Goofyness has always been a big part of the Kojima palette.
PS+ is not required for the online stuff in Death Stranding.
Yeah, in general, PS+ is not needed for any “passive” multiplayer where you don’t meet other players directly.
I agree with the reviews: Act 2 is where the game shines. The world is more open and you’re being handed new toys fairly rapidly. I also like how your items in this game are basically unimportant: you use them, lose them, share them with others, make more, etc. Every single unit of stuff in this game is irrelevent, but stuff in general is your lifeblood.
Still, I’m amazed at how many people lose their items… it’s suspicious. Is it fake multiplayer? Anyway, playing online is nice because it gives you much more stuff to play with when planning a trip. " 'A’right, I’m taking a big load to Lake City, who’s got some shit they need moved?"
From reading the reviews, I hear things are then going to go downhill in Act 3… by going literally uphill.
I’m early on in act 2, and so far it’s definitely working for me.
Act 3 it gets even better.
Honestly, I’m still not totally sure what my final judgement is on it… but it’s cool. Getting the road pavers going, and then getting little likes for anyone who uses the road, is cool.
Transport Tycoon for the 21st Century?
Breaking news: Americans too dumb to understand Death Stranding.
Still, it’s funny that this is very deliberately a game about America. A Japanese’s person’s take on America, but y’know, has anything ever stopped the enormous American entertainment industry from making stuff about other cultures?
I think Hideo doesn’t understand that, in Europe, we understand there is nothing to understand.
I think it’s Hideo getting very salty that his well-reviewed game isn’t getting perfect reviews in the US press while simultaneously saying it’s not for everyone.
While I haven’t played it, I watched a lot of @Mike_Cathcart’s stream of the first six or so hours and if he really wanted Americans to “get it” a little better, maybe he shouldn’t have made America something you can walk across in a few hours?
Just a thought…
On the contrary, Alex Navarro’s review said that the game didn’t have much to say, and what it did, it painfully and repetitively spells out for the audience. And from what I’ve seen of the game’s cutscenes so far, I can support this conclusion.
Kojima has made some games I like, but he has an incredibly over-inflated opinion of himself. And the media falling over themselves to praise his bad storytelling for it’s strangeness, isn’t helping.
‘Maybe this is a game that is difficult to understand for a certain type of critic or audience. Americans are big fans of first person shooters and Death Stranding is not, it is flying higher’.
Barf.
There’s nothing more pretentious than an artist telling people that the reason they don’t like something is because they don’t get it.
Gimme a break.
Only an hour or so in, but wow, this is really grabbing me.
Unlike how some others have reacted to the numerous cutscenes, I find them to be enticing and immersive and nothing like cutscenes in other games. Here, I immediately engage with them and find myself wanting more when I regain control again.
And the walking stuff is the cat’s pajamas, not nearly as weird and gimmicky as I feared it would be. Makes me wonder if balance and fragility might be a thing we’ll see more and more of in other games in the future. Can you imagine playing a full-blown fighting game with that as a factor? If it’s done right, of course.
My only hesitation right now is how cryptic some of the explanations for things can be, but I trust that will begin to balance itself out somehow, at some point.
The problem with Kojima is that everything is puzzling, then suggested, then explained, often repeatedly: the guy sure doesn’t like to have things left standing.
It’s a shame to me because he build funny worlds, that he ruins by spending tons of time showing all those boring ropes that were in the back.
I’m near-ish the end of the game, in the mountains area, and I’m sold on the game. Basically, Death Stranding is an open world game, except with much more traversal than combat. And when you boil down an open world game, the most important gameplay aspect is: are all the items you get useful or are you just ticking boxes? Why would you need a ten swords if you can already kill enemies in one hit? I’m looking at you Assassin’s Creed. Here, every new tool has its job. By that standard, Death Stranding is a huge success.
It’s true that every single character tells you at length about the backstory of their name. It’s fascinating:
“Hi, I’m Seven Dead Kids Murphy. Why do they call me that? Oh, it’s a great story. I had seven kids and they all died. The first one died in a car accident. The second one in a climbing accident. The third one was illness… I think? It got hard to keep track after a while. And my first name is Murphy. Like Murphy’s Law, you know? What a coincidence, huh! But I got my name mostly because of my kids. Who are dead. All seven of them. But enough about the tragic backstory, can you deliver these underpants to South Knot city?”
Unfortunately, the checks written in those early cutscenes are not cashed. I’m pretty close to the end, leaving the area @Woodlance is in, and those were still far and away the best cutscenes in the game. If anyone is basing their interest on the strength of the cinematography and atmosphere in those cutscenes doled out in the trailers from the past few years - you’re seeing the absolute peaks. Most of the story is delivered by standing holograms talking at you - these are dull without exception. The remainder of the “real” cutscenes vary in quality, but they mostly pale in comparison to those in the first few hours.
Even MGS games?
Never played MGS! I know, I know. Is it worth picking up now or does it not hold up?
Assassin’s Creed doesn’t have loot. After the tutorial levels, you have all the weapons you’re going to have for the duration of the 15 hour game. Another reason why it’s still the best game in the series.
Odyssey got loot (although you don’t strictly loot it, yeah well you get it).