Death Stranding - PlayStation 4

This game leaves me somewhat speechless, and not because I'm having a blast playing it, but because of what it asks players to confront, and the ways in which it forces them to do so. This is not a 'fun' game, and I'm not sure if I would recommend it to anyone who isn't into experimental art forms -- James Joyce and David Lynch come to mind, but with more humor. It's a melting pot of familiar gaming tropes upended. I found the first 10 hours incredibly depressing and isolating, but was genuinely lulled into doing what many of its talking signs left behind by others suggest I do: put one foot in front of the other, and keep on keeping on. After which I was left wondering to myself if I should be mad at this game for tricking me into mindlessly delivering material goods to others, and realized I both love it and hate it. I'm baffled this game exists, and that it got the huge budget it did, but I'm so glad Sony let this come to fruition. It feels like it was a business and marketing mistake, and only time will tell how it will be received, and the impact it might make on future games to come. It's certainly the most unique game I've played, and I'd expect the impact it makes in the long run to be positive and inspiring, if only to show other gamers and developers that the familiar fetch quest based games are tired and done. Whereas with other games, I can sit down for 20 minutes to an hour and complete part of the story or a side mission, in Death Stranding you can easily get sucked into playing (or watching) for hours. But instead of a feeling of having defeated some challenge, you've in the end only accomplished delivering a pizza to an isolated hologram. To get there you would have traveled through a desolate world completely devoid of other life except for some nasty floating bugs that give you energy and signs or items left by other players along the path. You might run into some tar people materializing from the world of the dead trying to suck you in and use you to destroy everything within your radius, or some cargo hungry thieves called MULEs that largely are just annoying distractions from what you really want to do, which is get something from point A to point B, with maybe a little exploration and community building sprinkled in. If you get thirsty along the way, all you can drink is Monster Energy drinks. Idiocracy, anyone? We're the fools for playing this, aren't we? And from all that hassle, what do you get? A ton of social media-esque likes that feel mostly empty. The stats system is largely unnecessary except for improving some of the other in-game systems and mechanics, and seem to exist mostly to emphasize the emptiness of gaming- and social-stats. But even then -- I sometimes log on just to see how my structures are faring with other players. It got me, I'm hooked. Maybe it's actually there to keep me motivated and playing. There have been many moments in this game where I laughed out loud at the ridiculous over the top nature of it, and the first delivery score and stats animations was one of them. Death Stranding is a game about gaming's unrealistic cargo management systems; it's a commentary on open world games made through expanding the size of the world to an almost incomprehensible magnitude and ignoring the familiar notion of day/night/weather cycles; it's about human connection and the hollowness of social media appreciation, and the isolation of operating socially in that space more so than out in the real world; it's political, and through ridiculously blatant metaphors emphasizes that humans are their own worst enemies, and left to their own devices as isolated ghosts, divisive and ignorant of each other, could very well spell the end of humanity, and the beauty within, as we know it. It's a game perfect for this era. It's a game that you can only appreciate through experiencing, and I'd recommend it to anyone who has the patience for difficult art. It's a game that makes me never want to play video games again. Update: Okay, I've updated this from a 4 to a 5. It's truly an exceptional game. It's certainly not without its flaws, but I have had some serious moments with this. An anecdote: last night I got myself in trouble and I was taught a lesson about greed. I'm on Chapter 5 now and have earned some things to help me make more and heavier deliveries. I felt unstoppable, like I had all the power in the world to get all the likes from all the holograms. Instead, the BTs came up from the dead and sucked me into their world and I was forced to defend myself against a boss that I had not prepared at all to fight. I had a large quantity of materials to build some roads, but they all turned to chiral waste, just like my time. Another, but a lesson about patience: one delivery required that I climb down a cliff and cross a very wide river twice. Despite the helpful (and kinda spoiler-y) signs left by other players directing me through the safest path, I nevertheless fell several times and was washed down the river with my cargo going wherever it well pleased. I had to really concentrate to complete that river crossing, and finally did after a few failed attempts. I was impatient, and in the long run it hurt me. You're literally punished for your greed and impatience in this game. It's beautiful. It makes you feel small.

Back in 2006, a normie friend of mine went out of town for an extended trip and decided to buy a PlayStation 2 to pass the time. I recommended to him Metal Gear Solid 3, given that it's a pretty decent entry point into the series and the title generally appeals to a western audience. He did not like the game and was pretty confused by the stealth action gameplay. I don't mean to sound like I have a gatekeeping mentality, but I have a feeling most people - even hardcore game fans - are befuddled by Death Stranding as it doesn't fit within the four corners of established gaming genres, not even walking simulators, which applied pejoratively to this game. I can't imagine what my friend, who didn't like MGS3, would think of this game. And myself, a Kojima fanboy since the original MGS, didn't get it at first either. I had stayed away from all but the launch trailer and associated media, and had no idea what I was going into when I got the game back in November 2019. I started playing it and, around the chapter 2 mark, was confused as to when any other elements of the gameplay were to open up. I put it down and didn't pick it back up until this week where I marathon'ed my way through the game. Death Stranding is one of those games where when you get it, you get it. It's an enigmatic, pensive, and utterly original non-violent action game that deals with the themes of isolation, renewed connections, and resilience. The walking simulation aspect of it is executed in a way where the technical aspect of walking is a core gameplay element that feeds into the other systems of the game, namely reconstructing the U.S. with others from the internet aiding in that effort in a manner akin to a Dark Souls and NieR: Automata single-player adjacent internet experience. Your rebuilding efforts bleed into another player's game world and vice versa. The gameplay currency are "likes" just like Instagram. All of this feeds into the bigger picture theme of renewed connections. Graphics and art style are amazing and trail blazing, which is no surprise from Kojima. And, the mechanical designs and art, by Shinkawa, are always on point and similar to those of MGS. The licensed music punctuates the pensive moments of quiet time in the game and set the mood, along with the remainder of the atmospheric original score. What seems to be getting Kojima a lot of flak is the casting of his Hollywood friends and other things like the product placement. There is self-indulgence in the casting, but I also think that Kojima was very aware that he was producing a big budget weirdo art game and some recognizable faces could help with sales. That's just me though, but it seems pragmatic. Product placement? Well, that's been a thing since MGS3 had branded ramen noodles and Calorie Mates...they just don't sell Calorie Mates in the U.S., so it was more of a novelty item in the game. But, you had the iPod in MGS4, so this is now a 15 or 16 year tradition at this point when you look at the big picture. All in all, great game. I'm glad I picked it up again as it's one of his best. Quirky, weirdo art game, yes, but so were the MGS games too, if you take a step back and look at the themes and concepts explored in those titles. They just had more mass market appeal due to action figure people playing out big spy action stories. Recommended.

One of the best current games in the last 10 years. No microtransactions. No ripping you off. Great story and graphics. The story is amazing. Don't buy if all you want is constant shooting and intensity to the max. There are slower times in the game, running and driving around. Just dont go crazy on the side quests and you shouldn't be bored. Do a little side quests (find the conan o brien one). Around 30 hours including some side quests. Honestly, with side quests you pritty much are just running back and forth fetching stuff so don't blame the game if you try to do all of it and get bored.

لعبة جميلة

Muy buen juego

Looks brand new and works perfectly fine

良いゲームだよ。お店をお勧めします。