This game is such a roller coaster of emotions. Some of the most beautiful imagery I’ve ever seen in a video game. Genuinely awesome soundtrack (both the licensed music and original material).
There were moments when it was frustrating and boring, and the storytelling can sometimes be way to literal and explanation based.
But I truly did love the story underneath, as it was one of hope and the importance of connection to get through rough times. Some subjects hit real close to home for me, and at times it can get quite depressing, but this strong sense of hope and helping each other is always there to lift you back up.
Again, some game mechanics and cut scenes really didn’t work for me, but other parts of the game will be forever in my mind.
I’m rating it a 7.5<->10.5 out of 10. I’ve decided conventional scales don’t cut it for games like this.
I would love to know your opinions if you want to share them!
I was pleasantly surprised at UPS guy simulator. Lots of the game is super zen.
I think 3 hours in I had only “played” for about 30 minutes, and to me, most of the story at that point was just trying to be as ridiculous and disturbing as it possibly could. Most of the gameplay was just avoiding falling cause dude doesn’t know how to walk. I had to go do something else at that point so I quit and never ended up coming back to it.
Maybe if I hadn’t gotten it free I might have given it more of a chance, but I definitely wasn’t a fan.
That’s Kojima for you. But agreed, the game felt like someone took far too much inspiration from qwop. I’ve heard it called a ‘walking simulator,’ which feels apt, lol.
Felt similar, especially about Sam’s difficulty in walking lol. Would be interested to hear from someone who’s played longer whether the falling over stuff gets better or not? Or, if it’s just my own incompetence, but iirc I was holding down L2 and R2 the whole time, just to avoid toppling head-over-heels.
When I first played the game (played on PC with keyboard and mouse), I thought, “wow, you actually have to pay attention to the terrain” and found myself falling over at times. The more you play and the more you deliver, Sam gets stronger and is able to maintain balance more often. I honestly don’t even look at the scanned terrain anymore, except when I’m checking how deep water is. Making sure Sam is “bracing” by holding those buttons down, you’re more than likely going to be fine unless you have a massive stack and you’re overloaded. On keyboard and mouse you just hold Mouse1 and Mouse2, which I think is much easier than controller triggers.
Another thing that likely made it a little easier on PC was the movement speed setting. I can press Shift and I’m stuck at a walking speed that I have set in the settings menu (since keyboards don’t have pressure sensitive movement).
The best advice I thankfully saw early on in a video about Death Stranding is just hold down L2 and R2 all the time while you’re running around and you’ll automatically balance yourself in 99% of situations. If you find yourself still tipping over, then just slow down or stand still for a second.
Same experience. Walked up a hill with a body. Couldn’t get back down without dying. Gave up.
I absolutely love this game. Sometime the story gets convoluted or over the top and that won’t be everyone, but the game is just so unique. There’s something so peaceful about walking across the terrain with all those packages.
It has such a good theme of connection and interpersonal relationships. I could go on for days, but I should continue my 3rd playthrough lol
I am in the middle of my first play through and am really enjoying the game. So far I can really agree with you.
well I genuinely LOVED the game, particularly the delivery part of it. I recognise how bold it is to take everything that’s usually considered “boring” in a game (long walks, limited inventory management, delivery items side quests…) and make it the core of the experience. I think towards the end it’s a bit rushed in terms of explanations and characters motives, but the world and the atmosphere have so much heart that if you take the time to actually enjoy the game it’s gonna be a hell of an experience p.s. also motion capture of established actors helped a lot, particularly Sam… looks like Norman Reedus was born for this role since the Walking Dead, so well casted
I agree that Sam’s movements were extremely detailed and realistic. It really helped flesh out the world and connection with the player.
The moment “Don’t Be So Serious” starts playing on your first delivery will live rent-free in my head for the rest of my natural life.
Every low roar song in the game is a banger. It is just amazing story of how Kojima discovered the band and decided to include their music in the game. I can’t imagine the game without it
Honestly, i looked them up after starting the game and have enjoyed what I’ve heard. They are strange, but in a mesmerizing way. Truly a band that is about the art in the music and not about trying to follow music trends. Would recommend.
Yeah, it’s an extremely atmospheric game and the music is such a pivotal part of that. The way it all comes together is amazing.
The first thing I looked for after that moment was radio and how to turn it on and I couldn’t believe that wasn’t an option
You almost talked me into finally playing it. 🤔
It’ll stay backlogged for awhile longer, though.I love how weirdly unapologetically uplifting this game is. WIth a post-apocalyptic premise, and a name like Death Stranding, you would expect something dark, violent and depressing. And while it does have these elements, they play second fiddle to the game’s positive message about community and working together. All reinforced through both story and well thought out gameplay systems.
I think this is really driven home by how heavily the player is punished for killing people. It’s not just some Splinter Cell-style radio message about trying to keep casualties to a minimum. If you actually manage to kill a single person, you pretty much have to drop anything you were doing and devote the next half hour to cleaning up the mess you made before it literally blows up in your face.
I totally agree, this game is just so obviously anti violence, really nice change from all the other big games.
I loved Death Stranding as a whole. There’s some QOL things I think that could be improved upon in DS2, but the overall gameplay loop was satisfying. Heck, I still find myself making deliveries after completing the game just to relax and unlock even more stuff. I recently just got a backpack cover after 70 hours?? I didn’t even know it was in the game. Incredible, lol
The zany story and world made it great. I actually pirated it and hated it, but with the free release on epic I loved the interconnectedness. Went as far as platinuming it. I also gave it a 7 because kojima struggles to write dialogue. The character dynamics are good but the story felt cheapened by constant references and jokes. I know its a part of the charm for many people, that’s okay.
Yes, that part confused me at first (why are there ladders with stranger’s names in my game?), but it’s a really great feature actually.
There is an interesting GDC talk on YouTube about how they managed to implement pathfinding for the NPCs on the rough terrain in the game.
I got really addicted to trying to improve my delivery times and go sucked into the game once the high ways became an option. Focused on unlocking areas so I could get it all connected, and then later the zip lines got me hooked for the mountainous snowy areas.
I usually hate traveling to locations in games even in Grand Theft Auto, so having a game element to travel made what I thought would be tedious game turn into fun even when it was slowly trying to balance cargo when traversing on foot.
I absolutely agree with what you’ve said, some parts didn’t work for me either, but overall, it was a great experience. I kept me thinking weeks after finishing it. The underlying theme is fascinating - uplifting and depressing at the same time, if that makes any sense. The way things are done sometimes hit home so hard that I had to rewatch certain parts in videos and kept debating it with a friend who had also played the game.
It’s great to read that you’ve enjoyed it too. Also curious what others think. (This post would also fit well into https://lemmy.ml/c/patientgamers)
It really does make sense to me what you said :).
I’ll check out that community too. Is cross-posting or something similar a thing on lemmy?
:D Yes, cross-posting works, means, I’ve seen it before, but I’m not certain how one does it :)
Found the button that lets you cross-post (better late than never :P)
Can anyone comment on how it runs on Steam Deck?
I’ve always been a fan of his games, but havem’t installed this one because I hear it is virtually unplayable by the time you reach a certain stage or area.
Would love anyone with experience playing through it on the Deck to chime in!
Same, I’m curious as well
I have been wanting to try it now that I have a computer capable of running it, but there are other games currently taking up my time. I am a bit wary since I have never really played any kojima games and what I have seen of a lot of them seems pretty far up its own ass.
I can understand, but for me I feel Kojima has this beautiful combination of camp and seriousness. There are bits where he clearly is to full of himself and would have needed an editor, but the main feeling and dynamics of death stranding is still something very unique and genuine.
I too waited a pretty long time until finally biting the bullet. It being a part of Playstation Plus Extra helped. It’s also a really nice game to play on the side if you want to take a breather from the other genres you’re playing.
Also, I can recommend playing the original Metal Gear Solid. It is my favorite in the series and one of my favorite games of all time. Really still holds up well, and of you use a nice old school CRT shader it even looks nice in my opinion :).
