Death Stranding - PlayStation 4

Review update (06/18/2020)Finished the story!Of course there’s deliveries to be done and things to explore. THe main story, however, I got throughLike I stated below in my ongoing review, this is meant for those who are still eyeing this game and are still hesitant to buy. Like many reviewers have pointed out, this is a game that will not appeal to all. I, luckily thoroughly enjoyed it. The story is slow and there is quite a boat load of exposition. Said exposition may be hindered by the way the narrative is edited. I, however, do not mind it as I have come to expect this not only from Kohima games but form many Japanese games and anime. The way of expressing ideas and concept doesn’t always translate straight forward in English and that can be of concern for some. Having stated this, the story is really good (at least for me). YEs it can feel clunky, but I still. Consider it a byproduct of keeping true to the Japanese way of expression and dubbing it. So things are pointed out to you two or three times in a cutscene, making it feel repetitive. But if you let this distract you and let it annoy you, you miss out on a rather well-told story that gets you at the end. When I got to the ending of the game, i had a Sixth Sense (the Movie) moment. All of a sudden, I realized who Sam was, and the role of the other characters in the game. The scar Sam has. His ability to come back and essentially never die. The fact that Kohima even gave you sections of the game where it gave you an actual “game over” and asked you to load from your last check point was even a nice way of telling you “hey! You are not supposed to die here. Try again” was a nice touch, and one of many touches the game throws at you. If you are hell bent on focusing on how boring the traversal is in this game than you are missing out. You take things at your pace and explore the world as you see fit. You can also blaze through it and get as much of the story out of the way. Either way, if you do so with an open mind and an appreciation for something that is different, you’ll come out enjoying this. It’s not a perfect game by any means but it is a 5/5 for me. It is worth the $60. You, can, however, wait like i did and get it for cheaper. As of this writing this game was going for around $23 through PSN and $32 for the disc version here in Amazon. So, yeah, you can find it for cheap if you are still not convinced this game is worth full price of admission...This is not a spoiler but a warning. When you get to chapter 12... Take a break and make sure you have a full afternoon or evening. That’s when the story becomes unraveled thoroughly in a very Kohima fashion. Even though it is broken up in small pieces with small gameplay in between, you are still looking at long cutscenes that together will have you sitting for a good 2 plus hours.Hope you give it a shot like i did. I almost feel bad not buying it at full price but am glad bought it nonetheless.————————————————————Review update (06/03/2020)I’m no where near done with this game. I’m still playing it slow as I have to fit it into my schedule. If you are reading this and many other reviews, chances are you are still on the fence about buying this game however many months after its release. Maybe you are curious and want to take a gamble. No matter the situation, I say this in all honestly. Read the positive and negative reviews carefully; especially the negative ones. I say this because I often get the feeling that some (I literally mean some) reviews are from people that probably played up until chapter 2 and got bored. Maybe they moved a little further but didn’t take the time to explore the games mechanics.This game really opens up the more you do these so called “boring” deliveries. Even as early as chapter 2. It is a pain in the butt to walk, climb, (via ladder, rope or jumping over stuff) and run your way through long distances. Especially if they become longer affairs when BTs or MULES are involved. However, the game quickly rewards you if you do enough main and side missions. Soon, halfway through chapter 2 you get a bike and that accelerates things so much. Then you start getting weapons, upgraded gear to build better bridges, vehicles, traveling equipment and materials to upgrade already build stuff. The world opens ups and the indirect interactivity with other gamers opens up. By the beginning of chapter 3 and all the way to chapter 4 (which is where I’m currently at) things just click and you become interested in delivering stuff to get rewarded. You quickly learns that fighting MULES clears their area for a good while (on top of giving you a break from delivering). You learn that fighting BTs rewards you with crystals that can be used to upgrade equipment and structures. Then you get this feeling of team work when you find a well placed charming station to charge your bionic skeletal frame or your traversal vehicles. You then find a well placed shelter to wait it out for time fall to stop. You find hubs that let you rest and recharge. You are low on grandotes or sprays, request and another player may aid you with said request. Yes, there is a story and it is convoluted (at least so far). But there are game mechanics here that are genuinely fun and quirky.I’m honestly enjoying myself so far and will keep the 4/5 for now because I do want to see what happens to my interest as things progress. As of now, I feel confident saying that I am glad I bought this game!And then, there are the little details. I’ll share one in a pic... but yeah. From how the BB looks at you and interacts with you, to how you choose to fight MULES or BTs. To the funny look leg robots with a cam that do remote deliveries for you.I honestly consider Kojima the Miyazaki of games. For those that didn’t get that references. Miyazaki is behind many, if not all, of Studio Gibli’s animated film. They are not all great but they always show great care in the delivery of the content (in their case, animation and character design, along with some messages, albeit sometimes convoluted; like Kojima).——————————————-Review in progress (05/03/2020).This game came out a while now but I did manage to get it for $30 from here (Amazon).I knew what I was getting myself into because I read reviews and watched reviews on YouTube.I know it’s essentially a walking sim with cargo management. So, yes, it is slow, tedious and time consuming.It is enjoyable so far, nonetheless.I am a few hours in. However. Finished my first major boss fight and have decided to do side deliveries before hopping to the next story segment. I’m compelled, for some reason, to retry certain deliveries and rank up to increase my carrying capacity and rank up.This is a game that I find myself playing 1 or 2 deliveries at a time. Why? Because in just one mission/delivery i find myself carrying the cargo to its destination, but on the way I grab stuff (lost cargo, crystals, and other stuff), I hav my character take breaks, i avoid BTS, I have my character take breaks again, i restore my cargo with a spray, I smooth my BB, I hydrate... Before I know it, a mission that could, in theory, take 3 minutes ends up being half an hour.So, I take it slow to not burn out on it. I play 30 minutes to an hr and no mor (unless there’s a cutscene; in which case I’ll finish watching it and call it a day because they are long).I also play this game either early in the morning or late at night when my kids and wife are still asleep. Hence why I play it in short bursts and not get tired of it.like the quirkiness of the game and the inter connectivity. I like the characters and the vast environment so far.It is not for everyone, that is for sure. From what I’ve played so far and at the pase that I’m playing it, it is a game that I will enjoy for the next few months...I willl update this when I’m 70% to 95% done with the campaign.

There is so much to say about this game.Quick overview: This game is not a walking simulator. Anybody who makes that claim clearly didn't even play far enough to get the first vehicle. This is a logistics, adventure, and terrain-traversal game. You will travel a post-apocalyptic world to deliver cargo and reconnect the scattered remnants of American society. The gameplay offers no instant gratification, and if you are mainly a fan of twitch-shooters, fast-paced action, or arcade-style games, then you will absolutely not make it through the first few hours. The game has no easy comparison to any others, but if you enjoy the feeling you get when adventuring in Breath of the Wild and Shadow of the Colossus, or enjoy a convoluted, Kojima-style story with lots of world-building and movie-esque cutscenes, then you should definitely give this a try.Gameplay: The game starts with you delivering packages on foot and will appear to be overly simple. This is everything you've seen in the trailers, and why everybody reduces it to a walking sim/UPS sim. If you are doing all of the side missions, this section will stretch out for too long and the game may seem tedious. You will encounter numerous obstacles in your path: rough terrain, steep slopes, strong headwinds, rushing rivers, rain that accelerates time and deteriorates your cargo, rogue porters trying to steal your packages, and ghostly tar demons that must be snuck past. In this initial section, you will find yourself lacking the tools to effectively deal with these things. If you focus on the main story missions, you will quickly progress to the next area and the game will really open up. You will get vehicles to speed up your deliveries, floating cargo sleds that you can load up and pull behind you, weapons to deal with hostile threats, and much more that I don't want to spoil. Each will have their own advantages and disadvantages. At this point, every mission becomes a matter of logistics. The game will tell you what threats you are likely to encounter along the way, so you can try and bring the specific tools you need to deal with them and maximize your deliverables capacity. Every journey brings something unexpected, and things will rarely go to plan. This is where I became addicted, and haven't been able to put the game down since.Online Component: One of the main overarching goals in this game is to expand the Chiral Network, which is pretty much just a version of the internet. On your first visit to an area, you are on your own and must make the trip yourself. After completing your first delivery there, you will connect it to the Chiral Network. Now you will be able to deploy bridges, generators, watch towers, bunkers, safe storage boxes, shelters from rain, and more. The beauty of this is that other players will be able to see what you've put down and they be able to "like" the structure if it was useful. Similar to a Facebook like. You will be able to put down signs warning others of danger ahead, cheering them on, or pointing to secrets nearby. And you'll be able to see everything they've added to the world as well. Walking across the terrain, you and other players will ever so slightly flatten the ground as you go. Routes that people tend to take will become paths that will eventually be suitable for vehicles to take as well. The only game that does anything similar to this would be Dark Souls, but it's a whole different beast here. You will really feel connected to other players, even though you never see them. Often you'll find a structure placed by another player when you need it the most. You're given a period of time to spam their structure with as many likes as you can, and in these situations your really mash the button all out. An overarching theme of the story in this game is making connections, and that is something that you really feel with with "strand" style online component.Story: If you've never played a Metal Gear game before then experiencing Hideo Kojima's style of storytelling can be quite strange. Because it is quite strange. The beginning of the game has about an hour of cutscenes before the gameplay really picks up. The story telling will be really vague and nebulous is some aspects, while shoving other themes down your throat repetitively (like the focus on reconnecting with people). Cutscenes are movie quality and the acting is superb and all motion captured, but things will seem kind of strange or like there is some surreal quality to everything. Like these people aren't really true to life. Everything will have a kind of anime feel to it. If you like that, then you will love the story. Fans of Kojima's past work need not be worried about the story. It's fantastic and he goes full Kojima. Others new to his work: be prepared for things to be a little weird and suspend your disbelief.All in all this game is something special. It is super easy to become addicted once you are finally given a full arsenal of tools to choose from. And just when you think you have the game mastered, it will switch things up on you. The encounters will the tar ghosts (or BT's as they're called), are some of the most butthole-clenching moments in the game. The true enjoyment here is not in the moment-to-moment gameplay. It's in the feeling you get when you overcome these obstacles, when one of your planned routes really comes together, when you're out of options and another player's structure saves you, or when you and the other players get enough resources together to create paved roads that span the whole region. This game is very successful at making you feel certain emotions that every open world game tries to manifest. This is the crystallization of what open world games are always trying to achieve, with very little of that extra fluff. This game is great, don't believe the hate from all of the zero-attention-span Chads that try to talk it down.