Exactly what Kojima needs. More authorial control
Dang and I was just thinking to myself how Iād like to play Death Stranding again but on Xbox and here it is.
And half price!
What I want but canāt yell at Kojima about because I have no direct path to yell at him is this:
Iāve somehow managed to avoid what this game is really like or what itās about for 5 years. I mean I know you carry stuff and there are babies. It sounds cool. I guess new platform means whatever online community elements there are to this game (?) will be starting over from scratch
Itās really satisfying to get roads and other infrastructure built over a dozen hours and make the traversal less punishing.
this is the smartest man on earth
I read this and went āWTF is a Luna??!?ā. I am unsure if this means I am out of touch or someone has set a ton of money on fire.
my only complaint with this is that driving the vehicles really doesnāt have anywhere near the interesting tactile friction they put into the walking. you definitely appreciate the convenience after that many hours, but it doesnāt feel like āthe real death strandingā
Definitely. If anything they should have made the game world even bigger and had a lot more really remote locations that could only be reached on foot. Take a road trip and then a hike would have been an ideal end game.
But then I only played maybe half of the story, so maybe it eventually becomes like that.
Despite the beach boss fight with Higgs at the end and my ensuing frustration - I enjoyed the game. Kojima games that Iāve played all seem to have an ending that, once started, demands to be finished as quickly as possible - since the exposition and context for the entire game is starting to actually get revealed. I think I wish I paced myself more so that I could take the last bit of the game in a bit slower. That said it was actually kind of fun trying to cross the game map as quickly and haphazardly as possible in the truck, I wish I had recorded it.
The traversal gameplay, especially towards the end in the mountain regions, is really good. Setting up ziplines in your wake is really rewarding. This is really a game that uses the open world as the level instead of a bunch of paths that lead to Shooting Sequences.
The tar pits that open up during fights and boss battles is genuinely distressing, it was really effective at creating a sense of unease and stress. What was more amazing is that you had the option to leave - just walk out of the radius - and the boss fight goes away. Even if you stayed to fight the game is really generous with just spawning weapons and health for you to grab to stay in the fight. In fact most of the game is pretty forgiving - I only died once during a mission and thatās because I fell too far.
It is kind of a flex that Death Stranding is a better 3rd person shooter than many many other 3rd person shooters - despite not being essentially an anti-shooter.
While the ending was long, I think it took the time it needed to wrap up the gameās story and plot threads without being rushed and giving certain beats enough time to breathe. The performances were really good - this feels closer to actual actors performing than what Iām used to with video-games. They invested a lot of tech into making video-game faces cry convincingly and itās actually really good.
The part at the end where you have to disarm yourself so you can hug Amalie is really clever, Iām glad I managed to figure that out.
I might go back and try to reconnect the entire road system and unlock the little sports car thatās in the directors cut, since I found that to be really rewarding.
I kind of want to get Directors Cut just for the Roadster and race modesā¦but is it worth it at $9? Maybe. Iām finding the post game to be really fun. I think Kojima Productions understood the funnest part of an open world game is after youāre done with the campaign and can just vibe in the game world. I explored the āAbandoned Roadside Factoryā now that itās sunny and not crowded with BTs. I finally visited the cosplayer. Also nobody told me Sam Lake was in this gameā¦
Mule camps are so much easier with a grenade launcher and stun grenades. I have been raiding them for raw materials so I can built the road system. Doing that just makes me want to make that Road Trip game I have kicking around, and maybe proves my cargo delivery game idea I have kicking around is viable.
oh huh thatās quite soon
everything is just kind of coming out this year
damn, i donāt want a ps5 that soon
Iām gonna be on holiday dang.
Still keen and curious despite not vibing with a lot of decisions in the original.
AWOOOOOOOOKOOOOOO
PS5 only gives me an excuse to not pay full price for it when it eventually comes to PC. I didnāt even really like the first one except for the gameplay loop, however I am compelled to buy this eventually. I hope it runs on Steam deck. At least I get to resolve a Manifold bet about what the metacritic score will be.
I would like for this video game to be at least marginally less sexist than the average Hideo Kojima product.
Thereās already a gravure idol photoshoot mode so that boat is sailed.
Hideo is the most closeted man alive.