This game was a banger.
You may know that the main mechanic of this game is walkin'. You're a porter and you deliver stuff from point A to point B. The game does this really well. Planning your trips by figuring out what to bring with you and optionally plotting a route to roughly follow feels like a puzzle, and it's incredibly rewarding to make a plan that works out. Walking in this game feels very good. It honestly feels as close as you could possibly come to emulating how it feels to hike using only a controller.
Most of what you do is walk, but it's far from the only thing you do. There is combat. I wasn't a huge fan of how the actual violent combat feels. I don't know if this is because it's been a little while since I played a game where you shoot a gun using a controller rather than mouse and keyboard, but I had difficulties moving and aiming at the same time. But I think this might be intentional, because Sam is, well, a porter. He's not a soldier. And luckily for me and for Sam there isn't a large amount of combat required to finish the game.
There's also stealth, generally performed when trying to avoid "BTs", which are essentially just ghosts that can really mess your shit up if they catch you. Sneaking around BTs was, besides just walkin', my favorite part of the game. The trick to making this part work, I think, was the fact that you cannot see the BTs -- you have to rely on your funky fetus in a jar to tell you where the BTs are. The tension during these moments is fantastic, and the sound design here imparts the perfect sense of unease.
There is also a very cool aspect of the game which is the internet connectivity. You don't ever directly play with other people, but there is a way to connect that is similar in concept to Dark Souls messaging but wider in scope. The biggest thing here is that you can build structures in your game, such as bridges, generators, and ziplines, and these will show up in other players' worlds for them to use. This is not only extremely helpful when you're trying to navigate the difficult terrain of the game, but it gives a sense of connection and collaboration with other players. I don't want to talk too much about the story but this ties in well to the themes of the game.
Speaking of which, the story was a wild ride. This is a Hideo Kojima game and there is no way to mistake it for anything but. There were certainly times that I groaned at a line a Very Famous Actor was made to say in this game. There's often a sense of whiplash as the game tries to be incredibly serious but also goofy at the same time. This game loves jargon (maybe more than it loves Sam's naked body and fluids). I was confused about the story many times.
Yet I loved it. Death Stranding has a lot to say about humanity, about connection and disconnection, about grief, and about country. I found it completely fascinating.
If you haven't played this game yet and this sounds remotely interesting I strongly suggest giving it a shot. I hadn't considered playing this game since it was released in 2019, but I was curious after seeing the trailer for the sequel, so I took a chance on an $11 physical copy of the standard edition and I'm so glad I did.
You may know that the main mechanic of this game is walkin'. You're a porter and you deliver stuff from point A to point B. The game does this really well. Planning your trips by figuring out what to bring with you and optionally plotting a route to roughly follow feels like a puzzle, and it's incredibly rewarding to make a plan that works out. Walking in this game feels very good. It honestly feels as close as you could possibly come to emulating how it feels to hike using only a controller.
Most of what you do is walk, but it's far from the only thing you do. There is combat. I wasn't a huge fan of how the actual violent combat feels. I don't know if this is because it's been a little while since I played a game where you shoot a gun using a controller rather than mouse and keyboard, but I had difficulties moving and aiming at the same time. But I think this might be intentional, because Sam is, well, a porter. He's not a soldier. And luckily for me and for Sam there isn't a large amount of combat required to finish the game.
There's also stealth, generally performed when trying to avoid "BTs", which are essentially just ghosts that can really mess your shit up if they catch you. Sneaking around BTs was, besides just walkin', my favorite part of the game. The trick to making this part work, I think, was the fact that you cannot see the BTs -- you have to rely on your funky fetus in a jar to tell you where the BTs are. The tension during these moments is fantastic, and the sound design here imparts the perfect sense of unease.
There is also a very cool aspect of the game which is the internet connectivity. You don't ever directly play with other people, but there is a way to connect that is similar in concept to Dark Souls messaging but wider in scope. The biggest thing here is that you can build structures in your game, such as bridges, generators, and ziplines, and these will show up in other players' worlds for them to use. This is not only extremely helpful when you're trying to navigate the difficult terrain of the game, but it gives a sense of connection and collaboration with other players. I don't want to talk too much about the story but this ties in well to the themes of the game.
Speaking of which, the story was a wild ride. This is a Hideo Kojima game and there is no way to mistake it for anything but. There were certainly times that I groaned at a line a Very Famous Actor was made to say in this game. There's often a sense of whiplash as the game tries to be incredibly serious but also goofy at the same time. This game loves jargon (maybe more than it loves Sam's naked body and fluids). I was confused about the story many times.
Yet I loved it. Death Stranding has a lot to say about humanity, about connection and disconnection, about grief, and about country. I found it completely fascinating.
If you haven't played this game yet and this sounds remotely interesting I strongly suggest giving it a shot. I hadn't considered playing this game since it was released in 2019, but I was curious after seeing the trailer for the sequel, so I took a chance on an $11 physical copy of the standard edition and I'm so glad I did.