Death Stranding - Kojima/Reedus - The Bear and Badger

stonechalice

Started this but fell asleep. You forget how much content you're just watching in a Kojima game.

The atmosphere is thick and it's very pretty. Shame the haptics aren't in there for PS5 yet...

Kernowgaz

FranticPea wrote:

Yea, it vibrates regularly to wake you up.

Hahahaha

Verecocha

stonechalice wrote:

Started this but fell asleep...

Get used to that...

I’ll always have mixed feelings about this game. I’m glad I played it and got to the end. Some parts were fantastic, but for me the vast majority was so unbelievably dull I’ve no idea how I made it to the credits. And even the credits were a Kojima shitshow.

GurtTractor

I only felt actually a bored a few times while playing, and that was because I was trying to 100% everything. I think if you aren't bothered about 5 star-ing everything then your playtime would be much quicker, it gives you a lot of leeway to do the extra stuff or just focus on the main story. It does open up a lot after the first bit IIRC, so I would stick with it.

I can totally see why this wouldn't suit everyone, but IMO a game like this needs to be somewhat slow and perhaps boring at times given the subject, it would detract from the immersion if it was more hyperactive. I should say that everything about this really suited me, the gameplay, the pacing, the world, the theme. And I'll quite happily watch films like Tarkovsky's Stalker which is 2:40 long and achingly slow and beautiful, so I've no problem taking my time with something.

It's not a game to play if you are a bit sleepy, play it when you've got some energy.

stonechalice

Yeah I knew it was a mistake putting it on after a few bevys and a hard days work in the cold.

FranticPea

It's mind numbingly boring, imo etc.

Tempy

Quite the indictment from someone with a penchant for eurogames about worker placement.

Actually, Death Stranding would make a great board game!

JonB

GurtTractor wrote:

I can totally see why this wouldn't suit everyone, but IMO a game like this needs to be somewhat slow and perhaps boring at times given the subject, it would detract from the immersion if it was more hyperactive.

Yeah, I think there a few games where a little bit of boring is essential even when it's a drag. It wouldn't work if it felt more like a heroic quest, it has to be a plodding, step-by-step rebuild.

I wrote a short opinion piece about how boredom can work to a game's advantage for Wireframe a few months back, and mentioned this along with Nier Automata and No More Heroes as examples.

Obviously for some people that's just going to make it shit, but it's great to have something as big as this be so divisive for a change, rather than streamlined to try and suit everyone.

FranticPea

Tempy wrote:

Quite the indictment from someone with a penchant for eurogames about worker placement.

Actually, Death Stranding would make a great board game!

I only like the good worker placements, not the generic cube pushers. For example, fuck Lords of Waterdeep.

regmcfly

I found parts of quests in this great podcast ones, just as I stick in headphones when I go for a big walk

regmcfly

I wonder if there was anyone who wrote a reevaluation of it during lockdown.

GurtTractor

Almost certainly, probably check reviews for the PC version. It is a great lockdown game I think, the multiplayer aspect in particular is very charming.

mistercrayon

Tempy wrote:

Quite the indictment from someone with a penchant for eurogames about worker placement.

Actually, Death Stranding would make a great board game!

A low blow!

mistercrayon

regmcfly wrote:

I wonder if there was anyone who wrote a reevaluation of it during lockdown.

I think Matthewmatosis did a review very recently which was my kick in the ass to play it.

I think this game has some nice lessons in it.

One thing I really like not really a spoiler but I think it’s worth not knowing it like the best magic tricks

Spoiler:

stonechalice

A couple more hours and I just... can't
... fuck...I can... no it's useless.

I fell in a river and lost some boxes and wondered if this was really what this game is. I think it might be...

Nah can't be.

Can it?

mistercrayon

It is.

GurtTractor

Verecocha

GurtTractor wrote:

mistercrayon wrote:

It is.

b0r1s

I’ve only played a bit and wouldn’t say I’m enjoying it but I am intrigued. I’m dodging the spoilers in this thread and just seeing how I get on.

The cut scenes are actually making the game for me at the moment, which is a polar opposite to any very short bits I’ve done in an MGS game.

Also like the dropping of the tunes as you walk around. Some nice background music going on.

Kow

I'm enjoying this. It's... different. Which is what I need now. It's stunning looking too. Possibly the most impressive intro to a game I've seen.

b0r1s

Yep. It’s the most next gen looking thing on my PS5 :-D

Syph79

I’ve just bought this. I imagine I’m going to hate it, but I’m intrigued enough to pay £8 to see where on the divide I actually am.

stonechalice

That's it. I made it three hours.

I was intrigued by this game. Atmosphere is thick and it looks great. I really fancied something meditative and slow. This ain't it.

It gets so bogged down in guff so quickly that I just couldn't bare it any longer - chiral printers and networks, post boxes, timefall, if you're online there's a million icons strewn all across the landscape worse than an assassins creed game, needlessly complex menus full of jargon and sub menus for god knows what and some awful stealth sections. I found just deciphering which order waypoint was which a hassle. I just got snowed under with bullshit.

All of this included in a game where you get an order for delivery and take it there, which demands some light route planning and pushing forward on the stick and holding L2 and R2 occasionally. That appears to be it. I just can't believe the stuff they've put in this game when the fundamental gameplay loop is so basic and shallow.

I've literally been over burdened with the weight of all the games systems that I can't be bothered to spend any more time with it. I have little time to game as is let alone spending hours in obfuscating menus trying to figure out what's what.

It's such a shame because I would love to see a proper adventure game like BotW with some exciting combat and exploration done in this engine.

mistercrayon

If you’ve made it to 3hr you only prob played 15mins.

It’s always gross when people do this but if you haven’t got to and played at least some of chapter 3 I don’t think you can really judge the game. It’s very dense at the start with garbage. You can also turn off signs etc. Most of them are just other people encouraging you.

Time_on_my_hands

built my first bridge this morning! So satisfying.

GurtTractor

Quite baffled by the comparison to AC, I can see how it might outwardly seem similar in terms of the icons etc, but the nature of those is qualitatively different to the typical open world game when you factor in the gameplay, and player placed objects are genuinely meaningful IMO.

Definitely a bit early to call anything shallow, further layers of complexity are introduced the more you play. I found the map and inventory system to be some of the best I've seen in a game thus far, a little learning curve but once you get into the flow of it it makes managing everything very efficient and clear. Horses for courses and all that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

b0r1s

I think it’s starting to click. Just built my first bridge. The story is strange but intriguing. The gameplay is fine. Put simply so far you perform missions like in most games, you level up (kinda) with likes from those missions. You do ancillary stuff along the way and you can explore to find hidden stuff (found my first memory chip checking out a cave). You can craft stuff and gather resources.

So what I’m getting as a negative is that you don’t do too much fighting. Seeing as we have a million games that do that, I’m happy to try something different.

I wish you could play the music player out and about though.

Birdorf

There are caves!?

I see not much fighting as a positive and I'm not a fan of music in games so I'm hoping it's kept to a minimum.

Menus do seem a bit cluttered at the moment but I'm sure they'll grow on me.

I platinumed Farming Simulator on Vita so I'm hoping I'll enjoy this.

b0r1s

I guess what I meant by the fighting is that I don’t think it’s a negative personally, but some may think it is.

I found a cave, well maybe a crevasse, near a MULE camp.

The music in this is nice ambient music that works really well as background. And having the option to play the music player would be nice.

I realise I’ve played this easily for a couple of hours tonight m feeling like 30 mins and it’s really growing on me. I’m loving the setting and the control of Sam, while initially seeming to be a bit silly, is actually very well done as you learn all the balance and momentum nuances.

mistercrayon

Good grief this end credits sequence.

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