Death Stranding ended up being a very mixed experience for me. An undeniably beautiful game with a really interesting take on traversal, I'm amazed a big-budget game like this even exists. Incredibly atmospheric with fantastic presentation; while the licensed music is great and all, the original soundtrack is really excellent too, and the sound design is equally strong. I've never been genuinely chilled to the bone like when you're required to traverse a BT-ridden ruined city, with the dark ambient sound of the music and clicking of the odradek.

Besides the closure on Clifford's story and the last run to the incinerator, the latter half of the game didn't do a lot for me (it really felt like they wanted Higgs to be your Ocelot, but without really earning it). The early story and exploration did a good job getting me onboard, but ultimately actually doing the deliveries just began to feel like busywork, and while I was a big fan of Metal Gear Solid as a teenager I think Kojima's style of story writing is starting to wear a bit thin for me (there are some pretty charming comic relief moments, though).

I can't deny how unique this game is though, and even if I didn't enjoy it entirely I'm just glad it exists - I hope more publishers take a punt on ridiculous, expensive projects like this.