Death Stranding - Kojima/Reedus - The Bear and Badger

Tempy

He does do serious analysis though, quite a few times now?

Still, the point about friction in fictional worlds is an interesting one regardless of whether he's playing it for yucks or not (which I did say in my initial response to the video but I guess we'll just gloss that)

RamSteelwood

Tempy wrote:

It is very much a thing that games struggle with though. The idea of inconvenience in a thing you play - where you want as few boundaries and as little friction as possible. It's always something that will be a point of contention (glitches aside) and it's not an issue you can really solve to be honest. People hated the rain in Breath of the Wild I remember - it will alienate as many people as it will draw into the world.

This touches on some interesting points of game design i often think about, and why I'm intrigued by this game even when so much of it seems very much 'not my thing'.
Can a game recreate the sense of difficult, mundane or arduous tasks, then make the overall experience rewarding enough to be worthwhile? It's something I struggle to comprehend cos for me the 'destination' in games are rarely worthwhile, i need the 'journey' to be fun and enjoyable moment to moment.

Minnesänger

You could absolutely do a game like this without friction. But not one that focuses so much focus on minutiae. Every path and cliff and river is a decision, that only works if there is enough friction to make that decision worthwhile. You need the push back in order to make every shortcut feel like a relief, and to amplify the thematic ideas of community and reconnection.

The friction works and is brilliant, and the emphasis on constant system micromanagement, from inventory sorting, to holding straps, to balancing your body works here, arguably better than it did in the MGS games.

dynamiteReady

afgavinstan wrote:

Dunkey weighs in

Too funny. :]

regmcfly

For balance, me who is a Koj boy , I am only going back to it today after almost a week off since my wrong walking frustration. I'm into it but it spends a lot of effort trying to make me dislike it.

digi

Just finished.
Wow.
I can certainly see why folks were asked to finish it before review.
Theres so many twists in the last 4 chapters I think I'm gonna need to take time to gather my thoughts on it.

Game of the year for me though easily, nothing else even comes close.

FranticPea

digi wrote:

Game of the year for me though easily, nothing else even comes close.

Tracks: A Train Set Game is mine.

Smashes Death Stranding into oblivion.

GurtTractor

Crackdown 3 will be mine. Though if I could play Death Stranding then it would probably be that.

Kow

Punching myself in the face is my GotY.

FranticPea

Oh I fancy that game.

*Punches Kow in face*

Yeh, that's pretty good tbf

Kow

Violence is always a good last resort.

regmcfly

So I kinda get what this game is after. It's up to people as to whether or not they buy in or not. I'm still not there myself but I think I get the authorial intent (however successful that is is again up to the individual).
The concept of a strand is that all people are interconnected and, much like Joker, WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY. I think Koj has, somewhat awkwardly, tried to create a game where society helps each other. I think he's been explicitly inspired by Minecraft.

The idea is that the Koj die hards will explore the hardscapes because they're the people who will put 100 hours in. What they leave behind will be there for the interested party. What they leave behind will be there for the curious party. What they leave behind will be there for the discount sale gang.

I think, in a year's time, death Stranding will be a much more straightforward game and easier to complete. I think koj's goal is that those who took the harder journey made it easier for those who want a simpler game, and thus the strand.

Or it could just be a real messy game.

g.man

I gather the stuff that's left behind degrades and vanishes over time though?

regmcfly

Yes, to an extent. Theres a concept called Timefall thar means when rain falls, stuff including your packages, deteriorated. ..however

Stuff that has been well liked by the community gains immunity to Timefall depending on the likes that other gamers give it. So it's a way of optimising the game and removing garbage.

g.man

That's clever.

digi

regmcfly wrote:

Yes, to an extent. Theres a concept called Timefall thar means when rain falls, stuff including your packages, deteriorated. ..however

Stuff that has been well liked by the community gains immunity to Timefall depending on the likes that other gamers give it. So it's a way of optimising the game and removing garbage.

Nothing is immune, everything can be repaired but cost time and resources.
(you can see rust on anything that's deteriorating)

On your first trip to any place that's not 'connected' you won't see any of the other people's things they left.
(you may get a ladder or a rope here or there but that's it!)
Once youv connect them up then all the folks you have connections with stuff will appear, but some require multiple journeys to connect them meaning you'll be planning and placing your own stuff.

regmcfly

Finally got my head back into playing this and completed two deliveries. There is absolutely something here that grabs me, but unless there's something about time in the metanarrative I'm not going to need 60 hours of it.

FranticPea

6 hours is about enough. Maybe half that.

regmcfly

I know you don't like it, but there's a negotiation here. There is utterly a catharsis about a long delivery, particularly one that got a little hairy for me in the end of a 20 minute run. When Sam hit the bed at the end of that, I felt he earned it. That's gonna expand your playthrough, otherwise it's one journey and done. But I can't see 30 hours of the game adding more than the 60 does with the exception of Koj getting to exposit more dialogue.

digi

My finish time says I played for 71 hours 28 minutes and 58 seconds.

FranticPea

Jesus wept. Where do you find the time?! That's some value for a game though. Good stuff.

GurtTractor

Apart from the product placement stuff I have yet to hear anything about this that would put me off, so I'll probably pick it up on release for PC. Will be nice to get into the world when it's at it's most bare. Actually, what happens if you play it offline? I guess the structures either aren't there or just remain from the last online session?

Dark Soldier

I look forward to pirating it.

regmcfly

GurtTractor wrote:

Apart from the product placement stuff I have yet to hear anything about this that would put me off, so I'll probably pick it up on release for PC. Will be nice to get into the world when it's at it's most bare. Actually, what happens if you play it offline? I guess the structures either aren't there or just remain from the last online session?

I think if you played it offline it would be

1) a harder game and

2) one that wouldn't resonate with the themes Koj is wanting to hit.

LivDiv

I think the Strand concept is great. It is a bit cheeky Kojima claiming it when it really is a development of the Souls system. Although granted quite a significant development.
Otherwise it is a nice idea and I look forward to it appearing in another title that holds more appeal to me.

ZMM

Just finished the story. Wow, just wow.

I was craving a game like this, something original, as I've been so, so bored by mainstream videogames, so much so that I thought that was it for me and gaming, after 30 something years. It's been an entirely compelling experience that I'll never forget. It feels like a disservice to call it a videogame. It deserves some kind of unique definition.

Lord_Griff

Interactive movie? Like The Order 1886?

ZMM

I would say it's 90% gameplay 10% cutscenes.

ZMM

I finished it 5 hours ago and it's still playing on my mind.

To be honest, the first few hours of playing it I was not enjoying it at all, but then it just blossomed into this beautiful experience.

mrsmr2

ZMM wrote:

I would say it's 90% gameplay 10% cutscenes.

We need to know total hours played. Cutscenes are a fixed amount. Wandering around is variable.

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories