it feels like a kojima productions game but not a hideo kojima game

now since the game is on gamepass I had no choice but to play it and man was i disappointed.

the gameplay is too challenging to the point that walking is a hassle and the story don't feel interesting.

its pretty much close to super Mario where you have to save princess peach from bowser. the characters are all shallow and they didn't show any development as I progressed through the game. Eventually I quit.

playing this game gave me the same feeling I had when I played MGS portable which is a Kojima productions game that didn't feel like a hideo kojima game.

ha, i was hoping this game might get mentioned in the forums as i'm currently making my way through the Director's Cut via the PS+ Extra game catalogue.

my expectations were pretty low given the discussions that took place around it's release and initial evaluation. i didn't pay too much attention at release beyond getting the vibe and the critical response- but i'm also not a Kojima super fan or anything...i liked Metal Gear Solid and MGS2 well enough, skipped 3 & 4 and recently played MGS5 and (perhaps controversially) was pretty bored by it.

i think where i'm landing on Death Stranding after having played a sizable chunk (i'm on chapter 6) is i'm really happy this utterly bizarre yet singular combination of ambition, pedigree, ego, money and high school-senior-level writing exists- but it's just so damn odd. i think it is constantly endeavoring to be this sophisticated experience- but steps on rakes every 10mins. along the way.

the length also feels like it's becoming a problem- i don't mind the loop as such, but i think the repetition is moving into the monotonous for me, and the inadvertent goofy writing is losing some shine as the game stretches on.

ultimately though- if Kojima continues to create games as unique as this- i'll keep checking them out, if only for the novelty.

also one of these days i'm going to have to figure out how the hell Ryckert came around on this thing because it seems so utterly antithetical to the shit he enjoys. he's all about 'ALL DO-EY, NO TALKY' games these days- and Death Stranding certainly seems to crank the TALKY to the max while reducing the DO-EY to glorified fetch quests, with none of the action-movie nonsense of the MGS franchise. yes, there's comedy in the absurdity- but doesn't seem like enough such that it would sustain him.

I would regard Die Hardman as movie nonsense. And Heartman who's whole gimmick is media that can be consumed in 22 minutes.

Still, working my way through Breath of the Wild is turning my head towards this game.

that's an interesting comparison- in what way?

Big map to wander over, basically. I'm in the mood for it, even if Death Stranding is more about the mechanics of playing courier.

Deathstranding is one of my favorite games of all time. The only aspect I would change is... the story. Its terrible. Give me a proper story and a compelling reason to deliver packages.

The actual gameplay is polished as all hell - as someone who enjoys backpacking/hiking and particularly enjoys gear and packing gear in creative ways - this game was basically hand crafted for me, right down to completely overriding the landscape of America with the Tundra's of Baffin Island.

Definitely felt like a Kojima game to me though, right down to the nonsensical story. Dont get me wrong, I'd rather have 30 hours of indecipherable nonsense then no nonsense. Thats what ultimately killed MGS5 for me - that thing had hardly any story at all in it.

yeah- the being-out-and-about in the wilderness while giving the player logistical solutions to 'solve' the landscape as a puzzle can be very satisfying, and is by far the most unique aspect of the game. i think where i start to feel the friction is in the menu systems and self-sabotage. i wish there was a way to have a preset 'loadout' as a template to start from, because as i near game's end i'm pretty over all the submenus and constant confirming going on.

and while the spectacular USA-by-way-of-Iceland landscape is legitimately invigorating to stomp through- it seems like every time i crest a peak into a valley and a music cue hits, there's a record scratch 30 seconds later when a BT rolls in or i hit a location's ambient music.

these are clearly intended to be somewhat choreographed moments- but their own systems cut them short in a way that sometimes leaves me wondering if that couldn't have gone better.

@mellotronrules: Totally - I can see that wearing thin for sure. I dont really have any ideas but the whole delivery cutscene repetition and the menus could use refinement.

I have this weird thing where if a character is wielding a bow and a quiver isnt on their hip or back, or if weapons get sheathed into a pocket dimension I tend to lose my god damn mind. So having items appear pretty much 1:1 on the characters person was a soothing balm to decades of video'gamey'ness nagging away at me.

As an aside for my madness I was very relieved to see that the new Horizon game has Aloy's spear visible on her person at all times now.

I've tried to get into it twice--once with the original release and again with Director's Cut. I got about 4-5 hours in each time and then lost interest. It honestly feels like the opposite of a Kojima game. Boring story. Tedious gameplay. Boring characters. Uninspired soundtrack. The only thing I do enjoy is the visual aesthetic, but overcast skies and green hills can't save this game.

I enjoyed the game and finished it, but to me it definitely feels like a Kojima game. A Kojima game where there was noone to tell him "no" during development. It's Kojima Unchained, for good and bad.

@theonewhoplays: I don't know about that but the characters naming diehardman and heartman sounds a lot like hot coldman who was first introduced in MGS portable and just as they were he wasn't really that interesting. He got fleshed out in MGS PW and got interesting.

well, i put a bow on the old Death Stranding last night, and i feel like here's as good a place as any to just briefly conclude my thoughts on it...

a few weeks back someone on the gb forums here posed a question, which was essentially, 'in your opinion- what matters more: good plot, or good characters.'

now i'll admit there's no accounting for taste- but oh my god does Death Stranding feel like a game that knew it was supposed to be character-driven, but never fully understood what that means. it was legitimately alarming to me how little i was invested in any of the characters by the time Higgs' role concludes and the end game sequence starts. i can't even point to a specific development or twist- but some breaker in my brain flipped and the entire last 10 hours felt like i about as emotionally invested in these characters as the daytime soap opera that's on in the background of a dentist's office.

but i'll 100% check out Kojima's next nonsense. the gameplay mechanics, world building, and setting- all remain unique and engaging, and i'm still fascinated to see what this goof produces next. his methods are thoroughly inelegant- but there really is no one else making games quite like his...but good lord my guy, get a writing partner!

Death Stranding is probably the only game in the last several years where I felt like I was playing something that was indisputably, totally unique. I don't think I will ever play a game quite like Death Stranding again, and it should be commended for that.

That doesn't mean it's good, mind you. I really didn't find a lot to enjoy and playing it was frequently a chore. But it's also a game I'm simultaneously glad exists and I think that everyone should play at least some of it. Doubly so now that it's on Gamepass.