of the future and an amazing game. The story was not that great (even though that last huge cutscene is phenomenal), but the rest of it was so perfect. Amazing that Kojima managed to create such engaging non-violent gameplay with an AAA budget.

I hope his next game is every bit as experimental.

 

[Nali]

Weird mix of survival game and transportation sim that could really use some more meat on its bones in both regards. Started out as a real slog, got better when the skeletons and vehicles became available, got kind of repetitive and grindy after roads and ziplines opened up. Couldn't stand just about everyone in the cast or the piecemeal approach to storytelling in general.

 

[NightShift]

I'm happy the game still gets a lot of love. When it came out, I saw so much negative people saying the public consensus would turn on it and I'm glad they seem to be wrong. In fact, my opinion of it is pretty much the same as when I finished it. A smartly designed and inventive game that puts other AAA games to shame. The story is a mixed bag though. Everything involving Amelie and the Death Stranding itself was terrible but I thought the story of Cliff, Sam and Lou was genuinely great and the best writing Kojima has done after MGS3.

Fingers cross for a significant PS5 update and while I don't want a sequel, a spiritual sequel would be great. The gameplay still has a lot of potential.

 

[Bundy]

Game of the Year 2019.
An incredible game!

 

[BrickArts295]

It was certainly one my favorite experience of this current gen. Just the idea of the delivery packages sounded so ridiculous until I delivered that first one.
Between the terrain being your worse enemy, the strand gameplay of building bridges and sharing items and that batshit storyline. I'm very grateful that Sony allowed Kojima to bless us again with another one of his wild rides, the man really is one in a million.

Also shoutout to some of the best gameplay items of this current gen:

 

[chrominance]

I think the father who made the pandemic baby pod was inspired by Death Stranding, no? So not quite a prediction, but something fuzzier.

A year later I still like Death Stranding. I think if I were to re-evaluate my GOTY list from last year I'd still have a tough time if it deserves top spot instead of my other two potential picks from last year (including my eventual pick, Fire Emblem: Three Houses). It does a lot more things wrong than Control and Fire Emblem did, but it's also such a weird game that manage to pinpoint my very specific gaming interests in a lot of ways. It's hard to imagine anyone making another game like it, and I think that's a shame.

 

[Ferrio]

Best Civil Engineering game.

 

[PennyStonks]

One of the best in the medium.

 

[Traxus]

This is also part of why I was excited for it. I knew that even if it was bad, that it'd be something profoundly different than what we're now accustomed to in the AAA space. I think Kat Bailey (EiC of USGamer) nailed it in her review when she said it harkened back to the PS2 days, my favorite generation, because you could have games like fuckin' Katamari Damacy right next to Resident Evil 4 on a store shelf.

Click to shrink...

Yeah that's an apt analogy! Or even further back to the wild west of early 3d where publishers were willing to back any crazy idea that sounded promising because the well-worn paths hadn't been forged yet.

 

[gosublime]

If you have a chance read the latest issue of Edge Magazine - the one with Xbox Series X/S on the cover. It has an article at the back all about DS and covers a lot of the same points regarding the pandemic and it's correlation in the game; very interesting read, particularly given the fact it was reviewed a 6 (they hint that it would be given higher now)

 

[eXistor]

Super-fresh game. While it has its issues, I think it was a wonderful experience.

 

[Obscure]

This game came and went.

I forgot it existed and almost no one talks about it anymore.

Click to shrink...

This game is more actual than ever and we're still discussing it here. So yeah, you're factually wrong.

 

[Deleted member 864]

Such an enthralling experience and easily one of my favorite games from last year and one that I still thought about throughout this year (especially with the pandemic.)

 

[Wollan]

PS5 Dualsense 60fps patch please.

 

[Tygerjaw]

I'm happy the game still gets a lot of love. When it came out, I saw so much negative people saying the public consensus would turn on it and I'm glad they seem to be wrong. In fact, my opinion of it is pretty much the same as when I finished it. A smartly designed and inventive game that puts other AAA games to shame. The story is a mixed bag though. Everything involving Amelie and the Death Stranding itself was terrible but I thought the story of Cliff, Sam and Lou was genuinely great and the best writing Kojima has done after MGS3.

Fingers cross for a significant PS5 update and while I don't want a sequel, a spiritual sequel would be great. The gameplay still has a lot of potential.

Click to shrink...

I agree with everything that you said. Especially about the writing. I'm also not a fan of Heartman, it was too dumb even by Kojima standards.

 

[Deleted member 16876]

I loved this game. It had some issues with the story near the end but it was still great. It is a really special game.


I also love how much things from the game happened this year.

 

[upinsmoke]

It was a really unique experience. Atmospherically brilliant and I really enjoyed the inventory management, the planning of journeys, the rewarding experience that i'd help people complete parts of there journey and grateful when somebody left me a rope, ladder, a place to take shelter or another item I could use. I'm not one to revisit older games that I've played in the past but a game like Death Stranding on PS5 with the haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, I really think it's the most suitable game ever designed for the dualsense feature set and because of the parallels with real life right now I would love a re-release or some sort of patch that could implement those features.

 

[cowbanana]

I absolutely loved it. It was in my top three last year with Disco Elysium and Days Gone. Death Stranding was such a unique experience that'll stay with me for years to come.

 

[Hilarious_Bearious]

It's the GotY for 2019, and no amount of sour grapes and backlash will change that. My second favourite PS4 game after Bloodborne. I cannot wait to replay this game when I get a PS5.

 

[Mary Celeste]

It's one of the best games of the generation, and the best game released in 2019. Not a perfect game, but a fantastic, fun, unique, and moving experience I won't ever forget.

 

[Flevance]

Certainly not a game I'd ever like to replay, but it was a memorable experience nonetheless

 

[formasymphonic]

I would very, very much like to see more mass-collaborative & cooperative aspects in any future AAA games that want to embrace them. The much higher CPU and SSD as standard in next gen consoles could allow for some amazing work in groups dedicated to that. It also would be awesome to see some real time multiplayer to accompany it though as the next step up from what DS offers.

 

[Neiteio]

I remember trying to shortcut across a snowy mountain to bypass Mules... Sam became so dehydrated and exhausted wading through knee-deep snow on a 75-degree slope high in the sky that he had to stop like every five steps and just stand there waiting for a trickle of strength to return so he could trudge another five steps. It was BRUTAL. But also amazing.

When he finally got to his destination, he just collapsed. Sat on the floor, sleeping with the baby in his arms. I literally let the game idle and went to the kitchen to make myself a sandwich. I returned to my armchair and leisurely ate lunch, watching Sam sleep, his meters slowly recovering. Never has a game so thoroughly and convincingly conveyed the arduous strain of a long and perilous journey.

 

[Cugel]

It's interesting if you look at story trophies, something like only 30% of players got past chapter 3, at least on PS4.

 

[Sams]

Such a special game like mgsv. I don't think we'll ever get a game like it again, but a truly amazing experience that I think most people should try.