DEATH STRANDING Reviews Are In. RIP Switch

[RayBoccini]

IGN says you'll be walking at least 70% of the time. And the time where you aren't walking is partly when you'll be picking up stuff you dropped from walking the wrong way. lol

[badreligion]

It looks like a boring lame game, will not ever play / 10

Not sure how he can make a game worse then the MGS games but he did.

The MGS games are classic. Granted the later installments were a bit too heavy on the cut scenes but the series is legendary.

[ryankoch]

Post apocalyptic FedEx simulator

[rectifryer]

For convenience, Review Roundup from PCgamer. People aren't going to like to hear this, buuuuut...

I actually have to recommend reading through the IGN review because they do a rather thorough job of answering the gameplay specific questions that loomed on everyone's minds after being blown away (or totally confused) by all of the trailers released.

After reading through the reviews a little the actual, nitty gritty gameplay reads like Rock Climbing/Infrastructure Builder/Delivery Boy Sim. You plod along treacherous paths throughout nature with the intent of delivering supplies or packages of some sort, and eventually can build roads and bridges that make the pain-in-the-dick journey you had to make before less tedious the next time around.

When laid out like that, it's almost like a deconstruction of pay-to-skip timesavers in games, where you're struggling through such mundane, insipid gameplay that you would pay extra to "play" less of that bullsh*t.

Except that is not to acredit Death Stranding with making some kind of brilliant, meta commentary on how game design has fallen prey to greed, it really is just flat out the hemorrhoids of gameplay design that will have you aching to get that Preparation H so that you don't have to go through quite as much trouble again.

Controls are going to be your primary test of... hell if I know, but they're going to be the foremost blister in your fingers:


A positive review from The Verge flowers it up, but it's the same result:


In other words: How much do you enjoy holding a button to climb up some rocks in a game? Throw in a balancing component, and that is going to be the bulk of your playtime.

More details on the traversal from vg247


Alright, Timefall: That weird, time-fukkery component? It sounds like it functions as a durability system at the end of the day, giving you impetus to not take your sweet time delivering.

Finally, how this comes together for your missions:


As for the infrastructure bit:


Later on in the game...


Don't expect these encounters to culminate into some sort of plot-revealing conquest or build-up, though:



The most glowing reviews appear to be weighted as 90-100% caring about character and story, whereas everything below that begins to take the rest of the package into consideration, hence some of the division. Then of course there is also the matter of reviewers fearing fanboy backlash (which is common across pretty much any known franchise or game with plenty of hype), with some reviewers not submitting scores because Sony's requirement was for them to complete the games in full for early reviews.

Personally, I would watch the hell out of a Death Stranding TV series for a fleshed out season of 1 hour episodes, but I have no interest in monitoring Norman Reedus' bladder, rocking a fake baby to sleep, or throwing poop bombs at ghosts (not an exaggeration) for tens of hours. Funny enough, a substantial portion of those hours are still going to be cut scenes with characters expositing information and dumping their purses onto your lap; The opening segment alone surpasses most feature length films, but only ~30 minutes of that is actual gameplay.

That's fine if it's your preference and that is totally Kojima, but it's best to know exactly what you're getting into with Death Stranding and have realistic expectations instead of praying that the hype will carry you through.

I think plenty of people, myself included, were intrigued with the talk of Kojima's "new genre," but frankly, this really doesn't sound like much of a new genre, but an amalgamation of preexisting game concepts in a lovely, new narrative package. We have SIMs, an open world, Euro Truck simulator, and delivery quests, only with a prestigious cast and greater emphasis on passively consuming the main story rather than impart much impact upon the world you're thrust into like many story driven RPGs.

I'm still going to wait for more concrete footage, primarily out of curiosity for that whole time travel, World War trenches bit from one of the videos.

I hate to say it, but it sounds like even Death Stranding falls victim to the AAA open world syndrome:


- IGN


- Polygon

I hate cite them, but if Polygon is calling out a game for being a bunch of fetch quests... holy hell.

Ok ok ok it sounds like a 40 hr minigame of balancing a character, but some reviewers are calling it the best game they've ever played so that's conflicting. I can see the IGN case though; I play games to escape reality, not to put it under a microscope.

I have a lot of hope for the genre. Games like Control are pushing the imaginative boundaries of paranormal scifi IMO and I was hoping this would be a AAA exploration of something similar.

[nkiritsis13]

Ok ok ok it sounds like a 40 hr minigame of balancing a character, but some reviewers are calling it the best game they've ever played so that's conflicting. I can see the IGN case though; I play games to escape reality, not to put it under a microscope.

I have a lot of hope for the genre. Games like Control are pushing the imaginative boundaries of paranormal scifi IMO and I was hoping this would be a AAA exploration of something similar.

I'm going to be honest with you, mate: I really think that a bulk of the praise between:

1. A fear of backlash from rabid Kojima fans, which is sadly a reality of this era where people fling their figurative sh*t over someone criticizing something that they like. Hell, it goes further with some people probably not even being able to admit to themselves that they don't like a game they were hyped over or from a director they admire. Funny enough, though, I had read about one of the Giant Bombcast guys who was predicted to be up there praising Death Stranding like a Kojima evangelist couldn't even push himself through to finish.

2. An unwillingness to look like the "dumb one" who didn't "get" the grand picture, underlying themes, character studies, yada yada yada after all of they build up and A-list cast. Unfortunately, even this aspect of the game sounds rather underwhelming given the hype, with the core of Death Stranding being far from any extraordinarily complex, intellectual journey.

3. A lot of video game reviewers and "journalists" are just bloggers who landed into the field who really have no business pretending that they know anything beyond the surface of video games or evaluating good gameplay. The people who complain about having to learn how to dodge or press the trigger once in a while are going to love a game where not only combat, but general engagement take a backseat to story dumps and staring at Norman Reedus' ass in-game (I wish I was exaggerating there).

Nevertheless what is particularly crazy is that even Polygon, the outfit notorious for publishing a profound inability to play Doom, was critical over Death Stranding's gameplay.

Spoiler!

Even the most glowing reviews don't make the gameplay side of Death Stranding sound like anything otherworldly or genre defining, let alone fun. Competent, sure, but certainly not the sort of gameplay that is going to be causing waves in the future.

The people who are going to find any remote, let's call it "challenge," to Death Stranding from a gameplay perspective are going to be, literally, the types who can't beat the Cuphead tutorial level.

Spoiler!

... And even that guy refers to it as playing a "glorified postal service worker," again in spite of an overall very positive attitude towards the game.

A lot of people wanted Death Stranding to be a good, if not great game given the intrigue and mystique behind it, myself included, but the reality is that a far fewer selection of people will enjoy Death Stranding as a game, instead consuming it via Let's Play or Youtube. I would imagine that people who can put up with walking simulators will not be nearly as put off as the average, but that is under the assumption that even they are happy with the substantial amount of passivity involved in order to take in the story as opposed to unearthing it themselves.

I'm 100% with you on wanting to see more high production games that delve into a sci-fi, paranormal mindf*ck, but I'm actually getting somewhat of an opposite impression reading about Death Stranding in that it is a game that fully immerses itself in the mundane despite having such a promising premise, merely treating the strangest aspects as a backdrop. I doubt that I'm alone in being drawn to the teases of engaging in time travel and being thrown from a seemingly dull existence into the eldritch and unknown.



^Hard not to be hyped about that.

I also think it's awesome how Sony gave Kojima a blank check and total control over Death Stranding regardless of the result, but after reading about said results, I would have preferred it if it was HBO giving him carte blanche for a TV series.

[butwhowasfeel]

LMAO @ getting a lower metascore than Luigi's Mansion 3

l m f a o

[KILLdante]

LMAO @ getting a lower metascore than Luigi's Mansion 3

l m f a o

That's because Nintendo games are rated by children.

[FAPhaggot]

Had never heard of Death Stranding, so I went on Wikipedia to aware myself...

People have created "Walls" and become accustomed to living in isolation. Death Stranding is a completely new type of action game, where the goal of the player is to reconnect isolated cities and a fragmented society. It is created so that all elements, including the story and gameplay, are bound together by the theme of the "Strand" or connection. As Sam Porter Bridges, you will attempt to bridge the divides in society, and in doing create new bonds or "Strands" with other players around the globe. Through your experience playing the game, I hope you'll come to understand the true importance of forging connections with others.

Sam Porter Bridges.... like could you hit that chit any more on the head. Fuk off.

[EoR]

I remember the hype for this game was like a second coming.

[Voidgaze]

I remember the hype for this game was like a second coming.

It was the mystery that fueled the hype. But the more that was revealed the more the hype died down. Now people are seeing the reality of it. Is it a bad game, probably not. Does it live up to the hype, doesn't seem that way.



I'll keep my expectations for CyberPunk 2077 realistic.

[tekkenbruh]

Other than those parts where you are in the warzone, everything about this game sounds like **** tbh. Kojima might have gone too far off the rails

[CHARBACK]

just lmfao if you buy this chit game. Open world is bad enough which really turned me off botw and rdr2 but this one looks 10x worse. Also lmao at inserting politics into games, it's one of the few sources of media that lets you escape that cesspool.

[JazB]

Creators like Kojima need to be given limitations to keep them in check, otherwise they go off the rails in a self indulgent fantasy. Reminds me of Tarantino with feet in ever scene. its probably why Kojima fell out with Konami. and probably why PT looked so incredible (only so much you can do with an existing horror game).

Also, if he wants to make a film, then make one

[bartosh]

That's because Nintendo games are rated by children.

Nah, it’s because Nintendo games are actually good.

[mgftp]

That's because Nintendo games are rated by children.

Nah, it’s because Nintendo games are actually good.

I'd say both. Good games for children, I'd even say great games for children TBH.

[alltrapbrah]

Why the fuk Hideo Kojima insists on making games and not films/tv-series is beyond me.

[badreligion]

Why the fuk Hideo Kojima insists on making games and not films/tv-series is beyond me.

I think he's tried but didn't pull it off which is why he's got such a hard on for Hollywood and whatnot.

[bartosh]

I'd say both. Good games for children, I'd even say great games for children TBH.

It's a shame that you limit yourself away from 10/10 gaming experiences because you categorize games as "for children" vs "for adults".

Maybe i'll stop enjoying children's games when i'm older as well but I hope not

[mgftp]

It's a shame that you limit yourself away from 10/10 gaming experiences because you categorize games as "for children" vs "for adults".

Maybe i'll stop enjoying children's games when i'm older as well but I hope not

I am glad I allocate my gaming time towards games more appealing to me. But different strokes.

[bartosh]

I am glad I allocate my gaming time towards games more appealing to me. But different strokes.

The way you post about it comes off as kind of belittling to people who enjoy the games you don't. That's much more reasonable.

[Criollo]

im on the fence with this game. i want to get it just to try it out but at the same time it just looks odd. maybe ill see if i can redbox it

[mgftp]

The way you post about it comes off as kind of belittling to people who enjoy the games you don't. That's much more reasonable.

Well of course anyone who doesn't share my tastes has issues.

[ZBlacktt]

Why the fuk Hideo Kojima insists on making games and not films/tv-series is beyond me.

PS4 vs PS4 Pro

[Visel]

I was feeling the hype up until the reviews came out. A good buddy of mine is a die hard Kojima fan... played and loved all of the Metal Gears' and gets hyped about every project he's associated with. Looks like this one's a deep story, unique setting, and a different gameplay style. I personally am not a fan of what the gameplay is sounding like... and believe that the gameplay should account for the largest portion of the experience and its success in the industry (or simply its success in my personal gaming station).

The gameplay should keep you entertained start to finish, be non-repetitive, potentially give the players flexibility with choices, and potentially give a sense of progression. The setting and story should leave a long lasting impression after the game is finished, and should be an enjoyable addition to the gameplay. These aren't facts, but these are my personal opinions. I don't view video games as "merely another form of media to engross yourself in a long story", it's a game first and foremost, and I primarily want to enjoy the dopamine and break from life, not observe an art piece and learn a story. Because of this, I agree with the poster(s) who wrote that this would've been an excellent TV series or book, but doesn't do what I am looking to have in a video game.

Shoot I'd rather get the next Pokemon game than this, which has many of its own controversy apparently (just Googled it), and a budget that's 1/5 of the size. Why? Because of the gameplay. I'm sure the story will be very kidsy, corny, and dumb.

[pill414]

Everything Ive seen so far looks incredibly pretentious, Im curious to try it though. hopefully pc version will have a demo or something.

[nkiritsis13]

Giant Bomb's Review covers a few details that I felt needed a bit of clarification:

- Upgraded tools beyond the basics are crafted with resources found in the world.

- Timefall (spooky rain) is what prevents player-made infrastructure from permanently staying and negating any need to work, and must be repaired using resources to remain usable.

- Gameplay Summary:
"In the opening hours, this doesn't matter as much because you're just on foot and hoofing it from place to place. When you finally get vehicles, using them mostly sucks because you're constantly driving into rocks. When you finally get highways you can build, it starts to feel a little like American Truck Simulator...if you had to craft the truck yourself. And then the game just kind of gives up on that infrastructure stuff and sends you off to the mountains to criss-cross huge, snow-deluged peaks that take a very long time to get around. And then it asks you to do that a bunch more until the game is essentially over."



What stuck out the most was how the reviewer describes a complaint I've read elsewhere, in that Death Stranding never commits to the more quiet, somber tone pervading the game, with the action set pieces acting as irritating distractions rather than exhilarating adrenaline rushes that beget rewards for their efforts. I have yet to play MGSV (backlog), but having heard so much praise for its combat, it's pretty disappointing to read how Death Stranding's is somehow the low point to UPS Simulator. On top of that, the batsh*t crazy mindfukk story we were all looking forward to is not all that insane, being beaten over your head repeatedly to make sure you didn't miss a single thing.

The early hinting of Dark Souls-like online interactivity has me now reflecting on what Death Stranding set out to do, and it really sounds like the Dark Souls games overall handled the "strangeness" and mystique behind its death-consumed world more successfully because it refrained from over-explaining. At the very least, it's a testament as to how much you can say and how much theory crafting you can inspire without saying much of anything at all, leaving a legacy of questions and fascination in regards to the breadcrumbs scattered around. Considering that Death Stranding is a fully fledged open world, it's quite the missed opportunity to let the world create its own narrative through player agency instead of verbal waterboarding.

Had never heard of Death Stranding, so I went on Wikipedia to aware myself...



Sam Porter Bridges.... like could you hit that chit any more on the head. Fuk off.

It sounds like the entire game is exactly that, e.g.:

Heartman = guy whose heart stops at a reoccurring rate and he "dies" temporarily
Die-Hardman = guy who's hard to kill
Mama = mama
Sam Porter Bridges = job is a porter (detail Giant Bomb pointed out)
Higgs = Likes the Higgs Boson Particle

The premise is literally creating "strands" or connections across an isolated society, the BTs are attached from the dead realm to the living via umbilical cords ("strands"), something about beached animals, also called stranding; it's like using the thesaurus to add "layers" that don't add any actual depth.

And that really seems to be the consensus: If you can pick up on a metaphor here and there, the story is going to overstay its welcome several times over for what it really ends up covering. Quoting the Giant Bomb review:

"The early hours have the feel of a child excitedly explaining to you the elaborate fantasy world they just came up with, and then the middle feels like the deep breath they take before launching into all the reasons why things are the way they are in that world. The last hour and change of the game is basically one long run-on sentence that tries to tie up every remaining loose end where you don't really do anything at all except listen to it ramble on."

It was the mystery that fueled the hype. But the more that was revealed the more the hype died down. Now people are seeing the reality of it. Is it a bad game, probably not. Does it live up to the hype, doesn't seem that way.



I'll keep my expectations for CyberPunk 2077 realistic.

Well laid out for the situation. I went from skeptical (typical of me regardless), increasingly intrigued, then once the gameplay details funneled out, and now... plop.

Turns out that the game is a lot of hiking back and forth, delivering packages, and overall working with others online to build new infrastructure throughout the course of the story to make the former points less of a pain in the arse.

Still, I suppose there was a good deal of forewarning as to what we were in for with Death Stranding with all of the vagueness, most recently that Japanese gameplay* that was a whole 49 minutes of... nobody bloody knew if they didn't speak Japanese.

As someone who doesn't follow gaming closely at all, I seriously had no idea that the Tokyo Game Show preview was only a month ahead of release; I figured it was some early-ish footage with the game at least a little further out with the meat of the gameplay being purposefully obfuscated. Likewise, I doubt anyone would have guessed that Death Stranding would really boil down to being a hiking game, and a common comparison being QWOP of all things (Below for anyone else who couldn't remember exactly what that was).

Spoiler!

And for some people, that is apparently enough if reviews are to be taken into account, but I have my doubts that there will be a broader appeal for the average people already weary of the video game landscape currently flooded with open world titles. With Death Stranding, we're also talking about some major video game grievances that have worn out their welcome to many, regardless of the narrative importance (or lack thereof) for this specific game.

We have a seemingly purposefully built empty world with scarce NPCs and little to discover, no player impact or choice within the story, fetch quests, durability meters, so on and so forth; I don't think anyone was looking forward to closing out this generation with any of the above, especially from a highly anticipated Kojima game.

Yet as you said, it does not by any means look like a bad game because the pieces there are done well, but it boils down to whether a large number of people are going to want to sit through so much tedium.

I had read about that earlier and thought that while that shift in mediums seems almost inevitable given Kojima's fascination with film, as well as possibly more fitting for the narrative that Death Stranding seeks to tell, it is also a shame for a couple reasons.

People like Kojima being involved with video games does at least shake up the banality in terms of both gameplay and storytelling.

Additionally, while video games have given him a medium to tell long stories, they also greatly surpass the limits of movies, so he will have to either do some major trimming, or instead take advantage of the growing popularity of TV series and the long-form format that they allow.

That said, after reading reviews covering how Death Stranding handles story, I am curious if specifically aiming for film will involve a much needed editor to trim the fat and limit the exposition that in about any circumstance does a huge disservice to the storytelling.

[MikeLowrrrey]

im on the fence with this game. i want to get it just to try it out but at the same time it just looks odd. maybe ill see if i can redbox it

Redbox usually have games on Day 1. Definitely gonna Red Box it

[R3L3NTL3SS]

Sooo...pass.

[SideshowBill]

Redbox usually have games on Day 1. Definitely gonna Red Box it

pardon me good sir, what is red box?

[Criollo]

pardon me good sir, what is red box?

its a vending machine basically. it rents out physical copies of games and movies. pretty decent service and the machines are in convenient places like grocery stores and such