While I really enjoyed my first few hours with Death Stranding, the insanely repetitive structure of the game is really starting to wear me down. I've probably played like 10 hours total and it is literally the SAME thing over and over and over. I was actually really looking forward to the "boring" gameplay and I do enjoy hauling a difficult load of cargo around, but my god.... every single time it is the same process. You haul some utterly meaningless random cargo to an utterly generic hologram of an NPC, hanging out in a depot that is absolutely identical in every single way to the one you picked it up from.
"OK, this... looks to be in order. Thanks, we couldn't have managed without you." Then you connect them to the network, watch the map expand, and shortly after get an email: "Thanks again for these [items], they really saved us!"
Saved who?! The settlements are 100% devoid of anyone other than a single representative hologram, it's just copied and pasted depots, all from a pool of the same exact 3 assets. And the long animations and confirmation screens every single time you start and end a mission.... it's just really becoming unbearable.
I was willing to hang in there in hopes that the bosses or cutscenes would be cool but even
the first boss was just terrible.... run around in mud, drop your stuff, spam it with grenades. Not hard, just.... sloppy and one-dimensional.
I'll probably give it a session or two more of play but at this point I feel like I've seen it all. And the part I was most looking forward to isn't even very interesting anyway because it's so incredibly simple and easy. I though there would be more engaging mechanics for trekking around and managing your equipment, stamina, load distribution, etc, but it's really just walking down the path in front of you holding L2 and R2 until you get there, hoping you don't get swarmed by MULEs or BTs.
I don't know, after like 10 hours I'm finding this game to just be kind of... undercooked, despite how much I hoped or expected it would be otherwise. The thing it reminds me of the most is No Man's Sky at launch, which is not a particularly flattering parallel.
Does the online component to this game require PS Plus? We are trying to figure out what kind of account to set up on my old PS4 for my wife to play and she wants some online connectivity but the impression I'm under is the online is more passive than anything so I'm curious if she needs Plus. I don't know if she's signed in on the old one if it would prevent me from playing online on my new one so I'm trying to figure out the best option..Thanks!
I have to say, the trek to Port Knot City was such a harrowing and frustrating experience, but the feeling of satisfaction as I reached the top of the hill as the rains parted and the music swelled was something I hadn't felt since Dark Souls.
So I feel very compelled to go back to the first city to delivery these big barrels...do you get rewarded anything substantial by getting 5 stars? So far I got a bridges hat and feel goods
Can't speak to the reward but if you want to just do it. I've been having a lot of fun going between the destinations picking up and delivering lost cargo and setting up and refining routes. I'm not even at Chapter 3 yet but have invested a number of hours already.
I only just got to Chapter 2 but so far I'm loving it despite going in with heavy reservations. The beginning has been jam packed with cutscenes which I could see getting tiresome but for now I'm enjoying the balls-out-weird Kojima story.
The actual gameplay itself is so much more fun than I expected. I love how you can manage each of Sam's arms, posture, balance, and breath and plot out optimal courses through the terrain. Scaling down a cliff side with precise positioning and careful feet feels so rewarding. I can't wait to unlock new traversal options and see more stuff in the world from other players.
I've filled 3 of them up fully from 0, the other 3 had been half filled or so and I topped them up. (I've finished 6 parts of the highway, there may be more). I seem to have an over abundance of resources, especially the crystals so I just dump everything into the highway and move on.
Ok thats what I figured. What a strange oversight. Like it seems balance is supposed to be a big part of the game but having a mechanic just essentially turn this into a walking sim certainly is a weird design decision. I can see why some people hated it. I certainly don't hate it (tho its early) but was hoping there would be a bit more to it.
Not sure how hooked into the "twitter discourse" everyone is, but what's with a bunch of the press people who were negative on the game making the straw man that everyone who likes the game is basically the Rick and Morty copypasta?
I've seen way more people claiming this than I have actually seen anyone saying "you have to be smart to understand this game." Seems like a very bizarre strawman deflection. If anything I've seen way more of these people implying that if you like the game "you must be pretending".
What a strange media cycle Death Stranding has had.
Ended up playing a few hours, into Chapter I. Pretty cool so far. The visual presentation and music is phenomenal. I love the choice of music in Kojima games.
The events so far are pretty interesting. The dialogue is hammy, but it's all in good fun. I have to stop playing and get back to writing for NaNo, but this will be an interesting game. currently carrying...a certain "someone" to be burned.
20 hours in.
Time to go to sleep and then kick some Mule ass tomorrow.
Good thing that I'm meeting friends tomorrow, else I wouldn't have left the house at all. I really, really enjoy the gameplay loop.
I love how much combat is de-emphasised. My first encounter with the MULEs I just ran up and punched them all unconscious; there was no tension nor really much satisfaction. Also the only major boss encounter I've had so far was hilariously easy. Kojima clearly wants to focus on the slog of traversal and I'm kinda loving it so far. 7 hours in, we'll see if it holds over a longer play time.
So I guess I'm right near the end of the first 8-10 hours people seem to dislike. I've enjoyed my time so far, so if the game gets better then I can't complain. Just reached the Port Knot area.
Not sure how hooked into the "twitter discourse" everyone is, but what's with a bunch of the press people who were negative on the game making the straw man that everyone who likes the game is basically the Rick and Morty copypasta?
I've seen way more people claiming this than I have actually seen anyone saying "you have to be smart to understand this game." Seems like a very bizarre strawman deflection. If anything I've seen way more of these people implying that if you like the game "you must be pretending".
What a strange media cycle Death Stranding has had.
It definitely resonates on that level. If the first number of hours of the game are meant to be the worst then I'm set. Love that I have all of tomorrow to be in this. Just want to wrap myself up in it right now, the traversal and isolation is wonderful,.
oh yeah. i'm glad we both resonated to Control and this game. they're both goty contenders for me. control will probably take it but i'm having a wonderful time here as well
Yeah, this is where the game opens up considerably. Episode 2 is mostly about establishing pace, whereas Episode 3 and onward focuses on expanding the scope and your toolset.
Yeah I saw those, but tbh, I don't feel like he is talking about intelligence. More just the mode of critique. Lots of people in games journalism very much write merely from the perspective of "I liked this, I didn't like this." Rather than the merits of the game on its own terms and who it's for.
But I guess I could see it coming off a little pretentious. I like Lawrence though, he is almost always pretty thoughtful in his game analysis, and I got way more out of his review and Tim Rogers reviews than I did from IGN's. Rather, they gave me a better feel of what the game actually is and what it represents.
Picked up my copy and ended up getting 8-9 hours in today on my day off. Got all the way up to chapter three and finished my sesh after i connected the first 3 Preppers to Lake Knot City.
Needless to say there is some aggravating nonsense (such as only being able to accept certain missions from certain hubs including main missions) which makes things a bore as you're forced to either travel to and fro across the map repeatedly to accept and deliver quests or accept em all at once, stack items to stupid heights and crawl along the map attempting not to fall. After chapter 3 the game gives you plenty of tools to make deliveries and combat a lot easier. The story is intriguing enough to make me continue playing but i can see why people are divided on this.
Honestly this reminds me more of Blade Runner 2049 than anything. A slow, methodical piece of art that probably got bankrolled above its station but I'm glad it exists.
Is this game frustrating or is it chill? I have no problems with walking long distances if the graphics are great, I really enjoyed RDR2 because of that. But will I need to spend a lot of time in menus micro-managing my load and if I fuck up is there a big punishment where I need to replay large sections or even have only one chance?
I can see myself playing a game where I need to walk long distances, but if I need to be stressed every step of the way I will not buy this game. I loved the stories of MGS1, 2, 3 but 4 was already too weird and cringe-inducing for me. Is there a lot of cringe here?
I have a 4k HDR OLED TV and am debating buying the game just for the graphics and walking around in a gorgeous landscape like in Journey or something and chilling a bit after work, do you think this game is for me?
Is this game frustrating or is it chill? I have no problems with walking long distances if the graphics are great, I really enjoyed RDR2 because of that. But will I need to spend a lot of time in menus micro-managing my load and if I fuck up is there a big punishment where I need to replay large sections or even have only one chance?
I can see myself playing a game where I need to walk long distances, but if I need to be stressed every step of the way I will not buy this game. I loved the stories of MGS1, 2, 3 but 4 was already too weird and cringe-inducing for me. Is there a lot of cringe here?
I have a 4k HDR OLED TV and am debating buying the game just for the graphics and walking around in a gorgeous landscape like in Journey or something and chilling a bit after work, do you think this game is for me?
There's an option to auto-optimise your cargo with a single button press which is AWESOME. In 7 hours I've not had any fails, there was a timed mission but the time limit was absolutely ridiculous - you had 30 minutes to do it and I did it in like 9 lmao.
The sections with the BTs are tense but not too bad, especially as the game gives you a lot of options to escape, especially once you have a vehicle. Also the human enemies can be punched out or avoided super easily and they're not very common so far.
Just cleared my first MULE camp segment in Chapter 2 & got a bunch of stuff from the postbox. If I leave to return the stuff I got, will the MULE guys wake back up by the time I return or do they stay down once a camp has been cleared?
Just started. From the very first moment of actual control and movement in the world, I feel like I'm really going to enjoy this.
Also, I want to say that I was watching Giant Bomb's Quick Look with Vinny and Alex last night, and the moment when Alex was walking along the rock face and there was an overhang that he hit and it physically knocked (and kept continuing to knock) the packages off his back was some of the funniest shit I've seen watching a game ever. That moment right there made me think that this could be a really special game lmao.
Man, this game really throws you into the wolves, doesn't it?
I'm a few hours in, but everything seems complicated and convoluted. All the mechanics. They just throw ALL that shit at you at once and I guess expect you to figure it out eventually?
I'm absolutely loving the game so far, which is a relief since I was 50/50 on whether it would be love at first sight or if I'd instantly hate it. Sorry Miyamoto, but this game gives me stronger vibes of romping around in the hills behind my house as a kid than any Zelda game.
Wandering through the wilderness and slowly working your way up inclines to Low Roar is maximum comfy.
So uh. does just always holding L2R2 mitigate the entire mechanics of the game? Because so far I havent encountered anything thats reqiured or punished me for just holding both that keep me upright no matter what.
Is the ratio between cutscenes and gameplay as lopsided as it's been in the MGS games?
Also, do we see much of that goopy WW2 aesthetic like we saw in one of the earliest trailers? I loved the look of that. Hopefully it's not just a tiny portion of the game.
The dialogue sometimes sounds like what Japanese people who weren't that great at English spoke to me like while I was in Japan.
Especially Deadman's "Are you mad? What's your problem" after Sam shows distress about what just happened or something to that effect. Like IMMEDIATELY after he shows he's upset. Got stuff like that all the time.
Not super far; only did like two trips so I can't say if the gameplay loop sucks or not. But the story is exactly what I like. Crazy dumb bullshit yo. KH3 is my GOTY after all lol.
Hopefully that keeps me going if things do get too boring. Kinda sucks that I lack the time I used to play games and w/ Pokemon coming going to be interesting (also rented Luigi 3 sooooo).
