Beat the game, good ol' Thanksgiving gave me the time I needed. I spent 51 hours playing per the in game timer, which is probably accurate.
I would personally give the game a 3/5 review score, I like using a 5 point scale (1 - shit, 2 - bad, 3 - neutral, 4 - good, 5 - superb). In other words, I feel like Death Stranding is a take it or leave it game.
Although there are many great elements of the game, the negative parts of the game are pretty equally strong. Death Stranding is going to go down in history as one of the most polarizing games of all time, with those who adore it, and those who call it complete trash, and both will be right.
Loved -
- Environments - Incredibly organic in feel and appearance, and one of my favorite aspects of the game.
- Sam/BB - I really enjoyed the relationship that these two had throughout the game, and it was one of the few reasons I kept playing.
- Mads Mikkelson - Loved his character and really wished we had seen more of his character as well.
- Music - The OST is an all-time great in terms of how it's used, even if many songs aren't all that memorable. I enjoyed how music kicks in towards the end of many orders, somewhat like RDR when you cross over into Mexico. Just you and the environment.
- Progression - Building up your ranking is handled really well. Even though you won't necessarily get amazing upgrades, the compulsion to get 5 stars is real.
- Building - Producing a network of roads, ziplines, private rooms, and more is satisfying in terms of how it helps other players as well as yourself.
- Sharing - Along those lines, over time it's hard not to want to help others more, since the work of others helps make your own life significantly easier. It's a great trickle-down effect that successfully increases player engagement.
Mixed -
- Traversal - Boring at times, even annoying, but without it you'll never appreciate many of the gameplay concepts or emotional moments.
- BT's - Scary at first, they became more of an annoyance because they slow progress down.
- Vehicles - Love how they make things faster, but their controls are sometimes infuriating.
- MULEs - I feel like more could have been accomplished with MULEs, especially in terms of storytelling. Although it was fun to sneak past them or into their camps, they lacked depth.
- Boss Battles - They're not bad, but they're not incredible either.
Hates -
- Amelie - I hated her from the beginning, her red dress just bothered me because it never fit in. I understand that was sort of the point, but how she talked drove me nuts as well. I know that Sam is supposed to have a strong relationship with her that drives the story, but I never got that impression.
- Exposition - Constant text dumps after every delivery, and explanations that then get re-explained again, and again, and again.
- Explanations - I almost completely checked out of the story of why there was the Death Stranding right around when I met Heartman. Although some plot threads were still great to see to the end, I stopped giving a shit about the main crisis.
I know that's not a lot of hates vs. loves for me, but story in this game is a
major element, and when the exposition is lacking it can take a lot of wind out of the sails. When there's not enough interest in seeing what's next, it's tough to want to continue in a slow-moving game like Death Stranding. And that's the biggest problem, if the story that Kojima is trying to tell isn't landing with players, and if they don't have patience to see how it plays out, this game is a monstrous turd. Those are two rather large obstacles, because the majority of gamers have been trained to receive instant gratification, whether or not story is good or even exists. Additionally, with a Kojima game, players need to be able to suspend disbelief in order to buy in.
I'm glad the game has sold well, but a big part of me is hoping for something a bit more traditional from Kojima next time. I replayed MGS a few months ago and it was just as meaningful to me now as 20 years ago. I have zero interest in ever revisiting Death Stranding, so much so that it is one of the few games that I have expunged from my collection. I sold it for cheap because I want someone to be able to enjoy it more than I did. It was still an interesting gaming experience I won't forget.
