Keep Running Up That Hill: An Analysis of DEATH STRANDING (Spoilers)
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- Опубликовано: 22 ноя 2019
- SPOILER WARNING! This video spoils Death Stranding's story.
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Death Stranding (Hideo Kojima's first game post-Konami break up) is a game I have many complicated feelings about, both positive and negative. To try and make sense of them, let's talk about absurdist philosophy and noise music as we take a spoiler-heavy look at one of the most complex, deliberately exhausting games about walking ever made.
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Sources:
Kojima Explains 49 Minutes of Death Stranding Gameplay (Now in English) (IGN) - • Kojima Explains 49 Min...
Albert Camus - The Myth of Sisyphus (1942, translated by Justin O'Brien, 1955)
Friedrich Nietzsche - Twilight of the Idols (1889, translated by Richard Polt, 1997)
Metal Gear Solid V's nuclear disarmament cutscene (Rock Paper Shotgun) - • Metal Gear Solid V's n...
[Guide] How to obtain / steal a Nuke and dismantle it - Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (ElectroRage) - • [Guide] How to obtain ...
Death Stranding: Inside Kojima Productions (BBC Newsbeat) - • Death Stranding: Insid...
Kojima Famitsu interview translated by Reddit user damnlee - / new_information_for_de...
Norman Reedus discussing Death Stranding at ACE Comic Con (vgc2) - • Video
Twitter thread about MGSV nuclear cutscene integer overflow - / 959493879950127104
Mads Mikkelsen had no idea what Death Stranding was about after Kojima described it (Polygon) - www.polygon.com/2017/2/28/147...
Konami explains MGS5 'nuclear disarmament' event mishap, apologises to players (Updated) - www.pcgamer.com/uk/the-mgs5-n...
Hijokaidan footage - • Hijokaidan King of N...
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Intro text by Draz - / drazgames 
Игры
![Death Stranding Isn't What You Think [HOLIDAY SPECIAL]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZdEDirN9DIc/mqdefault.jpg)
![Death Stranding Isn't What You Think [HOLIDAY SPECIAL]](/img/tr.png)
![Trying to Untangle Death Stranding [Full Spoilers]](/img/1.gif)
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Just like rdr
U have to be in the mood to get into the world of the game otherwise u well hate it or just mock the game for all the silly stuff that happens
You summed up my thoughts on the game perfectly.
@@Strider311 ik during part were music was playing i just turn the tv lower
While listening to something else
Or like rdr were your riding from point A to point B u get bored and try to knock the other npc character who with u off cuz they don't shut up😏
Shitty review
NO PEW PEW PEW GAME BAD! This generation man...
For pretty much every death stranding review and discussion I've seen, I've heard people say "It's not fun, but that's not the point of the game". Am I the only person in the world who genuinely enjoyed the gameplay? I loved having to plan my routes and struggle to get to my destination, how every inch of the world was potentially another tumble, forcing me to walk carefully. While I did take advantage of the reprieve other players were giving me, it never felt like "Oh my god I dont have to play this game for as much time now," when I used their items in the world. It always felt like they were just adding to my grand journey, and inspiring me to pay it forward by building highways and zipline systems. I had FUN. I wasn't experiencing a boring piece of art, I was experiencing a fun game that makes you struggle.
Another thing that seems wierd to me is that I genuinely loved every second I played of this game BECAUSE of the struggle, not in spite of it. It seems like many reviewers are saying "The gameplay is bad and inconveniencing, but in spite of that it's good." I enjoyed having to plan each and every step of where I was going in order to deliver my cargo and other players' cargo in perfect condition.
If someone out there has the same opinion PLEASE let me know. I gotta know if there's something wrong with me.
I loved every second of it, but I know for a fact there's lots of things wrong with me (intense OCD, social anxiety, clinical depression, and Asperger's Syndrome), so take that with a grain of salt. Dunno if those things made a difference in my enjoyment or not, but I felt like I should mention it for the sake of transparency.
As I say at the end of the video, if you had a good time with it I'm genuinely glad for you! Nothing wrong with that at all.
Absolutely I had the same experience as you.
I was one of the people who wasn't excited about death stranding when we just had cinematic trailers. Then I had the strange experience of gameplay coming out and getting excited like "so an exploration game that actually requires being thoughtful??" while most of the people around me were angry that that's what the gameplay was.
Yes, I also found the game incredibly fun, it's no more of a 'do this and then get asked to do it all over again' than any other shooter or anything, the only difference in this game is that the core mechanics are how you traverse the world which is awesome!!
I did this on my server, I had a few moments where I felt as though likes didn’t convey the gratitude I felt, so I spent like 5 hours doing structure building runs.
I guess that’s the meaning I found in the game, likes are nice to convey the minimal amount of sentiment you might have, but if you can do something more meaningful then do it.
Am i the only one that didn't struggle much with the game? I rarely fell over in 70 hours. Not once failed a delivery and i still don't know how people manage to get washed away in rivers.
The game literally tells you to scan the terrain, even tells you what the color meanss. It just so sad that so many people have become this dumb. Im crying for humanity, and not because of the chiral allergy.
Seriously, I felt like I wasn't even that careful and I got all S ranks on deliveries, so I am baffled so many people struggle so much. The game literally tells you to just stand mid-river to recover stamina. It's very blatant about it. As well as that you should scan terrain, which also literally tells you where all uneven footing is or how deep the water is. The game is really not that complicated if you take its basic tips and then use common sense.
i made a few mistakes, hell i didnt really know how to sneak past BT's that well until a friend told me to stay still so i can scan them to see their location, even then i never made as many mishaps as alot of youtubers did, im contently wondering "are you guys messing up on purpose?" its feels so non-nonsensical at times
That one time i first got introduced to ziplines, that was the one and only time ive screwed up badly in this game and also not making a jump that killed me
Only times I ever fell in rivers was because of one time I wasn't paying attention to my stamina, and the other times being because I had some jank with a ladder and I kept falling off somehow
my guy tried to rappel down a cliff with two floating carriers
Why can't they just float down?
No dominant strategy? May I introduce you to Mr Zipline.
I really think that the zipline should use up your stamina or something just because you're holding all your weight with one hand lol, like there's no drawback whatsoever to just creating a zipline network throughout the whole map at this point
@@thesaucyprophesy2939 You will only be able to do that if you get the max stars from all the stations. Otherwise you'll quickly run out of chiral bandwidth.
And ziplines are only fully effective on mountains anyway, on flatland a truck on completed roads will be superior in most ways that matter.
@@skynet3d I found it was easiest to play online rather than offline because even tho I ended with only about 39k bandwidth I could focus all of that on zip lines because I could lean on other players postboxes, generators and timefall shelters.
R Allison with zip lines you have to be lucky. I ended up with a lot of stupidly placed ones.
While I have yet to play Death Stranding (it's on my to-do list), my understanding is:
If you play slowly, and methodically, and patiently, and focus on a careful fulfilling journey more than the impersonal destination, you will enjoy the game. Death Stranding doesn't seem to want its players to rush over intense terrain, or try to tackle the harshest environments as fast as possible. It will punish playing like that, because playing like that doesn't make logical sense. It's like the anti-speed-run game. You have to be deliberate and slow, because that's what REAL treks are like, which it is simulating to a degree.
I think I'll have fun with it, but time will tell. I'll just have to take it slow to find out.
You got the gist of it, yep. A lot of the trekking is common sense and you'll adapt to it pretty easily if you take what the game tells you and then apply said common sense to make it easier. I hope you enjoy your time with the game! I sure did!
Fuck no. I played it that way and I felt that blowing my brains out would have been more interesting. It’s so mundane and boring to play that way.
littlekitsune1 The game literally tells you what you should be doing. Most games build on the idea of any kind of common sense. If common sense is now a game mechanics, god help us all.
@@moonmoon2479 well the game tells you what you have to be doing but nobody seems to listen to the game anyways and complains when everything goes horribly wrong
Have you played it already? If yes, how was it?
I dont think most players struggled as much as you did in to opening minutes
Will Henderson Exactly.......I really loved that part of the game......it was cinematic and exactly how hideo told it would be.
I didn't have trouble at all outside boss battles to be honest.
Yeah dude some ppl either made it harder than it needs to be or lie to join the mobs
I honestly found the game pretty easy as the environment showed you what would be difficult terrain to prepare for
Alot of people just wanna go fast.
During the intro, where they had to keep reminding Sam who people were “it’s your mother, the first female president” etc. I was expecting the twist to be that bridges was gas lighting him somehow into believing falsely implanted memories or something so he would do a mission he knew he shouldn’t, and all the hesitation came from his suppressed knowledge that he was working for the bad guys.
Hahaha true. I guess I was just expecting even more manipulation.
@@StayFractalesque He was already on the way there, that's where the cargo was going. Bridges was already planning to send him, I think Fragile just wanted a hand with Higgs initially.
the real question is why the fuck was she just standing out in the timefall anyways? was she hoping to talk to sam or was she waiting for higgs? both? neither?
I went in 100% blind to Death Stranding, am playing on hard, and never really encountered anywhere near the difficultly engaging with the mechanics you did. Like, it should seem obvious that maybe, just ditch the trike and walk? Actually look at how much you’re carrying and how quickly that erodes your stamina? Carry tools that actually work in a situation?
I’m three minutes into this analysis and if you can’t interface with the game because you refuse to learn the mechanics, then you don’t have anything meaningful to say about the game.
I almost wrote the same comment. What's there to listen to if they've missed the whole point of the "strand game" gimmick that cover's the game's narrative and design. If they miss the very structure on which everything is built upon, then what's there to listen to beyond that? This made me think that the writer for the vid was either egotistical, or at least not all that considerate of others.
This!!!! I could only get halfway through the video. He is playing it like it's Skyrim. Those red X's mean don't run, buddy!
@@ThreeFontStreet This is something that I was surprised to see people struggle with. How come people don't know to hold L2 and R2 to navigate rough terrain and slopes easier
Ok mike
90% of the game is either walking and cutscenes. One of the worst games I've ever played.
you literally walked through a cave when your cargo was stacked higher than the ceiling, wtf did you think would happen?
Gioco Royeca I figured but that’s on them. A lot of this was just being blatantly bad at the game.
@Gioco Royeca Yeah, funny how he's slowly driving his trike into a cave where the cargo will clip into the ceiling while talking about how there are drawbacks to each method of hauling cargo. What an amazing coincidence that such perfect footage came up naturally through his gameplay.
Shae yeah see ppl like this guy could literally blame a game coz he can’t play it. And find all the excuses to make this bs video to justify his own existence. Pity.
Exactly what I said lol
@@shae4043 But he's saying this experience felt like a bit of a trudge at points for him. Bad at the game or good at the game, the point is in the experience of each individual player. I didn't at any point in the video hear "This game is objectively bad". In fact I heard a lot of stuff praising the game for its social mechanics, but lamenting his personal experience with it.
If you thought the game was great, good on you; that's fantastic. I won't and I'm sure he won't claim your experience with was wrong - that you just didn't understand the monotony, or suchlike. So don't invalidate his by saying he's merely "bad at the game" or something. If mechanics don't click, they don't click.
Cliff is by far the most interesting part of the game, every time he's on screen it's amazing.
Even more so after completing the game once. His presence has new meaning, especially his third boss fight.
The main storyline felt just okay for me. Felt like Kojima got his thoughts tangled up. However, that damn Cliff-Sam-Diehardman storyline was so well written and well acted I forgot how mediocre the story about Death Stranding is.
After completing the game it’s all that really gripped me the stranding story wasn’t the greatest but every character is soo damn interesting and it really keeps the story interesting
@@KabbalahSherry oh God yes. Die Hard man stole the show at the end with his facial reveal and powerful acting. He was present the whole way but understated then at the end BAM. I listened to a podcast where some one said he was the weakest character. I was like that's it I'm revoking your gamer license. You won't be needing this. Agree 💯 he deserves at least a nomination as supporting role of not win the damn thing.
@@math001 I felt exactly the same. I hated the Amelie/Bridget story so much, and I thought the Clifford gameplay was kinda trash, but holy shit the cutscenes and the way that everything surrounding those three came together in the end was just so unexpected and incredible.
I feel like the game would be far better if that was its focus all along, and Clifford was the primary antagonist rather than having Amelie at all.
Shame Kojima had to pull a Kojima and have Clifford talk about being like "every other cliff". I think that was the thing that pulled me out of a really genuine, emotional, cinematically masterful experience, into the world of Princess "Beach".
The first few minutes of this video is like watching someone play Halo without reloading, jumping or using the right stick, and then complaining that the game's challenges are frustrating. EVERY game is frustrating if you blame the game for your own mistakes. Like MOST games, DS gives you new challenges and expects you to form new strategies to overcome them. This is core of gameplay! If you ignore the systems and the ramifications and just say "Nah fuck it I'll just use the same strategy" (like for example by trying to drive a bike through rocky terrain), OF COURSE you're going to fail.
No. Death Stranding is frustrating, because every 0,5 seconds you're stumbling across a 10cm rock making you lose your balance and damaging your cargo against another set of rocks.
@@NeoGamemaster If that's happening you don't know how to play. That's like complaining Dark Souls is hard when you haven't learned how to dodge roll.
I don't know how to play? I fucking platted it.
@@NeoGamemaster Hold L2 and R2. Scan the terrain. Walk slower. FFS. The solutions are in front of you.
tonysonartanim everyone knows the way to play this game, but it’s so fucking boring that I don’t blame people for trying to shortcut it.
DS dialogue be like:
deadman: sam, do you know [thing]?
sam: [thing]?
deadman: yes, [thing]. it's [simple explanation of [thing]]
sam: oh, right. [specific name of [thing], denoting sam's familiarity with
[thing] and lack of need for further explanation]
deadman: yes! [further explanation of [thing]]
I think it's more like Sam doesn't say anything
That MGS1 dialogues in a nutshell too. lmao
@@thedead456321 with a huh at the end
Me:❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌
Sam! It's Die-Hardman.
After watching some reviews of death stranding, from "boring" to "masterpiece", i started to think, what makes a good game? Does the game has to be fun? Does it has to be intense? I then look at movies and think: "Not all movies are fun, some of them are sad, some makes us angry, yet they are all good movies." A piece of entertainment doesnt always has to bring the audience positive emotions. The main point of entertainment is to allow the audience to experience things that normally wouldnt be able to in real life, to make them feel emotions they woudnt normally be able to feel. In a war movie, i can see myself standing on the battlefield without having to go to war, when a character dies, i can feel the lost of a loved one without any of my loved ones actually dying. Entertainment is a window into the various possible realities that we can experience for ourselves. Gaming is now the highest possible form of this experience. It allows us to immerse ourselves in so many different, to walk a mile in the shoe of a character, to act out his actions, to forge his bonds, to feel his emotions. Unlike movies and books, gaming allows for a personalized experience that can feel genuine and organic. It s a book where you can choose the ending, its a movie where you can act out the scenes.
This brings me to what i think games have yet to fully utilized-the gameplay. We can divide the gaming experience into 2 parts: the story and the gameplay. Throughout the history of the gaming, the two has been mostly separate components to the gaming experience. When we talk about how gaming allows for a personalized experience that exceeds movies or books, we are talking about the story portion of the game-how the story is written, the choices, the characters, the twists. This is where the game has the same flexibility as movies, the creators are free to invoke whatever emotions from the player, it can sadness, it can be anger, it can be joy, it can be fear....as long as it creates a enjoyable narrative. How about the gameplay? The gameplay on the other hand does not have this flexibility. No matter if the story is like, the gameplay must always be "fun" or "enjoyable". For example, imagine youre playing a shooter game, your comrade and favorite character just died-the game invoked a sense of sadness in you, but the gameplay? it stays the same, you still shoots people with a gun, nothing has changed, the feeling that you you felt from the story does not translate into the gameplay. This keeps the story and gameplay apart, the story can be anything but the gameplay must be fun. For too long, most developers have been afraid of making games that arent "fun" because it wouldnt sell and because they do not see gaming as an art. This is precisely what has been holding gaming back as an art medium. The "gameplay must be fun" dogma has been preventing the gameplay from becoming a part of the artistic value of the game. When the gameplay must be "fun", it limits what the developers can do with it and this limitation creates a drift between the gameplay and story. In short, before, gameplay has been incapable of telling a story or making the players feel anything except of a sense of enjoyment which means 60-70% of the game has wasted potential.
There, however, exist some games that were able to bridge that gap between story and gameplay. Through still in its infancy, the Soul-Borne franchise was able to show us a hint of this. The gameplay of Darksouls and Bloodborne, to some people, was not "fun". It was a grueling test of endurance and determination for first time players. Here, the personalized experience does not come from story but rather gameplay. The way every new enemy is a mystery, how every new boss is a challenge and every death a punch to the guts. The gameplay successfully makes the player feel other feelings outside enjoyment, the player feels fear, anger, anxiety, frustration. This allows for every journey to be unique for the suffering of each players, the way they fight, the way they die unique. The story is barely there and that why you can write your own through how you play the game, its an experience of you, by you and for you. The gameplay has successfully integrated itself into a part of the story and invokes various emotions from the players allowing for a rich gaming experience.
Death Stranding takes this a step further. In the game, every step you take is a task that require your undivided attention. This allows the player to immerse themselves in the character, to feel every step he takes, to understand his plights, his struggle. Many people say that the gameplay is boring, yes, i think it is boring, but let me ask you this: "Was it fun for Sam? Do you think struggling to climb mountains, cross rivers, fighting off enemies to deliver packages fun?" "No, it certainly is not." Yet Sam pushes forward anyway. You are "playing" as Sam and this is his story yet you only want the fun bits while leaving Sam to his own devices when it gets tough. How can you truly "play" as a character if you do not understand his plights? The gameplay of Death stranding allows you to walk a mile in Sam's shoe both literally and figuratively. Every step you take is a step he takes, every obstacle he faces is one you must overcome. Every action contains his story and your will. This allows you to "be" the character, to feel what he feels, to be angry and frustrated when you drop your packages, to feel accomplishment when having delivered a package. The gameplay itself tells the story so that the experience from story to gameplay does not break. In Dark souls and Bloodborne, you can write your own story, in Death stranding, you get to live the story of another. It can be said that Death Stranding right now is the closest to a fully immersed story telling experience. Yet it does not stop there, Death Stranding takes it step further with the strand system-the system that allows players to leaves behind your tools like a ladder or a rope to others to find and use or for players to build roads and bridges (things that they normally cant do by themselves) together. This is no longer the story of one person, it is the story of a community, the story of Death stranding. "To go fast, go alone. To go far, go together". The feeling of finding a bridge over a river that you couldnt cross, a zipline that helps you get over a snowy valley that would have taken you hours to traverse, they are genuine feelings of the player that the story cannot convey. This is the true potential of gameplay that Hideo Kojima was able to observed. To invoke true emotions from the player without having to set it up, unlike story where events are planned out, gameplay like this allows for emotions and memories to manifest organically at hands of the players themselves. Imagine if 10 years from now, you boot up the game and decide to take a trip down the old route and you suddenly notice a ladder that wasnt there before, you will know that out there, somewhere, a player like you left it there. Hideo Kojima has realized story telling and emotional potential of gameplay and pushes gaming further as a art medium. This is why i believe Death Stranding has reinvented gameplay design in gaming and gives us a game that is truly "of the players, by the players and for the players".
please start an analysis channel or something lol
Boring is boring. Statement or not, there is no excuse for that.
very true stuff, i've observed much of the same things. regarding "fun", i think the antonym of "boring" shouldn't be "fun" but rather "engaging". i assume this goes for just about any art piece or media ever. even if it's not fun, you sure as hell don't want it to be boring. you might be reading a deep philosophical book which isn't *fun*, but if you keep reading it then it must be because it is engaging. same thing goes with death stranding and with videogames in general. i really doubt some of the big games people play nowadays are played for fun, like league of legends, or any of those multiplayer games that people rage so much about. granted, they might cross the "engaging" line into being "addictive", but i doubt one would normally consider that fun. same with dark souls, i think the general consensus of why people supposedly enjoy it is due to the high you get when beating a boss, and up until then, you might be feeling incredibly distressed and certainly not having fun, but you sure are engaged. in death stranding, climbing a mountain and passing through treacherous BT territory might not be fun, but it's engaging because you keep doing it. if it was BORING, then you would just turn off the game wouldn't you? boring is sitting on a chair looking at the wall without doing anything at all, but here you're doing stuff with an objective and you work towards that objective.
sadly, i don't think Kojima or anyone is going to "advance" the industry, since these concepts simply don't normally sell (in this case it sold because it's Kojima, and even then theres a huge split in opinion, as evidenced) because the masses don't understand them. they might influence indie developers for sure though, who in turn aim at more niche audiences. it's not like indie gaming hasn't been doing this for a while though, but there's certainly many fresh ideas in DS that have proven effective that i'm sure people will be inspired by in order to create new games in a similar vein.
Amazing analysis
People don't adapt to the game and then complain about its mechanics. It's Sekiro all over again
I was just saying that to someone else. Kojima and From Software are oldskool. They demand that you respect the game. Not the other way around.
Rolando Villagomez if respecting the game means boring yourself to tears, thank god I wasn’t playing games at the time.
Moon Moon don’t represent your opinion as fact arrogant ass
Your batteries were dead, your shoes were wore out, your cargo wasn't stacked correctly, you were obviously trying to do things that are not possible. Why does this game confuse so many people?
I assume it's because most reviewers and RUclips channels rush through the game in order to put out content. They're not open to understanding a new experience (compare this to when FPS shooters with mouselook/twin stick controls came out and reviewers claimed they controlled badly).
This is why most games stop having original gameplay and settle for basic FPS or 3PS shooters. Because people are getting more and more impatient to learn things on their own and would rather just jump into games that they already know the basic controls to.
@@2ndbleak They gotta cash in that hype.
@@2ndbleak it means theyre not a healthy youtubers in means that they can bring negative influence of their opinions and acts to others as theyre watching their plays, means people will hesitating more to buy and play the game. Everything is connected so does this.
Imagine you never played a souls game and you just want to zerg rush the enemies so you struggle a lot. Only that this one isnt anything about skill, you only need s small bit of patience but the game will eventually allow you to progress even if you want to go full brain dead over it.
I can still remember the time where I carefully planned my route, racing with time before my cargo expires and my truck breaks down, and finally reaching my destination literally one second before the cargo breaks. Usually, mission timers tend to lead me into frustration, but in this case, that led to the best moment I've ever had in a videogame. And that's why this game is an absolute masterpiece.
3:58 BRUH... They literally give you the option to build roads so that you can better use vehicles at this point.. Yikes we have to laugh lmao
Death Stranding's story is just an optimist take on End of Evangelion. And I kinda love it.
Rishabh Are you implying End of Eva isn’t optimistic?
Death Stranding's story is just trash. The more you think about that game, the worse it gets. Do not compare with Eva's brilliant ending.
@@user-vp3rq3dl7j It's actually pretty ok on a meta level.
eoe is pretty damn optimistic though
@@user-vp3rq3dl7j It's messy but it's honestly no dumber than Eva's story.
Get punished by driving a vehicle to an obviously disastrous terrain. Got greedy and carried too many cargos. Running fast on rocky surfaces and tumbles. Conclusion: this game sucks.
I realize this is a supercut but I've never seen anyone doing this bad in DS lol
Watch Videgfamedunkey review he is one strong competitor.
@@thedead456321 except dunkey seems to troll sometimes so I wasn't sure if that's what he was doing but yeah I watched and cringed hard like why are you playing like your brain is on fire?
For real. Either he was intentionally fucking up for the video or he's just exceptionally bad lol
Hahaha, I know git gud bro.
hahaha true
It was hard hearing your initial negative thoughts while looking at your loadouts and what you’re trying to do. Wear power armor, don’t carry that much cargo, VEHICLES DONT GO THERE, move slower across bad terrain, why aren’t you balancing with both hands?!
It’s like you’re playing Dark Souls naked with a broken weapon but on the first play through. I’m glad you dig into the ethos of it all later. But I wonder if you’d have to have searched for such meaning if you’d made it a little easier on yourself.
I think the real question is why are you driving a truck up a mountain to begin with??
What's the point of overcoming hardships for their own sake? Why does "walking" have to be played off as something so much lesser than shooting, punching, slashing, skateboarding or what have you? You obviously notice they put the work in to flesh out the seemingly simple concept of getting from point A to point B with enough mechanics that require thoughtful engagement and strategy as any other "action" game with its core mechanic. Just because it's a verb that sounds boring on paper doesn't mean many people aren't deeply enthralled with it in practice. It's bad when you suck at it, it's deeply rewarding in its own right when you've mastered it, much like you can say for tons of games.
The way you describe your trek to Port Knot City...the slog i've heard from people, I dont get it. What're you people doing? There's so much common sense in traversal, why're people getting swept up in rivers? Why're people needlessly overloading themselves cargowise? Why're people having THAT much trouble driving vehicles? Why're people falling so much? Why would someone drive a sensitive explosive device in a bumpy ass truck and not in a smooth floating carrier (*ahem* dunkey)? So much common sense to approaching playing this, so many people seem to be trying to just get through it as soon as possible, because a lot of this i've heard is from people who've finished the game pretty quickly. If you can come at the game with the appropriate mindset and let yourself fit into the experience, it will be much smoother, not try and play it like a game where you're just fast traveling everywhere. The quiet loneliness, beautiful vistas, music accompaniment and choice moments...it's a bummer some can't click with that. It's not a walking simulator, nor is it like QWOP. Can we not regurgitate some dumb meme statement some moron said? All Kojima's writing has been a mixed bag and had moments of being on the nose. Now that this game is divisive, people act like his goofy writing and moments of iffy dialogue is something new.
N E K O S H O G U N,
I especially agree with you on Kojima’s narratives and you can tell he does it on purpose. It’s no different from the first season of One Punch Man, all that attention to the mundane things, like the idea of a sale at the market being the one thing that defeats the enemy.
Amen dude. The last part in particular. It's like when KH3 came out and everyone was complaining about the writing like it used to be perfect before or something.
This comment is so spot on. Especially how everyone is saying that kojima is suddenly bad at writing or whatever. This game falls perfectly in line writing wise with any kojima game going as far back as Snatcher (1988). But because people already don't like it for the gameplay, they are unfairly presenting the writing as some sort of fall from grace. I think a lot of people are just spouting what they've heard and they haven't actually taken the time to form their own opinion on the game.
First off: agreed! Now, a simple habit to build with a game like this is to put it down for a while when tilt/impatience sets in. I think I see the most negativity about it from people who tried to push themselves past their capacity for both, and hurried themselves to poor results. The game takes some degree of constant focus because movement *is* the game, and you're almost always moving (between movies). Games at large have developed habits in the larger zeitgeist that make this game more difficult than it needs to be.
The first time Sam sits down for a rest in the field, the game even tells you it's good to take breaks in real life, too. People ought to take that advice!
I agree so much, people just aren't used to a game thats different, and some of them aren't willing to accept that a game that not everyone enjoys playing can still be good. I love that Death Stranding is different, and it frustrates me when people just write it off cause of that. (btw not saying that this is what the person who made this video's opinion was stating)
Should’ve just built some of the road while playing the story. Made travelling a lot easier
You’re playing Death Stranding like the players going full shooter on metal gear solid V, most of the games wants you to play a certain way to get the emotions it should convey, you got it wrong if you though you could play it as you felt, meaning rushing on a bike with cargos on top of cargos on a rocky terrain with BT’s nearby.
If he's playing it wrong, why is the bike in the game?
@@mindriguniverse2429 I don't think they're saying that the trike shouldn't he's just not using it correctly according to the terrain if you come across a speed bump you're not going to go across it at full speed are you?
The funny part is that you completely transposed your awkward, stumbling failure of the Port Knot City delivery with awkward, stumbling game design. You didn't care enough about the unfolding portrayal of the story to take care during the mission, this doesn't mean that everyone else made the same laundry list of mistakes.
That part played out perfectly on my play through. I hadnt even watched the video of Hideo saying you should park your trike and walk down and enjoy it. I literally did that on my own because I seen the view from the top and I was like yeah I’m walkin dis biii.. I got everything I could out of this game and I loved every minute of it. I purposely didn’t fabricate vehicles pretty much my entire first playthough just to enjoy the long walk and the beautiful visuals and the quiet contemplation. This game was motherfucking perfect
You complaining how everything has a drawn back contradicts to you complaining MGS has the op silencer pistol.
This game is well balanced. All tools have pros ans cons, you need to make good decisions.
MemoriesLP the decisions are spelled out for you. It’s well balanced, but it’s pathetically easy and boring.
@@moonmoon2479 depends on what you are doing.
Main story was ok TO ME. Just a few moments were hard.
End game, on the other hand, is a mix between dificulty and micro managing.
Sometimes I go for dificulty to beat more deliveries at once, with the risc of failing (which happens often with me). Or sometimes I choose less deliveries but with higher chances to win.
Also BTs, MULES... the danger of those is at hurting your deliveries and not hurting youtself.
A BT is easy to kill, but not that easy to protect your cargo while fighting them
MemoriesLP considering that, why fight a BT? Since they might as well be blind and you only lose by fighting them, it’s not worth it. End game deliveries felt the exact same as main ones and side ones. All equally boring. I platinumed this game and have no desire to touch it again.
MemoriesLP and I never fall. I only fell twice after 90 hours. Once because the game didn’t load a rock and it spawned in front of me. And the second I did on purpose to pretend I needed to fight the guys chasing me to ease my mind from becoming numb
@@moonmoon2479 well boring to you. Thats subjective.
I love playing it because I have the freedom to choose any mission in any order and create my own journey.
BTs will appear all the time at deliveries inside BTs areas. Also happens whe you dont have a shelter nearby, or when doing time deliveries.
I fell multiple times because of mountains and verticality and I was out of ladders or too heavy.
Maybe because you wanted only the platinum, you didnt run as many situations as I did where deliveries would turn out to be challenging, since you go for the easiest way (doing deliveries that will be easier to platinum).
Im trying to do all deliveries, so Im forced to face hard situations... or I do 1 or 2 deliveries, one by one, very easy.
But that will take forever... so I have to push the limits so I dont spend 300 hours of easy deliveries
I think you've tried using the vehicules in areas of the game where you aren't suppose to use them.
That moutain section in the beginning, has BTs and rain and steep terrain, to force you to go on foot, and use ropes, ladders, bridges. BTs detect you with the sounds you make, so driving a motorbike through a BT area is a really bad option, so of course you were gonna fall, and damage your stuff.
Also I've found easier to reach a new destination with few equipement, while building ladders, ropes, ziplines, and after that, I was running around heavily loaded : the preparation make the second trip much more easier.
And if you so desire to use vehicules : build roads. I used vehicules on roads, then finished what was left to traverse on feet. I think that's how you're suppose to play the game : Not fully with vehicules, but not fully on foot either
Yeah i stealthed by the bts and then had the emotional moment as intended
Yeah, this guy obviously was in too much of a hurry, and didnt care about what he was doing. All the while talking about how the game's a joke. Thats only, because he made it that way.
I played the fist 50 hours on the trike. Its not til much later on the the terrain becomes too difficult to drive
Aree with your comment but it's *vehicle
Why is he stumbling so much? I finish my playthrough without falling once, and that is not a big accomplishment, it's rather easy to do it. :/
That's funny, every video I've seen criticizing Death Stranding showed the youtuber being terrible at it and trying things that obviously wouldn't work. Like, did you honestly thing your cargo WOULDN'T fall apart there?
Exactly. The first 2 minutes of the video are pathetic. If he had played as intended and made the most obvious choice, he would have meet no problem". For me, the only thing that shows is that some people aren't able to adapt the way they play to a gameplay they don't know. I finished the game in 66 hours, taking my time, and any time I had an issue, it was 100 % my fault. And this is not a problem of game design or anything since I find it very clear to see what you can and cannot do.
In resume : Don't try to break the game, and maybe you will enjoy it.
Kévin L. Agreed.
Agreed. It may be because I have experience with walking in mountains (if you ever visit Norway, I would highly recommend taking a mountain-walk, Even a shorts one), but I've never said "how could you have thought that would have worked?!!" as many times in my life than the last few weeks watching gameplay of DS. People seem to think that this is Skyrim where just jumping Will eventually break the game and get you anywhere. But if you think of walking the route you would have IRL, then it's much easier. There is still some jank (this is an open world-game after all), but actually using your head helps a lot!
People are dumb and lazy and like to ruin experiences for themselves like this.
Hey look, a huge cliff drop.... LETS JUMP THE BIKE RIGHT OFF THE FUCKER WHILE CARRYING ALL THIS CARGO
As someone else said, it's strange how you view playing the game as being 'the punchline of some joke'. Even though you say that other people are going through it with you, and that you appreciate the game for it at the end, I just don't get why people think the game was designed to not be 'fun' or is intentionally miserable or frustrating.
In Dark Souls, when you're walking through a tight corridor and you round a corner or go through a doorway, and an enemy you couldn't see comes from behind to stab you or some trap activates because you stepped on a plate, does anyone really think Miyazaki just wanted people to feel frustrated or angry? (Because, in that instance, I don't think anyone would say that was fun) Or - as he himself has stated that he does not create difficulty for difficulty's sake - did he craft a game that required the player to be observant and patient to learn the layout of the map or the patterns of the enemies, even through many, many deaths, so that they feel accomplishment?
Why must Death Stranding be the game that just wants to frustrate the player and not be fun? Sure, Dark Souls is more immediately mechanically engaging, but a lot of the design is similar in how the mechanics are in service to a purpose; an experience it wants for the player. I can't tell you to enjoy Death Stranding. I've seen a not insignificant amount of people say that a player must get through the first 10 hours or so before the game 'gets good', but I don't see it that way. I enjoyed the game from the beginning. That's not to say that I have a better opinion or anything, but it's just so strange to me. It feels like a mindset people had going into the game; a self-fulfilling prophecy. I'm not going to say you played it wrong, and I see your reply to the intro, but still, seeing people play the game like that.. well, I guess it is comical. But it's not necessarily the games fault, it's the dramatic irony you made for yourself. You have to understand that the dismissive tone the intro and other reviewers have, while at the same time showing footage of brute-forcing through areas without terrain consideration, is really disheartening. Death Stranding's gameplay mechanics are precisely what they needed to be for the game that it wanted to be. Any easier and the game would have had no challenge. Any more focus on combat and it would have been just like any other game out there. People say it's not for everyone, but to me, it's more that the game isn't like the 90% or more of the typical games out today, where traversal is so trivial that it basically requires no thought, and combat so frequent that for all intents and purposes it's the main expression the player has on the game world.
Ultimately, you say you appreciate the game and I'm not directly bashing you. I just think this is a similar conversation as one we had with Red Dead last year, and it's only been amplified with the uniqueness of DS's design along with the moreso unique personality and legacy of it's creator, and allllll the expectations and preconceptions that enveloped it.
Shit.... I'll probably make a video on this now.
Agreed
@@travissorrells2838
You said it perfectly, thank you. I'm not understanding how the main draw of a game like Dark Souls is that you need to take the game at a pace where you can learn the ins and outs to be successful, but then this game gets bashed for doing the same thing. I'm not trying to say this game and Dark Souls are the same, because obviously they're not, but it is disheartening to see people lacking enjoyment here because they brute force it instead of doing what they praise Dark Souls for. I've seen other amazing games bashed for the same reasons of players simply ignoring the adaption to mechanics in favor of brute forcing everything, and it really sucks, not gonna lie. One of the big ones recently was The Last Guardian, which is my favorite game of all time currently, so maybe I am overly defensive, but I do think current games have bred this mentality of playing for instant gratification instead of engaging with the actual mechanics or game logic.
I was about to comment to you that I enjoyed this comment more than I enjoyed the video and then I saw your final line 🤣 amazing bro! I'll check if you have the video up
If you read the mail, the artists daughter walks back and forth between the shelters on her own multiple times.
Yeah while transporting her was weird i thought "well maybe this world is so dangerous people usually stay cooped up in cities or shelters, the whole theme of people isolating themselves, and are brought out only if they're in the safe hands of a porter, being kind of agoraphobic maybe" then when i read the mails i felt so played, the only thing i appreciated was not getting called to deliver her a couple of times more.
@@davixx1995 IIRC, her letter did make it clear that she only attempted the trip because the conditions seemed really safe, she felt a pressing need to and that she still had a close call or two on the trip.
@@Foomandoonian why can't fragile do it?
Mabye fragile was seen like a terrorist.
@@Foomandoonian It still felt cheap because while it takes another guy and effort to make 2 people come together it only takes a couple of weeks for them to separate by themselves, which doesn't really fit the bill for the people coming together theme when you see your efforts wasted in a mail. Oh and what did it take for them to get together? A nonsensical twist where the guy used to be in a gang and participated in killing her parents, but subsequently saving her and both forgetting about this incident except for her mother? Just what.
How are people this bad at a walking game
u are talking an other game..deathstr... not a walking simulator❗
1min silence for you 🙏
Because tripping is your worst enemy.
StarFox85 it’s a walking sim
not enough shooty splodey but run fast make me go fall
@@StarFox85 Actually Death Stranding is the one true walking simulator. No other game described as a walking simulator actually simulates things like balance, momentum, effect of terrain, weight and arrangement of carried items etc..... they all just have you need to push forward on your controls and that's it.
I’m sorry...but your treck to the mountain top was the funniest thing ever.. flying off the ledge on the bike! HAHAH.
I did something g similar I did a big jump on the bike going off a cliff at the water fall and almost made it to the farm but when sam landed the bike flew or "broke" swirling in a tornado form and hit me and I died 😂 I wished I recorded that!
It truly was like watching a blooper reel hahaha. But there was one moment of genius that caught my eye. I didn't know you could ride bikes over ladders. That would have saved me so much time and headache had I known. Know I know and knowing is half the battle.
Seeing this kind of videos everywhere, it sometimes feel like people are playing it wrong, trying to take as much as they can, trying to go as fast as they can.
I just wonder how my experience was so different from others that so many people hate this game while I enjoyed every part of it (besides the combat with Mads maybe).
Just hiking across the beautiful landscape is fun to me, why are people so quick to skip over it? Try to drive over it?
It's not good inspite of it's gameplay, it's just good in my eyes.
I agree 100%, half the complaints don't make sense to me, it just seems as if too many people didn't get a grasp on the fundamentals of the game
Almost like they're deliberately playing it wrong. This game has had one of the strangest receptions, I've had a friend swear blind to me that the game was terrible and is a catastrophic failure for Kojima. He was telling me this as though he had played it but it turned out he hadn't, he had watched videos like this one. I've played for ten hours and can drive the bike smoothly around rocks. I can't help feeling this game almost makes people play it wrong if they find themselves not caring, almost like self sabotage. I don't even play games much, might not play this again for a month but I know damn well I'm going to finish it albeit slowly.
Because doing that hike for the 45th time is incredibly boring? How is that fun? The proper way isn’t hard, but I almost immediately want to play something else after starting.
Literally a walking simulator. Go the fuck outside and take a real hike lmao. I'm fucking pissed I bought this game and it pisses me off more "gamers" are praising this game as GOTY.
@@jasonhymes3382 So how about now,feel like going outside now during a pandemic lol
One man's trash, is another man's treasure.
"The vehicles are terrible to control" *shows footage of him trying to drive up a fucking mountain in a truck*
This is hilarious, it's like walking on a motorway then complaining thst everyone is much faster than you and its really dangerous
in my opinion, this game was one of the most beautifully crafted and underrated games of all time.
I loved the game and had to finish it before watching this - definitely get your criticisms and agree with your praises. I actually adored the game play loop while I was playing so I found most of the drawbacks easily forgivable. God that chiral artist love story was awful though lol! Good vid as usual :)
I'm surprised to see you enjoying Death Stranding. I suppose because it's not a weirdly ambitious licensed game, it's a bit like a kid seeing their teacher at the supermarket and realizing they don't live at school.
If there's one storytelling concept Kojima continues to struggle with, it's "Show, don't Tell".
Kojima does show though. In fact, the reason why Kojima's writting works in this type of media is because all of the showing can be done via gameplay
@@flailingdragoon1072 Oh sure. But I was thinking more of the countless exposition dump monologues.
He shows and tells
and then shows again and tells again
I dunno, I love the stuff he shows and tells, and at this point the self indulgent nature of his games has kind of charmed me, but it does get a little ridiculous at times.
He does show, but you are right that he tells a lot too. But there is still a major problem if the telling is what is sticking out to people.
I didn't see one zipline, so of course you dealt with the infamous slog that most dismiss this game as a few hours in. After building a network of ziplines, that's when the game mechanics "clicked" for me. I finished the main story in about 50 hours, and I'm now at about 90 hours post-game.
I feel Kojima intentionally made the base gameplay punishing, only for you to truly appreciate how much more enjoyable it can be if you take full advantage of the features that open up much later. That's also when the brilliance of the asynchronous multiplayer really started to shine.
Even with that said, I can still see how a lot of people won't enjoy this game. I'm glad that you finished it, and didn't dismiss it without giving it a real chance.
This. A fully developed Zip-Line/Highway system turned that Capital Knot backtrack that everybody complains about into one of the most enjoyable experiences I have had in gaming.
The ziplines don't take away from the problem. They just allow you to basically skip massive portions of the game. But they don't inherently make the game more fun.
@@1000rogueleader You have to run ahead to place ziplines, so I disagree that it allows you to "skip massive portions of the game". They are the reward for making a trip and having a quicker means to backtrack.
And seeing as how sections of the map do not populate with other player's structures until you make enough progress in those areas to begin with, you can't fly over places you haven't already traversed.
@@retr0type What you said doesn't take away from anything that i said. The ziplines are not really different from other forms of fast travel or shortcuts, and they don't inherently fix any of the game's problems.
@@1000rogueleader ...what's the game problem that needs fixing though?
Good job trying to force your way through a game against its mechanics, and then complaining about it
I don't understand how people can play a game so wrong, and complain that it's the games fault. I never had most of the issues you found, it's mostly common sense. Really disappointed with this one man.
Yeah and spend several hours climbing by walking, real fun there.
@@crackerbarrel1249 go away your food is decent at best
@@jaysonagli6210 lmaoo
@@crackerbarrel1249 yeah, real different than shooting and sneaking.
Play the game
@@Exel3nce Do you really think climbing and delivering is as fun as MGS? Really?? Do elaborate if so, cuz I played the game I cant bring myself to get entertained for the last 3 hours walking around with no music, except for when RNG gods decided it so.
In the beginning of the game they advice you to follow the rule of quality delivery over quantity. I don't know about you guys but I completed almost all deliveries with S rank and I abandoned the vehicles early in the game, just long walks, avoiding enemies, BTs and using lots of repair spray.
I believe this game rewards patience
I spent 50 hours in the first section not knowing there was other sections afterwards. I’m with you.
I think if you take more time to learn the basics its actually a pretty easy game on normal. Holding R2 and L2 means you'll auto balance for most stuff at the cost of not being able to run. Once you're balanced you can run in a straight line without needing to rebalance so by using those two concepts together you basically press and hold the triggers when cornering or turning your Reedus.
BTs are fully visible if you stand still and you only need to hold your breath when they're tracking you as shown in the cinematic early on.
Always bring a few PCC's with you, level 2 when you get them. Now you can just build ziplines making the trek back or side missions in that area super fast and easy. That then leads to more chiralbandwidth for more buildings and better equipment.
Make sure you customize your backpack, i added two extra batteries making the robotic exoskeletons last a super long time. If you're in snow or slide and fall a lot use the climbing one and gloves, if you think you've got it figured out use the speed one for super longjumps or power to carry even more and still be able to run fullspeed.
I don't consider my self great at games and i "died" maybe three times all in some of the last segments because i got cocky.
Trizface,
Yep. Pretty much. This.
Yeah. It truly is a game you can play “wrong”. So many people are making it so hard on themselves and assuming that’s what the game is supposed to be. They’re fighting against learning the game’s nuance.
i beat this game on hard and thought the whole thing was easy except the humanoid boss battles
@@magnamic5614 thats what he said.
Perfectly said. I don't consider myself very good at games. I'm the person who doesn't care about playing on easy to be able to wander around and enjoy the story, etc. But I played this on normal and had 0 issues with things being too difficult, in either traversal or combat. It just takes actually learning the game and how to make it easier through adapting to the mechanics. Too many people seem to want to appreciate games like this but still actively fight against those mechanics and end up punished for it.
Hey, in the beginning, when you had that experience of going down the hill sort of hilariously ruined for yourself. Why were you caring so much equipment? Why did you insist on bringing the motorcycle through terrain they clearly placed to make you abandon it? Why, when you were captured by the BT’s, if the fight was so tedious, did you not just run away.? (That’s an option by the way, even when you get captured, you can just run long enough to escape the BT area. This is an option because the cargo you were supposed to deliver was still on your back.)
Also, after unlocking it, I never went anywhere without the power legs, and an extra PCC to make a generator if I ran out of batteries.
Seethe.
Because he could? Okay, so you think he played suboptimally. What's your point?
Why did you insist on bringing the motorcycle? I'll do anything to skip the frustrating part of actually walking, even if the bike physics is no better.
If the fight was so tedious, why must you put it in the game in the first place?
And if there is only one "correct" way of playing the damn game, why don't you just make a movie instead?
@@TheMultiEnabled the game is literally about optimising and finding routes from a to b.
@@dkrivs7705 True. And?
I've seen a LOT of people say they struggled with the gameplay, so I went in fully expecting it to be clunky but knowing what type of game I was playing. And I never had any trouble. Maybe something about how the game worked just clicked with me where it didn't with others, but I had virtually no issue traversing things and keeping my balance or worrying about the meters. It's a shame so many found it so unenjoyable. I feel like I had the zen but emotional experience Kojima talked about.
I know you addressed everyone commenting on the first few minutes, and I in no way want to bash this video since I do enjoy your content, but it's hard to listen to someone's grasp of the game when they don't even have a grasp on its mechanics. I think that view of "this game is punishing" was actually self-inflicted, and therefor the rest of your takeaway may have been somewhat jaded, even if you found something to like in it. I can definitely agree that the exposition can be awkward, though. This game could do with a bit of "show, don't tell."
I loved this game. I think it’s one of Hideo’s best.
That Princess Beach scene made me realize Kojima was going through his “OH YA ZHE ART” moment again
Ok, Thor...
😉
@@SotNist Irony for a game that takes itself so painfully seriously.
Isn't that the joke ending?
Best game I have played in a long time, finished it after 80 hours and still gaming, there are many things a want to do. Never had problems playing it, it it’s fun, interesting, relaxing and addicting. Traversal is easy, seeing many reviews I fear that the mechanics would make the game painfully difficult to play, but when I first played it I was waiting for the so boring, difficult parts some people was talking about... never found it. The only answer that I can came with is that, many people are very, very stressed bad gamers lol. Only bad thing I find may be some menus, small text and must have more variety in the animations on the most commons actions. Nothing that ruined my experience, but things that could be improved. Love the game, there is nothing like it I’m grateful for all the people and circumstances that make this game being made. Game of the year in all of the categories, played many of the others nominees and nothing comes closed to DS 👍
mig2008pt no one is bad at this game, it’s painfully easy. As much as you would like to think of yourself as higher and better than most people, you aren’t. Most people find this game so tedious and boring that they try to shortcut it. And no bad things? What about the simple world building done through exposition dumps? What about the terrible presentation of that story? What about the tedium of the gameplay loop? There isn’t anything like it, but that does not make it good. As much as you would like to believe that everyone else is a bad gamer and you are superior, that is not the case. In fact, considering how easy this game is, I would argue that this game is in no way a measure of skill. If you like tedium, great, most people don’t.
Moon Moon the thing is that no every game, like everything in the world can satisfy or be appealing to everyone, and that is good thing in my opinion, I commented on what I had read in many comments. The game is in general easy, I changed the difficulty to hard to make it more challenging, I ended finding one or to situations somewhat more difficult. I enjoyed so much the game, it was very appealing and fun to me like it was for so many people, I would liked that more people enjoyed the game like those of us that did, why? So more games like this would be made in the future, games that really take the leap of faith an really push forward the medium. You like it or not, this game is a unavoidable and will leave his mark in the history of gaming. If you don’t like it, don’t play it, easy, there is no need to attack the game like this one was.
mig2008pt unfortunately, as this video states, it’s highly unlikely that is going to happen. This game doesn’t push forward the medium. It just gives a tedious gameplay loop with a story that is rather simple for Kojima. Like this video said concerning that, the lackluster story and tedious gameplay is what will ensure what comes of this game in the future. It won’t leave any mark on history, and if it was to, it would not be in a positive light. Just because the game was different, doesn’t mean it was good. Just because the game was different, doesn’t make it memorable.
Moon Moon for you, for this video and many other videos and people yes, not for me or many other publications and people that like the game, time will tell who is right. But I don’t care 🤷♂️ I speak for me. 👍
mig2008pt if you only speak for you, they why are you able to say things like “people are very stressed bad gamers”? People that like the game, well they want it to make a mark, but like I said, due to the lack of an interesting story, noteworthy moments, good gameplay, and lack of coverage beyond the themes that have been covered already, I have my doubts.
Divisive and repetitive as this may be, I can't remember the last time a game would make me stay up all night playing.
That's because your a brainwashed Kojima superfan trying to warrant your waste of money.
@@megyskermike Nope. You are just a brainwashed hater in the comments of RUclips. Dime a dozen, dumbass.
@@megyskermike that's a wonderful generalization you're making there. I for one have never played a MGS game (except 10-20 minutes of ground zero, or whatever its called). Kojima apparently defined a generation of gaming that I'm completely oblivious to. Yet Death Stranding, as the open world explorationary geek that I am, appeals deeply to me and others with the same taste for beautifully crafted worlds and true immersion in them.
@@megyskermike dude, whats with all the anger? If you dont have the cash to buy the game, just ask.
@@ARIXANDRE you're right, my comments were overly inflammatory and uncalled for. It has nothing to do with money, just general anger at the gaming industry (which was misdirected). Sorry/Apologies to you and others~
I think people just forget to use common sense in this game because they assume it’s a video game and everything is built up to give them maximum comfort.
Playing this game during the pandemic and quarantine hit very hard and very differently than what it was supposed to be hitting. I genuinely felt the need for connection, social activities, things as simple as talking to a person face to face during this period. This game literally showed you and allowing you to feel the need for all those simple connections, a knot, if you will.
Not just that, the generic human enemy you faced in the game also made you question what might happen if everything can and eventually be automated. Do we want to see a machine deliver our pizza to our doorstep or does it feel different to be able to exchange small talks with any delivery man you face?
This the reason why I love this game on so many levels.
And you can't blame Seydoux for "I'm fragile, but I'm not that fragile."
God that line fucking blows so bad
Watching you fumble about on foot & bike left me thinking does this dude not understand the basic mechanics of the game?
This game rewards patience! I spent 120 hours in the game and did very little after the 2nd set of credits rolled. I just took my time and I loved every minute of it. I disagree that the game isn't fun, I had an absolute blast but I did really take my time and play the game on its own terms reserving preconceived expectations for other more predictable games out there. It gets my GOTY vote without a doubt! PS: I'm not a Kojima fan, I don't like Metal Gear but I quite liked Slient Hill.
ducknet an absurd amount of patience to play a game is just ridiculous. That’s like saying you enjoy waiting. The game moves at such a snail’s pace that I honestly considered intentionally knocking over my packages to make it more interesting.
@@moonmoon2479 WHAAAAT HAHAHAHA
We are so used to sudden reward that everything that requires patience nowadays is bad
No, a game that is slow is not bad.
You don't need to get the fastest route... There is no - essential- reward like other games. There is no meta to follow, no grind round. Not liking the game is your opinion, but the whole "giving a game your time is a waste" mentallity is just disheartening
Diego Devars there’s a massive difference between slow and monotonous. This game is the latter. We aren’t used to sudden reward. Most like working for it. Not sure what you mean by essential reward. The only thing you get from doing deliveries in this game is a rating and a call in the same way after it’s over. You are right, their isn’t a reward there. So if there is no reward, and the process is a slog of tasks that do little to challenge you, why bother? And that’s what you do. You play a game, you give it your time. If you don’t enjoy what you are playing, then it’s a waste. And I’m not sure why you said that. Where did I talk about that? Are you assuming I have that mentality? If so, why?
@@moonmoon2479 You said being patient with the game is absurd, which I don't agree.
Modern games DO have a system of "do this as fast as you can and you get a sudden reward" which leads to meta and grind, and we are very used to it. Which ironically, is monotonous, like you said, and even worst, is to classify as "to work for it", that makes the gamr less fun and more like a task to complete and that is it. This game is not that, is basic, but the your approach is independent of the objective. That is why not having a reward (which what I meant with essensial reward) is what makes it not monotonous, you have the choice of what to do and how. Because if we think that monotonous means doing the same thing over and over again, then so it is CoD or RDR2, or even FIFA. But that is not the case, we like those games because we can spice up the formula, going with a different loadout to a TDM or replaying a campaign with a different ending. Walking is the mechanic of the game, but making the walk fun, is up to you, not the game. It's a term of selfmeaning, not adquiring it and needing something or someone else to fullfill us
Diego Devars I said that the amount of patience required to tolerate this game is absurd. Since you have to wait for so long for the game to get good. And when it does, it’s not that great anyways. The required amount of patience for this game makes it even worse than a task, it makes it a chore. I have no idea where you are getting this, “do this fast and then sudden reward” thing. Every game I can think of has something different than this. DMC requires positioning, knowledge, and reflexes to use the toolset in a way that you choose. No reward for doing so except that process itself. Doom required speed, yes. But that speed is managing resources, threat assessment, and movement. Combine that with weapons and arenas built around it, combat encounters are never the same, the opposite of what you claim. Resident evil requires patience and planning to survive. The opposite of the fast reward thing you are talking about. I have no idea where that comes from. And remember, none of this is monotonous. It varies by design since they want their games to be enjoyed over dozens of hours. And the meta and grind, meta is due to player choice since it is discovered, not designed, and grinding leads to different character builds in rpgs and is the opposite of sudden reward, since grinding requires time to get the reward you want from that process. Not having a reward doesn’t affect if it is monotonous, that just means the pressure of that mechanic is placed on it, since there is no reward for doing it, players will have to be enticed by that mechanic itself. That does not make it monotonous or not. And yes, you have a choice, but those choices lack anything significant. Different routes lead to the same place and play nearly identical. That’s very monotonous. Attempting to try to climb treacherous terrain is something the game flat out states it will punish so they don’t want you doing that. There is no real choice there since it leads to the same thing, and barely plays different. None of the options even offer any sort of challenge either. That’s what I meant to work for it. Who wants a passive hobby in which everything is incredibly easy and requires no effort? That’s why it’s monotonous and tedious. You do that the whole game, and the different options fail to really distinguish themselves. They are different, they don’t feel different.
Game design 101: it is never the players job to vary or make the game fun. That is bad design since most people operate their day to day lives like that. If a game can end up tedious, that’s on the game, not the player. A game that puts that responsibility on the player is poorly designed. Any game design class will repeat that until you are blue in the face. Not that it matters in death strandings case, since all of the options feel the same anyways. When you can pick smart routes, they often come without downsides except time taken and bringing different equipment. Using a ladder is not varied gameplay since it really doesn’t add anything to the gameplay sandbox in terms of something the player engages with. Neither does a car. That’s where the BT’s come in, and the game tells you to avoid them and that is far to easy, even on hard. The game is at fault for that kind of design if you had to vary it. But for some reason, you assumed I didn’t do that. You assumed I didn’t try different routes and gear. I did, and I still made that judgement.
The "annoying animations" when you approach a BT area are just loading screens. It's the way they found to stop the game just long enough to load the rain and darker atmosphere. It can get exhausting after a while, but if you understand why they did it, it's slightly more tolerable. :)
I came to appreciate those animations because if I was in a vehicle, it was my cue to get off and start stealthing.
Oh DAMN, did not ever think of that. Can you tell me where they confirm that's the reason why that happens? It makes total sense and I always just shrugged it off kinda angrily as some Kojima-ey artsy thing.
Bruh no they ain't, you can literally turn it off and the game tells you that repeatedly, how does no one else know this?
@@luizgdc4096 You couldn't when I played, but apparently a patch has since allowed this, so you are correct! I didn't mind them, personally.
@@littlekitsune1 dang i didn't know about that, i thought it was always in the game, thanks for clarifying! Cheers!
So there are quite a lot of people commenting on the first few minutes about how the situation Kojima described didn't play out that way for me, that it felt like a "cruel cosmic joke," a "comedy game," etc. and taking that as me somehow saying I hate the game or that I'm blaming Kojima for not holding my hand or providing a streamlined experience. To that I would say, I was laughing the whole time. I thought that cosmic joke was funny. That intro was intended as just a bit of a goof to get to the main points I wanted to make.
I might not have had much "fun" with it, but if you've watched my videos for any length of time you'll know that isn't as important to me as a meaningful experience and, for a good deal of its playtime, Death Stranding was that. I'm absolutely glad it exists in the way it does, even if I have quite a few legitimate issues with it. I probably could have communicated that better in the intro, apologies.
I'd ask you to keep watching (although you obviously aren't obliged). I go on to talk at length about how the traversal mechanics absolutely need to be the way they are to convey the game's philosophical themes, and how reaching the end of the game made me look back on my slog through it in a completely different light. Hopefully that clears some things up.
The world would be a nightmare of boredom if everyone felt the same way about everything.
I wonder though, did you feel like you were "on the clock" while playing?
Could you speak on playing leisurely vs playing as a reviewer?
This has been the most rounded review ive seen and agree with for the most part.
I would like to encourage you to not feel obliged to rush through games in favour of doing it at your own pace taking your time to wallow and even 'sleep on it'.
Anyways top vid subscribed and liked
@@elchewbacco ok will
I think kojima should waited till the first scripted bt fight before giving the player hematic grenades. That section with the rough terrain and bts on your way to lake knot city was definitely a hint to ditch the bike and slowly stealth the bts. I made the same mistake and triggered the boss bt as well, but I didn't know how to combat so I reset the mission and took the hint.
It's cathartic when you reach the top of the ridge after a tense stealth section the weather clears and you see a relatively clear path to the new city. Didn't made me tear up, but i definitely felt something.
Would have preferred a critique on his clunky writing, on the nose naming conventions, and his inability to move between acts without exposition dumps.
I honestly think the success of this game is at least partially tied to Kojima’s cult of personality. It was a self-indulgent artistic exercise imo. If Kojima had someone like Marcia Lucas (for George Lucas) or Sally JoAnne Menke (for Quentin Tarantino) - basically ppl who are better at narrative design and can tell creatives to pull back when they get over indulgent, this game would have been far more effective as a piece of art.
Because basically, what this video and what other Kojima-apologists tell me is that at least some of the appreciation borne from this game is due to stockholm syndrome.
And as a writer yourself, you know when someone takes 1,000 words to tell you something that should have taken 10, it’s treading on “I am 14 and this is deep,” territory.
I was not expecting apologism that wasn’t really related to the actual writing content of this game so I am honestly disappointed.
If you can find them, look up Kojima’s feuds with his translators and actual writers who have worked with him. He is not a great storyteller. And I’m worried that when he moves on to movies, he won’t have gameplay to hide behind in a movie and his kingdom hearts style storytelling will be laid bare.
@@dxcSOUL Yeah I felt like the writing was an abject disaster too, but I feel that since it's Kojima, nobody's really going to get into it too much, for fear of the standard "you just weren't smart enough to understand that calling Clifford, Cliff, and having him give exposition about 'being like every other cliff' and Sam being his 'Bridge' to the future, was actually a really smart and subversive piece of writing by Kojima, because he wanted to draw attention to what he sees as an artistic travesty in the growth of cliches and dialogue in movies that is just too on the nose. If you read the credits diagonally from top right to bottom left after entering the Konami code it says so. Stupid games critic not understanding true brilliance. Go back to a game you understand like CoD because this game flies too high for your simple kind, not being a shooter and all".
i like the game. but no one told koji No, and it shows.
jay folk,
And thank God for that.
i don't disagree, but you could take the opposite stance. i think the game would be much more fun if there were no npc enemies or guns, and i'm not sure that that's something Kojima really wanted
@@colbyfreeman4679 You mean more boring
@@magnamic5614 "If it's not fun,why bother"? I'm sorry,if you enjoy walking sim 2000,fine. But a large majority of people actually prefer doing something in games
@L also yes. tho again, i really didn't find the combat that enjoyable
How the hell did your cargo fell 3 freaking times. I mean if you are not careful when you delivering the cargo how you supposed to even like the game. You just played the whole thing bad
Coming out of MGSV I found this game really easy to pick up and start playing, that hill scene within the first 10 hours did hit me with quite an impact. Personally I DID feel like I was playing the game I've been fanboy'ing over for years. Idk perhaps there's some familiarity involved with Kojima games that allows for some relative ease when first dealing with UI and gameplay. I never really had trouble with this game and I had a really fun time working my way through the 50 hour story. Everything feels intentional by Kojima, from the beginning hours of the game where you are struggling (as you did in this analysis), to the endgame where your gear and the Chiral Network boost Sam's abilities to "super deliverer" levels. This game evolves as you play it, and unfortunately it may turn some people off that you have to play for a significant amount of time to get to the "good stuff". But personally I feel like this is the type of game that leaves me feeling like I spent my money's worth. The core game loop is "repetitive" yes, you deliver packages. But what game isn't repetitive?(Yes I'm talking to you Fortnite and COD fans.) I enjoyed the struggle in the beginning of the game compared to now, where my deliveries take 5 mins tops using the highway system myself and my fellow porters have built!
I never played a Kojima game in my life and still found it easy to adapt to the mechanics and how their logic worked. There are flaws with the game, don't get me wrong, but I don't think the core gameplay is one of them.
11:38
I can say I have, both going down and up a hill on several occasions. Basically when I was in High School, I lived on a campus. (Private school for those who are wondering) There's this hill that you can climb up and down and it helps you save time since the alternative is to follow the road and walk around it or take the stairs which by the time you reach the top, you are now above the roof of the cottages the students stayed at. So basically going up the hill is a bit of a trick, since it's steep and it's very easy to misstep and fall over. I had this happen in rain where I wasn't wearing the right footwear and so when climbing up, I slipped, landed on my side and slid down the hill. After that incident, I wore a good pair of boots from then on out and I never had that happen again, even when it was raining. As for running down the hill, yeah when you are doing that you f**king move. Imagine riding a bike or skateboard down a hill, now imagine that speed where you are trying to keep up and one misstep and bam, you hit the floor harder than building.
Damn, we've had such a different experience. That scene with the heart guy is one of my favorite in the game, I just got so completely immersed by the sound design and aesthetic that by the time I got to him I was engrossed by every little detail in the scene, from the sound of the padded floor to the enclosed space he's trapped himself in. Every little moment of struggle or reprieve had such an impact on me, and I really loved the strange cast and writing. This game is not elegantly written at all, but I loved how it was either insanely absurd and funny or geniuinely creepy and interesting.
Watching all your cargo so poorly arranged was torture
And tbh you were running so weirdly it's no wonder you fell over
This is a really good video but watching your capture was difficult
All. I heard at the beginning of this video was "I'm bad at this game, I'm bad at adjusting to new mechanics, so the game it's bad and it's kojima's fault"
maybe try not taking every order at once lol
Hold R2+L2 to balance Sam at virtually all time.
I've had trouble expressing to others how I feel about the game. My response has been, "you have to play it to understand" (insert Joker meme here). I'm also writing this as someone who has never played a Kojima game. So, I'll just rant about my experience for a second.
I've been looking forward to this game since the initial teaser trailer. When the game came out, I thought i would be playing the game until the early morning. After a few hours, I realized I haven't actually played the game yet and decided to go to bed. I felt disappointed and thought that maybe I hyped myself up for all these years. Next day, I got into it again...after the grueling 2nd or 3rd chapter (I don't remember), the game opened up and rewarded me for my patience and struggle. It wasn't until the first credit scene that I decided I love the game.
I agree that this game isn't for everyone and it's exhausting to play. If I knew that it would've taken me over 10 hours to get to "the good part", I probably wouldn't have played this. Sure, the game isn't perfect but I haven't stopped thinking about the game (maybe because I haven't stopped listening to Low Roar since the game came out). I think because of the grind, I learned to love the game.
As a side note, I sometimes would force my way on a bike through that rocky area and attempt to Skyrim climb with the bike up a mountain. I also tried to make a bridge over the Cosplayer for an hour (didn't work), if that tells you anything about me. I also think the game is self-aware and Kojima is just trolling (especially when you have that fight with Higgs and he asks if this is what you've been waiting for). At the end of the day, I'm glad I played this and sad that feeling of anticipation is gone.
Trying to brute force this game doesn't end well. Though I personally disagree that it took 10 hours to become enjoyable. Easier maybe, since the game evolves as you go, but I had fun and didn't see the beginning as a grind. Just a learning experience for how the game worked and what I could do to be more efficient in getting from point A to point B.
funny thing was i was the same boat but the opposite experience at the beginning, i was really surprised how quickly i got into the gameplay right after the Wind Farm that it made that Higgs ring hollow for me because i was having a good time. I think a large part of this because my day job involves a lot of walking, more walking than Sam does on some of his deliveries that it made him extremely relatable.
As someone with ADHD and cant focus for the life of me. I still took my time and walked around everywhere and plotted my routes properly. I just beat the game yesterday and every review i watch...
*why is everyone so bad at it?*
All i had with this game was fun.
Imo its a masterpiece and i really dont enjoy 80% of the games i play. This felt so fucking refreshing. No shooty explosions and guns. Only when those moments mattered (cliff sections). Idk i feel like im crazy for how much i enjoyed this game. Not one thing took me out. Lmao idk man. Someone tell me im not crazy.
LUV. jpg sounds like you just wanted something different, no matter what it was. People aren’t bad at this game, they just get so bored that they try to hurry it up since their jobs say they have to beat the game, and playing it properly is a chore. This game is mostly just boredom. Many people endure this game, they don’t enjoy it. And that’s the biggest problem and that isn’t the fault for the player, that’s the game. Like I said before, it seems you just don’t like games that require reflexes and quick thinking and wanted something different. Well this is different, but for others, that doesn’t make it good right away.
Moon Moon thats a good point. Reading this makes it a lot more clear. It was extremely refreshing for me lol. Coming from someone whos a stress player (bloodborne, dark souls, always playing on the hardest difficulties) this game was a nice change for me
Now, I don’t wanna be that guy, but I’m no super-player and I finished the game with just 2 tumbles. I honestly don’t understand why all youtubers fall so much, I literally don’t. You just have to press R2+L2, it’s not hard.
I have my problems with the review at the beginning, but it gets good after that.
This was a really interesting analysis. I really enjoyed this thank you!
I think this game truly isn't for everyone. Myself as an example cause i thoroughly enjoyed this game. Taking on multiple deliveries, and jotting down the best route, and how to best use my time, and weight capacity, is apparently a kind of gameplay i find really appealing. For some walking from A to B through a challenging terrain is a chore, but for me it was an adventure.
It isn't stainless for me though, BT and Mule fights feel like a weird after thought, and i spent most of my time trying to avoid it. So when a boss fight with a flying whale happens that ends up feeling like a real chore
“Anyone who can endure boredom can accomplish anything.”
- David Foster Wallace
Johnathan Henning I feel like this quote falls flat on its face when we are talking about entertainment.
Watching the video, I see that even after reaching the mountain area you still intent on driving cars up and down hills. It's a mountain... Drive on roads? Use the myriad of equipment the game provides you with?
I don't think you played the game right, man!
Bastien Millecam most people hate playing the game right. Doing so is so boring that you will want to quit often. And like he said, you never enjoy playing like that, you endure.
Excellent video.
Awesome i loved your take and your videos are insanely interesting and refreshing take on video games. Subscribed! 😆
You're just not gonna get anything out of this game that it doesn't want you to get out of it. It's a very specific experience, and you're either into that, or not. I loved it, and found it pretty groundbreaking, personally.
It's crazy how I never had any of those problems xD
Same. I'm continually shocked and amazed at how many people seem to struggle to simply walk.
@@josh-oo you're delusional if you guys think the terrain isnt built against vehicle use. theres more to this game than simply walking.
@@flamingmanure we never said the contrary.
Is just that yall having so much difficulty for a very easy game.
I played in hard and found the game so fucking easy it was kinda offensive.
I'm extremely impressed that so many people are frustrated and struggling
@@flamingmanure The game _is_ built against vehicle use! I never said anything to the contrary! That's why _walking_ is the primary mode of transportation! Y'know, the original all-terrain transport?!
He complains because he is unable to adapt to an new game. ;)
Recently, Low Roar put up a new video to a song called "Slow Down", and i commented that "What i love about this song is that it seems to capture the point of the game, to SLOW DOWN. Slow down on trying to run everywhere, shoot everyone and also when it comes to trying to understand the whole story immediately."
and i guess what i failed to mention was SLOW DOWN ON TRYING TO CARRY 532636 BILLION BOXES AT ONCE THROUGH BT INFESTED TERRITORY AND AND MOUNTAINS AND DRIVING TRUCKS AT FULL SPEED DOWN CLIFFS (ha)
I love your very in depth mental explosions you make :D
i finished death stranding in nearly 33 hours and i understood the story perfectly, after finishing it i felt fullfilled and had no desire to play this game anymore
i dont want game over screen. i want ORDER FAILED screen...
semantics
Good job man!!!!!
Great video
Keep up the good work
I shed tears when I saw the baby dying, and Sam trying hard to save the child. One of the best emotional scene in the game. Also Cliff Unger's child getting shot with a gun was also tragic
I never knew anyone could be this bad at the game, I saw things I never seen through my 80 hours of playtime.
Pretty much everything you complained about this game were things i enjoyed about it.
all you gotta do is run up the hill one time and u can set up a zipline network to ensure it never bothers you again.
Death Stranding is a unique experience that I don't want to repeat. I loved how I felt after playing it through to the end and even getting 5 star ranks for every person/Distribution Center. The trials I went through were hard with little reward other than the feeling of personal accomplishment. I think it was such an interesting way of playing a game, almost the opposite of every video game instinct. I can understand why it is off putting to people because it is off putting to me too. Despite this, I do love what it tried and in the end I am thankful I completed it but, never again.
You didn't even try to play the game like most to bad
I have "one must imagine Sisyphus happy" tattooed on my arm, and I still can't imagine myself playing death stranding happy
Have you tried playing it whilst drunk? That might actually make this entire fiasco make some kind of twisted sense.
@@louthegiantcookie I get the feeling this game would be even more boring drunk since 90% of your playtime is walking/running in complete silence with little to no obstacles
The thing about Death Stranding is that your time is better spent elsewhere. On other "Sisyphian" tasks. Like learning a skill. Such as drawing, programming, writing, music whatever. Like Hamish says in the video, there's not really much to pull from Death Stranding after you beat it.
This bandwagon is boring
Instead of boring I just found the game really relaxing but it’s def not for everyone so I understand any one who would say it’s boring
What music did you use for this video? All of it is so good
When you get floating carriers and zip lines, deliveries become ridiculously easy and the only time I really had to traverse harsh terrain was when you had to go to a new location. But then you activate the chiral network, throw in more zip lines and you're good to go.
The reviewers complaining about traversal being absurdly tedious and hard while simultaneously showing footage of them just full sprinting up 90 degree rocky terrain with a tower of cargo and driving trucks off cliffs thinking its the games fault.
I love this game. "I'm Sam"
deadlegs187 hey I’m Sam too!
Hey... my name's Sam too.
EEE YOUUU DAAAHNAH
"What? You want me to whip it out in front of other people? Fuck that."
You guys should check the Like Stories of Old analysis of this game. It's a brilliant complement to the game and a nice thing to watch after this review, which is also very good.
"stunt-casting". THAT is the word I needed for this... Kojima's games have needed the word since MGS4