Before we go into the discussion, this, just like every other post on the sub, is from my perspective, and how I viewed and experienced the game. And also i am a huge Kojima fan and as flawed as his games may be, they have had a huge impact on my life.
Death Stranding is the first game from Kojima Productions helmed by Hideous Kojimbo, after he split up from Konami(fuckonami). This game was one of the most anticipated games due to it’s really intriguing trailers, and many looked forward to what Kojima would predict this time {which unfortunately came too soon 😕}
First off I will talk about the goodies of the game. The game’s visuals are fantabulous, art direction is very good(as is expected from Yoji Shinkawa), the most lifelike character models and animations i have seen in a game and also the stellar soundtrack and sound design.
The gameplay might have been clunky at times but I really enjoyed it a lot. But the user interfaces could have been smoothed out a bit.
The story is one of those kinds, the kind of storytelling that is exclusive to video games. I never felt like i was taken control from, during the long-ass cutscenes(Hideo’s kink). Most of the time, the main protagonist is as clueless as the player, and all he does is listen, and the game gives back control when it needs to. Like at the ending >!where you see his past, there is nothing the player nor Sam can do, except watch!<.
I felt that the characters were really well written, other than some cheeky and cheesy lines(and one in particular that made me wanna die, you know what it is), and their names. But the emotions they carry felt too real for me, especially Die-Hardman’s(i cried my ass out during >!his confession to Sam!<). But say what you want about Kojima, but the man knows how to pull the heartstrings.
Next, the man, they myth, the legend, Daryl Dix... Oh! Sorry... Sam Porter Bridges, the protagonist of the game, played by Norman Reedus. Honestly the man and the animators should be given an award for the tons upon tons of animations the protag does, to make him feel as human as possible, in which i felt the game excelled. The fact that he is a big dick and acts all hard and tough to all the characters, he becomes a complete jerk in the Private room, just like a normal human being does when they are alone, the time when u truly be urself.
The game also does a excellent job of immersing the player into the world. I felt like i was Sam, more than a stick controlling a puppet like many other recent games do(i am looking at you, GTA V). Anytime something major(or minor) happens, the protag reacts just as how the player would at that point of time, helping the immersion. Also as the story progresses and as the game opens up, the protag and the player too opens up to the characters and the world. At the start of the game, the protag literally does not care about anything other than making deliveries.
But as the game opens up, he feels compelled to help other people, and same goes for the player. This statement explains this the best “Kojima does not want you to suffer, he wants you to lessen the suffering of others”. The path you walked and the difficulties u endured has also been experienced by others, and the game sort of naturally influences the player into helping other. There are no negative features in the multiplayer aspect of the game, and anything it brings into the game only enhances the experience of the player. There are only positive likes, and also some of my fondest memories of the game are seeing a line of notifications of people who used my structures and roads and seeing the likes ramp up filled me with some sort of energy. When u receive a like, the protag’s stamina refreshes, which i feel is a nice little touch.
The mission structure is simple, go to a terminal, select an order, complete the order return to do another order. But this is an oversimplification of the game but is true. What counts is the journey, i vividly remember most of the orders, the landscapes i walked, the mountains i trekked, the cargos destroyed, and the people I connected with. What makes this work is that there are no restrictions on how you should play, other than those that are placed by the order giver. I started an order, got my supplies in check, and just set off. I opened the map like very few times in the whole game, only to map my route.
I loved that I had nothing holding my hand, and was a big change from playing games like Assassin’s Creed and GTA5 where basically in every mission, the game boasts player freedom and literally brings up the mission failure screen if i do something other than the devs want me to.
I love how the game wants and allows you to take in the scenery and focus on the gameplay, with very little disturbance to your experience. The game opts for an immersive experience by showing us rather than telling us. You need not check the amount of damage your cargo and equipment has undergone in a separate menu as you can sort of see them clearly by just looking at them. Same goes for the condition and power left in vehicles.
The game felt like it had drawn tons of inspirations from the studios’ previous game, Metal Gear Solid 5. Just like MGS5, Death Stranding keeps introducing new mechanics to the player, as a reward for sticking with it. Also the user interface continuously reminded me of MGS5’s.
But the game is not without its flaws. The only things that bothered me in the whole game were some of the exposition dumps which did not give time for the player to make sense of what they had just seen, which diminishes the experience. I love Kojima’s long exposition dumps. But they always allowed the player to take it all in and not bring some insane wackery before the player has even processed the last one. As wacky as the story as might have been it was clear enough if you can listen to the dialogues keenly(which I found to be greatly designed so that you get the dialogues clearly) and also the way they tied up the loose ends at the end was “Pretty Good” ,but the exposition dumps were too much for me, at one point I was like fuck it and did not give it too much thought(to be exact, in the Chapter >!Heartman, where he goes on about the history of the world, but the game lost me at the start!<).
Next was the cumbersome user interface. At some really tense battlefields, having to customize the cargo by opening a menu and having to move about the UI really damaged the tension.
This was not much of a problem for me as I was hooked from the start, I have seen many people complain about the fact that the game takes too much to open up, which I understand. The game becomes a lot better when you get to chapter 3, but many do not have the patience to go through the really slow first 10 hours, which they might feel like the time is better put in some other game. But when you stick with it, it opens up to you, as a reward/gift for being with it.
Everything aside, this is the one game I can never recommend to anyone, as it is vastly different when you play it. But if you are someone that see video games as an art and are in it for the same reason, you “might” like this game. It clicked for me, and is now my favorite game, period. But same cannot be said for you, and if you didn’t like it, it’s okay. If you’re unsure if you’d like it, the game goes on sale like a lotta times and the steam summer sale is starting on 24th of this month.
Would really love to hear your experiences with the game (and also some feedbacks about my post so I can improve my writing😊😌)
👍!Keep on Keeping on!👍
Link to one of the most honest, and well written reviews of the game I have ever seen, and also video game reviews in general, and also all their videos are really good too.
Thanks for reading!!
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