i feel confirmation bias from this review as it appears that this person at least "got it" but this definitely feels more accurate as someone who liked it than the jim stirling review
Last edited by stone hands; 11-12-2019 at 03:57 PM.
So is Death Stranding just a carry heavy #### over mountains simulator? Like is that really what it is? At least a game with a weird storyline like MGS5 had some pretty sweet open world combat stuff.
This is the review I watched.
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So is Death Stranding just a carry heavy #### over mountains simulator? Like is that really what it is? At least a game with a weird storyline like MGS5 had some pretty sweet open world combat stuff.
TL;DR - If I had to describe the game, it's something along the lines of cinematic to cinematic game. In between cinematic, it's a resource management snake and ladder type of deliveryman game play.
I finally got my standard copy I pre-ordered like 2.5 years ago and I put in 1.5 hours in today. I finished the prologue and chapter 1.
Prologue is a delivery quest/basic story line.
Chapter 1 is deeper storyline/basic delivery quest.
Based on what I've played so far, a significant portion of the game is designed where you go from point A to point B to get a really cool cinematic. This isn't horribly different than certain games like Heavy Rain or Life is Strange with far less decision tree attributes in between cinematic.
The game is eye candy and between point A and point B cinematic, it's just a basic delivery quest. However, it somehow feels like a true sandbox in between. Yes, I need to get to a fixed destination, but I can do it however I want and because the worlds are so beautiful, many players seem not to mind stopping and smelling the roses along the way. This is perhaps why there's been comments like walking simulator etc.
There's also the attribute of this game that is probably going to be a bit divisive is that the game play between point A and point B feels like resource management and balancing personified. That's the L2+R2 strap gripping to keep balance, using R1 to scan the topography to determine the path you want to run on (easy vs hard terrain to avoid tripping and damaging goods), stamina etc. and this is the beginning of the game where equipment isn't yet a major factor yet.
Prologue/chapter 1 also doesn't have combat yet. Just stealth which also comes with more resource management (holding your breath). Additional game play mechanics will be introduced later on and I'm guessing it's sorta like Control in that regard where basics of the game are added as you delve deeper. Additionally, the topography aspect is dead barren so far in prologue and Chapter 1. If all the chapters were like this, then I could see why people would hate the game.
Playing single player will maintain a dead barren landscape which would obviously be a ridiculous grind over many chapters. But online components will allow other players to leave behind structures and equipment to aid you as you go along which seems quite interesting. Most online game play mechanics with others don't generally still allow you to continue to play the game however you want. The online component doesn't directly affect how you want to play the game. Instead the online component affects the topography and allows you to decide if you want to use what other players have left for you to use. Most of these things that are left behind are obvious beneficial topographic improvements for you to go from A to B. However, it doesn't generally affect whether you want to plow through, or do every little side quest along the way.
In some senses, the grind in the middle is a reverse of many games out there. Where you make decisions, and the weight of your decisions change the outcome at cinematic B and C. I think (not sure) that Death Stranding is going to be the same at B and C cinematic for all players, but rather than a metaphorical weight, many of your decisions have a literal weight (resource management) to your character as you trudge your own unique path to the same end goal. This also means that watching Death Stranding is going to be blah very quickly as opposed to actually playing Death Stranding itself.
That being said, this probably isn't going to be a game for everyone. There's plenty of fans who love the slower aspect to the game. Some of the claims that people with PTSD and depression are likely to enjoy this game than most mainstream games out there is also hokey as hell. I do think to a certain extent that those who don't try to get to chapter 3 or 4 to see how the game evolves once the online facets unfold into the game probably aren't incorrect in their criticisms either. The Jimpression review seems over exaggerated, but it's not like it doesn't hold an element of truth. I've only played to the end of chapter 1, but it doesn't seem horribly different than a few clips of what I saw in his video. I agree the game would suck if the entire thing is what I've played thus far. However, I have read that the game evolves the deeper you go with the online component. Some of what I read hints that prologue + chapters 1-3 are essentially all tutorials. Furthermore, with so few individuals playing the review copies, there were far too few of them to put meaningful things into the worlds for others to experience. With a vastly larger population putting things into the maps now, I can see it being more interesting than what the reviewers got to experience.
Hopefully my explanation helps. I really think the game is super cool so far. It's a beautiful game on 1080P on an OG PS4. I'm curious to know how it would look on 4K + PS Pro. I'm also excited to see how minute tweaks to the game play completely evolve the way you approach the game as reported by others.
Last edited by DoubleF; 11-12-2019 at 10:42 PM.
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Playing single player will maintain a dead barren landscape which would obviously be a ridiculous grind over many chapters. But online components will allow other players to leave behind structures and equipment to aid you as you go along which seems quite interesting. Most online game play mechanics with others don't generally still allow you to continue to play the game however you want. The online component doesn't directly affect how you want to play the game. Instead the online component affects the topography and allows you to decide if you want to use what other players have left for you to use. Most of these things that are left behind are obvious beneficial topographic improvements for you to go from A to B. However, it doesn't generally affect whether you want to plow through, or do every little side quest along the way.
What's sold me on the game is the online feature of placing stuff to help others. I was reading some people's thoughts on it and the example I found most interesting was when someone was somewhat lost on a difficult route, and they left a ladder in case someone else went on their crazy route. Then they started getting notifications that others were using it and it made them happy to help out, as well as knowing that other people went through a similar path. That's pretty cool.
The only thing I'm unsure of is how much of this game's story is rooted in horror stereotypes. It's hard to tell from what I've seen so far but I usually don't play horror games so I'd be curious to know how far down that road it goes.
i will say that if it clicks for you, the gameplay is definitely fun and compelling. i've not felt this inspired to play a game since breath of the wild and thats my favorite game of all time
like everyone has pointed out, if it aint your cup of tea it will probably not do much for you, but if you are one of those people who is "lul walking simulator" without actually trying it and you get the chance to try it, give it a shot with an open mind. the gameplay loop is very hard to explain beyond "walk from point a to point b and deliver stuff", but is definitely fun and rewarding. boiling it down to its most basic steps like - you just walk everwhere is like saying an fps game is just clicking on heads, its technically correct but misses most of the nuance that makes clicking on heads or walking fun
So I decided to keep my copy based on your review and I'm pretty happy that I did. Played for about 6 hours so far of what I would call tutorial style levels. Right now am just getting adjusted to the pretty complex control configuration which is making traversing the landscape challenging but rewarding once you realize all the tools you have.
It has a really interesting story that is building up and the scenery is just amazing so far (on the PS4 pro). Once the BT's start to interfere with your travels it really ramps up the intensity and I haven't even made it into combat or got the bike back yet. So it's definitely been a slow build up.
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What's sold me on the game is the online feature of placing stuff to help others. I was reading some people's thoughts on it and the example I found most interesting was when someone was somewhat lost on a difficult route, and they left a ladder in case someone else went on their crazy route. Then they started getting notifications that others were using it and it made them happy to help out, as well as knowing that other people went through a similar path. That's pretty cool.
The only thing I'm unsure of is how much of this game's story is rooted in horror stereotypes. It's hard to tell from what I've seen so far but I usually don't play horror games so I'd be curious to know how far down that road it goes.
Hmm, that's a concept that I didn't realize but makes a ton of sense. It does make sense that if you decide to go off the logical beaten path and get totally lost and someone has built something to get you out of that bind from the bad path, it's awesome to find shortcuts to bypass the mistake, and to know you're not the only idiot who wandered into nowhere. That's neat.
I think overall game leans heavily in the thriller trope and horror wise, perhaps no worse than a game like Alan Wake or Control? I'm still early in, but from what I seem to understand at the basic level, many comment that the overall game is relatively calm and perhaps monotonous. But with some of the comments I've seen, it definitely feels like there's a parallel with hiking. As in, many enjoy it in the same way they'd enjoy going on a 5 hour hike. Those who enjoy that type of thing thinks that it's exhilarating. Those that do not, think it's stupid.
There's supposed to be plenty of action later on spread in between the "hike" such as human characters that knock you out and steal your stuff but don't kill you/vice versa, and then BTs. This is early on, but BTs aren't jump scary. They're scary in the same way as the wolves and bears in the survival game long dark. If using the hiking allegory again, this would perhaps be the same type of "scare" as noticing bear poop or seeing a bear in the distance and doing what you can to avoid matching paths with the creature. Sure, BTs are weird looking apparitions, but not horribly scary at all in terms of the typical horror trope of blood and gore and banging noises and what not. However, you definitely don't want to be caught by them and have to fight the big BT/risk voiding out and creating a situation where you have to carve a new path to your end goal because there's a void out crater in the way creating new topography challenges to traverse. Being captured by a boss BT just triggers a flash of light situation. No torn from limb to limb situation that I'm aware of.
Cinematic wise, there's definitely going to be some random stuff that's kinda weird and occasionally gross, but never truly in a horror move trope sort of thing. I did see in one of the trailers where Sam pulls off a toenail presumably because game play wise you were being dumb and were wandering in terrain way too long with busted boots, but that's pretty much the main limit of gross I've seen so far. I've even seen posts about individuals who feel this type of game is perhaps better and therapeutic for some army vets. I truly think this is a bit hokey, but with the lack of jump scares and loud noises and whatnot and the BT interactions, randomly ominous atmosphere from weird songs etc. I can kinda see where some of these comments are coming from now.
The game is neat and there's definitely some fresh attributes to the game. I can't exactly say it's a totally new genre as Kojima likes to tout, but then again most trailblazing in a game are all along the lines of, "Difficult to categorize" until it makes more sense to give it its own category.
I do agree that the more you explain the game, the stupider it sounds. My wife watched me play for about half an hour and her comments were along the lines of, "There's so much movie clips, are you even playing? Do you even enjoy a game where you're watching these clips vs actually playing? The game seems boring/simple, but I don't know why it's cool to watch (from a non-gamer's perspective), it's kinda cool to watching, but is playing this even fun?" etc. I am going to invent my shortest explanation and stick with it.
1. It's a cinematic heavy game between game play sections. (Cinematics are cool and a treat IMO)
2. Game play wise, it's like the exhilaration of a solo 5 hour hiking trail and the resource management that goes along with it.
So if you hate cinematic heavy games. Probably not the game for you. If you don't like resource management, probably not the game for you... or put the settings to "very easy" and reduce the time being precise with durability and stamina? The hiking allegory to the game may have questionable allure for sure, but I can see why so many people find it alluring in a new way. We are spoiled in Calgary for each access to so many hikes. Many elsewhere aren't so lucky.
I probably won't be playing the game again for a while because life is insanely busy right now, but I am looking forward to starting chapter 2 when I get a chance to sit down.
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I will say that the first 2 chapters are indeed a tutorial of sorts and the flow of the game changes quite drastically in chapter 3. You can continue to explore like you do in the first 2 chapters(I do it when going to new areas for the first time because I enjoy it), but you get a lot more tools at your disposal to make traversing the world much easier. As for the cinematic stuff i think it depends on how much side content you do. I've got probably 30~ hours into the game by this point and am only on chapter 3 so to be honest the cutscene heavy stuff is a very small % of my total playtime, but if you just go straight from story objective to story objective you might have a different experience than I
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I will say that the first 2 chapters are indeed a tutorial of sorts and the flow of the game changes quite drastically in chapter 3. You can continue to explore like you do in the first 2 chapters(I do it when going to new areas for the first time because I enjoy it), but you get a lot more tools at your disposal to make traversing the world much easier. As for the cinematic stuff i think it depends on how much side content you do. I've got probably 30~ hours into the game by this point and am only on chapter 3 so to be honest the cutscene heavy stuff is a very small % of my total playtime, but if you just go straight from story objective to story objective you might have a different experience than I
I'm doing whatever side quests I run into as well, but I don't recall a ton of cinematics for side quests. I think almost all the cinematics in prologue and chapter 1 are main story though. Personally, I'm the type to start off doing all the side quest stuff, and after a little bit, I generally power through the game to finish it for the story and doing the later game side quest stuff on a later play through. I can't figure out why, but I can't seem to pause cut scenes.
Random, but I can't figure out if I'm having a stupid moment or if pausing cut-scenes isn't possible. I will be using the PS button for now for cut scenes.
Good to hear that what I read about Prologue/Ch1/2 are essentially tutorial and the game does an appropriate "easing in". Would you also agree with the comments that Chapter 3 starts off like a tutorial then shakes your hand and says good luck halfway through the chapter?
EDIT: The more I am reading some of the criticisms, the more it seems like many reviewers bailed on the game before the "tutorial" was complete. That's... an interesting consideration. If someone wants to know more about the game, perhaps digging up more late game stuff would be more apropos than the stuff in the first 3 chapters? Plus most of those reviews also seem to have limited online content populating their games.
I'm doing whatever side quests I run into as well, but I don't recall a ton of cinematics for side quests. I think almost all the cinematics in prologue and chapter 1 are main story though. Personally, I'm the type to start off doing all the side quest stuff, and after a little bit, I generally power through the game to finish it for the story and doing the later game side quest stuff on a later play through. I can't figure out why, but I can't seem to pause cut scenes.
Random, but I can't figure out if I'm having a stupid moment or if pausing cut-scenes isn't possible. I will be using the PS button for now for cut scenes.
Good to hear that what I read about Prologue/Ch1/2 are essentially tutorial and the game does an appropriate "easing in". Would you also agree with the comments that Chapter 3 starts off like a tutorial then shakes your hand and says good luck halfway through the chapter?
EDIT: The more I am reading some of the criticisms, the more it seems like many reviewers bailed on the game before the "tutorial" was complete. That's... an interesting consideration. If someone wants to know more about the game, perhaps digging up more late game stuff would be more apropos than the stuff in the first 3 chapters? Plus most of those reviews also seem to have limited online content populating their games.
you can definitely skip the more monotonous cut scene stuff like actually delivering packages and drinking monster/showering/etc, just hit start and there should be a skip option
as for chapter 3, they start to dole out new ways to interact with the world at a slow drip, but depending on your strand contracts, you might have some roads already which after the first 2 chapters make you realize just how awesome those little patches of asphalt everywhere really are
as for the reviewing i sort of agree and disagree. for one, its an insanely long tutorial, like 8-10 hours for most players and that is a big ask. i wouldn't begrudge a person who wasnt really into racing games who had to spend 10 hours driving around a parking lot before they could get on the race track in giving the game a bad review, and i think if you just really dont like what death stranding is about, then no amount of time spent will improve it
HOWEVER
i do agree that to properly review the game you should progress somewhat into chapter 3 to see if the new gadgets and infrastructure change your mind, but i also dont think its unfair to characterize the first bit as a slog if you dont like it right out of the gate. the jimpression video is legit him running from the first place you start off at in chapter 3 to one base without using a road or vehicles or any gadgetry and he said hes glad he never gets to play the game again, and i didnt see any other player made structures or signs or anything(could be that he played a copy of the game from pre-release where there wasnt anyone online), but its hard to say based off that what he did and didnt experience. maybe he got to drive a truck down the highway that he built, maybe he didnt. didnt seem like it to me personally, but i'm extremely biased as i love the game
it's almost...unfortunate? that it needs the 10 hours of setup. i dont see a possible way for them to just start you in chapter 3 with zip lines and trucks and #### but it is what it is
Last edited by stone hands; 11-13-2019 at 01:32 PM.
Decided to pick it up last night and played through the first two chapters.
It's definitely a bit weird story wise(not surprising, Kojima and all) but there's something about it that is very interesting. It looks amazing on a pro at 4k HDR, the music is good and somehow hiking simulator is fun so far. Looking forward to playing more tonight.
So, we're on the cusp of the first single player, non-LEGO Star Wars game release in 9 years. Who else is excited for Jedi: Fallen Order? Reviews come out soon, game releases tonight/tomorrow.
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So, we're on the cusp of the first single player, non-LEGO Star Wars game release in 9 years. Who else is excited for Jedi: Fallen Order? Reviews come out soon, game releases tonight/tomorrow.
Seems to be getting some good reviews so far. 9/10 from Easy Allies and IGN. 8.8/10 from Game Informer.
Seems to be getting some good reviews so far. 9/10 from Easy Allies and IGN. 8.8/10 from Game Informer.
Off topic, but I keep getting Norman Reedus vibes from your avatar.
I said screw it and played Death Stranding till like 3 AM last night and made it to Port Knot City. I can't figure out why, but doing dumb side quests in this game definitely is far more rewarding than any stupid side quest in any other game I have ever played. Kojima definitely figured something out. It's insanely weird that so many individuals playing the game are more than happy to do stupid side quests for hours and hours rather than play the main story line.
Microsoft had a pretty decent show yesterday in London for their XO19 event with a number of new reveals.
Everwild - new IP from Rare, really nothing known beyond this trailer. Art style looks awesome, definitely looking forward to hearing more!
Grounded - new IP survival sim from Obsidian, looks like a smaller scale friendly project. They made it clear they have multiple teams and this is more of a side project from their typical RPGs, but I think this still looks pretty cool
KartRider: Drift - apparently huge in Korea? I hadn't heard of it before. Looks fun, and will be free to play. I signed up for the Closed Beta.
Bleeding Edge - previously announced character driven multiplayer melee game from Ninja Theory comes out March 24. Looks pretty crazy! No reason not to try it if you have GamePass.
Tell Me Why - new narrative adventure game from the studio that did Life is Strange
And a ton of new stuff coming to GamePass now and beyond. Highlights include:
-Rage 2 (available now)
-Halo Reach (Dec 3)
-Darksiders 3 (HOliday)
-The Witcher 3 (Holiday)
-Final Fantasy VII through XV (2020)
-Yakuza 0, Kiwami, Kiwami 2 (2020)
And of course a ton of indie games and Xbox Game Studios games on day one.
Microsoft really picking up momentum going in to next gen. Game Pass is ridiculous value.
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I didn't play my XBox One a ton and was leaning towards not buying Scarlett but honestly gamepass is going to push me into buying Scarlett - the value there is just that strong that I will likely be in on Scarlett day one now (depending on the price point).
Add Kingdom Hearts 1.5 and 2.5 to the games coming to game pass as well.
Looks like Jedi Fallen Order is getting great reviews. Think I will probably wait until Christmas to play through that one but really excited about how that looks.
Last edited by SuperMatt18; 11-15-2019 at 09:51 AM.
