I’m getting proper FOMO now.

Yeah,im only half listening with the cut scenes as its all absolute bollocks as I love the wandering

Yeah it's when it got cutscene heavy again towards the end of the game that it lost me. Has some cool moments in them but the Kojima waffle stands out more when you aren't seeing it on the reg like in MGS

DLSS is moistness

Crossposting my thoughts after finally playing this. I was blown away -

Just completed this after finally buying it recently and have been playing solidly, 111 hours played.

I went into it really not knowing quite what to expect, I'd seen some of the trailers and snippets of gameplay but I had mostly tried to minimise how much I knew, and forgotten much of what I had since the initial reveals. I very strongly recommend that you go into it the same and avoid any specific information. This has been one of the most incredible gaming experiences yet, up there with Metroid Prime, Subnautica, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Inside, as one of my favourite games. It's very very good, fascinating from start to finish.

I've played bits and pieces of the MGS series but never really connected with them particularly deeply; the MGS1 GC port which was fun and quite good at the time, MGS4 which I enjoyed playing a fair bit but I don't have many memories of, Peace Walker which I can barely remember, Ground Zeroes I finished, and MGSV I have played part way through but haven't felt compelled to continue.

Compared to Metal Gear I've found Death Standing to be just massively better and more interesting to me personally. I've often felt all the twisted lore and crazy story of MGS on top of the deep gameplay mechanics to be just a bit too rich somehow. Death Stranding's highly surreal setting seems to suit Kojima's style of craziness much better than the quasi-realistic military/espionage world in Metal Gear, much easier to suspend disbelief and focus on the underlying themes when they aren't being muddied by references to real geopolitics. It feels quite a bit more grown up than MGS, it's still full of playful 4th wall winks and has Kojima's particular pop-culture interests woven throughout, but lacks the 'grottiness'.

The story and writing is often unsubtle and arguably overwrought, if you think about any of it too much it doesn't make much logical sense. I don't think that matters much though, for me any game/film/piece of music/art is a vehicle to deliver ideas and emotional themes, if it can do that in an interesting way and with genuine passion then I couldn't care less about the technical specifics of its delivery. It's the overall feel that something gives me that I'm looking for, a kind of immersion in another world and a transformation of mind into a different state of being. The combination of gameplay design, setting, and characters in Death Stranding achieves that very effectively. Importantly it just feels quite honest in what it's trying to do and not overly worried about commercial appeal, for me a flawed but genuine piece is far preferable to something that is highly polished but lacks soul.

Despite the apparent bleakness, sorrow and terror of the world I've found it to be really quite uplifting, just a good vibe overall despite the extreme dystopia. The characters all feel and look like real people, the focus is not on killing but saving people, reconciliation and building connections. MGS in comparison feels very depressing, I find I have no real interest in the characters or world there. Death Stranding is about hope.

The overall gameplay design and core loop is truly excellent. Not having watched gameplay videos much I was prepared for something much slower and more like a walking sim (which I would have also loved), I didn't realise just how detailed and deep it really is. Picking up orders, planning the optimal route through destinations using the fantastic map, managing your gear and load with possibly the best inventory system ever, weighing up how much equipment to bring, setting out across rugged and often hostile terrain, keeping focus on balance, battery and stamina, and finally reaching your destination after a long journey to deliver the goods to grateful folk before moving on to the next. It's immensely compelling and rewarding.

The way it has you effectively choosing your difficulty dynamically is genius, the more orders and lost packages you take on the more weight and unwieldiness you have to deal with which makes navigating the rough terrain and dangers more risky. As you progress and gain more skill and gadgets to help get you through it becomes more about building infrastructure, efficient route planning and cargo management which have their own logistical challenges. The feeling of trepidation as you set out into the unknown with what you hope is enough gear is quite something, it reminds me a lot of Subnautica which was also very focused on managing resources and logistical thinking, as well as the challenges of navigating a potentially hostile environment and improvising accordingly.

The online asynchronous multiplayer is also genius, probably the best implementation of the concept yet, and I hope it lays down a model for how to do this sort of thing in other games. It's very cleverly done I think, there's clearly been a lot of work to keep the distribution of structures balanced across the playerbase so that there's always enough space for you to make a meaningful contribution. Finding great spots to lay down bridges or place generators next to roads or trailblazing a new route replete with ladders, ropes, and encouraging signs is immensely rewarding. It does a fantastic job of making conquering the wilderness feel like a group effort without making your life too easy. This is a game where the experience is definitely augmented by the multiplayer, I kind of wish I'd got in straight away at launch but there seems to be a healthy population right now at least. I'd recommend getting in on it sooner rather than later anyway.

I love how physical and chunky the interaction is with terrain and items, like how you stumble and skid on rocky and loose ground, how strong winds can try to tip you over when you are carrying too much on your back, how you pick stuff up and chuck it on your back or place it on a vehicle. It manages to simulate your presence in the world without making it all too fiddly or difficult, there's just the right amount of simplification and abstraction while still requiring your full attention and control. Some aspects of the control and animation could certainly be better, in intense sections you can feel very sluggish to respond, and the vehicles can feel either too light or too planted. Everything's a compromise with design though, so I don't know exactly they could have improved aspects of control to work better in one scenario without negatively affecting the feel or playability in others. Overall the gameplay is very fun and responsive.

The UI is probably on the best that I've come across, everything feels unified and clearly laid out, and the controls allow you to navigate and manage everything pretty blazingly fast. The map and inventory management are the best I've come across I think, once you get to grips with them there's little that frustrates or slows you down.

The sound design is seriously excellent, super crisp and detailed at all times. It really adds to how satisfying the second-to-second gameplay feels, metallic chonks as you attach and detach cargo, whizzes and whirrs of your gadgets, hums of structures and electronics, fizz of rain, slosh of mud, cronch of rock. Combined with the subtle incidental music you get totally immersed in this living breathing soundfield. Everything you do has some audio feedback, plenty of clever little noises that assist you. The sound in this is every bit as important as the graphics in bringing the whole thing to life.

The level of detail and design of the world is frequently astounding, the gnarled rocks, dense moss, and crumbling structures have a very tactile quality to them. Some scenes you could just stare at for hours, soaking it all in. I love how changes in lighting and camera are used to great effect throughout particular sections. There's some areas with smoke and haze that are the best I've ever seen. The animation are excellent too, so many little flourishes that keep your attention.

The facial animations are generally excellent though not without some uncanny valley here and there. Mads Mikkelsen is the standout performance for me, really fascinating, Léa Seydoux too. The quality of the mocapped animation is such that it makes watching the cutscenes pretty interesting even if you don't understand/care about the story.

Like with Subnautica and KC:D it's left me wanting more, much more. Like I would love a much more vast world to play around in and cross on epic journeys, but I understand why it's compressed as it is, it's still plenty sizeable enough though. I hope we'll see more of this, either DLC or some other story in this world, or other games to try something similar. It's by fair the most innovative and unique game (AAA) game I've played in a very long time, I hope it inspires more of this sort of thing.

I'm back playing MGS V at the moment, which I think is one of the best games of the gen, and if I finish it Death Stranding is next on the list. Hopefully it'll be almost free by then.

Hey dying cancer mom:

You’re the president of Jack Shit!!

?

Edit: oh some funny cutscene dialogue I guess?

Yes.

I like the walking bits so far (unfortunately there’s only been 3 in probably an hour or two). There’s something nice about having to concentrate on a trivial action. It’s very mindful I think.

But the cutscenes so far have been ridiculous and stupid.

It’s a paradoxical game though. The fun bit would not sell me the game and the cutscenes undermine the game a lot. But the nuttiness of the cutscenes do act as sufficient motivation.

I’m playing on PS5.

He is the absolute shitting worst.

Just take whatever platform you have it on and strap it to a rocket and let it go. Let it crash land in Ireland or somewhere and they can punt the fucker into the sea after five hours.

I don't mind the silliness and indulgence honestly, the main thing for me is it that it all feels quite earnest, and it's a lot of fun trying to get your head around what's supposed to be going on in the world.

I adore the gameplay, the detail and thought put into it all is quite something. The game is in my top 5 ever, probably in the the top 3 actually.

On sale for £15 (base version) on PSN... Tempted by that price.

Is there loads of stealth in this?

It's very light-stealth compared to MGS, sort of optional for the most part. It's generally quite a chill game actually, I didn't find any of it particularly difficult, the main challenge of it is self-inflicted when you take it upon yourself to make a mega delivery or build some stuff. It's a clever way of regulating difficulty I think.