PROS

• Virtuosic integration of theme and mechanics
• Outstanding environmental and mechanical art
• Pitch-perfect science fiction melodrama that only Kojima seems to be capable of
• Some of the most believable facial capture in gaming history
• Interesting characters whose unique arcs all tie into the game's core themes
• The game's online component is thematically evocative and works exceptionally well
• Complex traversal mechanics somehow make walking and driving around a mostly empty world interesting
• Deeply immersive equipment load out systems give tons of options for planning your deliveries
• Deliberate pacing gives you time to appreciate the game's myriad tools and equipment
• Stealth and combat are simple enough to signify they aren't the game's core focus but still provide lots of freedom for satisfying interactions
• Lots of beautiful, quiet moments that you very rarely get to experience in AAA games
• BB is awesome

CONS

• Kojima's claims of inventing a new genre are a bit overblown
• Direct Japanese to English translation makes for some awkward dialogue
• The game taking place across the entirety of America makes the setting feel overly abstracted
• First and final acts go way overboard with hours and hours of cutscenes
• Some boss encounters feel out of place and push the non-combat focused mechanics close to their breaking point

After completing the prologue and first two episodes of Death Stranding, I decided to put down the game for good and write down my thoughts.

At its core, the game is about your job as a post-apocalyptic courier to different cities and outposts in order to reconnect the world, which is accomplished through delivering packages. And it is literally just that - Package delivery.

The lack of variety in the game play is made worse by the controls, level of backtracking, complicated menus and enemies that you can either just drive past (MULEs) or button mash your way through (BTs). To be sure, all games are based on some repeating core mechanic (go here, talk to him or her, get that, shoot this, and so on). The best games obfuscate this by providing differing methods of play, varying environments or enemies, some sort of addictive action loop, or solid writing - But Death Stranding lacks all of the earlier and seems to try way too hard in the last category.

Speaking directly about the story, the game is a sci-fi epic whose plot centers on the drama of rebuilding society in America after a near-extinction event. This pretext, along with the the inevitable villains and plot twists that follow, is the hook that the game relies on, but I could not get past the narrative excesses.The game markets itself as a master class in storytelling and art direction (with Hideo Kojima's name featured prominently on the box art and multiple times in the opening credits), but the writing feels like amateur fiction (it seems del Toro's involvement didn't rub off on the product). The visual elements and motion capture are truly outstanding, but the dialog is overwrought and none of the characters feel particularly relatable.

Most of the cinematics up through the point where I stopped playing consisted of monologues where the principal characters discuss the games events, chat up the ridiculous jargon and theology, or simply pat themselves on the back for "connecting the world again" - The journals and emails that your character receives are similar, albeit with even more rambling. The writers seemed to be trying to create a sense of intrigue and depth that, at least for me, feels goofy and unintentionally comical (At one point, the game explains that its roaming band of marauders, called MULEs, are driven to a life of crime and hoarding due to their addiction to...the adrenaline rush they get from delivering packages!). The voice actors do their best with the script, but some parts are just drivel.

People that love the weirdness of Hideo Kojima's story telling and are willing to overlook the flaws (of which this game has far too many) may have an enjoyable experience. But for me, the experience was aborted and I cannot imagine trying to play it again.

The divisive nature of certain media often sparks a personal interest in the product. With Hideo Kojima severing with Konami and eventually organizing a team of his own, a bizarre and polarizing experience was bound to be born from it all. This is Hideo Kojima after all, the man that has been known to write mind-boggling stories that oftentimes would directly incorporate the player themselves into the ever-growing narrative. Such expectations that he's built up within his fan base conjured the expanding hype for his latest Sci-Fi epic 'Death Stranding'. A game that would incorporate the cinematic language of film to convey its narrative grandeur and gameplay to communicate its themes and world-building. Surely this was to be at the very least an interesting escape into a world unlike any other. From the promotional material, a desolate America in dire need of reconnecting after a mysterious cataclysmic event cemented that intrigue many, including myself, had. And, after opening itself up to the world to dive-into, I found myself holy curious to unravel the game thread by thread. But eventually, those knots binding the game's pieces together began to tangle and grow thin by the hour.

Every step, every prairie crossed and mountain scaled, all of it was integral to build the intended atmosphere and themes of the game. The core gameplay loop consisted of simply traveling and delivering packages shelter to shelter. However, this was only the fundamental outline of what would be tasked throughout the playthrough. Plenty of mechanical components fused within that foundation would produce a frustrating, tedious trek juxtaposed with breathtaking, relaxing scenic moments. Beginning each mission required a visit to the shelter in need of orders being mailed out. And since the controlled protagonist, Sam Bridges, is a delivery man there's seemingly no one else more qualified for the job. Not only was delivering packages in tip-top shape a priority but responsibility for reconnecting each shelter to the ever-expanding "chiral" network to "make America whole again" was the main task. This everlasting loop gave way for a variety of emotional responses, positive, and negative.

The atmosphere, as specified before, was heavily integrated into the journey being partaken. A photo-realistic environment was the route taken to bring this world to life and without a doubt succeeded in drawing me in, at first. Never through my hikes would I be treated to a world of artificiality. Those prairies and intimidating mountains were not only painstakingly textured and modeled but contained weather appropriate to their placement. Heavy snowstorms and pounding rain continuously built upon the desolate atmosphere already present. As I battled my way through these intense storms periods of calmness shined through and allowed for me to fully soak in the scenery as I delivered my packages. During these moments the soundtrack crescendoed its way into the frame with each of the soothing melodies produced by Low Roar being a welcoming backdrop. With each of these atmospheric details piecing together through the first few hours, enthusiasm and curiosity began to develop. Art, however, no matter how visually pleasing it may be, must have a stable foundation to stand on. In this case, both the previously stated gameplay and narrative had to stand tall. Unfortunately, that's where this beautiful technical showcase began to fade into a mear two-dimensional background.

As my trips across the vast world progressed the aforementioned mechanical components weaved their way into my playtime one ingredient at a time. Since packages were the primary objects to preserve and carry throughout every mission it was important to layout hazards to project a sort of challenge. The terrain itself was one such hazard as cliffs and rapid rivers appeared around every corner. This was where factors such as holding the triggers to maintain balance and climbing gear came into play. See, the goal of 'Death Stranding' from a gameplay perspective was to utilize these mechanics to offer a difficulty curve. Instead, the game's offerings derailed into a half-baked, tiresome mess in almost every department. Tripping showcased plenty of clunky animations leaving Sam awkwardly hustling over uneven terrain. Feeding into the same idea was climbing large cliffs and crossing rivers as I anticipated it would allow me to deliver packages more promptly. With ropes to nail down to climb down steep mountainsides and ladders to cross rivers that proved quite aidful. But when I was out of those particular items I had to climb or cross with simply my legs. The discovery that accompanied this form of toolless traversal was janky animations mixed with inconsistent climbable surfaces. Trying to best the rapids of a roaring river would lead to falling over and losing packages to the waves. Instead of being a grave threat it only proved more of an irritation gathering the crates back. Grievously, on the climbing side, some exteriors appeared unfit to surmount but turned out otherwise. Others told a different story with me climbing onto a surface only to slide off or animation-wise clunk out and fall. This inconsistency upheld the tedious notions of the game design. Sure no aspect of the world felt unnatural, but at the expense of a fun experience. However, my main issue was despite these unpolished climbing mechanics the gameplay loop never truly posed a challenge. I may have tumbled leaving my packages slightly damaged but by the time I would deliver said packages I'd always receive a positive preservation grade. Making things even easier was the, admittedly neat, indirect multiplayer. Players in their own game contain the ability to build structures such as roads, bridges, and generators to charge vehicles. These structures would appear in other players' games offering as a helping hand. Integrated quite well into the themes of connection this component was fascinating to explore. Yet, it made the already pitifully simplistic gameplay even more bare-bones leading to virtually zero complexities. The recently mentioned vehicles didn't exactly deter from the naive game design either. It further added to the clunky essence of the animations. The only two trials that posed as mildly more difficult were the weather and combat encounters. The weather would gradually degrade crates leaving them a bit more damaged but still usable unless you purposefully rest in the storm. And combat encounters made me groan almost every time.

Clearly, Kojima never intended this game hinging off its shooting mechanics based on what I previously described, yet he still emphasized whole missions around them. Throughout the world camps of looters and terrorists would act as an obstacle of sorts. At your disposal were various assault weapons and pistols either lethal or none lethal. Killing enemies would lead to "void-outs"; self-combustion on a nuclear scale leaving the surrounding area in ruins. Although that was an interesting construct, with the none-lethal tools it was a joke to bypass. Albeit each way of tackling the combative situation was always a sluggish mess. The shooting was stiff leading to flat shoot-outs without an ounce of joy running through my body. Fisticuffs were also an option, though a laughable display of monotony. The AI was braindead as well, leaving me to casually dispatch of them without much issue at all. In fact, I hardly recollect dying if at all. It was almost like I minus well have been watching a let's play. With that, I'd have been able to at least avoid subjecting my precious life-force reluctantly partaking in combat. Suffice it to say avoiding these camps was a preference. Unfortunately the same could not be said about the other enemy class; the "BTs".

These invisible nuisances escalated my frustration levels to embarrassing heights. Why exactly? Well, plenty of missions required a trek through "BT" territory, so they were impossible to avoid. Crouch-walking through their dimly lit environments was slow and strenuous. And since cloaking was their strong suit, the only visual indicator came from your "BB". These little guys would be contained in a pod connected to a device that would beep the closer to a "BT" you were. Handy? Sure. Made the game even easier? Sure did. Even if caught by these creatures as they would form a tar pit around you attempting to drag you away, smashing the square button was a get out of jail free card. Doing that would grant you safe passage out of their boundaries as they despawned moving forward. Failure to escape their grasp they'd drag you to a mini-boss. Seeing the worth in these encounters must have flown over my head because escaping without being scathed was like running away from a sloth without being touched. Again, they acted more as elongation to the playtime rather than a fully fleshed out and engaging confrontation. The story did offer these dedicated large scale boss fights but designed more around the spectacle rather than an honest challenge. Defeating each behemoth only left a taste of disappointment. To have such incredible monstrosities being easily dealt with by assault rifles and grenades drained any sense of satisfaction in conquering them. Only the narrative behind them and the frustrating journey along the way could have barely tied what little present together.

Video games don't share the same narrative focus other mediums do. Therefore, a weak plot in a game rarely truly effects my experience unless blatantly at the forefront. 'Death Stranding' clearly was and is a story-driven adventure. Despite the gameplay hogging up a majority of the game length, a sizable chunk was devoted to the narrative and its characters. From the very introduction, my interest had already peaked. Sprinkled throughout were cutscenes that showcased imaginative visual spectacle that left me grinning every time. "Sprinkled" is the keyword. Roughly ninety percent of the plot consisted of indulging the player in unbearable amounts of exposition. Due to the overabundance of questions relating to the concepts at play, this was practically inevitable. Discovering where the "BBs" came from, who exactly is Mads Mikkelsen's character? What is the supposed central villain Higgs' motivation and where did he get his powers? What is the "Death Stranding"? These were just a few questions the characters set out to answer. Which, ultimately, led to an unfocused narrative with said questions being randomly pulled back up while investigating other matters. It got to the point where I was on the verge of skipping cutscenes as I neither cared for the repetitive exposition but also the characters themselves. Casting these talented stars like Mads Mikkelsen, Léa Seydoux, Troy Baker and many more didn't translate to well-written personalities. Structurally, the game was divided into episodes with many being dedicated to specific characters. Each of these specified episodes gave way for an attempt to develop each person with a dive into their past. But, the dialogue given to further drive the emotional turmoil embedded into their mindset did nothing but make me laugh. Lines such as "Everything you heard about me is true, except for the lies" and "I'm Fragile, but not that fragile" was only from Léa Seydoux's character Fragile. FROM ONE CHARACTER. This was the type of juvenile writing set from beginning to end, and due to that each performance was nerfed say for the eccentric impulses from Troy Baker. Mixing all the horrendous writing and exposition dedicated to the overwhelming amount of ideas we have a narrative that never fully expanded on one idea. Even more story relating to Sam's true identity bled past the credits as it had no room beforehand. With the theme of connection being accepted in the gameplay department, it fell woefully short in this discombobulated plot with no foundation to stand on. No amount of unsubtle mentionings about the importance of bondage helped bring it all to a satisfactory conclusion.

Just as I began to appreciate the atmospheric world of "Death Stranding" its true depth began to show. No matter how many subdued moments of soaking in the scenery with Low Roar's complimentary soundtrack accompanying along distracted from the agonizingly pointless gameplay. Just like how the few spectacularly short cutscenes ended up shallow with its connection to such thin concepts and bloated narrative. Anticipating a slow-burning venture gave me great hope to see a world thoroughly explored and realized. I could not have predicted that the threads tied together would wear thin and woefully tangled.

Kojima is a genius in creating and telling stories and Death Stranding doesn't escape much from that. It's an extremely well-crafted story that blends science with mysticism. And the cast he has put together for this game... my friends, it's spectacular. It was possibly the best performance I've ever seen in a video game and at various times I just stared at the screen with my mouth open. That actress who plays Amelie is insane.

But right, I think what people most want to know is related to gameplay and aspects outside the story (you already knew it would be great). So here's what I thought:

It is a niche game. A lot of people will find it fun until chapter 2 (there are 14) and then they will get bored and start talking bad about the game on internet. In particular, I found the game fun to some extent. At various times I thought "IS IT SERIOUS THAT I HAVE TO WALK THAT MUCH?" and in some parts, towards the end, it even bothers you and makes you angry BUT other than that, I find the game a lot of fun. What am I complaining about here? About 2 hours of gameplay that pissed me off, maybe? The world of Death Stranding is very alive and no, it's not a walking simulator. Much of the game's challenge is the reliefs and the harsh environments you'll have to go through. The other part consists on two things: the MULAS (I don't know their name in English because I played in Portuguese), some people who are addicted to deliveries that are VERY insupportable off being behind you like a jerk every time you walk inside their area; and BT's, which are those oil-like animals. They are those ghosts that float in certain areas and if you bump into them, a puddle tries to swallow you and if it do... you'll find out; I confess that at first I found these two things very insane but towards the end they start to piss you off and you run like an idiot to get away from them. But by no means I find the act of delivering boring. Just walking around the map in a GORGEOUS world that Kojima has created and relaxing while doing it is very enjoyable. Performing side mission deliveries and getting rewards from npc's and even talking to them is a pleasure. I was caught by surprise crying several times simply for walking around and starting to play a song (my goodness the soundtrack of this game is SPECTACULAR). At the end of the game, I really wanted to see the main story and finish it soon, so I rushed. But sometime I'll pick it up to beat again and I won't rush it.

Death Stranding will not please everyone (especially the West who enjoys Americanized things and Fortnite) but it is a wonderful attempt and at least for me it worked very well to create something new that we are not used to. I didn't talk about the multiplayer element of the game because I'd like anyone who would play to enjoy it without any spoilers. It's a really cool thing that fits in beautifully with the game's "reconnect people" proposal. Simply amazing. And as the title of this review says, I have to scream out loud one thing:

FUCK YOU KONAMI.

OPEN-WORLD ADVENTURE - Reunite and rebuild the UCA by connecting every city to the Chiral Network.

PROS:

++ Deliveries. Deliveries took up 80% of my playtime so I was glad that they made it quite satisfying. Planning out your trip by carefully setting your route, loadout, deliveries, and weight made the game surprisingly fun to play. And the moment-to moment walking required some level of concentration so it wasn't entirely mindless like I thought it would be. I was quite skeptical about the gameplay coming in to this game, but I was pleasantly surprised. The progression was also quite good because you receive new tools and weapons quite frequently. The game would only get stale if you don't experiment. Also, encountering BT's and MULEs during your delivery provided enough tension, and just the right amount of action, for the player to not be too bored in their journey. Cargo deterioration from Timefall Rain was also another factor that made planning out trips quite important!

++ Chiral network. The way multiplayer was integrated into the game is quite genius, and it reminded me of how the Souls games and Journey implemented their multiplayer. I felt a sense of camaraderie that I don't often feel in most multiplayer games.

++ Worldbuilding & lore. Though I did find the story hard, if not, impossible to understand, I still really liked the world and lore they built in this game. Very curious to see how they build upon this world in the sequel.

++ Presentation. From a technical standpoint, this game hit a homerun! It made a barren wasteland look beautiful. Graphics are gorgeous. Animations were done well. I liked the designs of the characters. Cutscene choreography was often artistic and cinematic. Voice performances were great all around. And the music was perfect! I have no complaints with the presentation.

++ BB/Lou. Not much to say, but I developed a strong connection with BB. Hard to explain but BB's inclusion in the game made my experience much more memorable.

CONS:

-- Incomprehensible story. I earnestly tried keeping up with the story, but eventually it lost me and it was never able to gain my attention again. I love Metal Gear Solid but even I can recognize that Metal Gear Solid's story is convoluted, but at least it was entertaining and somewhat understandable. But Death Stranding isn't just convoluted, I personally found it incomprehensible. Maybe it was me, or maybe it was the game's way of telling its story. Who knows.

-- Characters. They're not necessarily forgettable, but I wasn't really fond of anyone. From Sam to Higgs to Cliff to Amelie to Fragile, they were all kind of "meh" to me. And also, the way the characters were named made it hard for me to take them seriously because the names are too literal.

-- Lacklustre combat. The game discourages the player from using guns, which is fine! But there are certain sections in which the game turns into a 3rd-Person Shooter and the mediocre gunplay and combat shows itself. Stealth was also mediocre. Kind of a shame since MGS V was the complete opposite in terms of gameplay. And when it comes to combat with the BTs, they become fodder the moment you receive hematic grenades. Bolo guns were a great weapon though! Wish the game had more creative weapons like that.

-- Pacing. Most of the exposition dumps and lengthy cutscenes bookend the game. This makes the game slow to begin, and feel like a drag to finish. Exposition should have been spread throughout the entire length of the game.

-- Easy bosses.

-- The trike. Besides walking, most of my time was spent on the trike. This would be fine, but the trike gets caught up on the smallest pebbles! And overall, the trike just felt very "meh" to drive.

I've finished the game just now. Wow. Hadn't ever played a game that narrative-heavy and confusing. If you want a game to constantly scratch your head for narrative answers that leave you startled gazing at your loneliness and the emptiness of the universe, this is what you're looking for.

Most of the time, I didn't even know what was going on history-wise. There's so much information, so much stuff happening at the same time, it just tends to bloat you out and you start to focus on your simple work as a delivery man.

But just as you start getting the hang of it, more and more narrative adds to it, leaving you very attached to our hero Sam Bridges. And then, when you less expect it, a whole new turn is made in the narrative, and the game succeeds in leaving you in a constant state of "Wait, wut?". Every time.

And don't worry, I kept scratching my head until the very end, the very, very end. Really, like, I'm talking even after credits, or the second credits. Does that shit even exist? Well, yeah it does.

That's kind of when everything starts to make sense. And still, they're kind of some questions I ask myself, which I'm going to try and find answers to on the internet, cause it can take a good amount of time to understand the whole universe.

It's the kind of game in which you put a lot of effort for little recompense at the start, but finally, if you give it enough effort, it will reward you vastly. I stopped playing the game for a while because I had other matters to attend to. Finally, a month later, I decided to finish the game, and it was well worth it.

Okay, enough of the long paragraphs. Let's break this down.

Pros:

• Great narrative arch and character charisma building throughout the game.
• Graphics are stunning. Don't hesitate to play it on a 4K OLED, it's just jaw breaking.
• Boss fights are cool and visually stunning.
• The whole atmosphere of the game is awesomely crafted. You feel in an open vast world, which feels kind of empty, creepy and confusing, but it just perfectly represents what the narrative tries to communicate.
• Voice acting, actors and stop motion is awesome, it is stunning to see this quality of realism in a game.
• The delivery system is quite well built, and it has its charming ways to get you to keep on giving. You tend to unlock tons of new material, weapons, accessories, upgrades, color schemes, wearables and (unexpectedly) figurines.
• The effort put on cutscenes is very admirable, as on other Kojima games.
• The multi-player aspect of it is original and it feels good to see a "co-op" multi-player without seeing another player live at any time. It's different from our old classic EA/Activision games.
• Social critics range from politics, environment, game industry, to parenthood and emotional intelligence. It's a piece of art that's worth taking a deep look at and analyze.
• Kojima's sense of weirdness and emotion is particularly interesting in this game.

Cons:

• It may feel repetitive sometimes as deliveries are kind of the "same thing going on". But at different difficulty levels and with different tools.
• It isn't a game for those searching instant gratification. You never score a goal like in FIFA, you don't get points for killing others in a deathmatch. Combat isn't particularly important nor impressive. You need to be patient, gratification will come at a later time.
• A lot of texts to read, information to learn and mechanics to adopt, the learning curve can be very steep for some players and you can feel mentally exhausted after a Death Stranding gaming session.
• dialogue can sometimes feel nonsense, idiotic and goofy when you haven't followed up with the narrative.
• Intermediate animations (like getting out of your safe house, BB detection warning, getting on and off a vehicle) can feel very long and repetitive at times.
• the game loading screen can belong.

Conclusion:

As I am a patient player and one who likes being challenged for later gratification, this game was a good one. I felt it as particular work of art and a must-play for all those hard-core gamers out there. It feels like one of those PS1 games you feel really good about having finished. Not everyone is up to the challenge and not everyone can love this game, so if you think you may love it, please try it, be patient, and enjoy it. With some luck, you'll get what you expect and even more.

Now some screenshots I took, watch out for spoilers ahead.

Playtime: 67 hours (abandoned during Episode 8, porter level 308)

Intro

Death Stranding is a game in which you reunite the Ununited States by delivering porn and child brides.

The Good

• Cooperating with other players in a single-player game is amazing and i hope more game incorporate that.
• I love how you're actually (re-)building something in a game. That was great about FO4 too.
• While utterly idiotic, at least DS is original. Seriously, points for trying something different.
• Cool visuals.
• Super goofy in parts.
• Traversing the land is pretty neat by itself.
• You actually deliver someone's child bride.

The Bad

• Seriously, i thought she was his daughter.
• DS's world is so dumb your brain will leak out. Like, it will have a place called "West City" and the only one who lives there is Timmy West. And the Weather Station is manned by "Bobby Rain", etc.
• Also you are Sam Strand and you forgot your mom is the President and her name is Bridget and the company rebuilding the US is called Bridges and your sister succeeds your mom as President.
• The CEO of Bridges is a guy in a wrestler mask called Die-Hard Man. Yes, all of this is played 100% completely straight.
• Not a fan of the flashback areas.
• Some of the pre-set roads go through small areas of rain, which means you get slow-mo etc. everytime you drive through there.
• Kojima really gets off on wasting your time. Yeah, just sit there for three minutes and wait.

The Ugly

• Incredibly frustrating in parts, especially because BTs respawn so quickly.
• Most of the gameplay is essentially grinding fetch quests.
• Building degradation just makes everything worse.
• Repairs should've been done automatically. FFS there are bots making deliveries already.
• I quit when BTs started breaking the established rules and i had no idea what to do.
• If you kill a human you have to deliver their body to a morgue far away or it's game over. Wtf.
• The interface is pretty bad and you spend a lot of time in it.

Conclusion

DS is batshit insane and interesting, but the enemies and acid rain really get on your nerves after a while. Honestly, i think the game may have been better if you could avoid both more easily. And if it wasn't so grindy. And if the interface wasn't so bad. I knew the game was going to be bad when i was building a bridge and it showed me the materials i had delivered and the total materials i needed but not the remaining materials i still had to deliver. Any even remotely competent developer would've never made me use a calculator.

TL;DR: Death Stranding blew me away, but I could tell as I was playing it that it's absolutely not for everyone. The gameplay is a slow burn, while the plot is absolutely insane. There's nothing else like it out there.

Finally got back around to this game after putting my playthrough on hold while I worked on a number of other games. I had already been enjoying it, but I got super into it and binged something like 20ish hours in the past week if Steam is to be believed. This was enough to finally bring me across the finish line, though the final stretch was quite a long haul.

I loved it. I want to give it some time to breath, and have an opportunity to toss what I just experienced around in my head some, but I'm fairly sure this is gonna join my favorite games of all time list. I say that, yet I would never recommend it to just anyone for a number of reasons. The gameplay is slow. Like, really slow. The plot is convoluted as all hell. The combat can feel kind of muddy sometimes. But here's the thing about these points. The first two ended up being big positives in my eyes, and the third was a fact I just sort of got acclimated to, so it didn't bother me all that much.

From a conceptual level, the gameplay of walking packages from place to place sounds like a total snooze-fest. It doesn't get much more "walking simulator" than this, folks. But Kojima et al. took this simple concept and pulled every single lever, flicked every switch, pushed every button they could find within it to tune this very basic concept into a surprisingly deep gameplay mechanic.

I think that's what impressed me the most. There's so much thought and micromanagement that can go into navigating the world and making a delivery. Wearing the proper gear for the terrain, deciding what supplies to bring for the trip, choosing to journey on foot or in one of many vehicles, checking the weather for rain or snow, planning out your path, and building bridges and roads to make future journeys easier are just some of the many things you'll be juggling. But at no point did it feel overwhelming for me. The game feeds these new concepts and tools to you at a pace that allows you to become comfortable with the ones you have before being given more. Hell, I didn't even try some of the tools I could have used such as the catapult and speed skeleton frame because they didn't seem like they'd mesh with how I liked to play. But I'm still excited to get around to them eventually in the postgame. I want to gush more about how therapeutic and relaxing the gameplay was for me but I should move on.

The story. What a fuckin trip. I think even people that ended up not liking its execution have to admit the world it takes place in is very cool. Rain that speeds up aging, dead bodies acting like small nuclear bombs, an alternate dimension of sorts that links all humankind together. It had me hooked very early on. And though the plot maybe didn't focus as much on the "how is this all possible?" as I might have wanted or expected initially, I found nearly all of my questions answered to satisfaction as I made my way through the game.

I found the protagonist, Sam, kind of weirdly relatable, which seems like a bad reflection on me honestly. But he and most of the others in the cast of characters (Not so much for Higgs) all had more than enough breathing room and development, which is something I don't see often in games. Each has their own desires and shames. Their own stories, which you slowly unravel as you play. By its conclusion I found myself caring for characters I never would have expected to at the game's outset.

Speaking of the conclusion, holy shit, the ending sequence is long. And it doesn't help that it sort of faked me out at one point. I thought I was nearly done, but still had around 5-8 hours left to go. Which may sound bad but at the end of the day, the game managed to wrap up pretty much everything I could have wanted it to. Each character's story got its own fitting sendoff. And that's totally worth the time it took in my eyes.

And finally, the combat sequences deserve a mention. These are the biggest meh for me. I personally did not like interacting with MULEs and the terrorist enemies at all. Stealthing around was fun, but as soon as they saw me, things went downhill fast. The bosses are no better, for the most part, and made up by far the clunkiest parts of the game, despite the visual spectacle they offered. It's like they totally nailed the cool factor but forgot to make the combat system blend nicely with the rest of the game. Small shoutout though to the encounters with Cliff. Those were badass, characterized him well, and felt far better implemented than the cut and dry boss fights.

That brings me to one last side note, which is that this is such a visually impressive game. The scarred world is beautiful, the various BT enemies and bosses are intimidating and horrifying, and the human characters, holy crap. There were times when I forgot that I wasn't watching a live action movie. The character models produced via body scans look fantastic and they really nailed the lip and mouth movements in a way I have never seen a game do before. Just a beautiful game, from start to finish.

As I was finishing up the final bits of the game, I remember thinking to myself, "I've never played anything like this, and I doubt I ever will again." This is a truly special game, though absolutely not for everyone. As far as I'm concerned, if this is the level of quality we can expect from Kojima's studio now that he's away from Konami, I'm all over whatever comes next.

I started playing this game thinking I wouldn't like it. I'd already read all the "walking simulator" memes and the critical reviews. I was getting worried. This was my first Kojima game so I didn't know what to even expect. The first few hours were definitely a walking simulator. I faceplanted a lot, lost footing in rivers, fell down cliffs, and there wasn't much else going on. All that was keeping me playing was the strange story and frankly, Mads Mikkelsen.

Then around chapter 3, it clicked. The world opened up, mechanics opened up, and the story opened up. I started to get some creative gears, with more ways to fight enemies, and more variety of environments to traverse through. The journey was no longer "hold R2 and L2 and hope for the best" but more of a puzzle that I could strategize around. I was starting to appreciate the difficult walking experience in the beginning because it made every single upgrade that much more impactful. For example I had never been so excited about finding a truck. A truck to put all my ceramics into! It fit so many ceramics for all the structures I planned to build. By the end game I was a literal god among porters, flying over mountains on my carefully constructed ziplines.

Building infrastructure is a big part of the game. I always liked building games, so this part was very satisfying. Not only were my bridges and ziplines useful to me, but I was notified every time another player used my structure. Interacting with the community was really wholesome. Whoever shoved that crate of 1000 metals into a postbox by the road builder became my hero of the day.

This was my favorite moment in Death Stranding: There was a quest where I had to cross a particularly treacherous river rapids. I fell once and got swept away by the river, destroying all my cargo. On my second try I managed to cross it slowly, following the community built signs. Then I found a cave to rest. I sat there playing BB a song on my harmonica, watching the rain fall into the river and the misty mountains in the back. Those serene moments after difficult journeys made Death Stranding special to me.

You either love or hate it.

You hate it because of the slow pace. You hate it because you didn't understand the story/didn't like the story. You hate it because someone else hyped it up and it's not your style. You hate it because it's a glorified delivery service game with themes apocalyptic themes.

I love it because of the slow yet increasing pace. I love it because of the unfolding plot that just kind unravels before your eyes as you experience it. I love it because it makes me feel like the more packages I deliver, the more connections I make. I love it because, while it's a semi-multiplayer game, you're alone as ever and even a pair of shoes someone else left behind, a bike someone decided to leave in the middle of the wilderness of the next guy makes all the difference.

Death Stranding will not appeal to every person out there picking it up thinking they're going to be the next New Vegas Courier, neither it will appeal to everyone that doesn't enjoy the type of experimental game-plan Kojima offered up when it came to Death Stranding.

It is revolutionary? No. Is it something different that didn't make me feel like I wasted my time or money playing it? Definitely. Don't pick it up expecting to experience some godly revelation, don't pick it up expecting it to be the best game on Earth that has ever happened.

Pick it up because you want to try it, pick it up because you want to experience storytelling in a different setting and in a different view of a "post-apocalyptic" America where even death can be as dangerous as being alive. Pick it up because you can get engrossed in a type of story that can be hard to follow and pick up the pieces of narrative around the place.

All in all, it's 5 star on the principle that I found myself engrossed in a world I had never experienced before, I enjoyed the mechanic of leaving behind messages or buffs for other explorers, I enjoyed looking through my codex to peep what was happening around me, the how's and why's of the Death Stranding, the Bridge Babies, who was Cliff, why is the Beach so pivotal to the game.

The subtle game of taking enough cargo to make the journey worthwhile but not too much where you could feel yourself struggling and where one wrong step might make you lose hours of progress through the wilderness.

And I'll probably pick up Death Stranding 2.

Truly like nothing else, which is its biggest strength and its biggest weakness. I started Death Stranding knowing that it was primarily a delivery simulation game with the classic Kojima hallmarks, and figured doing some virtual deliveries would be a great way to decompress while studying for law school and then the bar exam. I had played Lake for much the same reason and assumed DS would deliver something similar. To the extent that it does task you with making deliveries and frequently induces a kind of zen-state as you work towards that goal, I was right. But DS isn’t structured like those other “decompress” games that offer quick, bite-sized, low-stakes missions. I kept getting frustrated by the existence of outlaws who would force me into suspense or action mode, creating tension when I was looking for melancholy escape. I disliked how challenging traversing much of the map was and how little story seemed to be doled out. Eventually, all of these complaints turned me off of the game; I was bored with the repetitive deliveries and was not finding the kind of escape I had hoped to find.

Four months later, with all of that studying behind me, I came back to DS to finally trudge through and finish it. Expectations were low. With a more normal work schedule and free weekends, I began playing for multiple hours at a time (rather than the 30 minute chunks I originally played) and the game quickly blossomed. I felt enveloped by the world when I didn’t feel the need to barrel through each delivery along the quickest path (even over rough terrain), and I started to love the simplicity of managing each run. Charting the course, prepping materials, and finally killing BTs rather than trying to race by them all became a joy. I finally found the relaxation I hoped to find from the game, albeit a few months too late. The story beats began to land and I was enthralled by each new revelation. It devolves a bit into the standard Kojima word-salad at times, but the overall presentation helped elevate the sincerity and absurdity into something moving and wholly unique.

I would love to give this game 5* based solely my experience with the back half of the game, but that would ignore half of my experience. I certainly didn’t have the right mindset or expectation going into it, but even then the first several hours are very dry with little of the onboarding that could have invested me in the world early on. There’s also a lot of repetition throughout, which requires running back and forth over the same tricky plot of land too often during the same couple hours. And while the controls are generally ok, I’d sometimes fall off a cliff edge due to the game moving Sam in the opposite direction I was moving the joystick, or would be unable to stop him once he had even a tiny bit of momentum. I assume these things will be easily fixed in a sequel, but they do make things rough at times in a game that’s all about meticulous preparation and planning. And for anyone wondering if Kojima's improved his storytelling pacing in order to avoid hours-long end cutscenes full of exposition, I regret to report he has not. The final stage of this game takes hours and is full of monologues that go on too long such that their power is dulled.

A strong 4* in the end and an experience that stands apart from anything else in the medium. I have no doubt I’ll be thinking about Death Stranding more frequently over the coming months than many of the 5* games I’ve played in recent years.