Dumb question: what do you mean, trade with a porter? Occasionally porters offer me things. Was I supposed to give them something back in return? Am I a giant asshole? OH GOD I'M SORRY PORTERS I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND
It took me five times to get the trophy to pop but yeah, when they are offering stuff if you have something held out in your hand you can trade but it's awkward as hell and I don't know how it registers, like I said I did the same exact thing 5 times and the trophy did not pop into the fifth.
do difficulty affect:
- the rate at witch the stars go up when delivering ?
- the numbers on your personnal score (for the trophy, get a grade of 60 in each branch)
Was out of town and played for the first time in awhile last night. Had an encounter with MULEs that went about the way my last several have gone, which is that a truck full of them show up, and then I drive away in their truck after beating them up/bola-gunning them.
Though there was a cliff in the way so I had to abandon their truck after not too long.
Can you actually use the scope on Lvl. 2/Lvl. 3 weapons? The descriptions will read something like "an added scope" bla bla but I've tried every button and I don't think you can actively use it, right? Maybe just improves accuracy?
Dumb question: what do you mean, trade with a porter? Occasionally porters offer me things. Was I supposed to give them something back in return? Am I a giant asshole? OH GOD I'M SORRY PORTERS I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND
It took me five times to get the trophy to pop but yeah, when they are offering stuff if you have something held out in your hand you can trade but it's awkward as hell and I don't know how it registers, like I said I did the same exact thing 5 times and the trophy did not pop into the fifth.
I did it by taking the item from their hand, then going into my cargo menu, move something to give in return into Sam's left or right hand, and then dropping that cargo item on the ground while standing near the porter. They took it and I got the trophy.
I did it by taking the item from their hand, then going into my cargo menu, move something to give in return into Sam's left or right hand, and then dropping that cargo item on the ground while standing near the porter. They took it and I got the trophy.
It's on my list of one of the games brilliant misfires where the concept is sound but the execution is iffy. Would like to see someone properly execute it in a future game whether Kojima or not.
It's on my list of one of the games brilliant misfires where the concept is sound but the execution is iffy. Would like to see someone properly execute it in a future game whether Kojima or not.
I can see where the developers/Kojima are coming from, though; this was probably intended to seem organic, rather than popping up a clinical-looking trade screen and moving items from one inventory to another. Physicality is clearly a design goal here, so it makes sense that trades work this way. On the other hand, there's no communication from the porters indicating they want to trade beyond offering you something, and definitely no indication that they want anything in particular, unless I missed all of this in my run-ins with them.
I can see where the developers/Kojima are coming from, though; this was probably intended to seem organic, rather than popping up a clinical-looking trade screen and moving items from one inventory to another. Physicality is clearly a design goal here, so it makes sense that trades work this way. On the other hand, there's no communication from the porters indicating they want to trade beyond offering you something, and definitely no indication that they want anything in particular, unless I missed all of this in my run-ins with them.
Hard isn't hard either, I changed to it about half way through chapter 3 and never looked back. I'm nearly 100% done with the game by now 60 hours later and I've never been even close to dying, or failing any deliveries for that matter.
Started playing this evening. A bit into Episode 2 and it seems pretty engaging. One thing I do dislike is when they pop up the actor's name(s) with the characters. Totally takes me out of it (same with the song titles).
I am still unable to find any lost cargo for the veteran porter, i keep reading that there is supposed to some right outside his shelter but i have yet to find any anywhere.
Is it feasible for me to finish the game tonight and still get some sleep? Say at around 4-5am or so to finish it. I have to be in work at 2pm and it's just gone 12am here but I really want to finish this so I can move on to the whole bunch of other games I've got lined up.
Is it feasible for me to finish the game tonight and still get some sleep? Say at around 4-5am or so to finish it. I have to be in work at 2pm and it's just gone 12am here but I really want to finish this so I can move on to the whole bunch of other games I've got lined up.
Lol, I just finished Mama's chapter and that part when
You leave her lab and Higgs summons the giant lion, I took a bad fall and she got like 33% damaged and had blood all over her bag. Then when we go to Locknes lab and I was like "Oh God, was that my fault??"
Eh, I doubt it'll be that bad. I just got through the supposed worst part of the game in Chapter 10 the trek back East and that was a complete breeze. Can't really see the game doing much else to exhaust me and I've bought some popcorn for when the inevitable movie-long cutscene shows up.
&, damn! those last couple hours were just so painful. as were most of those obnoxious boss fights. as was, actually, just about anything in the game that didn't have to do with making deliveries & building infrastructure...
kojima-san: respectfully, sir, you're not a film director. leave making movies (especially the script-writing aspect) to other people. your in-game cutscenes are terrible enough. you're still as innovative a game world/mechanic creator as there is, & that's where your power lies, &, when left on my own in death stranding, i enjoyed playing it greatly...
&, damn! those last couple hours were just so painful. as were most of those obnoxious boss fights. as was, actually, just about anything in the game that didn't have to do with making deliveries & building infrastructure...
kojima-san: respectfully, sir, you're not a film director. leave making movies (especially the script-writing aspect) to other people. your in-game cutscenes are terrible enough. you're still as innovative a game world/mechanic creator as there is, & that's where your power lies, &, when left on my own in death stranding, i enjoyed playing it greatly...
In-game cutscenes are terrible? Couldn't disagree more, the camerawork for the cutscenes is flat out cinematic. Something not a lot of games manage, its not aping cinema its using the same visual language.
Is there ample oppurtunity to save? I am at chapter 12 right now and my biggest worry is I'll hit a 2 hour cutscene or some shit and I wont be able to save
In-game cutscenes are terrible? Couldn't disagree more, the camerawork for the cutscenes is flat out cinematic. Something not a lot of games manage, its not aping cinema its using the same visual language.
I am not even sure what to make of that opinion, waht the fuck. Poster probably knows little about cinematography, these are some of the best directed cutscenes in the biz
Is there ample oppurtunity to save? I am at chapter 12 right now and my biggest worry is I'll hit a 2 hour cutscene or some shit and I wont be able to save
In-game cutscenes are terrible? Couldn't disagree more, the camerawork for the cutscenes is flat out cinematic. Something not a lot of games manage, its not aping cinema its using the same visual language.
Yeah, I can understand not liking the story, stilted dialogue or the overall work that Kojima does plot wise (I just treat it like silly exploitation stuff and it works fine for me) but the actual camerawork, direction, and thanks to those Hollywood actors mostly excellent acting the cutscenes are amongst the best I have ever watched and was like an exciting rollercoaster ride all the way even if the ending summary was a bunch of silly shit.
In-game cutscenes are terrible? Couldn't disagree more, the camerawork for the cutscenes is flat out cinematic. Something not a lot of games manage, its not aping cinema its using the same visual language.
Hard isn't hard either, I changed to it about half way through chapter 3 and never looked back. I'm nearly 100% done with the game by now 60 hours later and I've never been even close to dying, or failing any deliveries for that matter.
I played hard as well and found it fairly easy. Only place that gave me trouble was the combat in the bunker as the ai is able to shoot through corners.
I think how artificially stop your ability to rank some preppers until you rest in a private room(sometimes multiple rests are needed) is bad design. Shouldn't have to rest then check emails to be able to rank up more.
Is there no way to sort the cargo in your inventory?
I get the idea of spreading it around the different positions but it would be nice to temporarily sort it by type... For example to quickly see how many of each items I have.
The game is full with such little details, nice touches, playful moments etc.
I'm 217 hours in, not even through the story yet, and I still discover/experience new cool stuff and details very often. It's so good :)
Just finished the game. Apparently it took me 60 hours but the game says that I rested for 18 (though I cannot for the life of me remember when I did that) so it could either be that or 42. Either which way the game definitely felt more than long enough.
As for my feelings on it if you care to read them: I'm... conflicted. I don't think this is a bad game in any real way, nor do I think that it's an amazing game as it is very often less than the sum of its parts. However, I wouldn't say that it's 'middle of the road' either; there is so much that is 'special' about the game that to say that would be to do it a disservice.
My gameplay praises and critiques are the same ones you've heard many times before in this thread. UI issues, the BT cutscene (and the lack of difficulty), the redundant and often-arbitrary systems, etc all make it so that I can't say that I thoroughly loved playing this but when the game simply allows you to roam, to travel, I really loved it overall.
As for the story. Full spoilers below but before that I think I'll drop a hot take for people to shout at me about:
Death Stranding would be a much better game story-wise if Hideo Kojima wasn't the sole writer
Now why is that? It's because, to me, Kojima's obsession with plot really, really hurts what actually matters in the game's story: it's themes, characters, and emotional beats. The game is so incredibly chock-full of needless exposition, convoluted (yet still understandable) twists and turns and, strangely enough considering the trailers, a complete lack of any real mysticism. It wants you to know exactly what it's about and does not allow a single iota of interpretation from the player. It gets to the point where in an incredibly climactic point fo the story you're transported to the exposition beach to walk around before sitting down for your exposition lesson. That kind of writing has been a staple of the writing in Kojima's games ever since he began being the sole writer.
The effect that has is that it made it so that, to me, the characters never truly resonated. It makes character into exposition, and when that happens I find it very hard to care because I fail to see a character and instead see plot devices. You're told that you're connecting people, you're told that you should care about Amelie, you're told that Cliff has a tragic backstory; you're rarely just shown that and it really does suck a lot from the plot itself.
HOWEVER
I shall bring this back to my hot take above because there is a lot of good in this story. It's a fundamentally optimistic tale but one that doesn't shy away from tragedy, and in a world like ours I think that's brilliant. There are moments of incredibly good writing (that Die Hardman speech, for one) and the game very much succeeds in marrying gameplay with story in a way few games have really done. For instance when you're tasked with heading back East for the final delivery of Cryptobiotes the fact that I was scraping by purely on the efforts of others was fucking amazing; that your very final delivery to incinerate Lou had you using the things Igor placed down 50+ hours before is just beautiful. I also love most of the quirky little touches and imaginative usages of UI and gameplay to more interestingly tell the story; they didn't get me more invested in the story emotionally but they're things that only really happen with Kojima. Yet those moments and the themes overall are for the most part overshadowed by the copious, insane amounts of fluff that Kojima's involvement in writing the game is, to me, a net negative.
Basically there is the potential for one of the most memorable and incredible stories in gaming, but because it seems like Kojima cares more about "Ha" and "Ka" and sci-fi phenomena named after British Telecommunications Companies (BTs and EEs) that potential is very much wasted. When Sam, before a pivotal moment in the story, starts unironically spouting a Saturday Morning Cartoon monologue about how awesome connections are, or when Mads Mikkelsen's dying words are spelling out very clearly what the importance of fatherhood is all I could think about was how this would be so much better coming from a writer who knew what the word 'subtext' meant.
So, yeah. There are my final thoughts! Thoughts that please nobody and will probably anger a few lol. But don't worry, the game has earned a spot on my Top 10 list. It won't be Number 1, and due to it literally insulting my sexuality it won't be in the top 5 either, but it'll get one or two points from me :)
Chapter 12 is so God damn stupid. First time I've gotten even remotely mad or annoyed at this game. So I cant fabricate ANY container repair sprays yet I have to go through multiple mandatory BT fights in constant timefall without being able to repair the cargo I'm supposed to deliver? WHAT THE FUCK
I think Kojima was close to something special with his game then I realized something...
The game would have been better if it was a Mars (or some other planet) /space exploration game.
much of the terrain reminds me of Mars and the equipment and vehicles lead me to believe this would have been a great "we discovered a new planet and must explore it" type of game
I think Kojima was close to something special with his game then I realized something...
The game would have been better if it was a Mars (or some other planet) /space exploration game.
much of the terrain reminds me of Mars and the equipment and vehicles lead me to believe this would have been a great "we discovered a new planet and must explore it" type of game
I don't think it should have been set on another planet but I think that the whole "reconnect America, Sam. America only. Fuck everyone else it's 'Muricah' angle really needed to go. Making an entire game about connections only for it to be solely focused on American exceptionalism and isolationism is really strange.
Chapter 12 is so God damn stupid. First time I've gotten even remotely mad or annoyed at this game. So I cant fabricate ANY container repair sprays yet I have to go through multiple mandatory BT fights in constant timefall without being able to repair the cargo I'm supposed to deliver? WHAT THE FUCK
You cant build anything, fabricate anything, etc. I had ONE repair spray on a distro center on the way, but that's not nearly enough when my cargo is fucking 98% destroyed after one BT encounter and you have to go through more. This is honestly annoying as fuck and I want to drop this shit
Chapter 12 is so God damn stupid. First time I've gotten even remotely mad or annoyed at this game. So I cant fabricate ANY container repair sprays yet I have to go through multiple mandatory BT fights in constant timefall without being able to repair the cargo I'm supposed to deliver? WHAT THE FUCK