Now with Troy baker and more confusion. Some characters in concept art form too.

https://www.dualshockers.com/death-stranding-tgs2018/

Not sure what's happening here, except Bloodborne monsters. Looks...neat?

At this point, I would just love to see Kojima explain his way out of this one.

Regardless of whatever gameplay comes out of all this, it's effective in making me want to know some answers.

If it's a boss, it's already more interesting than anything in MGSV in terms of bosses.

Back when he worked for Konami, you'd get gameplay trailers. :(

I wish they'd just show something of substance in one of these trailers. Three (Four? Five?) trailers in, and I still have no idea what the game is.

I think I'm like one or two trailers past the point of caring about this if I don't have more context. I find it much less interesting to speculate when there's not really any starting point to draw from. With Metal Gear trailers, you could more or less assume some adherence to that established universe and speculation could have some basis in something. "That looks weird/cool" is about the only reaction I can really have to Death Stranding trailers, and I think that stopped being interesting to me a trailer or two ago.

If this was a movie, cool, but with a game I want to see some actual gameplay and context to go with it. Otherwise I have no idea if I should be excited or not.

It's nice to see a character with some charisma, but yeah, I'm not really getting much from these trailers anymore.

Zzzzzzzzz. Gameplay or bust, Kojima.

Everything they show just speaks to me on so many levels. At this point I don't even care about the gameplay, I just want to experience what ever crazy shit Kojima got in store.

Just want to remind everyone complaining about the lack of gameplay that the E3 trailer showed gameplay bits and there's tons of interviews out there with more information than the trailers.

Also, they started showing stuff really early on, while they still only had the engine and some concepts, way before gameplay was in a "showable" state. We rarely get trailers for games so early in development.

Maybe it's just me, but on an age where every game is getting generic and we can figure out how the game is going to be with just one trailer, I think it's cool that there's some game out there that looks completely absurd and insane to the point where we have no idea what's going on.

I understand the appeal of a game being unique and mysterious for a change, but I think that's why people are clamoring for in-depth gameplay. I also think something to keep in mind is the fact that games take a long time to make. Maybe they just don't have the gameplay refined enough to show it off.

(Although maybe that's their fault for showing the game too early before anything substantial was ready, tbf.)

Hot take: Troy Baker is a better actor than both Norman Reedus and Mads Mikkelsen.

Thanks for the birthday present Kojima.

@ivdamke: yeah it definitely feels like the start of a boss fight. Also you can tell from Norman's face the character wasnt expecting that. Definitely felt like a traditional crazy MGS boss fight intro.

For better or worse, this game looks to be different from everything else out there. Can't wait for some more crazy ass Kojima.

THAT was it?

Sounds like fun, boss fight for sure.

edit- gotta say it does look pretty weird. I'm rooting for you, Kojima! No more snark about Quiet, I promise...

I like that Troy's character is injecting some levity. Most stuff we've seen has been creepy and weird, so here's this mask guy having a good time with it. In this scene he already has more emotion than the whole time he played Ocelot.

I'm back on board, this looks really interesting again. Love all the character designs so far.

I thought that nonsense looked wild and I can't wait to see more. I mean really this game is probably going to be a weird stealth game and when people finally see the slow gameplay where you're avoiding floating corpses some people will either drop off or use it as ammo to call Kojima a hack before even playing it. I prefer to wait and not take these as trailers as anything but world building, high production concept art for a strange new IP with no prior identity that players can latch on to.

The weird factor is in tact, that's for sure. After all of these trailers, actually seeing for ourselves what this game is will be such a wild experience. I'm pretty excited to see whatever else is in store leading up to the game's release (and let's be honest, this won't be out until late 2020 at the earliest.)

I think they started showing this game very early and they haven't even been near a point where they could show gameplay; I will bet my left leg that this game will be next gen. I've been enjoying the bat shit trailers for what they are and think there will be gameplay trailers before the games release, not after. So just relax if that's what you need to see before buying the game, or complain about it, this is the internet after all.

@gkhan: watch The Hunt. Madds is better. Troy is a better voice actor for sure.

Why is that thing licking itself like a cat grooming?

This looks like the battle royale game for me!

This game is going to be a big wet fart is it not?

@flashflood_29: I kind of thought they modeled it off from a Lion

I'm not invested in any characters, I have no idea what the story/premise is and unsure what the game play will be.

Besides the visuals, which are nice but honestly what big budget game doesn't look great nowadays I'm not sure what these trailers are supposed to get people excited for.

@castiel: I very much doubt it. It might not be to everyones tastes because Kojima is how he is, but there is no denying that throughout his entire career the guy has directed extremely unique games that if nothing else were very much apart from their contemporaries in very novel ways but most importantly they were always competent games. Not always amazing, MGS4 is more of a movie with gameplay here and there, but they were never outright bad to play. So while Death Stranding might turn out to be something completely different than people expect, I very much doubt that it will be a wet fart in the end.

I'm still thinking the setting is some kind of a psychic post-apocalypse sorta like in Tomorrow Children.

I'd almost rather Kojima put out crazy, out-of-context trailers for the rest of time, because once I find out what the hell this game actually is I think I might be disappointed.

Show

game

play

I get wanting to see gameplay with games but I hear it so much with this one and I'm wondering, are there really ppl on the fence with Death Stranding? It's fucking Kojima, you're either on board or you're not.

I'm on board...which is why I want to see gameplay.

It looks cool, wish it was a longer trailer but I get the sense that this was cut directly from the game unlike the first two trailers so thats good I guess.

I'm guessing Troy Baker will have much more dialog than the 'main' characters, I wonder if they'll bring back Robin Atkin Downs to do the rest of the dialog.

I'd argue that Kojima's track record actually makes this quite unknown. Is a Kojima without Konami's oversight and unshackled from the Metal Gear franchise actually a known quantity? All the trailers so far have focused on story elements, almost nothing of gameplay has been shown. A large number of people agree (though not everyone) that the quality of his writing has been falling precipitously since MGS3. I'd even argue that while MGSV controls great, the actual game design on the whole hasn't been all that good since MGS1. If both his writing and gameplay design have only gotten more indulgent, is that going to continue, or is a clean break and a fresh start going to let him really flourish?

Not to mention that video games in general have had an issue with games that look great, but don't show much gameplay. Plenty of times now, the question of "It looks cool, but what do you actually do?" has been answered in released games with "not much". Games are too often sold on appearances and promises only to disappoint once you get them in your hands.

@brackstone: It's really not that complicated. Metal Gear or not, it's Kojima making a big budget game, a new IP nonetheless. At the very least it's gonna be interesting. Are you really not gonna play it? You're telling me you're on the fence about this. I'll play it even if it's a fucking clicker 'cause guaranteed it's going to be unique and worth experiencing.

And you think he has less oversight at Sony? He was fired at Konami because they couldn't control him. It's a different story at Sony, he's not the made man he once was, he has to prove himself again.

@frostyryan: Ok that's fine but why? I know I'm gonna play this game so I'm looking at as little as possible.

The reason I fell in love with and kept playing Metal Gear was to experience the story and Kojima weirdness. If the gameplay turns out to be something cool and unique, good; If it's just another stealth-action game, fine - it's not what I come to Kojima's games for. So, I don't need to see what the flow of the game will be, I'll be playing it regardless. The less I know going in, the better.

That said, what they show here is not a trailer, more of a clip from a cutscene of a boss fight. And if that's what they're showing at this point, just go silent and finish the game.

@brackstone: If you look at MGS 4 and then MGS 5 which would you say has more indulgent writing? MGS 5 showed Kojima has actually rained in some of his bad writing tendencies, like hour long exposition dumps.

@bybeach:Right.. but it's not a lion and it doesn't have fur lol unless like... it in-game has the spirit or something of a lion? idk

That's a neat looking boss.

Troy Baker really pulling out that Greed voice acting here.

@liquiddragon said:

That's exactly it, he has to prove himself. Death Stranding is being sold almost entirely on his ability as a writer so far, and many would agree that his writing has only gone downhill since 3. V was well received, but the consensus was generally "boy does this game play well" and nothing else. It had some highlights, but for a lot of people, it wasn't that interesting. And yes, he probably has less oversight at Sony. Konami at some point had to step in and make a game happen, because that game needs to make them money. They did have to exert their control. Sony is clearly fine with taking losses on individual games if it brings value to the console and brand as a whole.

Basically, selling a game on Kojima's ability as a writer is something a lot of people aren't going to immediately trust after MGSV. That was his last game, lauded for it's gameplay and criticized to high heaven for everything else. So they need to know if the game will at least be fun to play, and at a basic level what it even is, cause MGSV also had trailers full of weird stuff, and that didn't really turn out how many people expected.

@sloppydetective There are still plenty of huge exposition dumps and circular dialogue, they've just been moved into the "optional" cassette tapes in most cases. I guess the main difference in my eyes is that MGS4 felt like it was indulging the fans, V felt like it was Kojima indulging himself, as did Peace Walker.

@brackstone: I disagree that the game is being sold on his writing. The game is being sold on his name, Hideo Kojima, his vision, and his track record. If you want to judge him by his more recent work, what's there to worry about in the gameplay department. I'm still not sure why you think he has less oversight with Sony. By the time he was fired, Konami was basically a PES/Kojima factory. He had to be removed he was so powerful. He was uncontrollable at Konami. The whole issue was the lack of accountability. Sony is not fine taking losses on individual games, especially from one that probably costs a fortune. What value does it bring if it flops.

Again I ask, are you telling me you're on the fence? (This was my original point.) Unless this is someone's introduction to Kojima and his pre-release nonsense, there is nothing surprising or unusual about how this game is being rolled out. He always shows more than enough gameplay closer to release so I don't even think that's something to worry about. I think ppl are just being impatient.

@liquiddragon: His vision, his characters, the world he's creating, it's all his writing. Which again, has been the most criticized aspect of his work.

Yes, I am on the fence, because Kojima is anything but consistent. If it were such a binary in-or-out situation, you wouldn't have so many Metal Gear fans talking crap about almost every game in the series. Some hated V, some hated 4, some hated Peacewalker, some hated 2. 3 still gets lots of criticism for certain gameplay elements. He's not a grand auteur that knocks it out of the park and pleases everyone each time, every Metal Gear since 1 has been controversial in it's own way, some more than others. And again, V, his most recent game, was his least interesting one for lots of people. People have a right to be cautious, to want to know more, when you have an inconsistent developer put into a new situation free from all previous restrictions.

Also, with the Sony thing, there's a reason their first party games tend to be quite different from what the 3rd party AAA publisher make, because they're building a brand and a library of fairly diverse games. Death Stranding could be the most expensive game ever made, and only barely make back it's budget, but if it gets people talking and buying PS4s, if it gets them into the Sony ecosystem, then it never needed to be hugely profitable on it's own. At Konami wasn't in the business of selling consoles, so Metal Gear had to stand on it's own. Hence why Kojima got booted out at Konami, but is probably quite comfy at Sony. He can be their expensive weirdo as long as he keeps Sony in the headlines.

@brackstone: It’s a visual medium. You can turn off the sound and get as much, if not more out of what’s being sold of Death Stranding. Ppl are interested because of how cool or weird it looks, that’s his vision. Who can repeat a word that’s been utter in it? It’s a game and a big budget one at that, it’ll never be sold just on writing. I get it, you don’t like his writing, a lot of ppl don’t, but that’s not how this is being sold. Since the reveal of DS, I haven’t heard a single person describe it base on the writing in it.

Playing it or not is literally a binary decision. How many mediocre or run of the mill games do you touch every year and you’re dwelling on this one? If you’re this familiar with Kojima, you know for goddamn sure if you’ll play it or not. Yeah, he doesn’t bat a 100 but still they’re all worth playing, worth analyzing, worth criticizing. Ppl love his games as much as ppl hate em, if not more. Yeah, there is hate for each one of them but it’s not hard to find defenders either. That’s not the kind of consistency his known for but his games are always worth the time.

Sony has a good stable of studios and they make quality games but different isn’t how I’d describe them. Kojima gives them that edge. DS attracts ppl to the PS brand because of Kojima’s uniqueness and his track record as a world class creator, not just based on his writing. I agree with you his writing hasn’t been good since MGS3 but his making games worth a look despite that. And barely making back the budget is not the same as being fine w taking losses. I’m still not sure why you think he has less oversight at Sony. Konami’s only option was the nuclear option, unheard of in Japan. The only way to get control of the production was to pry it out of him. How could Sony have less leverage after this incident.

@liquiddragon: Again, writing is more than just dialogue. The story, the world, everything thematically and narratively shown so far, is still written by Kojima. He's selling a world, a narrative, which is a weak point of his. More so than his clunky dialogue, I'd argue. Quiet is a character lots of people dislike, she has no dialogue, but was still written by Kojima.

And again, not sure how many different ways I can say this, but different people like different things, even within Kojima's games. Some folks that loved MGS4 hated V. This could be a new thing entirely, but maybe the games Kojima wants to make now aren't the kind of games that large amounts of his fans want. The binary thing was more to do with your idea that people are either on board with Kojima all the way purely because of him, or not at all. You can like parts of his work, and not others. His name isn't an automatic sell for everyone, of course people will sit on the fence.

@brackstone: Those things are more than just writing. If you're boiling everything down as writing and you think his writing is so bad, why are you even interested? And yes, obviously everyone likes different aspects of his games but one thing for sure we can agree on is that they are worth the experience. When has he let ppl down in this respect. Ppl have been asking Kojima to do a new ip or ZoE for ages and now ppl are getting it, that's what ppl want. Besides that, ppl don't know exactly what they want. If this isn't your first Kojima game, who are you in 2018 not sure and on the fence. I'm talking about ppl that know and follow this shit.