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Death Stranding: A Hideo Kojima Game Strand
- Thread starter Lannisters1798
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Not watching anymore media. I'm officially on media blackout. Let's hope no one goes posting gifs outside this thread on any potential story spoilers. I didnt read through the summary someone posted. It looks spoilerish af. Some of you just cant help yourselves.
Anyways I'm hyped. This game is gonna be crazy.
Anyways I'm hyped. This game is gonna be crazy.
Nah, they wiped out Central Knot City with a Void Out killing countless of innocents. They're pretty antagonistic. Higgs seems to revel in the chaos. It's Mads' character 'Cliff' that is made out to be a bad guy in the trailers but isn't really a villain. Kojima even stated that Cliff isn't a villain, he's going to be made out as sympathetic, someone that was forced into unfortunate circumstances while Higgs and his crew are a bit more straightforward evil.
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Yeah you are right, but I was playing with the Idea that maybe later we find out it wasn't exactly an attack? I just know I can't trust the first guy that gives me a mission lol
They probly just evil tho, I know.
I do agree with some posters, that it seems the game has us in such mystery that any new content official/unofficial we're running in here to post it, and uncover. Ya'll gonna ruin the experience for yourselves, the conundrum for me is.....well I'm in here eating up as much info as ya'll post so it's ironic.....but I love this stuff. Haha.
Half the fun of pre-release with Kojima games is theorising all the weird shit we'll find ourselves uncovering when the game is out :D
Watch the BRIEFING trailer, Die-Hardman says that when he describes who the Homo Demens are to Sam
That's my point. We only know they're bad, because that's what the UCA are telling Sam (us)
Indeed. This is the pregame. Very exciting. On par with theorizing a new Kanye West album(theme, production, cover), for me.
But we've actually seen Higgs in action. If you take a look at the TGS 2018 trailer, the way he playfully taunts Sam like it's some sick game and the Release Date Trailer with him licking Fragile's face. He revels in the absolute power he holds. Reminds me a lot of Ramsay Bolton from GoT. The fact that they're called 'Homo Demens' which translates to 'Mad Men' kinda tips us off, no? They aren't one nation or organization like the UCA, they're decentralised by nature. Very anarchic and lawless versus the order and stability of the UCA.
I doubt a major character would lie to us in an exposition-heavy cutscene when we literally have seen them be antagonistic towards us and wanting to kill us on numerous occasions for whatever reason. Homo Demens are reputed for slaughtering residents of towns and engineering voidouts, there's no lie in that.
I do like Kojima trying to play up the 'UCA and Homo Demens are two sides of the same coin' idea with them both wanting to reunite the remaining settlements in their own ways so I do hope he goes further with that, but being a mass murderer makes it a bit hard to play the whole 'morally grey' angle with Higgs character. That's reserved for Cliff.
I suppose it depends on the point of view naturally. The Homo Demens aren't one controlled group or organization but an ideology shared by different people that have splintered off and want their own independence and not to be controlled or run by the UCA. It's interesting they took control of Edge Knot City since it's where the still mothers are and where the B.Bs come from...
This is probably the most straight and truthful video we have that only covers one aspect of the main story and yet still raises more questions and in part the fun stuff, discussion! lol Gematsu ran a story on it so they have a mirror of the video should it go down.
This is probably the most straight and truthful video we have that only covers one aspect of the main story and yet still raises more questions and in part the fun stuff, discussion! lol Gematsu ran a story on it so they have a mirror of the video should it go down.
Bit late with that. 😜
And even if you were the first to post this, there isn't any need to put it behind tags.
I liked it. A few tad-cheesy lines by the masked dude (Die-Hardman?) and the girl was sometimes a little dramatic, but seems really high quality. Love Sam's acting a lot.
Stllmothers are kept in an ICU in Capital Knot City actually, not Edge Knot :)
It's weird that even then, Higgs still carries around his own B.B. I don't think it'd be a stretch to assume that Edge Knot have their own ICU setup with stillmothers, but that hasn't been confirmed yet.
You're making far too many assertions, while lacking the necessary context.
Lol, it's all just conjecture dude. No shit I'm lacking the necessary context, that's kind of a given innit :D
I'm just stating what I think of things with all the information that has been released so far. Like I said in my post right there, I'd like for there to be more than meets the eye with the Homo Demens and I'm super curious to learn more about their ideals and values but so far they've been portrayed as pretty straightforwardly evil which is why I wouldn't be surprised if that's all they really are. I'd like for Higgs to be a sort of pragmatic, 'ends justify the means' villain, would serve as a really nice antithesis to Amelie who is very idealistic. The UCA turning out to be completely wrong about everything and the true villains would be a plot twist for the ages, lol.
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Artist participating in Death Stranding's original MUSIC collection "Timefall"
KhaIid
MajorLazer
CHVRCHES
"Timefall" is an original music collection in which many popular artists participate.
KhaIid
MajorLazer
CHVRCHES
"Timefall" is an original music collection in which many popular artists participate.
So Kojima keeps throwing the term 'strand game' around and I kinda wanna write up what I think this might be as he's been kinda leaning into it lately.
After the Ludens Fan trailer at gamescom, Kojima spoke about the scene where Sam was pissing and a mushroom grew. That scene in itself was kinda silly lmao but what Kojima mentioned afterwards really caught my attention. He said that if we all pissed at the same spot, 'something special would happen'.
Now, we all know that Death Stranding is an asynchronous multiplayer game. You'll never cross paths with another player in your game, but you can influence each other's journeys somewhat by trading supplies, sharing safehouses and being able to see other player's paths while roaming the wasteland. Sounds typical, right? Thing is, it ain't 'genre-defying' in any sense of the word. Loads of games have done this before.
Kojima and the PlayStation PR keep stating how Death Stranding is a strand game - a new genre - and have been using the term 'genre-defying' specifically, but all of this seems quite standard. Look at games like Bloodborne, NieR: Automata and Dark Souls for example.
Now, what I think makes this a 'strand' game is this one key tenant. We're all connected together through the Chiral Network and thus, everyone together can influence the state of this interconnected game world through certain actions being done en masse. It ties in nicely with that theme of 'reconnection'.
I'll give you an example. We all know Voidouts occur if Sam is killed by a BT but there's no 'game over', all that remains is a huge-ass crater. Now, imagine if players around the world playing Death Stranding were having difficulty with BTs in this particular area on the map and the game detects that a high number of people were dying to said BTs in this EXACT spot, perhaps then that crater becomes permanent for EVERYONE and will always appear in subsequent playthroughs. You'd be trekking across a huge, malleable world that is at the whims of us.
It's the same idea with the pissing mushrooms. We all piss at the same spot and the mushroom grows. It's not the actions of one person that decides this, it's the actions of several. In those moments, we're all 'connected' in a sense. We as a collective have a permanent impact on the world around us.
Though the issue with this is that I do think it could be a bit abusable which brings me to another theory:
When we 'die' and are sent to that underwater bit where we're observing Sam's body in first-person, maybe the game allows us to see the dead Sam's of other players and can either choose to
I still don't know about using the term 'genre-defying' but it's undoubtedly a very unique game mechanic if my dumb ramblings turn out to be true. I don't think I've ever seen a game do it to this extent.
I think the big thing that hurts these theories is that, what happens if someone doesn't want to play online? Supposedly this asynchronous stuff should play a major role in the game but if someone decided to unplug the ethernet cable and go at it solo, would they be getting the 'full experience'?
What do you think, Era? Would like to hear your thoughts on this.
After the Ludens Fan trailer at gamescom, Kojima spoke about the scene where Sam was pissing and a mushroom grew. That scene in itself was kinda silly lmao but what Kojima mentioned afterwards really caught my attention. He said that if we all pissed at the same spot, 'something special would happen'.
Now, we all know that Death Stranding is an asynchronous multiplayer game. You'll never cross paths with another player in your game, but you can influence each other's journeys somewhat by trading supplies, sharing safehouses and being able to see other player's paths while roaming the wasteland. Sounds typical, right? Thing is, it ain't 'genre-defying' in any sense of the word. Loads of games have done this before.
Kojima and the PlayStation PR keep stating how Death Stranding is a strand game - a new genre - and have been using the term 'genre-defying' specifically, but all of this seems quite standard. Look at games like Bloodborne, NieR: Automata and Dark Souls for example.
Now, what I think makes this a 'strand' game is this one key tenant. We're all connected together through the Chiral Network and thus, everyone together can influence the state of this interconnected game world through certain actions being done en masse. It ties in nicely with that theme of 'reconnection'.
I'll give you an example. We all know Voidouts occur if Sam is killed by a BT but there's no 'game over', all that remains is a huge-ass crater. Now, imagine if players around the world playing Death Stranding were having difficulty with BTs in this particular area on the map and the game detects that a high number of people were dying to said BTs in this EXACT spot, perhaps then that crater becomes permanent for EVERYONE and will always appear in subsequent playthroughs. You'd be trekking across a huge, malleable world that is at the whims of us.
It's the same idea with the pissing mushrooms. We all piss at the same spot and the mushroom grows. It's not the actions of one person that decides this, it's the actions of several. In those moments, we're all 'connected' in a sense. We as a collective have a permanent impact on the world around us.
Though the issue with this is that I do think it could be a bit abusable which brings me to another theory:
When we 'die' and are sent to that underwater bit where we're observing Sam's body in first-person, maybe the game allows us to see the dead Sam's of other players and can either choose to
- Revive our own Sam and continue from there, dealing with the permanent consequences of the Voidout that just occured in our own world
- Enter the body of another player's Sam that was never revived and continue our journey in their world, which will differ from our one as craters, equipment, BT locations etc are different. Multiple people are allowed to continue their journey from essentially someone else's save when they die
I still don't know about using the term 'genre-defying' but it's undoubtedly a very unique game mechanic if my dumb ramblings turn out to be true. I don't think I've ever seen a game do it to this extent.
I think the big thing that hurts these theories is that, what happens if someone doesn't want to play online? Supposedly this asynchronous stuff should play a major role in the game but if someone decided to unplug the ethernet cable and go at it solo, would they be getting the 'full experience'?
What do you think, Era? Would like to hear your thoughts on this.
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Also, I don't know if this is just a typical Kojima exposition thing a la MGS4, but is there a particular reason why Sam seems confused in a lot of these trailers and clips released so far? Like he asks a lot of these different questions and what not. Considering the world has been in this state for 10 years now, you'd think he'd be more familiar with things like. I'm not sure if he's questioning this stuff so we the player get to learn more about it or if it runs deeper than that. Who knows.
Another dumb theory from me but maybe Sam is actually Ludens - the famous astronaut and before the Death Stranding was on the Moon for whatever reason. Would explain why Sam isn't aware of a few concepts and the whole 'Ludens Fan' thing, how the prepper recognises Sam with the "You're YOU, right?", almost as if he's a celebrity with the Ludens posters on the wall. Also Sam carries around a small Ludens chibi, so maybe this Ludens entity is some sort of pop culture icon in-universe as it's popular enough to have merch. It's an interesting way to connect our world to theirs with Ludens being the mascot of KojiPro but also some sort of pop culture figure in the world of Death Stranding. I feel like this stuff transcends beyond just an easter egg but could've been deliberately placed there for a reason.
Maybe 'Ludens' is just a job role like how 'Porter' is and there are multiple Ludens. Maybe Sam becomes one.
Another dumb theory from me but maybe Sam is actually Ludens - the famous astronaut and before the Death Stranding was on the Moon for whatever reason. Would explain why Sam isn't aware of a few concepts and the whole 'Ludens Fan' thing, how the prepper recognises Sam with the "You're YOU, right?", almost as if he's a celebrity with the Ludens posters on the wall. Also Sam carries around a small Ludens chibi, so maybe this Ludens entity is some sort of pop culture icon in-universe as it's popular enough to have merch. It's an interesting way to connect our world to theirs with Ludens being the mascot of KojiPro but also some sort of pop culture figure in the world of Death Stranding. I feel like this stuff transcends beyond just an easter egg but could've been deliberately placed there for a reason.
Maybe 'Ludens' is just a job role like how 'Porter' is and there are multiple Ludens. Maybe Sam becomes one.
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Yep I'm cpnvinced the Luden in the Kojipro trailer is Sam. It's even hinted at in the ludens fan trailer when Sam looks at the Ludens poster and says "how you doin Sam?"
Maybe there are some info we dont have on the "death" mechanic. Maybe going to the underworld and getting your body back not only creates a voidout, but can have effect on memories, could explain why Sam keeps asking questions at the beginning of the game. We know he worked with the UCA years before the game takes place, but had a fallout with Amelie. But maybe thats not the only reason why he isnt up to date on the latest avancements. We dont know if Sam already "died" when the gamr begins. Maybe he's been told he was a Luden but doesnt remember it.
The asynchronous global elements are harder to imagine. Like Geoff said, imagine the mushroom mechanic but bigger. Im trying and I cant find anything besides common voidouts creating a massive permanent crater and affecting everyone's gameworld permanently.
Edit : Just saw your thread about Kojima's tweet, you do the right thing trying to connect people on the DS subject, but I'm afraid it's a lost cause looking at the replies :)
Maybe there are some info we dont have on the "death" mechanic. Maybe going to the underworld and getting your body back not only creates a voidout, but can have effect on memories, could explain why Sam keeps asking questions at the beginning of the game. We know he worked with the UCA years before the game takes place, but had a fallout with Amelie. But maybe thats not the only reason why he isnt up to date on the latest avancements. We dont know if Sam already "died" when the gamr begins. Maybe he's been told he was a Luden but doesnt remember it.
The asynchronous global elements are harder to imagine. Like Geoff said, imagine the mushroom mechanic but bigger. Im trying and I cant find anything besides common voidouts creating a massive permanent crater and affecting everyone's gameworld permanently.
Edit : Just saw your thread about Kojima's tweet, you do the right thing trying to connect people on the DS subject, but I'm afraid it's a lost cause looking at the replies :)
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Art book is now up for pre-order on Amazon. November 12th release and 256 pages.
Kojima also made a reference to the multiplayer stuff in a French interview at Gamescom. Basically referred to Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse in that you won't be the only Sam Porter Bridges and that many (players) will exist..
Kojima also made a reference to the multiplayer stuff in a French interview at Gamescom. Basically referred to Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse in that you won't be the only Sam Porter Bridges and that many (players) will exist..
Interesting, do you by any chance have a link to this inteview? So he's teasing possible alternate realities influencing each other?
He's pretty vague honestly but uses the movie as a reference.
The interview.
And of course it's his friend Julien Chieze :)
French here, I'm gonna watch this right now, thanks !
Edit : interesting interview, he talks about that infamous last part of development, and how for him it is an integral part of development. He compares the all ordeal to a marathon, were at the beginning when in the creative process everyone is motivated and full of energy (ideas) , then in the middle point there is so much to do and the finish line is still nowhere to be seen so it they can loose motivation and energy, but in that last phase knowing and seeing the finish line gives even more strengh and motivation to the team.
When asked to explain the social strand system, he says : Well I'm gonna disapoint you, but I can't go into details on the strand system at the moment. What I can tell you is that DS is an open world, but players are quickly gonna understand that it has a different approach. It will be a difficult journey, consisting in reconnecting a fractured society, divided humans, and is gonna be about a character that is nothing like a super hero. Sam is a solitary worker that needs to survive, he doesn't have any particular power. The more you will progress in the game, the more you will realise he is not the only one in that case. When the game launches, there will probably be millions of people playing, and you will be connected to these people by using "something"...(interviewer then asks : "something?") Yes, it's a bit like Miles Morales in Spiderman ItSV. He thinks he's the only one taking the role of Spiderman, then other persons from other dimensions are also gonna become Spider-Man and are going to meet, and so Miles is not so alone anymore ! Even if the system in Death Stranding is different, this can be seen as a clue for what the game tends to be. I'm really sorry but I really can't say anymore.
The rest of the interview is also really interesting, it's about his philosophy as a designer, a creator, a human being and society in general and its avancements.
This part is interesting : question is about how everyone, young and old, are more and more connected through internet and social networks, but less in the real life, and that it seems this is a theme that seems important to him. He says : Exactly, we never been as connected as we are now, but yet it seems like we never stop waging wars. There is a lot of negativity, and a lot of confrontations, and that's the same in video games : they are all connected, and we end up in tons of fighting arenas where players spend their time confronting each other and shoot each other. We know nothing of our opponent, but we want to show them who is the strongest. The weaker ones a wiped. The dominating philosophy is to use sticks in the metaphorical sense. [...] Death Stranding carries in its core an opposed ideal (to the sticks philosophy). It will push you to create coneexions with other people, and this will maybe lead you to have a different look on the world. Push people to question what we are, and where we are going, is my ambition with this game.
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I see your point feels like the same people coming in with
"where's the gameplay"
"Kojima's pretentious"
"This game looks pretentious"
"I'm out"
"They're tricking people to preorder"
"Kojima and friends"
"How much is this game's budget, no wonder Konami fired him" (even though Sony fund movies with higher paid actors)
"Walking simulator"
Death Stranding threads are exhausting to read now.
Edit Damn even Thomas Mahler once again is shitting on the game.
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This game looks so weird and underwhelming to me. I loved the MGS series, so I'm hoping he's just being really cryptic prior to release. Nothing they've shown of the gameplay looks remotely interesting, imo... :|
This game is on my radar simply due to Kojima's body of work. That can't be ignored. He and his team have made some masterpieces, imo. I'm cautiously optimistic. But purely based on what they've shown, I do not like what I've seen. The story looks... strange... and the gameplay loop they've shown has consisted of walking, placing ladders, and most recently urinating.
This game is on my radar simply due to Kojima's body of work. That can't be ignored. He and his team have made some masterpieces, imo. I'm cautiously optimistic. But purely based on what they've shown, I do not like what I've seen. The story looks... strange... and the gameplay loop they've shown has consisted of walking, placing ladders, and most recently urinating.
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Interesting point. Come to think of it, Solid Snake was kind of like that. He would always take what the other character said and frame a surprised question. "Metal Gear?!..."
It's funny how every time is see people expressing concerns about the infamous gameplay loop, they list stuff and systematically omit the same elements every time. It's always "yeah you only walk, put ladders , piss etc" , there's never any mention of the different ennemies that ere already shown, CQC, the balance and loadout systems, the gunfights especially in the underworld, the stealth, the asynchronous gameplay elements, the vehicule(s)..... nah just piss and ladders and rocking a baby I guess ^^
But in the end I think people having this precise concern will be disapointed as it seems they are looking for a more classic TPS experience, and Kojima has been clear that this game is more about the ropes used to connect each other than the sticks used to beat each other up(even though there are "sticks" in the game, and killing people is part of the gameplay and have actual consequences)
Edit : Another good nugget from the FR itv : after explaining his general intentions on why he makes games and his vision of society, the journalist says that the message he's conveying here is quite political, when most game designers often insist that their games are not political. He answers : It always surprises me when game devs say that! Obviously when you create something, you should be carrying a message. If you create something only to market it, it will never have a deeper impact. When I was younger, the mangas I read were full of messages, and I grew up with them. Mangas today are more like Hollywood movies. They are very marketed, containing very calibrated elements. I think's it's a shame, there is less "food to chew".
Very interesting indeed
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I'm just going to post this video in every thread I see where people forget about all the previous gameplay
But...but all you do is rocking a baby and pissing on Geoff's avatar !!!!! /s
Does the scanner thing let you see where other players died? Is that what the strands and ghostly objects are when the little scanner thing comes to life on your shoulder?
I might work like that yeah, since we know that the people on the other side are still attached with an ombilical chord, so maybe the scanner picks up the chords locations and BB allows Sam to see them. We know that you canfind the other players lost cargo and bring them to their destination in their place, so we should be able to locate other courriers last location/spot of death
Sadly I don't think we were promised it to be released online?
I hope it is, though. Especially now that it leaked (skimmed over it, I'm weak).
It's crazy that every single piece of new information creates more questions that it answers :D
Honestly at this point, I'd rather we go into November 8th with no knowledge of how these systems work (considering how close we are now) so we can all experience it together at the same time. About Ludens, I think I'm still kinda leaning into the idea that it's sort of a 'job role' essentially. Die-Hardman wears a Ludens mask and is the commander of BRIDGES now so I don't think it's a stretch to assume he was *a* Ludens at some point.
Also yah, I should probably stop with the threads considering all of the shitposting and trolling that happens. I wrote up a long post in that thread though that I think a lot of you might appreciate.
Question: So, players are the bridge babies?
My Answer: In a sense, yeah. If you watch the trailers since the E3 2018 one, every time it cut to a different scene, it had a person (assuming it's a Bridge Baby) blinking. We (as players) are in the perspective of these Bridge Babies multiple times. I'm not too sure what the significance or deeper connotations of all this is but I'm interested in learning more. It's a deliberate decision so it has to carry some meaning.
Maybe we're Bridge Babies because Bridge Babies are 'stranded' between two worlds, the living and the dead, just like how we're 'stranded' in the real world but also the virtual world (internet, etc)? It's an interesting metaphor that feels like a thing Kojima would do tbh. Especially considering this game seems to be tackling ideas like how technology lead us to ruin despite being able to instantly communicate with one another. As Sam says in the Release Date trailer:
"Covering the world in cable didn't put an end to war and suffering, don't act surprised if it all comes apart if you try to do it again."
Norman said that the game will contain elements of social media and considering the game has you connecting other people and fractured societies together through various 'strands' and through the internet... (Chiral Network)
I've been reading up on a bunch of interviews with Kojima these past few days and I feel like this is what he's trying to tell us. It's not at all a 'deep' message or anything but Kojima says he wants people to think of the world around them when the game is over and I definitely think a message like that fits the description however inspid or wishy-washy you think it is.
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You may not like his games or "Rockstar Ego" (not sure exactly where people got that from though) but I'm baffled anyone who likes videogames wouldn't support his vision and welcome more people like him in the industry.
"He thinks he can do what he likes!". Yes, instead of having to give in and treat his games as mere products. People would rather have that?
Aaaanyway.
Am I going to need a PS online subscription for the asynchronous MP stuff? Bummer if so.
Excited to see how the "connecting the world" is going to break the 4th wall and happen outside of the game.
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Playstation site say we dont need PS+ for Asynchronous online. Just for Synchronous online, like co-op, real time pvp, etc. I saw some ppl mentioning souls games need PS+, but souls games have co-op and real time pvp as well.
"Online play without a subscription
You don't need to be a PlayStation Plus member to play online on your PlayStation 3 or PS Vita, but we recommend subscribing as it allows you to take advantage of all the extra features you receive when you join.
You also do not need to be a member of PlayStation Plus to play non-synchronous games on the PlayStation 4. Synchronous games are games where two consoles need to be synched up to communicate with each other in real time - for example if you are playing co-op or competition mode on a shooting or racing game. Non-synchronous games mean that the two consoles do not need to be communicating in real time – for example when playing turn based games like chess."
Escort? Sam is not escorting anyone, hes alone, the baby he carries its a tool, its what let Sam see the BTs (Beached Things) that are those shadow figures. Sam is on a pilgramage mission to cross the country from East to West conecting isolated pockets of civilisation with eachother. Thers also the supplies he delivers from post to post, they dont seem fetch quest as its not like u meet an NPC that tell u to pick up a item and return the item to him, instead seems like a contant moving forward while picking up more and more cargo, untill you can dump them on a outpost.
TLOU was a escort mission though. Didnt stop it for being one of the best games i ever played. :D
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Yeah in his interviews at gamescom he's talking more about his goal with the game, and it really looks like he's trying something actually new and thats the reason why he wantq to say nothing so people discover it as they play. It sure is bold but it seems to me that for him discovering everything together at the same time when the game launches is an integral part of the game
👏👏👏👏👏👏
I have serious FOMO for most games and I can't help but feel I HAVE to be there at launch. Playing Death Stranding one year down the line just won't be the same imo. I feel playing at launch and discovering stuff with the community, experiencing this wacky wild ride together, that's where a lot of the fun will come from.
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