You guys don't understand, this is the first strand type video. There's a Death Stranding look-alike shirt for sale at www.whitelight.store as of now! Some extra updates/clarifications from late 2020 - Firstly, the link to Brovid--19 is almost mind rending given the destruction of jobs and fear of the outside world. Secondly, I think the best way to define the political nature of Death Stranding is that it primarily intends to argue a core humanitarian philosophy, and that philosophy has political expressions; centrally, division the US. Third, the Odradek cutscene has been patched, it's now completely optional. Finally, it occurred to me that Amelie's dresses are symbolic too. Light is connection, dark is extinction and red is a conflict between the two. Some people in the comment section came up with fantastic new ideas about the meaning of her name, check them out!
2:31:40 this part was unusually funny after that interaction. The way he turns the key on the motorcycle with confused expression and then rides off comically cause of the funny handling mechanics.
Right? I didn't realize how long it was. I was just looking for a lengthy video essay to drift off to for like an hour or two. Fell asleep at about the 15:00 minute mark. Woke up fully rested at the 7:05 mark and had to start getting ready for work before I could finish it.
this is the only video I have ever spent 3 days trying to finish watching. yesterday I thought I could just quickly finish it before going to sleep, what a fool I was. *_There was still an hour left at that point_*
Speaking as a writer-of novels, not video essays-this video essay impresses me on an immense level. I can’t even imagine what it must’ve taken to put together, not merely on the level of content, but of structuring it and editing it into something as articulate and cohesive as this turned out to be. And for it to be engaging across the entire seven hours. That’s not merely impressive, it’s flat-out amazing. I listened to and watched this over the course of a couple days, and looked forward to it in between. Incredible feat of writing and editing, in every way. Not to mention a beautiful thesis statement on the game and its themes.
@@aussieseal9979 Yes! That’s me. I have a new horror novel out, published in September, called “The Family Condition.” That one’s gained a lot of traction, some positive reviews from a couple major sources, and I’ve grown a lot as a writer since the days of Fairlane Road and Other Endings. Wow! I’ve never been “recognized” out on the internet before for past work 😅
I'm no writer, but I have to agree that this was an excellant commentary on this game. So much so, I watched it to the end. Whitelight has convinced me that it's not necessary for me to play it. Nothing about the premise, story or gameplay pushes any of my buttons.
-_- Hun you're probably not as competent a writer as your assuming here, it's fine to like something and have biases but your analysis of this video being engaging throughout it's entire 7 hr length is... Like are you friends with this guy in real life and trying to support him bc...
@@lyonessie I choose to admire a long form video essay from the context of my own experience, and your response is to baselessly condescend and make weirdly specific assumptions. Okay then?
When I first saw Amelie's name, I thought it was a japanese pun. "Amelie" spelt in japanese is "アメリ" (A Me Ri) which is close to "America" which is "アメリカ" (A Me Ri Ka) So Amelie is America without a "Ka" (soul)
@@bradleyjenkins2271how would that be odd??? what you meant to say is that it makes sense, not that it would be odd… odd means strange if you didn’t know. so if there was 5 hours of pronouncing the French voice actress’s name, then there would be nothing odd about it… just an FYI
Lore theory: the repeated exposition and multiple people telling you the same things is because people in DS are all so eager to talk to someone. I work from home and sometimes go days without talking to people outside video calls so sometimes I'll find myself super excited to have dumb mundane conversations. Maybe they're just desperate to talk.
That makes sense! A smart idea. I just wish they chose to talk about less gamey things, like I didn't need 2 or 3 people explaining what a 'container repair spray' could do... But I wouldn't mind listening to them talk about a favorite pen that they named after a friend, or about some random curiosity of the world they live in. That being said, it's not the worst thing in the world.
I actually think its because people are just stupid with such a short attention span. So if you wont understand something after being told 3 times you must be retarded and its no longer Kojimas fault, he tried 3 times.
Who would have thought I would find it impossible to put down a 7-hours long video? Though I think it's less about the narration, and more about the game itself.
From what I've heard, from the incredibly trustworthy source of "some guy," the reason for the Monster Energy Drink product placement is one time while hanging out Kojima saw the cryptid he was working with, Norman Reedus, open a can and drink the entire thing in a few seconds and decided that needed to be in the game.
Monster sponsored the game. After leaving their main publisher, they had to get a few sponsors to support development. Monster energy is just the most blatant, do they probably paid a lot.
One thing that really shocked me with games starting around the PS4/Xbone era is that you could hardly tell the difference between in-engine and prerendered cutscenes. Like the sick ass CG introduction of the "combat veteran" during the WWI flashback segment flows perfectly back into the real-time cutscene that leads into the start of the boss fight. The cinematography, shot composition, and direction aren't the only cutscene tools hauling the load, the tech is too.
I always figured that Bridget crawling towards you after falling out of her bed was supposed to be reminiscent of a BT's movement (at least what we would've guessed how they moved from the encounters in the prologue and accentuated by the tar-like liquid spilling out from her IVs, creating black handprints), somewhat hinting at her connection to the Beach.
The entire scene, and to a much greater degree, Bridget's entire character is so many things. she has depth, layers, an unsettling yet utterly captivating HUMANITY about her - as if the devil and god are raging inside of her even to her last mortal breaths, is simply a testament and treat to behold. It is Kojima'a character storytelling at its absolute zenith. Kojima Plus Ultra. Kojima Ascending. Not only a top form, but perhaps, for lack of more accurate words: we just may never see such a unique portrait of what it takes to be human, ever again. At a risk of putting kojima on the pedestal higher than i have already placed him , his character crafting is at its absolute top form. truly a magic story to hear and behold. blessed.
The way the scene is shot you can’t help but notice the sharp vertical lines of the cords tying her to the bed. They rise into the ceiling and disappear. Then you meet Higgs and you see those same dark lines but moving in reverse. In a way she foreshadows the first big villain in the game in the first half hour to 45 minutes of gameplay. It’s truly brilliant.
@@williamstevens5599 Same with the upside down prism under his sister's aura mirroring the upside down rainbow Whitelight remarked on. It's wild how HK can be so masterful then 2 secs later just flatfootedly hammy. Wild, he contains multitudes, truly.
@@picahudsoniaunflocked5426 I've played through Yakuza 1-6 and a couple of the Persona games, it's a Japanese thing and they have a sense of humor that's just different. For some reason the obviously dumb shit like "Princess Beach" and characters giving the camera a thumbs up, or Heartman removing likes from Sam for scratching his record get assblasted in the west instead of taken as pretty obvious jokes. Incidentally, "princess beach" is also foreshadowing. So it's both a joke and a major plot point. Superbunnyhop has a video where he talks about how the language and cultural barrier changes how a lot of cutscenes end up playing out in Metal Gear. One scene Ocelot is trapped and pretends to die before shouting "FOXDIE!!!" Which in English... doesn't make a lot of sense. But in Japanese it's a pun on the phrase akin to "Just kidding!" that rhymes with Foxdie.
1:00:33 "If you've got a huge load, and you're about to blow it, you can maintain that tipping state for as long as possible to exploit the speed boost."
@@BritishBloke246 DS's WW2 segment has you playing as a guy from the future wearing futuristic clothes carrying a fetus while fighting ghosts. BFV doesn't have that. BFV is closer to WW2 by having less unrealistic things
I dont see the problem with it for me xD I spend most of my time in work or on PC playing games so for me it was a win-win. I could go to work to make money and then turn the money into games which I am already doing for the past 7 years xD
jocaguz18 I wish I had that perspective. I’ve lost my job, can’t travel more than 5km from home, can only leave for medical/shopping or 1hr exercise. Mate.... how are people not depressed
When I saw fragile in the shower I thought “ohh possible romance scene and nudity, not like Kojima.” Then I realized she has old lady skin and Sam can’t touch people.
The only way that Fragile scene would have worked as a romance sequence for Kojima would have been if Mads Mikklesen was in the shower instead. Also featuring Kojima doing a cameo in the shower during the scene.
I always like using the call out button during certain points in the story. If you do it while transporting a person, like the Chiral Artist, they'll respond. During Chapter 6, Sam will call out for Lou. In Chapter 8 during the run across the tar belt, he'll call for Amelie when you see her. I just like it
6:30 I think my favorite part of the hand = death usage is how, for us, a handprint is a sign of "oh people have been here." One of the first things we tend to teach kids to do is finger painting or leaving their handprints, and the game turns that into a death omen. It reminds me of the whole "it used to be human vs maybe it never was" aspect of horror.
OK let's do it I'm gonna go for the 10000000iq joke "Hey Whitelight... Nice job getting over the 10 minute mark" Thank you thank you I'll be here all night... Literally
@Peter Lustig soooooo everyone writing a book with more than 10 pages has nothing to say ? what an idiotic statement. should have payed mor attention in school
@Peter Lustig Not everything can be distilled or boiled down you dunce. Not respect your time? Your writing of your comment is wasting everyone's time trying to figure out how much a fucking idiot you are.
Joseph Anderson: I made a 3-hour list of every bug I experienced in Fallout 76. Twin Perfect: I made a 4-and-a-half-hour long explanation of the entirety of Twin Peaks. Whitelight: Amateurs. JA/TP: What? Whitelight posts 7+ hour-long video on Death Stranding: AMATEURS!
@@fictionmyth ShayMay has a 7 hour review of Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire as well but it is slightly shorter than this: ruclips.net/video/kFC6mDKF-0c/видео.html
I think of Higgs and Sam as the angel and devil on the shoulder. The personification of the two options. Amelie at least in my mind is using their conflict as a miniature battlefield to see what idea will prevail. Testing if optimism will beat out nihilism or vice verse. If higgs wins, so does nihilism, if Sam wins, optimism does.
@Sinyao sorry I think I meant to say pessimism. Choosing between the chance to believe there is a future and there isn't. My point is that hope will always win.
@Sinyao also yeah Higgs is burned and manipulated but in the end he had everything he wanted. Amelie gave him the power he sought which causes him to do what he could do. He still has power in the final battle (the ultimate culmination) but by this point Hope and optimism is too strong to be able to best the quickly gained power of pessimism. Kind of like how the sith start strong and Jedi end strong. So whilst yeah he is mistreated and manipulated, he got everything he asked for but ultimately he was never supposed to win. Because optimism will always triumph.
“We’re kindred spirits, you and I, cursed with cringe ass gamertags from days long gone. I look upon the image you have chosen as your profile image and I see past it, into something buried deep beneath layers of so many previous profile pictures. I see the first. You cannot hide that default Xbox 360 gamerpic of the Gears of War logo or “gray beanie dude blowing bubble gum” you wore as a mantle of pride so long ago. Such things defines us as the naive and edgy children we were, as it once had so it forever will. Revel in it, even as you cringe at that wacky trash and declare to the world ‘Big yikes’, revel in it.”
When Norman Reedus massages a fetus he's called "a hero" and "a brave man" But when I do it they just start yelling "how did you get in here" and "I'm calling security" :(
I didn't ever wanna touch this game because of how many people said it was bad but I gave it a chance and when the credits rolled I cried my heart out and it jumped to my favorite game of all time.
I’ve spent the past 30 in-game hours addicted to setting up a god tier zip line network, and most of my roads are finished, ungodly addicting, kinda like factorio
first time I saw the gameplay of Sam just running god knows why and where, I thought "I'm buying this shit and I dont care. I've seen enough and I want it"
YES People ripped on it for so long I almost avoided it. The beautiful world design drew me in and I figured it would be good background ambiance for studying And then the start hooked me. The concept of timefall, the cutscenes, it just ripped me in and got me curious and then the voidout scene. That made me watch all 24 hours of a story playthrough. I absorbed everything. I would go to sleep at night with my mind swarming with the implications of an empirical afterlife and what science would do with it. It's my favorite game. It will probably always be my favorite game because of how sheerly unique and trailblazing this bizarre game is.
I feel like it’s a niche game that gels well with a certain audience. Not wrong with that, but I think the people who love it and the people who hate it can both be valid.
See. That's what happens: People consume multiple things on regular basis, with some "in the background the whole day", because they can't keep up otherwise. They don't really PLAY a game, they don't really WATCH a movie and they don't really LISTEN to music, they just consume...because "no time"... Am i the only one who sees the sickness in this?🤔
1) A game needs to played, it's an interactive medium, if you mean watching a let's play in the background then it falls under the "watching a video category". (and no, idle games don't count, they are more programs that use computational power on your machine than real games, it's like watching a torrent seeding) 2) Listening to music can be done passively and many times is good to listen to a piece of music just as background music just to see if you like it or it's just better as a mood setter/party music. 3) I mean, now more than ever we live in a world where the internet is part of everyone lives and so we are constantly barraged under a sea of information, you can just open facebook and be bombarded with hundreds of notions one after the other, the brain has to choose which ones to retain and which ones it can forget/ignore completely. Plus we are motivated to listen to something at all times (cause of the huge amount of information that makes you feel like you need to be doing something all the time) 4) Do you often find yourself with 7 free hours with nothing to do? If it was another 30 minute video I'd get where you'te coming from but, really? You're gonna criticize someone for not having 7 free hours? (plus depending on the person their attentio span might vary, I had to make some pauses during 3/4/7 hour movies like Satantango, it's just too much and you tend to lose interest after a while and would be the same as not watching the movie if you're not gonna pay attention). 5) Where do you draw the line? Are audiobooks fine? are audiobooks ok only while you're doing something mechanical thus allowing you to hear the audiobook? If it's a video do you need to watch it? And what if it's just a review with game footage unrelated that makes it so you have to concentrate on the words being said and not on the gameplay? If it's a video or a review of a game you already played and thus already know makes a difference? And while you are at it let's talk about only auditory only mediums such as music, can you listen to music while in traffic in your opinion? Or do you have to sit down and just listen to judge the song? And if yes what about genres like ambient that are made to be just background noise (like Brian Eno, the "creator" of ambient music said "as ignorable as it is interesting")? I'm curious. You are the first person I've heard that finds it sick to assimilate things in the background. Personally as someone who watched a 7 hour pokemon review and watched many of Joseph Anderson and Whitelight's videos (as well as I said many long movies and tv shows all at ones) I'd say it's not a problem, it's just a different way of getting information, sure maybe a bit more foggy and in bits and pieces but it's sure better than not watching it just cause of the runtime. Plus white noise is good at times, not always but at least sometime (I think humans need a moment of time just in silence to think and not to drown their own thought with stuff but that's not the problem at hand, you say consume for the sake of consuming and "keeping up", not just cause they want some background music while they work). Edit: p.s. if you're troll just trying to be edgy congrats you got me.
@@regirockplays 3) "we are motivated to consume (=listen) something at all times" How is this not sick? Just cuz everyone does it? And sure, music & audiobooks etc can be enojoyed playing in the background, but kids these days grow up thinking this background-consuming = normal experience. They never learn to really pay attention. Hence the dumbing down of EVERYTHING. My point is people get served "food" constantly, even though no one's hungry. Some never know what feeling hungry (boredom) feels like...and to me, this is sickness in societal form. Also, Smartphones. Pure evil. And Social Media. And...
I mean the game is about building connections and it was a subtle way to show that the connections Sam has built have extended beyond the physical. If you pay attention you'll see that Sam goes from not touching anyone to actually accepting a hug, to actually hugging back in the end.
You do realize that Clifford Unger is Sam's father right (I think a lot of people missed that part while playing). That hug is much more significant than you think, he was fighting up until that point to get to his child who at the time we think is BB or Lou, but it's actually Sam he was fighting for, when he hugs Sam, he turns into the father we always saw in our visions, that transition from a soldier who is willing to go to extreme measures for his son, to a father really had an impact on me personally, it meant that he got what he was fighting for, a moment with his son.
I know it's a small thing compared to the monster that is this game and this review, but if the timefall is so ridiculously dangerous, why are the courier's hoods open faced? That just gives me anxiety. What if Norman Reedus falls on his back or the wind blows in an inconvenient direction? I've been out in the rain in a winter coat, and even big hoods don't do jack to protect your face when the wind starts blowing.
Part of me thinks its for branding purposes, they want Reedus' face to be visible at all times. it was something that really bothered me too, that astronaut looking gold visor you get later in the game should have been what was automatically equipped during timefall segments from the get go. Imagine not having all the time in the world to chill inside a timefall zone when the battery for the oxygen on that thing is ticking while you're wearing it? would have made things more tense than just risking rusty cargo.
Not actually. For cutscenes yeah, they are and make no sense, its like that so you can see the face. But the npc porters cover their face indeed. So it was more for the visual, and not realism. And Sam has improved protection to timefall, so I guess he does not need that much protection. But anyway, you are right, but I guess Kojima and team wanted to show the characters more properly
Joesph said that in order to do a Death Stranding video, he'd need to play all the Metal Gear games and incorporate the games into his video. An analysis of every Metal Gear game, in a Death Stranding video. So you may actually be right about the 24 hour mark lol.
@Mike Marlowe I mean this does feel like a spiritual successor of the metal gear franchise so it makes a little sense. And it's possible that joseph hasn't played them before and wouldn't fully grasp how Kojima makes games and things like the boss bar on higgs would be seen as weird and stupid without the knowledge of it being something that Kojima just does.
@@Keplin1000 the game actually has little to do with Metal Gear, in gameplay and story to be a spiritual successor, the reason i see is only by being made by Kojima
I keep coming back to this video every 2 months or so because its easier than replaying the whole game. This video is an Absolute Masterpiece, there is something incredible about the way Whitelight makes videos and this 7 hour behemoth is no exception. The writing, editing, use of sound. Talk about stimulating senses, as someone with ADHD I can say this is the only RUclips video of this length I can watch over and over and not lose focus or get bored. It's a 10/10 and I would recommend this video to anyone who's played the game or even just University students because this essay is a masterclass study of a piece of media and a show in how it's done.
@@Mr.Boy112 I knew it was the case for some Scandinavian languages, but wasn't sure if each language had the same word, so I defaulted to just "other Germanic languages". Thanks for letting me know!
The scene where Die-Hardman breaks down infront of Sam over what he did to Cliff is fucking heart breaking. Can’t imagine what that type of guilt does to a man like him
I'm French, and to me, Amélie's name struck me for a different reason. Âme does mean soul, but in my language, "Lie" has an interesting meaning for this game's purpose. "Lie" is the present form of the verb "Lier", which means "to bond, to connect, to bring together". So literally, her name would mean the soul that connects. I find it appropriate, almost even more than the English Lie, if only because she was the reason Sam did all of this, the reason Sam connected America. What do you think?
In my language, "lie" means an untruth, a falsehood, fake news, if you like, or the act of propagating such a thing. So I think Kojima made the whole thing up.
Something that really hit me first time in watched the Mama baby cutscene that I was surprised you didn’t mention is how Sam, even with his phobia went out of his way to hold her hand and her head. She didn’t fall on him so I wouldn’t say he just catched her. Idk stood out to me and thought I’d share.
@@BatAtTarkov there is an arrow next to the like/dislike buttons, and in the menu that pops up you can select "start from here" and the default time is the point you're at in the video. you can also put in your own time :)
After 4 days of watching, I've finally finished this. I've no words to say. One hella of a video, maybe the best one I've ever seen. You've done a wonderful job. Cheers man.
I got the game on PC based on the first little big of this video. Then Proceeded to play one chapter at a time, going back to the video to catch up. I think my appreciation for the game was markedly raised by seeing someone else react to the absurd and stupid moments, but also the beautiful and profound. Coming back to the same video for two weeks has been an interesting format.
Was it worth it? I have the game free on ps5 and having some extra gaming time on my hands so im looking for a good offkine game to play. This has been on my "to play" list, but never got around to it.
I actually found the BT sections to be tense as hell, i'm around 30 hours in to the game and that hasn't changed. I know they're not all that dangerous really gameplay wise but the visuals and audio in this game are so strong it makes it really immersive.
Agree! And then when you get used to it, they take BB away for a while and it gets scary again. And then they add new, more unpredictable BT types in the end game.
I only died at during one of these moments but coming back to that area and finding it replaced with a giant hand shaped crater blew me away and made me significantly more paranoid of those areas going further.
I spent a few hours setting up roads and ziplines around the mountain next to the waypoint and the distro center even though I could've easily walked there
@@lexilex72 One of your allies in the game, Fragile, has the ability to teleport by briefly traveling through the world of the dead. A few hours into the game she offers to take you wherever you want to go with this method, allowing you to fast travel to key locations you've visited before.
1st attempt. Cross the mountain to get to MAMA = FAILED, Too many BT's, too slow, timefall snow terrible 2nd attempt. Use the zip lines I made around the mountain with a "Norman Reedus" Bike on each loop = WIN
Congratulations! You should now realize your role in society, this guy worked hard on this masterpiece while you sat and watched a 7 hours video on a video game which accomplished nothing. He used his time better than you did and he will now get returns on his time investment and you will continue to waste more time. Think about that for a minute.
The only reason the scene at 3:23:00 was so emotional was that absolutely pimpin solid gold BRIDGES baseball cap. It really tied the whole scene together
if you ever become interested in the title when you can get it for cheap. I strongly suggest that you take to heart what was said at the beginning, it is a rocky gameplay start but it is only there to enhance the experience in the long run. Without suffering how would you ever know joy.
I do think the devs "intent" with the Mama delivery was that player would cut through the mountain. Fast travel is rather dull, after all. By cutting through the mountain, you can link up the Roboticist to the UCA early if you bring lost cargo to her. Then, you can build a zipline over the waterfall to connect to Mama's lab. There is also a Low Roar song that plays as you descend the mountain towards the Weather Station. Imo it's neat how in a chapter about reconnecting two sisters, the most convenient way to do it is by building a zipline connection between Mama's lab and Mountain knot. It's a marriage of themes and gameplay systems I don't really think anyone other than Kojima does in the AAA space.
1:37:28 “So how ‘bout it? Aren’t you getting tired of the grind? Isn’t this what you’ve been waiting for this whole time? A game over?!” God, I love that line.
@@thewanderingartists Okay, I guess I'll be that guy and announce that I liked all the boss fights. The only part I hated was the very end when you literally ran around and waited for lore
I really liked how you can switch from talking about the positives of the game with love and talking about the negatives with crudeness, something that a lot of reviews can't do as they tend to be either too positive or too negative. You really showed how we can love a game despite having some massive flaws, thanks for this.
Interestingly, the nuke mission worked for me. I was extremely suspicious after the cutscene, and the inventory screen confirming my worst fears sent me into panic mode trying to work out what the game wanted me to do. I also interpreted the cutscene as Higgs being unsubtle on purpose, since he spends so much of the game toying with everyone else rather than seriously trying to kill them, particularly how he made Fragile dispose of the previous nuke. But you're also right that it could've been executed a lot better. Maybe my brain was just in full Kojima mode at the time :)
Whew, okay. 3 days, 5 separate viewing sessions, 7 hours, 15 minutes, and 32 seconds. One of the most perfect formats I've seen to PROPERLY analyze and critique a game of such a singular kind. Plus, it came out just a few days after my birthday! This video was awesome. I love your channel and the content you create, and this monolith was a completely worthwhile experience. Big Strand Energy
I don't know how many others watched this whole video from head to tail, but I did, and I cannot thank you enough for how much efforts you put into it, I didn't sense a ounce of boring in any single segments, and I know how hard for that to be in such a long video, it simply is great.
Just sat through the whole thing. I don't usually make comments on RUclips, but man, I have to speak up now. Absolutely incredible review/analysis. Never once during these 7 hours was I bored. Happy new year and keep on keeping on!
It's interesting that the most meaningful moments in the game's story to me are the most direct. Clifford and Sam reconciling in the jungle; Die-Hardman unloading his grief on Sam at the end. Only when it drops the talk about connecting people and actually *shows* it does it make me feel something.
funny enough, the rant around 2:25:00 about positivity by necessity and not choice is spot on; reading up on it, the feature where you can dismantle vehicles wasn't there at launch, it was added later entirely because people were intentionally getting trucks stuck in places that made them an obstacle. People found the only way to troll in the game and subsequently abused it so much that it had to be patched out.
There are many certainties when playing a Kojima game: weird stuff unexplained, something funny, strange gameplay choices, awesome music, cringe writing that sometimes actually works, and every one of them a unique experience. I honestly can’t wait to see what part 2 has for us.
Bloody hell. Watching this 7 hour behemoth in quarantine was incredible. Made me miss human connection quite a lot, considering we’re all bunkered down like preppers (either Kojima has foresight or its a fucking incredible coincidence that this released so soon to Covid hitting the UK) Anyway, Whitelight I just want to say that this was probably one of the best video essays I’ve ever seen. Love the content and this is no exception
You may never see this comment, but I wanted to share how brilliant this video was and how expertly crafted it is. You have a masterpiece with this one man, thank you for taking the time to make this behemoth. The 7 hour journey through a game I will never play was amazing. Again, thank you.
I was itching for some insightful thoughts on the game, thanks Whitelight for sharing! I also have a little tidbit to share: The Dutch and German word for beach is "Strand", making all scenes on the beach a little weirder. Can you please cut up the video in 21 minute episodes? Asking for a friend.
I always interpreted when Fragile said, “I’m Fragile, but not that Fragile” as “I’m Fragile, but the same Fragile that carried the Nuke into the City.” Meaning she had clarity now, as in she was more vigilant and wise than ever before after she was deceived by Higgs. Of course I only came to this conclusion after the cutscene where you travel to the central region on the Fragile Express boat, but I enjoyed her character even more after that.
Still doesnt take away the fact that the line is so bad, like Morbius level of cringe, and no amount of hollywood A list actors delivery can make it any better
After your initial warning that you should play Death Stranding yourself before watching this video, I waited for half a year for the spare time to play this game. Not only is the game amazing in my eyes (not having had some of the struggles you've faced in your first playthrough), but I came back to watch your video and I absolutely adored it. Such an amazing format, that brought so many things to my attention, which i didn't even notice when i played the game myself. Honestly, you sharing your experience and your thoughts made this game even more of a masterpiece for me, that I will always cherrish and recommend for times of loneliness. Thank you for this video. Made me feel real connected to you ;)
@@aflhabalafhabab Who? Not sure if the comment is a joke or not, but the concept of the game was divisive from the outset. It was to created a story a-typical in comparison to the standard concept of fast-paced video games. The calm, slow-paced nature of the game carries weight with the story. I - like many who deem it a good game - fully understand why someone might not like Death Stranding if they want a action packed game, but that is not what it is nor claims to be.
"being a father didn't make me scared.. it made me brave". in order to be brave, we must first be scared. what a fantastic, beautiful, scary, compelling masterpiece of a game.
Watched this video so many times, I’ve noticed the thumbnail change. Just proves Whitelight cares abt all of his content no matter how old. Truly one of the best channels on this platform.
i’ve been having trouble sleeping recently because of these rolling panic attacks and i put this video on one night to distract myself. i’ve been watching it to fall asleep every night for two weeks now. your voice is so soothing and i love this game. ❤
The lack of hand-holding when crossing the tar belt really surprised me when I was playing the game. It was in sharp contrast with the over-explanation of everything before. I think it was deliberate though. They knew, that players who get stuck, will search the internet for the answer/hint. How to better underline the importance of connections and helping each other than let the player really feel it, in real world, outside of game, but still connected to the game.
What was interesting about it is they actually hinted at the building mechanic. I spent 20 minutes killing bt's on that beach and was stumped so I checked my mail, and there were two new messages that hinted at triggering bt's that brings back old buildings
@@brockjenks I'm not sure. But I think those only show up if you max rank those survivors. I've yet to see anyone get to that point without maxing out most of the characters to confirm
I didn't understand what they meant initially, so I just walked into the tar to see if I would wind up on the other side but I got repatriated and woke up without all my gear. Had to go back to the paleontologist to fabricate more stuff but on the way back DieHardman revealed that I should summon a BT
Never in my years of living on this earth have I been so consistently engaged in any form of media as I have in watching this video. From beginning to end, I thoroughly enjoyed your thought-provoking analysis of the game and the various implications of its thematic elements within the game and in our day to day lives. It made me think about death and what it really means, for myself and for others with whom I've shared a bond. It made me think about how the void-outs, those massive craters caused by the bodies of rotting corpses, leave a gaping, immutable scar on the surface of the earth much like how the absence of a loved one in death leaves a part of us empty. An emptiness that can never be filled only avoided, ignored, or simply buried in the dark recess of our mind. It made me think of the things we take for granted, such as our bonds with one another and the happiness we share spending time together. It made me think of the things we lost and how in losing them, we come to appreciate the things we still have. We become stronger for it. We become more resilient to the ravages of reality and in losing things we value, we become better versions of who we were. I remember watching a documentary about antimatter a little while back. In this documentary, they spoke about the lack of antimatter in our universe. They summed it up to being that just one more matter particle for every one billion antimatter-matter pairs is the reason why our universe is the way it is. However, one of the hypotheses they gave was that because antimatter is fundamentally symmetrical to matter, then the way in which time flows for antimatter is opposite that of regular matter, and, as such, there exists an antimatter universe that is a reflection of our universe. I found this hypothesis to be quite interesting in the context of the game. The BT's or Beached Things, as they called it, were composed of antimatter and entered our world through the Beach. This made me wonder. What if our souls, or the souls of the people in the game, exist in this antimatter reflection of reality? What if the umbilical cord of the BT's serves as this connection to their physical body? What if they're crossing over into the world of the living to simply be reunited with their body? What if none of this makes any sense in the context of the game? Maybe that's what Kojima intended. Maybe he wanted us to be endlessly confused about the lore of this game and, in our confusion, discover something meaningful about ourselves. You've given me a lot to think about. Your clear cut, chronological analysis of Death Stranding is thoroughly satisfying, entertaining, and enlightening, but yet after watching it, I feel a bit empty inside. Upon its conclusion, I feel as though I lost something meaningful, something I'll never get back. Perhaps this is what Kojima hoped we learned from his game. Maybe this is the Death Stranding. Maybe he wanted us to appreciate what we have when we have it and to learn and grow from its absence. Maybe he wanted to show us that the end is not the end, but merely a new beginning. Maybe his entire game serves this purpose or maybe this is just the idle ramblings of a bored, quarantined, twenty-year-old. As I conclude my "comment", I feel content. I'm happy that I watched this video, but I'm sad that it's over. One thing is certain, I've grown wiser. Thank you, Whitelight. Yours Truly, Dillon
Death Stranding is one of my favorite games and this video has absolutely secured its place in my heart. Thank you for all the effort, love, and passion you put into this incredible deep dive. I've been watching this over a span of a few months and in that time so many major life changes have occurred and whenever I came back to this video, it always comforted me knowing that important things take time and it's okay to see the end of great journeys. Thank you so so much for keeping me company through a screen
There is "MGS 4 Was a Mistake" by Steak Bentley too. It is "only" 3h 26min long, but it makes up for it with a lot more editing. Definitely worth a watch if you haven't seen it yet.
Thank you for the longest video I've ever watched, ever, in my entire life, from any source that exists. And I was entertained for every. single. goddamned. minute. of. it. It took over a day, with multiple interruptions, many pauses as I had to focus on other things temporarily, but by golly, it was awesome. Thank you.
1:07:40 There is an option to remove the animation of the Odradek starting up, except for the first encounter for that session, which is fine. I'm assuming that this option wasn't there when the game released, or even during the making of this video, but I know that it's been there for a few months minimum, because if it was, there wouldn't be complaints about it. So yeah, at least now, the Odradek startup animation being annoying is no longer a critique.
Really enjoyed this, so glad I found the channel a few months ago. The long-form content is amazing and I sat through all 7 hours of it in one sitting (all be it while working) so do I get a medal ? or perhaps some kind of trip to a special hospital?
I'm so impressed that you uploaded all of this and didn't split it up into separate parts. You coulda gotten seven video's out of this! Instead, we have a full work day's worth of video right here. Something about that feels so damn fitting for Death Stranding somehow.
I watched this entire video from beginning to end, paying undivided attention to it the whole time. Sure, Death Stranding's story is absolutely fantastic, but importantly, this also serves as a testament to Whitelight's amazingly engaging writing and thoughtful commentary. This is probably the longest piece of media I will have ever watched from beginning to end and somehow it whizzed past like a breeze. Absolute masterpiece my good sir.
Late to the party watching this but I’ve gotta say the Higgs bomb part is my favourite part of the game just because of how utterly hilarious it is. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed more at a game than during my first play through when I immediately knew that was Troy Baker within 0.5 seconds and ended up with a nuke strapped to my back with absolutely no reaction from anybody. I feel like from Troy’s kind of goofy deliverance of that part it was intended to be a joke and maybe my humour is stupid but it 100% worked for me.
Higgs mentions at one point that he "couldn't help himself" whilst disguised as a BRIDGES employee... he absolutely hammed it up and made it obvious because the world of Death Stranding is so weird, it's kind of plausible Sam would just shrug it off as a weird BRIDGES employee who just hangs out with boxes all day
It helps to that Higgs is canocically a shitposter who acts and talks weirdly to fuck with people, hence the pizza deliveries. It was absolutely just Higgs messing with Sam and the audience with an obvious trick. Also, Higgs needed the network to be completed, so I doubt he really wanted south not to be nuked, hence the blatant acting.
Yeah honestly it felt like Higgs was just trollin. We know Higgs can very easily do far more damage in a more direct method, as we saw with what he did to Fragile. Meanwhile here he got all dressed up, played a clumsy act, and just handed you a bomb telling you "yeah you should go take this to South Knot, thank you....sorry"
The mountain you bring your mother up was the perfect tutorial for how the movement works. It's the only game I've ever played where I had to be careful where my feet landed. Sure you get upgrades, but the farther you go, the more complex the environment gets. With snow coming into the play right when you think you've mastered the jagged terrain.
![What Caused The Death Stranding? [Death Stranding]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/KoVzqbEK8Ck/mqdefault.jpg)
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
You guys don't understand, this is the first strand type video. There's a Death Stranding look-alike shirt for sale at www.whitelight.store as of now! Some extra updates/clarifications from late 2020 - Firstly, the link to Brovid--19 is almost mind rending given the destruction of jobs and fear of the outside world. Secondly, I think the best way to define the political nature of Death Stranding is that it primarily intends to argue a core humanitarian philosophy, and that philosophy has political expressions; centrally, division the US. Third, the Odradek cutscene has been patched, it's now completely optional. Finally, it occurred to me that Amelie's dresses are symbolic too. Light is connection, dark is extinction and red is a conflict between the two. Some people in the comment section came up with fantastic new ideas about the meaning of her name, check them out!
Sorry, first as in there are MORE to come???
Mad lad. Absolute mad lad
7 hours and barely any ads...
+5000 likes from pleasing other players
This is strand gameplay .
- Videogamedunkey
What got you to make a 7 hour video?
Damn, he's really pushing for the 10 minute mark.
2:31:40 this part was unusually funny after that interaction. The way he turns the key on the motorcycle with confused expression and then rides off comically cause of the funny handling mechanics.
this exact comment is under so many videos be original man
Everybody is commenting this exact same thing on videos over an hour. It's getting old.
At least he didn't cut it into 50 pieces for more money
@@Firewatchersparadox97 Well people need to get paid
"Sorry, boss, I need to take a day off work."
"Why?"
"Whitelight uploaded."
Dead ass watched this entire thing on the 2nd half of my 16 hour shift
how much they paid u? jesus
The quarantine has answered ur call...
I see, well see you tomorrow.
the only thing that stops me from watching his reviews are the simple fact that it contains spoilers... else the BEST reviewer EVER!
Even in the afterlife there is sand. Apparently it does literally get everywhere.
Don’t forget that it’s also course, rough, and irritating. I don’t like sand.
Anakin Skywalker enters the chat
not like here. here everything is soft and smooth.
Lol
Poor George Lucas. All he ever wanted was to get rich off making shitty movies. RUclips commenters will never let that one go.
Welp I finished the entire thing. Really great breakdown, gave me a good number of details to mull over that I missed myself. Well done
You're not even the real Hugbees.
@@Stop_Gooning you, uh, didn't click the actual channel did you.
@@Alreeshid fake news
@@Stop_Gooning ?!
@@Alreeshid _China_
the weirdest feeling in the world is putting this on to fall asleep to and waking up to it still playing
PREACH 🙏
Agreed.
Right? I didn't realize how long it was. I was just looking for a lengthy video essay to drift off to for like an hour or two.
Fell asleep at about the 15:00 minute mark. Woke up fully rested at the 7:05 mark and had to start getting ready for work before I could finish it.
@@AtemiRaven did the thumbnail didn't load for you or something
@@hirjimaulidy You can understand the thumbnail as in "I played the first 7 hours and this is my opinion"
7:01:18 "We've been talking for some time now."
*Some time*
But then, get this, he continues
this is the only video I have ever spent 3 days trying to finish watching.
yesterday I thought I could just quickly finish it before going to sleep, what a fool I was.
*_There was still an hour left at that point_*
now it's 7:01:17
bruh moment
I would click on that time stamp but I'd lose my position in the video and am positive that I'd never find my way back
The entire game was just an elaborate excuse to get an actress to say "I'm princess beach" and no one can convince me otherwise
And the excuse to makes us listening Kojima's favourite álbum from Low Roar.
As much as I cherish and adore this game
That bit made me consider throwing my PC along with myself off London Tower Bridge
@@wagon_wheels._ I just wound up sitting on the spot with my face buried in my hands for entire minutes going through the Princess Beach.
Christ talk about over reacting
This whole game was an excuse for Kojima to meet Lindsay Wagner and make a Mads Mikkelsen dating simulator
Speaking as a writer-of novels, not video essays-this video essay impresses me on an immense level. I can’t even imagine what it must’ve taken to put together, not merely on the level of content, but of structuring it and editing it into something as articulate and cohesive as this turned out to be. And for it to be engaging across the entire seven hours.
That’s not merely impressive, it’s flat-out amazing. I listened to and watched this over the course of a couple days, and looked forward to it in between. Incredible feat of writing and editing, in every way. Not to mention a beautiful thesis statement on the game and its themes.
Are you the Cody lakin that wrote other endings and Fairlane road? If so, sick
@@aussieseal9979 Yes! That’s me. I have a new horror novel out, published in September, called “The Family Condition.” That one’s gained a lot of traction, some positive reviews from a couple major sources, and I’ve grown a lot as a writer since the days of Fairlane Road and Other Endings. Wow! I’ve never been “recognized” out on the internet before for past work 😅
I'm no writer, but I have to agree that this was an excellant commentary on this game. So much so, I watched it to the end. Whitelight has convinced me that it's not necessary for me to play it. Nothing about the premise, story or gameplay pushes any of my buttons.
-_- Hun you're probably not as competent a writer as your assuming here, it's fine to like something and have biases but your analysis of this video being engaging throughout it's entire 7 hr length is... Like are you friends with this guy in real life and trying to support him bc...
@@lyonessie I choose to admire a long form video essay from the context of my own experience, and your response is to baselessly condescend and make weirdly specific assumptions. Okay then?
When I first saw Amelie's name, I thought it was a japanese pun. "Amelie" spelt in japanese is "アメリ" (A Me Ri) which is close to "America" which is "アメリカ" (A Me Ri Ka)
So Amelie is America without a "Ka" (soul)
=O subtle stereotype ftw?
Holy crap, that's brilliant
Holy fuck indeed!
@@Whitelight that entire video, and you missed what may have been the foreshadow Kojima was building around the entire time
Bruh....woah. 🤯👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Spoilers: 5 hours of this video is him reading Fragile's actress' full name
**Hangs up phone**
MGS3's DAN DAN DAN DAAAAAAN
Which is odd because long names are a staple of french culture
Even first names have usually two names in them
(Note that I am french)
@@bradleyjenkins2271how would that be odd??? what you meant to say is that it makes sense, not that it would be odd… odd means strange if you didn’t know. so if there was 5 hours of pronouncing the French voice actress’s name, then there would be nothing odd about it… just an FYI
Lore theory: the repeated exposition and multiple people telling you the same things is because people in DS are all so eager to talk to someone. I work from home and sometimes go days without talking to people outside video calls so sometimes I'll find myself super excited to have dumb mundane conversations. Maybe they're just desperate to talk.
That makes sense! A smart idea. I just wish they chose to talk about less gamey things, like I didn't need 2 or 3 people explaining what a 'container repair spray' could do... But I wouldn't mind listening to them talk about a favorite pen that they named after a friend, or about some random curiosity of the world they live in.
That being said, it's not the worst thing in the world.
smart idea though it doesn't come off that way in game, even if it was their intention.
I actually think its because people are just stupid with such a short attention span. So if you wont understand something after being told 3 times you must be retarded and its no longer Kojimas fault, he tried 3 times.
I never thought about that damn
I still don't understand the relationship between half of the characters
I could listen to this guy for hours. Oh wait, I just did
Don't lie to mee!. I listened for a week now
I listened to his darksiders 2
Who would have thought I would find it impossible to put down a 7-hours long video? Though I think it's less about the narration, and more about the game itself.
TWICE
Same
From what I've heard, from the incredibly trustworthy source of "some guy," the reason for the Monster Energy Drink product placement is one time while hanging out Kojima saw the cryptid he was working with, Norman Reedus, open a can and drink the entire thing in a few seconds and decided that needed to be in the game.
Never heard that before but it doesn't sound far fetched at all
Why does that sound plausible
CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!
No one is going to acknowledge the face that this man just called Norman Reedus a cryptid 😂
Monster sponsored the game. After leaving their main publisher, they had to get a few sponsors to support development. Monster energy is just the most blatant, do they probably paid a lot.
Some of the cutscenes legit look like they're just straight up filmed scenes, its super impressive imo
no cap on the mo cap
One thing that really shocked me with games starting around the PS4/Xbone era is that you could hardly tell the difference between in-engine and prerendered cutscenes. Like the sick ass CG introduction of the "combat veteran" during the WWI flashback segment flows perfectly back into the real-time cutscene that leads into the start of the boss fight. The cinematography, shot composition, and direction aren't the only cutscene tools hauling the load, the tech is too.
@@aortaplatinum I was this close to believing they were all in-engine
I always figured that Bridget crawling towards you after falling out of her bed was supposed to be reminiscent of a BT's movement (at least what we would've guessed how they moved from the encounters in the prologue and accentuated by the tar-like liquid spilling out from her IVs, creating black handprints), somewhat hinting at her connection to the Beach.
The entire scene, and to a much greater degree, Bridget's entire character is so many things. she has depth, layers, an unsettling yet utterly captivating HUMANITY about her - as if the devil and god are raging inside of her even to her last mortal breaths, is simply a testament and treat to behold. It is Kojima'a character storytelling at its absolute zenith. Kojima Plus Ultra. Kojima Ascending. Not only a top form, but perhaps, for lack of more accurate words: we just may never see such a unique portrait of what it takes to be human, ever again.
At a risk of putting kojima on the pedestal higher than i have already placed him , his character crafting is at its absolute top form. truly a magic story to hear and behold. blessed.
Holy shit, and the fact that bts cause voidouts due to desperation to being connected
The way the scene is shot you can’t help but notice the sharp vertical lines of the cords tying her to the bed. They rise into the ceiling and disappear. Then you meet Higgs and you see those same dark lines but moving in reverse. In a way she foreshadows the first big villain in the game in the first half hour to 45 minutes of gameplay. It’s truly brilliant.
@@williamstevens5599 Same with the upside down prism under his sister's aura mirroring the upside down rainbow Whitelight remarked on. It's wild how HK can be so masterful then 2 secs later just flatfootedly hammy. Wild, he contains multitudes, truly.
@@picahudsoniaunflocked5426 I've played through Yakuza 1-6 and a couple of the Persona games, it's a Japanese thing and they have a sense of humor that's just different. For some reason the obviously dumb shit like "Princess Beach" and characters giving the camera a thumbs up, or Heartman removing likes from Sam for scratching his record get assblasted in the west instead of taken as pretty obvious jokes.
Incidentally, "princess beach" is also foreshadowing. So it's both a joke and a major plot point. Superbunnyhop has a video where he talks about how the language and cultural barrier changes how a lot of cutscenes end up playing out in Metal Gear. One scene Ocelot is trapped and pretends to die before shouting "FOXDIE!!!" Which in English... doesn't make a lot of sense. But in Japanese it's a pun on the phrase akin to "Just kidding!" that rhymes with Foxdie.
1:00:33 "If you've got a huge load, and you're about to blow it, you can maintain that tipping state for as long as possible to exploit the speed boost."
Transmat firing!
this is...
true
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
It's too dangerous! That load could make a disaster.
@@miragebarrage9748 Didn't expect Drifter here!
"In 15, minutes, death stranding does ww2 better than BFV."
I am offended and 100% agree with you.
Not really
Fraser Souris Not really what?
@@BritishBloke246
DS's WW2 segment has you playing as a guy from the future wearing futuristic clothes carrying a fetus while fighting ghosts. BFV doesn't have that. BFV is closer to WW2 by having less unrealistic things
Fraser Souris I am pretty sure he meant the feel of war, not the people in it?
I mean the AI in this game is fucking hot garbage so it's not really better than Battlefield 5.
"Everyone knows isolation sucks." - Whitelight, pre-COVID-19. We were soon to see how true that statement is.
I dont see the problem with it for me xD I spend most of my time in work or on PC playing games so for me it was a win-win. I could go to work to make money and then turn the money into games which I am already doing for the past 7 years xD
@jocaguz18 ive never wanted to go outside more than now. the lack of freedom was a key component to a major depressive episode during the pandemic.
@Patrick Bateman what?
jocaguz18 I wish I had that perspective. I’ve lost my job, can’t travel more than 5km from home, can only leave for medical/shopping or 1hr exercise.
Mate.... how are people not depressed
@Patrick Bateman wtf are you on about
1:00:34 "if you've got a huge load, and youre about to blow it, you can maintain that tipping point" - Whitelight 2020
hehe I do believe there is a word for that.
@@starryeyes5860EDGING EDGING SKIBIDI GYATT FANUM RIZZ TOILET
Edit: I took my meds. I apologize for this reprehensible transgression.
@@BIG_CHEESE_MAKE_MEm8 let his algorithm slip
When I saw fragile in the shower I thought “ohh possible romance scene and nudity, not like Kojima.” Then I realized she has old lady skin and Sam can’t touch people.
@@subpain4257 Yes, but I wont complain
@@subpain4257 I don't think so. I think it was making fun of characters that are pure fan service.
contextless that's so fucking funny
The only way that Fragile scene would have worked as a romance sequence for Kojima would have been if Mads Mikklesen was in the shower instead.
Also featuring Kojima doing a cameo in the shower during the scene.
@@Buff_Cupcakecalm down Geoff keighley
Fun fact: you can beat Metal Gear Rising 1.2 times before this review finishes
Don't you dare make me play that God Tier game again just to see if I can get it to 2
The story is still fucking relevant till this day.
How is that fun
I can beat MGS before this finishes
Or you could beat Death Stranding about 0.2 times before the review finishes 🤷♂️
Little fun fact, if you make Sam call out during the credits, he screams stuff like "is it actually over" and "this has to be a bug right".
Crap! I never called out on that beach! I just kept running around.
i spent like an hour doing that lol
I always like using the call out button during certain points in the story. If you do it while transporting a person, like the Chiral Artist, they'll respond. During Chapter 6, Sam will call out for Lou. In Chapter 8 during the run across the tar belt, he'll call for Amelie when you see her.
I just like it
6:30 I think my favorite part of the hand = death usage is how, for us, a handprint is a sign of "oh people have been here." One of the first things we tend to teach kids to do is finger painting or leaving their handprints, and the game turns that into a death omen. It reminds me of the whole "it used to be human vs maybe it never was" aspect of horror.
OK let's do it
I'm gonna go for the 10000000iq joke
"Hey Whitelight... Nice job getting over the 10 minute mark"
Thank you thank you I'll be here all night... Literally
Oof
@Peter Lustig have you watched the video to give this assessment?
@Peter Lustig soooooo everyone writing a book with more than 10 pages has nothing to say ? what an idiotic statement. should have payed mor attention in school
@Peter Lustig Not everything can be distilled or boiled down you dunce. Not respect your time? Your writing of your comment is wasting everyone's time trying to figure out how much a fucking idiot you are.
@Peter Lustig I'm terribly sorry, I needed to vent and you poked out your head like a huge target...
I also interpret the Fragile thing as "I'm Fragile, but not THAT Fragile" as in not the same Fragile who delivered the nuke.
WHaT!!?!
I think you're onto something
YOOOOOOOOOO
My mind is blown
damn...
7 hours..my god....
That's the rough length of one cutscene from Hideo Kojima!
@@electrofin515 But...is Longman bad?
Joseph Anderson: I made a 3-hour list of every bug I experienced in Fallout 76.
Twin Perfect: I made a 4-and-a-half-hour long explanation of the entirety of Twin Peaks.
Whitelight: Amateurs.
JA/TP: What?
Whitelight posts 7+ hour-long video on Death Stranding: AMATEURS!
@@fictionmyth ShayMay has a 7 hour review of Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire as well but it is slightly shorter than this: ruclips.net/video/kFC6mDKF-0c/видео.html
@@thelastgogeta Qui Gon Jin: "There's always a bigger fish."
I think of Higgs and Sam as the angel and devil on the shoulder. The personification of the two options. Amelie at least in my mind is using their conflict as a miniature battlefield to see what idea will prevail. Testing if optimism will beat out nihilism or vice verse. If higgs wins, so does nihilism, if Sam wins, optimism does.
I like that thought
That could explain why you can't choose nihilism. The only issue is that Higgs still isn't treated right.
@Sinyao sorry I think I meant to say pessimism. Choosing between the chance to believe there is a future and there isn't. My point is that hope will always win.
@Sinyao also yeah Higgs is burned and manipulated but in the end he had everything he wanted. Amelie gave him the power he sought which causes him to do what he could do. He still has power in the final battle (the ultimate culmination) but by this point Hope and optimism is too strong to be able to best the quickly gained power of pessimism. Kind of like how the sith start strong and Jedi end strong. So whilst yeah he is mistreated and manipulated, he got everything he asked for but ultimately he was never supposed to win. Because optimism will always triumph.
7 hour review? I see, so just the last cutscene then - cool cool.
Cool cool cool cool
Yeah I remember I beat this game. Had to go to work the next morning. The game didnt let me sleep.
No, that's MGS4. Another Kojiant game.
WhiteSythe94. Ah I see, you-too-are cursed with a cringy gamertag created by a younger version of yourself, I feel for you.
xbox 360 gamer tag was rock (when i was younger i wanted to legally change my name to rock) with the cracked skull picture, smh
@@Sludgelorrd You sound like someone with some interesting stories to tell :P
“We’re kindred spirits, you and I, cursed with cringe ass gamertags from days long gone. I look upon the image you have chosen as your profile image and I see past it, into something buried deep beneath layers of so many previous profile pictures. I see the first. You cannot hide that default Xbox 360 gamerpic of the Gears of War logo or “gray beanie dude blowing bubble gum” you wore as a mantle of pride so long ago. Such things defines us as the naive and edgy children we were, as it once had so it forever will. Revel in it, even as you cringe at that wacky trash and declare to the world ‘Big yikes’, revel in it.”
You all think you're bad? My gamertag from middleschool was Shadow Wolf. Thank god I switched over to ps4.
Mine was SwathedOpposum...
When Norman Reedus massages a fetus he's called "a hero" and "a brave man"
But when I do it they just start yelling "how did you get in here" and "I'm calling security" :(
Valentine it’s cause they’re filming “Norman Reedus’: Massaging Fetuses” in-game.
Are you Cliff?
@Dantes230 how do I delete replies
Norman fetus
darkknight11311 that knocked the fucking wind out of me
I didn't ever wanna touch this game because of how many people said it was bad but I gave it a chance and when the credits rolled I cried my heart out and it jumped to my favorite game of all time.
I’ve spent the past 30 in-game hours addicted to setting up a god tier zip line network, and most of my roads are finished, ungodly addicting, kinda like factorio
first time I saw the gameplay of Sam just running god knows why and where, I thought "I'm buying this shit and I dont care. I've seen enough and I want it"
YES
People ripped on it for so long I almost avoided it. The beautiful world design drew me in and I figured it would be good background ambiance for studying
And then the start hooked me. The concept of timefall, the cutscenes, it just ripped me in and got me curious
and then the voidout scene. That made me watch all 24 hours of a story playthrough. I absorbed everything. I would go to sleep at night with my mind swarming with the implications of an empirical afterlife and what science would do with it.
It's my favorite game. It will probably always be my favorite game because of how sheerly unique and trailblazing this bizarre game is.
I feel like it’s a niche game that gels well with a certain audience. Not wrong with that, but I think the people who love it and the people who hate it can both be valid.
@@starlight4649 Until DS2 =)
Subscribers: "The *what* review?"
WhiteLight: "Yes".
7. Hours. This video will be in the background my whole day.
and i thought a three hour pathologic review was a drag.
See. That's what happens:
People consume multiple things on regular basis, with some "in the background the whole day", because they can't keep up otherwise.
They don't really PLAY a game, they don't really WATCH a movie and they don't really LISTEN to music, they just consume...because "no time"...
Am i the only one who sees the sickness in this?🤔
Akira Yeah, quit being quirky for the sake of being quirky
1) A game needs to played, it's an interactive medium, if you mean watching a let's play in the background then it falls under the "watching a video category". (and no, idle games don't count, they are more programs that use computational power on your machine than real games, it's like watching a torrent seeding)
2) Listening to music can be done passively and many times is good to listen to a piece of music just as background music just to see if you like it or it's just better as a mood setter/party music.
3) I mean, now more than ever we live in a world where the internet is part of everyone lives and so we are constantly barraged under a sea of information, you can just open facebook and be bombarded with hundreds of notions one after the other, the brain has to choose which ones to retain and which ones it can forget/ignore completely. Plus we are motivated to listen to something at all times (cause of the huge amount of information that makes you feel like you need to be doing something all the time)
4) Do you often find yourself with 7 free hours with nothing to do? If it was another 30 minute video I'd get where you'te coming from but, really? You're gonna criticize someone for not having 7 free hours? (plus depending on the person their attentio span might vary, I had to make some pauses during 3/4/7 hour movies like Satantango, it's just too much and you tend to lose interest after a while and would be the same as not watching the movie if you're not gonna pay attention).
5) Where do you draw the line? Are audiobooks fine? are audiobooks ok only while you're doing something mechanical thus allowing you to hear the audiobook? If it's a video do you need to watch it? And what if it's just a review with game footage unrelated that makes it so you have to concentrate on the words being said and not on the gameplay? If it's a video or a review of a game you already played and thus already know makes a difference? And while you are at it let's talk about only auditory only mediums such as music, can you listen to music while in traffic in your opinion? Or do you have to sit down and just listen to judge the song? And if yes what about genres like ambient that are made to be just background noise (like Brian Eno, the "creator" of ambient music said "as ignorable as it is interesting")? I'm curious.
You are the first person I've heard that finds it sick to assimilate things in the background.
Personally as someone who watched a 7 hour pokemon review and watched many of Joseph Anderson and Whitelight's videos (as well as I said many long movies and tv shows all at ones) I'd say it's not a problem, it's just a different way of getting information, sure maybe a bit more foggy and in bits and pieces but it's sure better than not watching it just cause of the runtime.
Plus white noise is good at times, not always but at least sometime (I think humans need a moment of time just in silence to think and not to drown their own thought with stuff but that's not the problem at hand, you say consume for the sake of consuming and "keeping up", not just cause they want some background music while they work).
Edit: p.s. if you're troll just trying to be edgy congrats you got me.
@@regirockplays 3) "we are motivated to consume (=listen) something at all times"
How is this not sick?
Just cuz everyone does it?
And sure, music & audiobooks etc can be enojoyed playing in the background, but kids these days grow up thinking this background-consuming = normal experience. They never learn to really pay attention. Hence the dumbing down of EVERYTHING.
My point is people get served "food" constantly, even though no one's hungry. Some never know what feeling hungry (boredom) feels like...and to me, this is sickness in societal form.
Also, Smartphones.
Pure evil.
And Social Media.
And...
Damn. Clifford is probably my favorite character. He actually manages to hug a guy with a phobia of being touched.
I mean the game is about building connections and it was a subtle way to show that the connections Sam has built have extended beyond the physical. If you pay attention you'll see that Sam goes from not touching anyone to actually accepting a hug, to actually hugging back in the end.
nice pfp bruh
The only character that had a real arc and real depth. Everyone else one dimensional.
You do realize that Clifford Unger is Sam's father right (I think a lot of people missed that part while playing). That hug is much more significant than you think, he was fighting up until that point to get to his child who at the time we think is BB or Lou, but it's actually Sam he was fighting for, when he hugs Sam, he turns into the father we always saw in our visions, that transition from a soldier who is willing to go to extreme measures for his son, to a father really had an impact on me personally, it meant that he got what he was fighting for, a moment with his son.
I may be alone in this one, but Heartman's backstory is the most hardcore story I have ever heard.
the only one that sam opened up to, "this man get it"
He looks like a RUclips nerd but he’s kinda badass. Dying every half hour and looking for his family in the land of the dead until he’s revived
Her has my favourite theme tune in the game too.
I know it's a small thing compared to the monster that is this game and this review, but if the timefall is so ridiculously dangerous, why are the courier's hoods open faced? That just gives me anxiety. What if Norman Reedus falls on his back or the wind blows in an inconvenient direction? I've been out in the rain in a winter coat, and even big hoods don't do jack to protect your face when the wind starts blowing.
Part of me thinks its for branding purposes, they want Reedus' face to be visible at all times.
it was something that really bothered me too, that astronaut looking gold visor you get later in the game should have been what was automatically equipped during timefall segments from the get go.
Imagine not having all the time in the world to chill inside a timefall zone when the battery for the oxygen on that thing is ticking while you're wearing it? would have made things more tense than just risking rusty cargo.
Not actually. For cutscenes yeah, they are and make no sense, its like that so you can see the face.
But the npc porters cover their face indeed. So it was more for the visual, and not realism.
And Sam has improved protection to timefall, so I guess he does not need that much protection. But anyway, you are right, but I guess Kojima and team wanted to show the characters more properly
i had the exact same issue!
like just put on a mask for gods sake!
@Reconsider your position Also perpetual transparent surfaces on your game character is an absolute pain to deal with.
On a side note it is worth noting many characters look much older than they should like igor.
This looks like Euro Truck with feet
sombre hombre shit now I gotta watch this video while playing euro truck mmmm yes
@@D00000T You're right, it's better
if my truck had legs it would have been a grandma
It's more Minecraft than anything else.
The scenario depicted is economically on stronger feet then the euro zone.
if this is 7 hours long, joseph anderson's video on death stranding in 4 years from now will probably hit the 24 hour limit mark
Joesph said that in order to do a Death Stranding video, he'd need to play all the Metal Gear games and incorporate the games into his video. An analysis of every Metal Gear game, in a Death Stranding video. So you may actually be right about the 24 hour mark lol.
@Mike Marlowe I mean this does feel like a spiritual successor of the metal gear franchise so it makes a little sense. And it's possible that joseph hasn't played them before and wouldn't fully grasp how Kojima makes games and things like the boss bar on higgs would be seen as weird and stupid without the knowledge of it being something that Kojima just does.
@@Keplin1000 the game actually has little to do with Metal Gear, in gameplay and story to be a spiritual successor, the reason i see is only by being made by Kojima
Alon Mercer shiiiiiitt a MG/MGS analyst alone is 24 hours. We might just have to make it a 3 day weekend
MGS Oficial I think it’s like other dude said, getting to know Kojima. I mean the man is legendary for being way outside the box when world building.
I keep coming back to this video every 2 months or so because its easier than replaying the whole game. This video is an Absolute Masterpiece, there is something incredible about the way Whitelight makes videos and this 7 hour behemoth is no exception. The writing, editing, use of sound. Talk about stimulating senses, as someone with ADHD I can say this is the only RUclips video of this length I can watch over and over and not lose focus or get bored. It's a 10/10 and I would recommend this video to anyone who's played the game or even just University students because this essay is a masterclass study of a piece of media and a show in how it's done.
Thing I recently realized: "Strand" is the german word for beach.
It's also the word for beach in certain dialects of English, as well as other Germanic languages.
And in danish.
@@Mr.Boy112 I knew it was the case for some Scandinavian languages, but wasn't sure if each language had the same word, so I defaulted to just "other Germanic languages". Thanks for letting me know!
Strand is also the norwegian word for beach.
Strand is dutch too
The scene where Die-Hardman breaks down infront of Sam over what he did to Cliff is fucking heart breaking. Can’t imagine what that type of guilt does to a man like him
Oscar-worthy performance, no joke
it makes him explain obvious stuff to everyone around him like some kind of tick
I'm French, and to me, Amélie's name struck me for a different reason. Âme does mean soul, but in my language, "Lie" has an interesting meaning for this game's purpose. "Lie" is the present form of the verb "Lier", which means "to bond, to connect, to bring together". So literally, her name would mean the soul that connects. I find it appropriate, almost even more than the English Lie, if only because she was the reason Sam did all of this, the reason Sam connected America. What do you think?
How pithy, thats strong
Wow bien vu
Ah ouais, bien vu
In my language, "lie" means an untruth, a falsehood, fake news, if you like, or the act of propagating such a thing. So I think Kojima made the whole thing up.
It's probable that Kojima knew this. After all, Amelie was really messed up. Maybe she didn't realize what her name truly means.
Something that really hit me first time in watched the Mama baby cutscene that I was surprised you didn’t mention is how Sam, even with his phobia went out of his way to hold her hand and her head. She didn’t fall on him so I wouldn’t say he just catched her. Idk stood out to me and thought I’d share.
Reminds me of Levi in Attack on Titan holding his dying comrade despite being a germaphobe
@@ibrewstrue man
3:56:54
Not telling you to look at something, just trying to remember where I left off
it you press the share button you can tick a box to get a link that places you at the exact point you were at :)
3:54:50 Yet it was such perfect timing after such a hilarious comment.
Lmao I thought it was a quote from Whitelight, It’s funnier that it’s not.
@@ValentineC137 What? Where?
@@BatAtTarkov there is an arrow next to the like/dislike buttons, and in the menu that pops up you can select "start from here" and the default time is the point you're at in the video.
you can also put in your own time :)
After 4 days of watching, I've finally finished this. I've no words to say. One hella of a video, maybe the best one I've ever seen. You've done a wonderful job. Cheers man.
Thank you!
I got the game on PC based on the first little big of this video. Then Proceeded to play one chapter at a time, going back to the video to catch up. I think my appreciation for the game was markedly raised by seeing someone else react to the absurd and stupid moments, but also the beautiful and profound. Coming back to the same video for two weeks has been an interesting format.
That sounds a like a great way to experience this game
I'm doing that right now
Was it worth it? I have the game free on ps5 and having some extra gaming time on my hands so im looking for a good offkine game to play. This has been on my "to play" list, but never got around to it.
I'm doing this now too lll
I actually found the BT sections to be tense as hell, i'm around 30 hours in to the game and that hasn't changed.
I know they're not all that dangerous really gameplay wise but the visuals and audio in this game are so strong it makes it really immersive.
The moment the game started giving me guns I was poaching these BTs. Once you understand the mechanics of ‘em they’re a cake walk
Agree! And then when you get used to it, they take BB away for a while and it gets scary again. And then they add new, more unpredictable BT types in the end game.
I only died at during one of these moments but coming back to that area and finding it replaced with a giant hand shaped crater blew me away and made me significantly more paranoid of those areas going further.
“We gotta visit mama, easy fast travel trip”
Me who crossed the mountain to go to mama: the what?
I spent a few hours setting up roads and ziplines around the mountain next to the waypoint and the distro center even though I could've easily walked there
Wait......you could fast travel in the game?
@@lexilex72 One of your allies in the game, Fragile, has the ability to teleport by briefly traveling through the world of the dead. A few hours into the game she offers to take you wherever you want to go with this method, allowing you to fast travel to key locations you've visited before.
1st attempt. Cross the mountain to get to MAMA = FAILED, Too many BT's, too slow, timefall snow terrible
2nd attempt. Use the zip lines I made around the mountain with a "Norman Reedus" Bike on each loop = WIN
God the mountains are hell when you aren't prepared
Earth fell quicker to the Combine than this video.
_"User death imminent."_
Mitch Douglas you still watching?
This video hasn't fallen to the Columbine.
7:08:00 I can't believe I watched 7 hours just to get an "we live in a society." Bravo Whitelight.
Congratulations! You should now realize your role in society, this guy worked hard on this masterpiece while you sat and watched a 7 hours video on a video game which accomplished nothing. He used his time better than you did and he will now get returns on his time investment and you will continue to waste more time.
Think about that for a minute.
@@joylobo1042 What are you doing here then
@@joylobo1042 imagine saying that analyzing and understanding "accomplishes nothing".
@@joylobo1042
“This man used his time to create media for us to watch and you watched it?Wow,you really showed where you stand in society.”
@@joylobo1042 Hypocrite
The only reason the scene at 3:23:00 was so emotional was that absolutely pimpin solid gold BRIDGES baseball cap. It really tied the whole scene together
"If the world's endin', I gotta die pimpin' and drippin'." -Rorman Needus
Ah, something to watch before bed
'Wow dude, you're early'
"haven't slept yet"
More like something to watch after and before bed.
It's practically as long as average man's sleep time lol
Rather instead of sleep
So, you're going to watch a 7 hour video right before going to bed?!😆
This was so incredibly well done, it was honest and well examined. Also, the chronological structure was a very smart decision. Keep on keeping on!
Thank you very much.
Never played death stranding and probably never will, but I watched this entire video and loved every second of it anyways
I doubt there is anything left in the game that hasn't been spoiled in 7 hours :D
You watched the entire 7 hour??? God damn.
@@ZEREN_X 2x speed dude
if you ever become interested in the title when you can get it for cheap. I strongly suggest that you take to heart what was said at the beginning, it is a rocky gameplay start but it is only there to enhance the experience in the long run. Without suffering how would you ever know joy.
I do think the devs "intent" with the Mama delivery was that player would cut through the mountain. Fast travel is rather dull, after all. By cutting through the mountain, you can link up the Roboticist to the UCA early if you bring lost cargo to her. Then, you can build a zipline over the waterfall to connect to Mama's lab. There is also a Low Roar song that plays as you descend the mountain towards the Weather Station. Imo it's neat how in a chapter about reconnecting two sisters, the most convenient way to do it is by building a zipline connection between Mama's lab and Mountain knot. It's a marriage of themes and gameplay systems I don't really think anyone other than Kojima does in the AAA space.
1:40:39 We live in a post Dead Space world, i dont trust anyone telling me "Make us whole".
Maaan I miss that Franchise
I get the heebejeebies whenever I hear that phrase. Game or IRL.
@@sabatsilosani240 how do you feel now?
@@-PVL93- worried, but a miniscule amount of hope
Altman be praised.
1:37:28 “So how ‘bout it? Aren’t you getting tired of the grind? Isn’t this what you’ve been waiting for this whole time? A game over?!” God, I love that line.
Now only if the fight was interesting.
i got chills during that line considering mgsv... like wow
Never be game over! 🤣
@@JosephDillman Never stop never stopping 🔥
@@thewanderingartists Okay, I guess I'll be that guy and announce that I liked all the boss fights.
The only part I hated was the very end when you literally ran around and waited for lore
I really liked how you can switch from talking about the positives of the game with love and talking about the negatives with crudeness, something that a lot of reviews can't do as they tend to be either too positive or too negative.
You really showed how we can love a game despite having some massive flaws, thanks for this.
Interestingly, the nuke mission worked for me. I was extremely suspicious after the cutscene, and the inventory screen confirming my worst fears sent me into panic mode trying to work out what the game wanted me to do. I also interpreted the cutscene as Higgs being unsubtle on purpose, since he spends so much of the game toying with everyone else rather than seriously trying to kill them, particularly how he made Fragile dispose of the previous nuke. But you're also right that it could've been executed a lot better. Maybe my brain was just in full Kojima mode at the time :)
Whew, okay. 3 days, 5 separate viewing sessions, 7 hours, 15 minutes, and 32 seconds. One of the most perfect formats I've seen to PROPERLY analyze and critique a game of such a singular kind. Plus, it came out just a few days after my birthday! This video was awesome. I love your channel and the content you create, and this monolith was a completely worthwhile experience.
Big
Strand
Energy
If this is your shit, MauLer is a guy infamous for long content. It's good shit and this is all part of my plot to get Whitelight on Mauler's podcast.
"We might have to prepare for a wold where most of us simply don't work"
*looks at the world rn*
we might, huh
I am legitimately watching this the second time, that's how good it is
Same, all other review/critiques pale in comparison to the breadth and depth of this video
I'm on my fourth rewatch of this masterpiece. Can't believe it's been a year already.
Same
As it is now or with the enhanced additional story that's coming?
@@pietb5085 as you wrote this I am watching it for the 3rd time and right before going to bed. The universe is a strange thing
I don't know how many others watched this whole video from head to tail, but I did, and I cannot thank you enough for how much efforts you put into it, I didn't sense a ounce of boring in any single segments, and I know how hard for that to be in such a long video, it simply is great.
Just sat through the whole thing. I don't usually make comments on RUclips, but man, I have to speak up now.
Absolutely incredible review/analysis. Never once during these 7 hours was I bored.
Happy new year and keep on keeping on!
The combine took over the earth by the time the video ended.
half life 3 confirmed
brilliant comment
Would have loved for this video to end with: "Anyway it was okay, 8 out of 10."
It's interesting that the most meaningful moments in the game's story to me are the most direct. Clifford and Sam reconciling in the jungle; Die-Hardman unloading his grief on Sam at the end. Only when it drops the talk about connecting people and actually *shows* it does it make me feel something.
Ok but cmon him lighting that cigarette with an ash was probably the coolest fucking thing ever
Kojima only gave Cliff a smoking habit because he witnessed Mads being so smoking hot whilst having a cig once, and I swear that is 100% true
@@alexbenavidez4500 I remember hearing that lolol kojima saw Mads w/ a cigarette and was like THATS FIRE
funny enough, the rant around 2:25:00 about positivity by necessity and not choice is spot on; reading up on it, the feature where you can dismantle vehicles wasn't there at launch, it was added later entirely because people were intentionally getting trucks stuck in places that made them an obstacle. People found the only way to troll in the game and subsequently abused it so much that it had to be patched out.
I remember that....
How convenient, I have a 7 hour trip for Thanksgiving tomorrow.
Ooooof
Well this video lasts longer than my phone battery
12 hour drive complete, for the holidays. 7 of those 13 hours were freaking AMAZING!
@@Birdi-0 good thing I have a 6000mah battery phone
There are many certainties when playing a Kojima game: weird stuff unexplained, something funny, strange gameplay choices, awesome music, cringe writing that sometimes actually works, and every one of them a unique experience.
I honestly can’t wait to see what part 2 has for us.
Bloody hell. Watching this 7 hour behemoth in quarantine was incredible. Made me miss human connection quite a lot, considering we’re all bunkered down like preppers (either Kojima has foresight or its a fucking incredible coincidence that this released so soon to Covid hitting the UK)
Anyway, Whitelight I just want to say that this was probably one of the best video essays I’ve ever seen.
Love the content and this is no exception
Mom: Go to bed. Overly long videoessay man isn't real he can't hurt you
Overly long videoessay man:
You may never see this comment, but I wanted to share how brilliant this video was and how expertly crafted it is. You have a masterpiece with this one man, thank you for taking the time to make this behemoth. The 7 hour journey through a game I will never play was amazing. Again, thank you.
Thanks, I really appreciate it
I was itching for some insightful thoughts on the game, thanks Whitelight for sharing!
I also have a little tidbit to share: The Dutch and German word for beach is "Strand", making all scenes on the beach a little weirder.
Can you please cut up the video in 21 minute episodes? Asking for a friend.
@@SushiElemental That is a weirdly specific time frame. Why twenty-one?
@@senseweaver01 So that Heartman can watch the review ❤
@@SushiElemental Ohhhhhhhhhh, funny, that's clever
I always interpreted when Fragile said, “I’m Fragile, but not that Fragile” as “I’m Fragile, but the same Fragile that carried the Nuke into the City.” Meaning she had clarity now, as in she was more vigilant and wise than ever before after she was deceived by Higgs. Of course I only came to this conclusion after the cutscene where you travel to the central region on the Fragile Express boat, but I enjoyed her character even more after that.
Still doesnt take away the fact that the line is so bad, like Morbius level of cringe, and no amount of hollywood A list actors delivery can make it any better
After your initial warning that you should play Death Stranding yourself before watching this video, I waited for half a year for the spare time to play this game. Not only is the game amazing in my eyes (not having had some of the struggles you've faced in your first playthrough), but I came back to watch your video and I absolutely adored it. Such an amazing format, that brought so many things to my attention, which i didn't even notice when i played the game myself. Honestly, you sharing your experience and your thoughts made this game even more of a masterpiece for me, that I will always cherrish and recommend for times of loneliness.
Thank you for this video. Made me feel real connected to you ;)
Same here
If it’s so amazing, how come Projared put it in the Top 10 Worst Games of 2019?
@@aflhabalafhabab Who? Not sure if the comment is a joke or not, but the concept of the game was divisive from the outset. It was to created a story a-typical in comparison to the standard concept of fast-paced video games. The calm, slow-paced nature of the game carries weight with the story. I - like many who deem it a good game - fully understand why someone might not like Death Stranding if they want a action packed game, but that is not what it is nor claims to be.
@I am tired of humanity he doesn't, you're a fucking idiot
7:08:13 "It's been a real... tough year" OHHHH YOU HAVE NO IDEA.
Exactly my thoughts! Hahahahahah
"Oooh you're in for a surprise!"
Only reason I'm replaying
Quarentine just makes the message all that more powerful. 7 hrs well spent lol
That did not age well 😅
"being a father didn't make me scared.. it made me brave". in order to be brave, we must first be scared. what a fantastic, beautiful, scary, compelling masterpiece of a game.
lol man please. This is a movie pretending to be a game smh
ohh...how deep
@@craxyman9025 why are you responding to my comment?
@@housemana 🤦🏾♂️. Because I wanted to. 🤡. Why are you responding to my comment?
@@housemanayour comment seemed to have rattled him enough to distract him from his gaming session on Fortnite
Watched this video so many times, I’ve noticed the thumbnail change. Just proves Whitelight cares abt all of his content no matter how old. Truly one of the best channels on this platform.
"You know why they call me DieHardmann?"
Because your name is John McClane?
JohnMcClaneMan
I still don't think Diehardman is as funny a name as Hot Coldman
@@noiselessfox7618 that's probably the nickname of some guy in the Death Stranding universe named Bruce Willis
God bless you for your suffering and I eagerly await the "10 hour Untitled Goose Game Review"
Can't wait for the BluRay box set of this video to come out.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Underrated comment
Also, 69 likes. Nice.
i’ve been having trouble sleeping recently because of these rolling panic attacks and i put this video on one night to distract myself. i’ve been watching it to fall asleep every night for two weeks
now. your voice is so soothing and i love this game. ❤
first time watching this video and was debating whether it would be a good bedtime videos. Thanks for the confirmation! Time to go night night.
Hope you're feeling better.
The lack of hand-holding when crossing the tar belt really surprised me when I was playing the game. It was in sharp contrast with the over-explanation of everything before. I think it was deliberate though. They knew, that players who get stuck, will search the internet for the answer/hint. How to better underline the importance of connections and helping each other than let the player really feel it, in real world, outside of game, but still connected to the game.
What was interesting about it is they actually hinted at the building mechanic. I spent 20 minutes killing bt's on that beach and was stumped so I checked my mail, and there were two new messages that hinted at triggering bt's that brings back old buildings
@@brockjenks I'm not sure. But I think those only show up if you max rank those survivors. I've yet to see anyone get to that point without maxing out most of the characters to confirm
I didn't understand what they meant initially, so I just walked into the tar to see if I would wind up on the other side but I got repatriated and woke up without all my gear. Had to go back to the paleontologist to fabricate more stuff but on the way back DieHardman revealed that I should summon a BT
Until the comments say “7 hours ago” all y’all commenting your “complete thoughts” on the video are liars.
Except I'm really not lying when I say _"What the shit?"_
Forgot about people watching on fast forward, my dude. Then it is just over 3 hours and a half.
Totally doable in one toilet sitting.
@@thelastgogeta I'm afraid you have some problems
@@thelastgogeta After 3+ hours on the porcelain throne atleast they would not be full of 💩💩💩
Your comment is so general; who’s lying? I dint really comments saying they finished.
Never in my years of living on this earth have I been so consistently engaged in any form of media as I have in watching this video. From beginning to end, I thoroughly enjoyed your thought-provoking analysis of the game and the various implications of its thematic elements within the game and in our day to day lives. It made me think about death and what it really means, for myself and for others with whom I've shared a bond. It made me think about how the void-outs, those massive craters caused by the bodies of rotting corpses, leave a gaping, immutable scar on the surface of the earth much like how the absence of a loved one in death leaves a part of us empty. An emptiness that can never be filled only avoided, ignored, or simply buried in the dark recess of our mind. It made me think of the things we take for granted, such as our bonds with one another and the happiness we share spending time together. It made me think of the things we lost and how in losing them, we come to appreciate the things we still have. We become stronger for it. We become more resilient to the ravages of reality and in losing things we value, we become better versions of who we were.
I remember watching a documentary about antimatter a little while back. In this documentary, they spoke about the lack of antimatter in our universe. They summed it up to being that just one more matter particle for every one billion antimatter-matter pairs is the reason why our universe is the way it is. However, one of the hypotheses they gave was that because antimatter is fundamentally symmetrical to matter, then the way in which time flows for antimatter is opposite that of regular matter, and, as such, there exists an antimatter universe that is a reflection of our universe. I found this hypothesis to be quite interesting in the context of the game. The BT's or Beached Things, as they called it, were composed of antimatter and entered our world through the Beach. This made me wonder. What if our souls, or the souls of the people in the game, exist in this antimatter reflection of reality? What if the umbilical cord of the BT's serves as this connection to their physical body? What if they're crossing over into the world of the living to simply be reunited with their body? What if none of this makes any sense in the context of the game? Maybe that's what Kojima intended. Maybe he wanted us to be endlessly confused about the lore of this game and, in our confusion, discover something meaningful about ourselves.
You've given me a lot to think about. Your clear cut, chronological analysis of Death Stranding is thoroughly satisfying, entertaining, and enlightening, but yet after watching it, I feel a bit empty inside. Upon its conclusion, I feel as though I lost something meaningful, something I'll never get back. Perhaps this is what Kojima hoped we learned from his game. Maybe this is the Death Stranding. Maybe he wanted us to appreciate what we have when we have it and to learn and grow from its absence. Maybe he wanted to show us that the end is not the end, but merely a new beginning. Maybe his entire game serves this purpose or maybe this is just the idle ramblings of a bored, quarantined, twenty-year-old. As I conclude my "comment", I feel content. I'm happy that I watched this video, but I'm sad that it's over. One thing is certain, I've grown wiser. Thank you, Whitelight.
Yours Truly,
Dillon
Incredibly insightful. Makes me think.
@@Whitelight and here is me not even bothering to read entire comment....
Why
@@lightningbolt4419 because u thicc asf
That first sentence is so sad.
Death Stranding is one of my favorite games and this video has absolutely secured its place in my heart. Thank you for all the effort, love, and passion you put into this incredible deep dive. I've been watching this over a span of a few months and in that time so many major life changes have occurred and whenever I came back to this video, it always comforted me knowing that important things take time and it's okay to see the end of great journeys. Thank you so so much for keeping me company through a screen
"The things i do to bring people their hentai." Whitelight, 2020
Well now I have to watch the whole video to know in what context he said that
@@eagle_5480 jokes on you, it's gonna be the last spoken line of dialogue in the video, lol
1:30:18
No sacrifice too great, no obstacle too daunting, bring them fat fuccin anime tiddies, godspeed.
I for one would gladly watch 30 hours of MGS1-5: Commentary, Critique and Understanding(hint-hint)
ThorHigHeels has basically done a video series like that. He's a really underrated youtuber :)
Agree. At least it would be certainly worth it, unlike this mess of a "game".
@@blaire4115 Here, here😆
There is "MGS 4 Was a Mistake" by Steak Bentley too. It is "only" 3h 26min long, but it makes up for it with a lot more editing.
Definitely worth a watch if you haven't seen it yet.
Die-hardman's acting in the end was the best of all characters
Made Mickelson second
Thank you for the longest video I've ever watched, ever, in my entire life, from any source that exists. And I was entertained for every. single. goddamned. minute. of. it. It took over a day, with multiple interruptions, many pauses as I had to focus on other things temporarily, but by golly, it was awesome. Thank you.
"If you have a huge load and are about to blow it, you can maintain the tipping state to maximise (...)" - that's just a description of edging
Oh Edge-Chan, we love you!
Edge!
"He stripped me down to nothing and made it rain"
1:07:40
There is an option to remove the animation of the Odradek starting up, except for the first encounter for that session, which is fine. I'm assuming that this option wasn't there when the game released, or even during the making of this video, but I know that it's been there for a few months minimum, because if it was, there wouldn't be complaints about it. So yeah, at least now, the Odradek startup animation being annoying is no longer a critique.
yep! There was a patch update a month after release
Same with the monster drinking in the private room, I got my energy bonus in a good 5 seconds by the time I got to lake knot
Really enjoyed this, so glad I found the channel a few months ago. The long-form content is amazing and I sat through all 7 hours of it in one sitting (all be it while working) so do I get a medal ? or perhaps some kind of trip to a special hospital?
Hendro Smit albeit :)
@@bigred6137 he went for it though
Delta Doos mental institution
I'm so impressed that you uploaded all of this and didn't split it up into separate parts. You coulda gotten seven video's out of this! Instead, we have a full work day's worth of video right here. Something about that feels so damn fitting for Death Stranding somehow.
I watched this entire video from beginning to end, paying undivided attention to it the whole time. Sure, Death Stranding's story is absolutely fantastic, but importantly, this also serves as a testament to Whitelight's amazingly engaging writing and thoughtful commentary. This is probably the longest piece of media I will have ever watched from beginning to end and somehow it whizzed past like a breeze. Absolute masterpiece my good sir.
Check out The Last of Us movies. I think the DLC brings it up to 8 hours.
Late to the party watching this but I’ve gotta say the Higgs bomb part is my favourite part of the game just because of how utterly hilarious it is. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed more at a game than during my first play through when I immediately knew that was Troy Baker within 0.5 seconds and ended up with a nuke strapped to my back with absolutely no reaction from anybody. I feel like from Troy’s kind of goofy deliverance of that part it was intended to be a joke and maybe my humour is stupid but it 100% worked for me.
I always thought the bomb part was a neat nod from kojima referencing when ocelot sneaks a bomb in snake's inventory in mgs heh 😄
Higgs mentions at one point that he "couldn't help himself" whilst disguised as a BRIDGES employee... he absolutely hammed it up and made it obvious because the world of Death Stranding is so weird, it's kind of plausible Sam would just shrug it off as a weird BRIDGES employee who just hangs out with boxes all day
It helps to that Higgs is canocically a shitposter who acts and talks weirdly to fuck with people, hence the pizza deliveries. It was absolutely just Higgs messing with Sam and the audience with an obvious trick. Also, Higgs needed the network to be completed, so I doubt he really wanted south not to be nuked, hence the blatant acting.
Yeah honestly it felt like Higgs was just trollin. We know Higgs can very easily do far more damage in a more direct method, as we saw with what he did to Fragile. Meanwhile here he got all dressed up, played a clumsy act, and just handed you a bomb telling you "yeah you should go take this to South Knot, thank you....sorry"
honestly other than joel from last of us, this is one of my fave troy performances
The mountain you bring your mother up was the perfect tutorial for how the movement works. It's the only game I've ever played where I had to be careful where my feet landed. Sure you get upgrades, but the farther you go, the more complex the environment gets. With snow coming into the play right when you think you've mastered the jagged terrain.
Honestly with monster energy it just made me feel more like this is our world