Gaming Death Stranding

Played a few hours. Story is interesting in typical Kojima fashion. Elements of the gameplay are interesting but I can already see why people wouldn't like it and there a few things that have frustrated me already.

The BB, and having to calm it the feck down, being the worst mechanic of the game so far. Made me stop playing.
 
Brocky said:
Nanomachines!

I started playing the second it unlocked and i'm about 8 hours invested, so thought I would share my thoughts on my experience so far.

I am just about to finish Chapter 2 - wish I would have seen that video earlier, @ArmandTamzarian :lol: - and I am really enjoying it. The combination of mystery and atmosphere makes what is, on the face of it, a mundane overall role, actually incredibly enjoyable and intriguing. The 'balancing' thing really isn't a quick-time event. It flows with the controls nicely and once you get a feel for what kind of pace is right for the combination of the weight and profile of your cargo and the terrain you're traversing, it doesn't happen a great deal and simply serves as a warning to be more careful, when it does. If you aren't careful, it will punish you, though and this really serves to make you care about your cargo.

The soundtrack is unbelievably good (ummm, Kojima, duh) and compliments the game and the environment perfectly. Without spoiling anything, there's a part in Chapter 2 where you have just emerged from a somewhat dark and intense encounter in the rain and you trudge over the crest of yet another hill....then, the rain stops, the sun comes out, the landscape opens up in front of you and this tune slowly fades in as you carry on your journey...

No spoiler whatsoever but don't listen if you want the full experience when playing. :)


...and it's so, so good! People rave about the ladder section in MGS 3 and I still get chills when I see and hear the 'Return to Shadow Moses' section in MGS 4. I would even throw in Quiet's final scene in MGS 5. This part in Death Stranding isn't even significant in terms of the narrative but it's a moment that, for me, was right up there alongside those three in terms of atmosphere and 'feels'. That's part of what makes Kojima great. He certainly knows how to get you right in the feels.

That said, I am a huge MGS and Kojima fan and I am also one of those people, like Armand, who often 'walks' through games as much as I can to increase the immersion factor and to take in as much as possible. I'm also that person who will argue that Kill Bill is a great film because, in my eyes, it's artistically and atmospherically fantastic, as opposed to many people only seeing it as an over-exaggerated, cheesy, blood-fest. Death Stranding is in a similar vein. It won't be for everyone. Especially those that just look at it head on as a 'postman simulator'. But it's so much more than that. It's just not what we, as gamers, are used to.
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That is perhaps the biggest fanboy post I've ever seen. I actually love it though :lol:

But forget all the nonsense, how are you finding the MP aspects? Those ideas are what are interesting me right now. I like the creativity I just wonder that since it's on console (cheap dig), how many have actually figured out the actual strengths of them?
 
Woodzy said:
Played a few hours. Story is interesting in typical Kojima fashion. Elements of the gameplay are interesting but I can already see why people wouldn't like it and there a few things that have frustrated me already.

The BB, and having to calm it the feck down, being the worst mechanic of the game so far. Made me stop playing.
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Can't you just shake it till it stops crying?

I haven't played the game. Looks interesting and boring at the same time, I can't make up my mind and don't wanna spend 50 quid on it.
 
Redlambs said:
That is perhaps the biggest fanboy post I've ever seen. I actually love it though :lol:

But forget all the nonsense, how are you finding the MP aspects? Those ideas are what are interesting me right now. I like the creativity I just wonder that since it's on console (cheap dig), how many have actually figured out the actual strengths of them?
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I disagree. Fanboyism is, for the most part, an unfounded, often blind, unmovable support of something or someone that is largely based on the past. I simply gave an honest opinion of this game, based on my experience playing so far. I would definitely say that I am a Kojima fan and I enjoy what he does in his art, sure, but if I felt that Death Stranding was a steaming turd, I would have no issue saying so.

As for MP - which i'm not even sure you could call it MP - I am honestly still trying to make up my mind. It feels kinda weird having people that you can't see making an impact on your game, although it doesn't feel intrusive in any way. Not a huge fan of the whole 'Like' thing, if i'm honest, but it all seems to be a part of Kojima's social message, which i'm still trying to figure out. :lol:

Unless it majorly bombs after Chapter 2, I also feel like I will definitely buy this on PC, when it arrives, just to experience it again it full visual glory.
 
I am loving the game, people who shit on it just say it's not your type of game and move on, because it is a fecking brilliant piece of software!
 
Think this will be like God Of War for me, personally looks thrilling from cinematics but when presented the chance of gameplay was shocked to find it was an RPG like mechanics which for me is straight garbage. In downtime I'll watch play throughs as the storyline looks interesting to say the least.
 
Sold less than Days Gone at launch in the UK. Doesn’t include digital, I bought it digitally, but I imagine most people for this sort of game will buy physical so they can sell it once they done with it.

Considering the hype about it and it being a Kojima game, I thought it would definitely outdo Days Gone.

Also Kojima has decided also to take the piss out of America. He said it had stronger criticisms in America because it wasn’t a standard FPS.
 
I saw a video of someone walking on some really high bridge while carrying shit loads of stuff, only for him to randomly trip and cause nearly all his packages to fall off the bridge and into the river below.

It's that kind of shit that would piss me off and turn me off the game completely.
 
Raw said:
I saw a video of someone walking on some really high bridge while carrying shit loads of stuff, only for him to randomly trip and cause nearly all his packages to fall off the bridge and into the river below.

It's that kind of shit that would piss me off and turn me off the game completely.
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You don't ever 'randomly' trip in the game, if you fall over its almost always your own fault. Things like not reading the terrain, ignoring the signs you are off balance, moving carelessly fast with a heavy load or with an unbalanced cargo on your back.
 
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I’m still a bit torn on this game. By the time I got to chapter 2 I was of the mindset that it isn’t exactly “fun” but somehow still quite enjoyable and satisfying when you make the delivery. A few hours later though I have to admit it’s become repetitive and tedious. Wonderful presentation and a very interesting storyline none of the less. I have read without trying to spoil it for myself that it does gather pace the longer it goes on. Anyone further down the line that can shed any light?
 
RMD83 said:
I’m still a bit torn on this game. By the time I got to chapter 2 I was of the mindset that it isn’t exactly “fun” but somehow still quite enjoyable and satisfying when you make the delivery. A few hours later though I have to admit it’s become repetitive and tedious. Wonderful presentation and a very interesting storyline none of the less. I have read without trying to spoil it for myself that it does gather pace the longer it goes on. Anyone further down the line that can shed any light?
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I'm really enjoying it so far but there's a video I posted on the last page or 2 that advised to not stick around in chapter 2 & advance on to Port Knot City & Chapter 3 as soon as you get the mission to do so as you're able to get some very handy upgrades and the ability to fast travel. I did that and now I've done 3 or 4 delivery missions & got some things that'll really help. I'm gonna go back to the chapter 2 area tonight and tie up all lose ends there.

I got the Exoskeleton legs and the bola gun
 
A question for those currently playing it:

One of the parts of Skyrim I enjoyed as much as anything was walking to and from the missions and pretty much everywhere else. Often I didn't run either, just walk. It was great at grounding yourself in the world and exploring. Is death stranding the same? Are there things to discover in the world and are the walks themselves rewarding in any way?
 
Volumiza said:
A question for those currently playing it:

One of the parts of Skyrim I enjoyed as much as anything was walking to and from the missions and pretty much everywhere else. Often I didn't run either, just walk. It was great at grounding yourself in the world and exploring. Is death stranding the same? Are there things to discover in the world and are the walks themselves rewarding in any way?
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I'm only at the early stages, but so far not really. It may change later on, but for now it's city to city/mission to mission. Funnily enough though, the walking around and trying to climb up random mountain parts reminds me a lot of skyrim shortcuts :lol:

I'm not sure I'll stick it our until the end right now, but it's still intriguing. I've not found myself bored so far either, but again it's the early stages and discovering the game. Not sure I like the balancing aspect though, feels a little basic and unnecessary.
 
Redlambs said:
trying to climb up random mountain parts reminds me a lot of skyrim shortcuts :lol:
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Ha! I remember those early attempts at shortcuts and ending up stranded on the side of a mountain unable to go up (mashing the jump button ad infinitum facing in all angles trying to get some purhcase!) before leaping down and trying another way before deciding it's easier to just walk round the damned thing! :lol: Brilliant!
 
Volumiza said:
A question for those currently playing it:

One of the parts of Skyrim I enjoyed as much as anything was walking to and from the missions and pretty much everywhere else. Often I didn't run either, just walk. It was great at grounding yourself in the world and exploring. Is death stranding the same? Are there things to discover in the world and are the walks themselves rewarding in any way?
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The terrain navigation & is quite engaging, even just normal walking I've never felt bored playing this either. You can either plan your journey out on the map and set waypoints then decide if you need to bring a few ladders to get up any steep cliffs or spike with a rope to abseil down or just bring some ladders & ropes (all of which adds to your cargo) and just try to wing it.

The world is lovely to look at and you can sometimes climb up a cliff/large hill and then spend a moment or two marvelling at the views. It's quite desolate though, you might come across some very sparse remnants of the world before or once you get an area connected to the chiral network you'll discover ladders, ropes, signs & bridges that other players have built.

That's the main gameplay hook for me though its not what you do once you get from point A to B but what you do to get there.

I think that's where alot of people will have a big problem with this, it's that you are having to make you way across a large expanses of land at a brisk walking pace so if you liked doing that in Skyrim and other games then the games biggest stumbling block for alot of folk won't affect you. There's also stuff like resource & load management, enemy camps who roam about & try to steal your cargo, vehicles, the supernatural BTs that you come across and vehicles and weapons later on too.
 
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ArmandTamzarian said:
You don't ever 'randomly' trip in the game, if you fall over its almost always your own fault. Things like not reading the terrain, ignoring the signs you are off balance, moving carelessly fast with a heavy load or with an unbalanced cargo on your back.
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Sounds enthralling.
 
Cheer
ArmandTamzarian said:
I'm really enjoying it so far but there's a video I posted on the last page or 2 that advised to not stick around in chapter 2 & advance on to Port Knot City & Chapter 3 as soon as you get the mission to do so as you're able to get some very handy upgrades and the ability to fast travel. I did that and now I've done 3 or 4 delivery missions & got some things that'll really help. I'm gonna go back to the chapter 2 area tonight and tie up all lose ends there.

I got the Exoskeleton legs and the bola gun
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cheers pal, I’ll keep soldiering on. I can’t be far off the point your talking about.

on a side note is there anything special you can do with all the lost packages you find? So far I have just posted them at the first opportunity. Am I meant to be keeping them for crafting items or anything?
 
I think for me the walking doesn't go anywhere near far enough considering it's supposed to be the star of the show in terms of the idea. It's like they had a good plan then stopped short of going all out.

It's too basic to be interesting long term, I can imagine at times it'll get tedious. In fact carrying a body is too tedious already. It's more like a QTE routine of basic button pressing than actual body weight management. I think having even a slightly more interactive method like, say, holding a trigger turns the right analogue stick into proper weight management would be simple enough that you could still do it whilst navigating, but also add a layer of control that makes much more sense.
 
Bojan11 said:
Sold less than Days Gone at launch in the UK. Doesn’t include digital, I bought it digitally, but I imagine most people for this sort of game will buy physical so they can sell it once they done with it.

Considering the hype about it and it being a Kojima game, I thought it would definitely outdo Days Gone.

Also Kojima has decided also to take the piss out of America. He said it had stronger criticisms in America because it wasn’t a standard FPS.
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You left out the bit where he said that his game is "flying higher than that" after the fps comment. He then said that Italians and French have the artistic sensibilities to understand it.
 
So I went back to the first area to see what you unlock when you get everyone fully levelled up and found two hidden outposts. Got everyone except the wind farm fully connected, I hated going up there :nervous:

One is at the waterfall further up from the west distribution centre you get a cool item for doing his order. The other is up a cliff between the west distribution centre and the mule camp, its the cameo from Geoff Keighley.
 
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One Night Only said:
Every gameplay video of this that I've seen is just him walking and running about not doing anything? Wtf?
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Watching TheRadBrad's playthrough shows a lot more than that dude. Seems to be quite layered in terms of world and route management, different gadgets and what not, and a few hours in the walking about seems over as you unlock the bike. The story also seems to go at a much better pace than MGS 5's did.

I might get this sooner than I thought because it looks like it's heavier on gameplay mechanics than at first look. Unfortunately that baby seems uber cute but the crying makes me anxious as I already have to deal with that in real life.

Edit: just started watching this video in his series and it pretty much gives the perfect example of what the game looks and feels like so far (previous video ended with him sneaking about avoiding a group called MULES, and knocking one out before running away :lol:)

 
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I still don't get it after watching that video? You're a deliveryman ? You're helping rebuild a community / civilisation?

What were the trailers all about? The oil on the beach? The fetus? That bad dude in the trailers? It just gets more confusing
 
One Night Only said:
I still don't get it after watching that video? You're a deliveryman ? You're helping rebuild a community / civilisation?

What were the trailers all about? The oil on the beach? The fetus? That bad dude in the trailers? It just gets more confusing
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The game pretty much relies on you being interested in getting answers to those questions to get you over the initial slump. As it progresses you unlock more equipment that makes travelling less of a slog after the first couple of hours, because if it made it easy to begin with you wouldn't get the same sense of "this world is fecked".

The story is mad and definitely an acquired taste, but it's told at a great pace and doesn't seem too far away from your standard sci-fi fayre. For me the major emotional hook is that damn baby. Might just be my paternal instincts. Or beer.
 
Mr Pigeon said:
The game pretty much relies on you being interested in getting answers to those questions to get you over the initial slump. As it progresses you unlock more equipment that makes travelling less of a slog after the first couple of hours, because if it made it easy to begin with you wouldn't get the same sense of "this world is fecked".

The story is mad and definitely an acquired taste, but it's told at a great pace and doesn't seem too far away from your standard sci-fi fayre. For me the major emotional hook is that damn baby. Might just be my paternal instincts. Or beer.
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It really does have me intrigued! The worst bit about it to me is how ridiculous all those boxes look on his back
 
Holy shit, chapter 4 :eek:

On another note this is a pretty good non spoilery tips video, i think I'll try out some of the combat tips, pretty cool.

 
MaxiPaxi said:
I value his views.
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Yeah, seems a balanced and succinct review that backs up my mixed feelings about how much I want to play this game.

looking at the world within the game makes me really want to play but I think the thing is, I’m just not convinced I want to play this particular game in it. The game itself and the mechanics of it just look a bit rubbish. Hey, I may be wrong and I don’t usually pass such comments without actually playing something but that’s just how I see it.

If I do play it I think it will be when the price plummets.

Now if elder scrolls 6 can match this visually ...
 
Fair to say that this game is far from being a walking simulator, by a massive fecking mile.

Although why in the absolute feck did Sony embargo journalists from talking about anything after Chapter 3 - you know, when you do more than just walk about from place to place?! This is why so many folk now think the game will just be a boring slog for 60 hours.

I'm talking road and structure building, vehicles, weapons, community mechanics, massive great big feck off bosses in dynamically changing environments with verticality to them.

Why would they embargo that?! What's the logic? "Yeah, don't show any of the interesting stuff. That won't hurt sales"

Muppets.
 
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The only people who think this is a "massive fecking mile" away from from a walking simulator would be pigeons and Proclaimers.

So I'll simply say it's not a true walking simulator, though you can see why cynics and those who haven't played it think that. And walking is a big part of it, one that I personally think doesn't go deep enough, but it's not the genre at all.

But hey, at least they didn't buy every big reviewer out like EA clearly did recently...
 
No. 2 in the download charts, second to CoD with its overall multiplatform sales. Not bad.

The game is fine. Not a mess but not exactly the greatest thing out there. But deffo better than an 83 or whatever it got on Metacritic. Not sure why I care though tbh because Kojima will just keep doing his own thing anything and the next game will be Full Kojima - which is 80 hours playing as a brick that communicates through peeing.
 
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