Death Stranding

[Nightowljrm | 72]

Well, ladies and gents, after I get settled in for the evening, I'll give it a shot!

[fox | 1,665]

16 minutes ago, Nightowljrm said:

Well, ladies and gents, after I get settled in for the evening, I'll give it a shot!

Didn't spring for that toxic lemon controller? XD

Keep us posted with how the game goes.  I'm getting it thru Gamefly so I should have it in a couple days.

[DoctorEncore | 3,690]

45 minutes ago, Nightowljrm said:

Well, ladies and gents, after I get settled in for the evening, I'll give it a shot!

That steelbook art actually looks pretty nice. The cover art on the standard version is sooooo bad  Let us know how it goes.

[Yelir | 11]

On 11/5/2019 at 7:46 PM, CMR said:

I'll probably watch a speed run of it in a few months.

Any% Hype!

Hopefully this will drop to $35 used in my area after a few weeks like RDR2 did, easy purchase.

[scaryice | 581]

I'm not getting it right away, but I will play it eventually. I was let down by MGS5, so I'm not expecting much.

[CMR | 518]

Watching TheRadBrad play it now.

[Nintegageo | 582]

I bought it and was super stoked but I think what others have written is pretty accurate. It's certainly about the experience/story, rather than the gameplay. I have played it enough to decide I am going to pause playing it and go to something more enjoyable to play but I could play this one when am in the right mood and plan to dedicate the time to the game.

 

Edit: nevermind. The story drew me back into the game.

Edited November 11, 2019 by Nintegageo

[Nightowljrm | 72]

Okay, so I got about 8 hours with the game this weekend. What do I think about it?

So far... shockingly... I love it! I'm not normally one to like walking simulators. Games like What Remains of Edith Finch, Journey, etc. are hard sells to me, even with their shorter length. More horror-based "walking sims" like Layers of Fear I enjoy with friends, but not alone. 

So why do I like this one? Well, because, in my opinion, it's much more than just a "walking simulator." It's... a hiking management game? It's hard to describe. But as you traverse from point A to point B, there's a lot you need to consider:

• Timefall (rain) that may degrade your item
• MULEs (basically other porters/deliverers who have gone rogue and are trying to steal your items)
• BTs (those invisible ghost things - I'm not far enough in the story to know more about them)
• Item management
• The landscape

The last two are the big ones in my experience so far. Let's say you want to go from point A to point B to deliver 40 pounds of rare metals, but there's a mountain in between your starting point and a destination. Do you take the extra time and risk of Timefall by going around the mountain to your destination, or do you risk a harsher terrain (and risk of falling/dropping items) by going through the mountain? The mountain route seems a lot quicker, so you decide to bring some tools: a few ladders and a rope. Great, but now that's an extra 10 pounds. You're gonna be a bit slower now, but not to the point where you're over encumbered, so it's fine. You stack all the items vertically on your backpack. It seems fine, but as you walk, you realize that if you take any sharp turns, you start to lose your balance - you're top heavy! Alright, so let's take some time to rearrange. Why don't we carry all the metals on our back, but one ladder on the right hip and the other on the left hip (they extend if you haven't seen any of the trailers). You adjust your cargo and now you're better balanced! Now you won't tip over while trying to scale the mountain.

Now you're on your delivery and as you approach the mountain - oh, some other player has left one - that's convenient. So you climb up and give their ladder 'likes' (they kind of act like XP in this game). You move on and eventually you reach another cliff that doesn't have a ladder. You drop yours and you've made it to the top, great! Now it's time to climb down, so you drop your rope and repel down. Now that you're lighter and back on flat ground, just sprint to make your delivery!

That's a rough example of what it's like. It's a lot of item management, planning, and being strategic with how you navigate the landscape. Some people will find this sort of management tedious, others will find it fun. You have to pay attention to your footing or you could fall and damage your cargo (thankfully that hasn't happened to me yet).

You know how in Breath of the Wild, a lot of the fun was seeing something in the distance and thinking, "How do I get there?" It's a lot like that, except a lot more weighty, dreary, and "realistic" in terms of how you can physically move throughout the world. It's not nearly as free-form as Breath of the Wild.

So those are my gameplay impressions in the first eight hours. As for the story, I'm enjoying it, though some of its messages and ideals its preaching have the subtlety of a hammer. I'm still too early to give a lot of thought on it, but I'm enjoying it for the gameplay so far. Which is weird, as this isn't my kind of game, but I do like the atmosphere. And the music! The music is probably going to be the one thing everyone agrees on - it's fantastic. 

[fox | 1,665]

On 11/11/2019 at 8:59 AM, Nightowljrm said:

Okay, so I got about 8 hours with the game this weekend. What do I think about it

I think this is a pretty good explanation of how the game works.  I'm about at the same point 10 hours in and just started the 3rd Chapter, and things are really opening up.  Getting the bike made getting around much easier but I being silly tried to take it up a rocky mountain and got pulled under by BTs, got dicey but managed to make it out.

More hiking/mountain climbing sim than walking sim.  It is a lot like Breath of the Wild, where the focus is more on exploration and survival than white knuckle combat.  I wouldn't really call it "cinematic" like people are trying to say it is just a visual novel or something.  There is a lot of cutscenes and story in the first 2 hour (which is pretty interesting and well done) but after that it really opens up and becomes much more an open world/sandbox with lots of gadgets to play with and structures you can build.

More Adventure than Action and some will find it boring.  It isn't really like anything else out there, you you need to take a leap of faith and try it out.  You might just like it.

[Boosted52405 | 178]

I've heard chapter 3 is where it really opens up and picks up tractions.

I've also heard that you carry around a baby?  And if you trip and fall, it starts crying and you have to comfort it?

I'm certainly intrigued from the few articles I've read, but honestly this is going to be a Redbox weekend snag I feel at most.

[DorkOverlord | 679]

I'm enjoying it so far. It is a little slow to start, but the story sucks you in the further you get.

[Hammerfestus | 3,820]

So, my little boy got ahold of the PS4 controller and I came home from work to this purchased and downloaded on my system.  I definitely didn’t intend on buying this for full price but I guess sometimes you get surprise Xmas present.  I’m only a couple of hours in but I am enjoying it.  It’s pretty excessive with the cutscenes.  Just let me play the damn game.  It is finally starting to open up and let me explore a little.  I like it so far.