After initially bouncing off this game in 2021, I saw parts of the announcement trailer for the sequel a few weeks ago that made me give this game another try. This time, I finished it. In hindsight, I should have focused less on building nearly every road there is and finishing most optional deliveries. The delivery type gameplay is fine, there are some aspects that I like, some that I do not (like the horrible feeling of the reverse trike that consistently refuses to brake properly and knows only full throttle or none in its boosted mode). By far the most intriguing part of the game for me is the story and world-building. Kojima and his team are very creative minds and sometimes I just laughed out loud because what was happening on screen was just so absurd. I do not regret finishing the game, I just should have done it faster. It feels like 65% of the story happen at the very end of the game though and I would have preferred if that story was paced across the game a bit better. I played the game from start to finish on the pre-selected difficulty "hard" and that felt good for most of the game, except for those boss-fights against a certain someone played by Mads Mikkelsen. These parts were quite the difficulty spikes. The music in-game is a nice collection of licensed songs that are sadly rarely used and when they do, I never got to listen to the end of a single song, as they would start 30 seconds before arriving at my destination or shortly before the traversal of a BT territory is necessary and entering such an area simply stops the music. There is no portable music player feature as well, you can only listen to the unlocked songs in the private room, which is a shame. All in all, I am happy that I am done now with the game and look forward to the sequel, but I am probably going to skip a lot of optional stuff in that game to get through it with better pacing.

O jogo mais honesto já feito e uma pedrada do kojima, o cara é uma das últimas mentes realmente criativas nessa indústria.
O cara criou todo um universo do nada em cima de uma premissa simples de entregador, e não se limita a isso, a variedade de mecânica e progressão é absurda, e a melhor parte é seu fator online.
Pra mim esse é o shadow of the colossus dessa geração.

08/10.

El gameplay me gusta mucho; es muy chill y es entretenido. Caminar es un puzzle y es muy entretenido, en serio. Es visualmente espectacular, tiene de los mejores gráficos de los últimos tiempos. El motion capture y la calidad de los modelos y las animaciones y los personajes son una locura, realmente de las mejores cosas que hay. Las actuaciones son también increíbles... Todo lo otro... Uffff. La historia no se entiende, o más bien, se entiende a medias. No me gusta, no conecto con los personajes, no me emociona. El guión es un quilombo, en grandes partes. El final son 2 horas de cinemáticas de exposición para intentar explicar lo que sea que hayamos visto pero aún así no se entiende un culo, además de ser aburrido y lento. Siento que si esto fuera cualquier otro que no sea Kojima, jamás se habría salido con la suya pero ni cerca, pero como es Kojima la gente se hacen los que entienden y es profundo y le siguen el juego. OJO, no digo que no tenga buenas ideas; las tiene, estoy seguro que enterrado en el quilombo de narrativa que tenemos, hay un pedazo de fucking historia que te deja sentado, pero la ejecución es... mediocre. Kojima no debería ser guionista, director creativo at best y aún así debería alguien decirle che... Recorta un poco acá. Aún así el juego me gusta mucho, me lo pasé dos veces, pero el final me cansa muchísimo, (tiene creditos 3 veces) y estoy escribiendo esto justo después de terminarlo así que quizás eso le redujo el puntaje un toque. Si pudiera jugar toda la zona intermedia mil veces lo haría, porque es muy divertido. De mis 29 horas de gameplay creo que 15 son de cinemáticas, y es demasiado. Más aún considerando que la información que te dan la repiten 19230182 veces ("Sam! Check the terminal for details on the order")

Beaucoup à dire.

On va commencer avec les défauts du jeu, mais surtout le plus gros, le gameplay. Il faut s’accrocher parce que le jeu est vraiment très chiant à ce niveau là.
La narration aussi est assez spéciale, mais c’est pas pour autant mauvais, juste très confus.

Les points positifs maintenant :
L’HISTOIRE, LES PERSONNAGES, LA MISE EN SCÈNE, LA RÉALISATION, L’ENVIRONNEMENT, LES GRAPHISMES EN GÉNÉRAL OH MON DIEU. C’est une claque à tous les niveaux et je suis tellement heureux d’avoir continué le jeu pour ces raisons précises.

J’ai très hâte de la suite, mais je ne vais pas branler Kojima pour autant.

Let’s start with basics
Graphics: 10/10
Story: 8/10 (only because I didn’t skip cutscenes yet still confused as fuck)
Mechanics:7/10 (encountered a few visual glitches and wonky controls)
The story towards the end really drew me in and I’m glad to say I finally played this game all the way through, played on release but gave up shortly after.
Worth a playthrough is long stories are your thing

Franchement un bon jeu très beau mais qui mise à part à la fin manque globalement d'émotions tout se produit à la fin sur le plan émotionnel et lzs personnages les plus importants sont développés à la fin ce qui marche bien sur le moment mais qui couplé au pacing moyen (je pense à la partie TROP longue dans les montagnes) peuvent donner des sensations d'ennuis vers les 3/4 du jeu. Le gameplay marche très bien lors des livraisons moins durant les combats notamment corps-à-corps et les combats de boss sont globalement moyens (mention spéciale à ceux de Clifford Unger qui se démarquent des autres). Le gros point fort du jeu réside dans ses personnages notamment Clifford Unger qui est pour moi une réussite de A à z.

Uma experiência grandiosa.
Minha história com o jogo é, no mínimo, engraçada. Em um pequeno resumo: já havia tentado jogá-lo em outra oportunidade — apenas por 3 horas: e desisti. Praticamente dois anos depois retorno ao título.
Com 5 horas iniciais o jogo finalmente me intrigou — e não somente isto, me fez adorá-lo. Dito isto, é importante destacar o maior defeito dele: o roteiro é deplorável. Os personagens conversam de maneira vergonhosa. Não há elo a ser criado entre eles, ou até mesmo um vislumbre de desenvolvimento ou arco.
Passado isto: a jogabilidade é o ouro aqui. A maneira que o game design funciona, dea tal forma que define como o mundo como um personagem a parte — e obstáculo, é magistral. A história é bem interessante e os gráficos são lindos. Direção de arte impecável e trilha sonora de muito bom gosto.
Por fim, a sensação é de não querer deixar o jogo e a jornada de lado. Uma das poucas experiências que tive na vida, no sentido de se conectar com a jogabilidade.
Simplesmente maravilhoso.

Death Stranding is the best multiplayer game going because it does away with the worst part about multiplayer games; other players.

I think the thing that caught me most by surprise in revisiting this game 4 years after it's release was the confusion on just how divisive it was when it came out. At the time I remember phrases like "walking sim" getting thrown around and not to be rude but you'd have to be purposefully oblivious to think Death Stranding has only walking to offer.

Sure, the core of the game is walking from point A to point B. But the world is designed in such a way to make such a simple task incredibly engaging. Traversing this uniquely post-apocalyptic America is never dull, and you're always kept on your toes. As an experiment I TRIED to check my phone during seeming quiet moments and ended up eating shit and ruining somebody's precious cargo (Apologies to the poor denizen of Port Knot City whose stuff I ruined, if it's any consolation the poor Porters Grade I received dampened my spirits).

DS does an incredible job of creating a new kind of game, that of the humble delivery man, and kept adding new ways to keep it engaging during my 60+ hour run time. Either through new tools, vehicles, or environmental hazards. It's online system also works wonders in evolving the world, and making you feel connected with others. The amount of times I mashed the like button because some kind soul had placed a vehicle, Timestop shelter, or some other handy resource in the middle of nowhere, seemingly out of the goodness of their heart, is too many to count. I have never had such an engaging and heartwarming experience with a community I can't directly communicate with.

It's story is equally as entapturing, it's the standard Kojima affair, and you can feel his style oozing through almost every facet of prose, it had my smiling, laughing, crying, and just all around hooked.

I truly am thrilled this game is receiving a sequel, there are so many moments I could gush about, it has some amazing gameplay segments that rely on the players cunning and knowledge to resolve, it treats the player with respect and patience, and asks only you do the same with it.

If your were turned away from Death Stranding because of some of the negative press it received on launch, go back and give it a go, it's a title that demands your attention.

I'll be waiting for you on the Beach.

One of the most batshit games I've ever played, but the story ended up making complete sense by the end, and turned out to be surprisingly awesome.

The delivery gameplay is actually quite fun, and relaxing. You can use your carrier as a fucking hoverboard!

But fuck any combat-heavy encounters, genuinely some of the worst I've experienced in a game in a very long time.

It's not perfect, but this game is definitely a work of art. From the character designs, to the vastly original setting, this game is something that should absolutely be experienced.

But if the beginning turns you away, from how much of a litmus test it is at driving away the people that can't handle how unbelievably weird and stupid it is, then you're likely not going to enjoy the rest of what the game offers.

Can't wait for the sequel to HOPEFULLY improve the combat.

Not everyone's cup of tea, but if you're looking for a profound plot, this might become your new favorite piece of art. It seems like just a """"""walking simulation"""""" (a lazy and shallow way to describe this game) at first, but things are deeper than that. You're Sam Porter Bridges, wandering around the UCA (United Cities of America), with the mission to connect everything, since a phenomenon called the Death Stranding split everything apart. Only to discover that everything isn't just about connecting people. I won't elaborate anymore since this game is the definition of a rabbit hole — while one question is answered, another three might come to your mind!
Besides its wonderful plot, this game is unique on its own. You will never play anything like it again and that's one of the aspects that make this game so special. I'm not even mentioning its soundtrack. One of the best feelings in this game is walking through a beautiful landscape, and out of nowhere, an interesting song starts to play. Definition of perfection. "Asylums For The Feelings" is one of the best. <3 I have a feeling that these songs say a lot about some characters.~

I spent 10 hours doing deliveries not realizing I wasn't even doing story missions. Besides the great story which isn't worth discussing in a review as everyone should just experience it, the game part is actually really fun. Sure you can do deliveries the same way over and over but that's what caused the game to be misunderstood. You're given plenty of toys to play with and anything can be done if you try it and equip yourself for it. I also just want more single-player games with similar "multiplayer" features its legit the coolest thing.

didn't get it at first because I had another picture it my head, but the game grew on me with the director's cut release

finished every quest and built all the roads and still want more

a few years after the release + 2 playthroughs and this game seems to be a solid Kojima masterpiece