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Author Topic: Death Stranding (may be some story spoilers)  (Read 27100 times)
Trippy
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on: November 07, 2019, 11:22:34 PM

Waiting patiently on the review embargo for Death Stranding to be lifted Only if it's complete garbage, will I not be getting it. Kojima weird is the best weird.
Oh man, this game.

Edit:

Try not to talk about story spoilers in here except for the things that were revealed before the game was launched. We can make a separate thread if we want to talk about the story itself.

There will be gameplay mechanics spoilers in here.

If you are new to the game and want to avoid most of the spoilers in here come back after you've gotten to Chapter 3 and the game has introduced most of the basic mechanics.

Two basic tips:

* Don't stay too long in Chapter 2. You can come back to the stuff you didn't finish there later.

* You can hold down L2 + R2 continuously to keep your balance over rough terrain

Edit: adjusted title with warning for PC newcomers
« Last Edit: August 11, 2020, 06:54:37 PM by Trippy »
Falconeer
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Reply #1 on: November 08, 2019, 05:14:49 AM

Playing it right now. It was made FOR me. It's between Euro Truck Simulator and a mountain hiking game and those are two of my favourite things. All sewn on a movie I would totally pay to watch. So far, I am loving it as much as I hoped if not more.

Could fall apart after hours and hours of hiking on the same mountains, sure. But the first three hours alone were enough to justify the entrance ticket for me.
« Last Edit: November 08, 2019, 05:16:31 AM by Falconeer »

Yegolev
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Reply #2 on: November 08, 2019, 08:29:44 AM

I have to go do outside things this weekend but I suppose I'll pick up it next week.

Why am I homeless?  Why do all you motherfuckers need homes is the real question.
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Sky
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Reply #3 on: November 10, 2019, 11:48:22 AM

Playing it right now. It was made FOR me. It's between Euro Truck Simulator and a mountain hiking game and those are two of my favourite things. All sewn on a movie I would totally pay to watch. So far, I am loving it as much as I hoped if not more.

Could fall apart after hours and hours of hiking on the same mountains, sure. But the first three hours alone were enough to justify the entrance ticket for me.
Needs more of the Euro Truck/hiking stuff. The open world and basic navigation gameplay is fun.

The music is atrocious and unmutable. The story is tropey and childish and doesn't hold up to the cinematic quality of the world. Some cool concepts here and there, but framed in a poor amateurish attempt at moviemaking. I've already lost track of the amount of times in the first couple hours that I've called out the next trope or just laughed at the crudity of the imagery/writing.

Also, though I enjoy the basic gameplay, the whole BT creature stuff inserting itself seems to be more of an interruption of the enjoyment, rather than a gear shift (like exploration vs combat in Horizon:ZD).

I really want to like this more, it's well done from a few different angles. I knew to expect a lot of "cutscenes", but I didn't realize it was going to be more like cutscenes of gameplay every now and again in between the looooong stretches of student movies. Also, what's with everything being a giant fucking bummer?


Also also, if we're going to be talking about games being pretentious....
Trippy
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Reply #4 on: November 10, 2019, 01:05:30 PM

Playing it right now. It was made FOR me. It's between Euro Truck Simulator and a mountain hiking game and those are two of my favourite things. All sewn on a movie I would totally pay to watch. So far, I am loving it as much as I hoped if not more.

Could fall apart after hours and hours of hiking on the same mountains, sure. But the first three hours alone were enough to justify the entrance ticket for me.
Needs more of the Euro Truck/hiking stuff. The open world and basic navigation gameplay is fun.

The music is atrocious and unmutable.
I disagree about some of the music. While it's not stuff I would listen to on its own I love how they incorporated certain songs (esp. the Low Roar and Silent Poets ones) while you are exploring new areas. Crossing over a ridge line and looking down into a valley for the first time (at least as you the player) and having a melancholy song kick in as you walk down the mountain is quite the experience. The EDM tracks, however, aren't my thing, and it is odd that there's no control over the different audio tracks like in most games (there's only a master volume setting).

Quote
Also, though I enjoy the basic gameplay, the whole BT creature stuff inserting itself seems to be more of an interruption of the enjoyment, rather than a gear shift (like exploration vs combat in Horizon:ZD).
Think of the regular BTs are just another traversal obstacle you need to overcome or bypass like rivers and cliffs and MULEs. Also as you progress through the story you get more tools for dealing with these obstacles.

Quote

Quote
Also also, if we're going to be talking about games being pretentious....
It's a Kojima game -- that's a given.

Edit: Poets
« Last Edit: November 18, 2019, 12:34:36 AM by Trippy »
Falconeer
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Reply #5 on: November 10, 2019, 07:08:39 PM

The music is perfect. And even when it isn't, exactly like Trippy said it's wonderfully placed to underline some of the best part of the long journey to the next outpost.

I really don't get the negativity towards the cinematographic aspects. It's perfectly fine for me for a video game, and in some parts it would be totally OK in an actual sci-fi movie. For example, I really liked the opening sequence and the BIG one right after, when you go dispose of the corpse. What's the fuck not to like there? It's an amazing scene.
Alas, it's not Kubrick though and it shows in the mother scene. Remind me of what games don't feel like childish movies again when you think about it, between tropes, poor voice acting, and plot holes? All I can come up with on the spot (there are more, but not THAT many) are The Last of Us and Spec Ops: The Line and even those ones are full of cheese.

I foresee a new "Good writing/Bad writing" thread here, this time about cinema. I don't think Kojima can write good lines, and if he directed an actual movie it would probably be terrible. But I think he can write cool settings for weird nerd stories with over the top Japanese characters all chopped up in an American blender and splash them all over a video game. That's great entertainment for me.

Sky
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Reply #6 on: November 12, 2019, 09:49:52 AM

Death Stranding pro tips:

Don't stay in Chapter 2 too long. Heard this one in passing and really happy. Fragile asks you to wrap things up before jumping on the boat, she just means current orders/deliveries. Since the first thing I got off the boat was a fast travel option...

Hang on to that bike. The first bike you get (not the prologue bike) is repairable but not recoverable. I lost mine in a stream and had a wicked long trek to make by foot. It's handy, but be careful with it near water so you have it for the early chapters.
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Reply #7 on: November 12, 2019, 12:31:05 PM

Could this game be any more Euro Death Truck Stranding Simulator? Also, you and other players built that highway.


Sky
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Reply #8 on: November 12, 2019, 01:04:53 PM

I spent most of yesterday building bridges and support structures in the newbie area, and then optimizing a few climbing routes. Only because I was pushing ahead to unlock a few QoL things that I didn't stop playing the story entirely to focus on it.

On the other hand, I feel kinda bad for latecomers who will miss the worldbuilding parts and see the virgin game world.
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Reply #9 on: November 12, 2019, 02:12:07 PM

You don't see player-made structures in unconnected regions. You do potentially get some benefit from player-made structures when heading towards a new region as the border is usually a ways out from the place you set out from but eventually you will need to cross "virgin" territory on your own until you make the next connection.
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Reply #10 on: November 12, 2019, 02:25:58 PM

I am under the impression that the online engine will never put players into instances that are completely empty or entirely built, it feels instead like it knows how to drop players into instances that somehow reflect their playtime or progression. These instances are fluid and almost invisible, but especially thanks to that it feels like (the engine) can always move structures, not just players, between instances in order to keep a balance between what's in it and the progression level of players in it.

Lots of words to say that, on top of what Trippy said, I don't think new players will be placed into fully built instances in a few months. It will still try and pair groups of players based on their levels.

EDIT: tried to make a bit more sense.
« Last Edit: November 12, 2019, 02:39:37 PM by Falconeer »

Yegolev
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Reply #11 on: November 13, 2019, 06:06:40 AM

Eh, so Dark Death Souls Stranding Craft? What?

Nevermind, don't tell me.

Why am I homeless?  Why do all you motherfuckers need homes is the real question.
They called it The Prayer, its answer was law
Mommy come back 'cause the water's all gone
Sky
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Reply #12 on: November 14, 2019, 06:59:01 AM

Got to the second region, noticed a road building doohickey. There were some extra materials around, so I put 200 metal into it...and got a ton of likes. So I went back and upgraded the road fully, which paved it down to where MULE territory started. I ran back and grabbed a couple PCCs and set up a watchtower, mailbox, and generator. I set the watchtower with a great view of the MULE region and had the generator warn porters audibly about the MULEs. Finally I put up sign support, with speed signs along the road and a MULE warning sign at the end.

I went from level 58 to level 165 when I turned in my next delivery, from the thousands of likes that deluged me.

And it was actually enjoyable, I started to work on the second road section using supplies I was raiding from the MULEs. Difficult to pull away and go to bed, which is always a good sign with a game. I did two actual plot missions (to the engineer and back to the city) in three hours of playing.

tl;dr I got twice as much experience from building one section of road than playing the first two chapters of the game
Falconeer
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Reply #13 on: November 14, 2019, 08:30:49 AM

You nailed it. I am having a serious case of "just another turn(delivery)" syndrome from this game. Really hard to go to bed, as there is always something cool to do or see. Whether it's exploration (so much to see), story, building, or just side-questing for actually very good rewards, the game is immense, satisfying and compelling. And it helps that it is always adding gameplay elements. I am 40 hours in and I am still getting new tools that expand on the things that I can do and how I can do them.

Also, I am not ready to write about it coherently, but the building and cooperative part of the game is done so well. The zones where you are grow at a perfect pace, not too fast that it feels like you are cheating, not too slow that it feels it's all on your shoulders. Quests get easier due to the growing infrastructure, and there's a huge sense of achievement when you finish building a massive freeway that cuts into the entire zone you were struggling to advance through from north to south.


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Reply #14 on: November 14, 2019, 09:14:27 AM

Damn, you're making me think about getting that game.
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Reply #15 on: November 14, 2019, 11:28:04 AM

It's great. It also does a great job in making you feel like what you are doing helps other players as you keep getting these tiny reminders that someone else used your buildings or ropes, bridges, vehicles and whatnot. Today I spent three hours rebuilding the largest freeway all by myself and that allowed me (and possibly hundreds of other players) to do super huge deliveries by truck completely unhindered from the northernmost point of the map to the southernmost, over terrain that was very dungerous and hard to cross only a couple of days ago and could only be traversed on foot. In many ways, in this game you don't slay monsters, you slay hazardous terrain and conquer it until you can do your job like a pro.

It also has a huge Elite Dangerous feel, except with way more polish, way more story, way more sense, way more persistency, way more satisfaction.

EDIT: I just want to add that this is the easiest game Kojima ever made. It toally embraces its trucking simulation roots and even though it is supposed to have many different chalenges, on "normal" difficulty I have never died, never even gotten close to die, and never got stuck or had to grind a single thing. There are so many tools and so many ways to approach the next quest that you can always enjoy it at whatever pace you like and with whatever way/path/approach you like. It is so strange, but as a sandbox it succeeds in really giving you a world and let you play with it how you want. There are no timers (except for rare occasion, and they are very generous), and the multiplayer help is omnipresent. It still doesn't feel "too" easy because every quest is satisfying no matter how you complete it, but it is really a "feel good" game despite the dark theme. You don't feel like a super hero, after all you are just a delivery guy, but you feel good at your job and that's such a strange thing to say about a videogame.
« Last Edit: November 14, 2019, 06:19:58 PM by Falconeer »

Sky
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Reply #16 on: November 15, 2019, 06:59:07 AM

I mean, a delivery guy who can ambush and assassinate a bunch of terrorists and steal their gear in their own truck, then fight off interdimensional beings.

But yeah. It's a crazy juxtaposition but it works.
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Reply #17 on: November 15, 2019, 12:49:53 PM

I mean, a delivery guy who can ambush and assassinate knock out a bunch of terrorists and steal their gear in their own truck, then fight off interdimensional beings.
FTFY.
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Reply #18 on: November 15, 2019, 05:10:48 PM

I mean, a delivery guy who can ambush and assassinate knock out a bunch of terrorists and steal their gear in their own truck, then fight off interdimensional beings.
FTFY.


That's cool, and I suspected it and used only rubber bullets for that reason. To be fair, they warn you about it a few times, and it makes perfect sense. I was wondering though if it's something worth going for in a second playthrough. Does it lead to a game over, or anything worth seeing story wise?

Sky
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Reply #19 on: November 16, 2019, 04:15:26 PM

I'm taking it slow in DS as usual, so I don't have a nice pimp truck like Falc there. I've been hanging out in chapter 3 taking out MULEs and building roads and alternate foot paths.

I was waiting to take on the bigger MULE camp for a truck, until I got some more roads in, but they tried to ambush me when I was moving a bridge (some dummy dropped a bridge on the /inside/ of the MULE detection perimeter). So I made my best usage of the most raggedy ass rusty truck that was two ticks from destruction. Just bent metal and rust, throwing sparks. I knew it was two ticks because it lost another and was smoking and creaking...and I still got another half hour out of it. When I finally tool on the camp to steal the other truck, it was weird having a shiny new truck with things like lights and paint.
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Reply #20 on: November 16, 2019, 05:20:14 PM

All I am gonna say is that this game is bewitching. I thought I finished it tonight but I was wrong. Which made me happy. I am 60+ hours in and I wish it never ended. Also, as you pointed out, the care they put into making metal look real and always perfectly show at a glance the durability level is delightful.

Sky, care to tell me your PSN name? I wouldn't be surprised if each other's stuff popped up in our games more often if we were friends, and that would be cool. I'd love to find your ladder instead of c00lD33kZ8812 from time to time. Mine is Falconeer97.

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Reply #21 on: November 17, 2019, 09:18:54 AM

Yeah but is Death Stranding worth full price of admission? I was curious about it at first because it was bizzaro, but then I heard about the premise and saw some gameplay and I am still confused.

Does any one know where the love of God goes...When the waves turn the minutes to hours? -G. Lightfoot
Sky
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Reply #22 on: November 17, 2019, 10:31:55 AM

I'm CashWiley on PS.

edit: I think it's a good launch buy, no ragurts. It benefits from the amount of people playing right now, for sure. I can't imagine playing it offline, it would be much more difficult. Maybe a good idea for a second playthrough. I'm in no hurry, though. Suits my slow af playstyle nicely.
« Last Edit: November 17, 2019, 10:36:25 AM by Sky »
Falconeer
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Reply #23 on: November 17, 2019, 11:23:27 AM

It is already in my Top 30 all time, no jokes. So clearly, I am biased. Worth any money. But like never before, YMMV. It is too weird for a consensus.

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Reply #24 on: November 17, 2019, 11:32:23 AM

Yeah but is Death Stranding worth full price of admission? I was curious about it at first because it was bizzaro, but then I heard about the premise and saw some gameplay and I am still confused.
I'm at 63.5 hours played and am at about maybe 3/5ths to 2/3rds through the story (I'm in between Episode 7 and 8 currently doing non-story stuff). I'll likely be over 100 hours played by the time I finish the story and you can keep playing after that as well. So for me it's been well worth paying full price. The game has a ton of stuff to accomplish outside the story as well as endlessly generated delivery content so if you really enjoy the gameplay you could play this for hundreds of hour easily. There are people I'm playing with who are already over a hundred hours played given their stats compared to mine. Which is remarkable given the game has been out only 9 days (they've basically been playing it full-time since release).

Since it's a Sony published game and they aren't shy about putting their big games on sale relatively quickly you could also just wait if you aren't sure about the game. In 6 months or less it'll likely be at $40 when on sale and if it makes Greatest Hits status then it'll only be $20. On PC, though, you'll have wait longer for it to be less than list price.
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Reply #25 on: November 17, 2019, 06:42:49 PM

I finally got to sit down with Death Stranding a bit and I'm liking it a lot. The only minor gripe I have right now is that the scanner seems to kinda randomly just not show BTs even if BB is pointing right at them.

"The world is populated in the main by people who should not exist." - George Bernard Shaw
Trippy
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Reply #26 on: November 17, 2019, 07:30:07 PM

BB's detection range is further than your scanner's BT "reveal" range. So if you know there's one in front of you just take it slow until the scanner can reveal it.

Edit: a couple of other things:

* Make sure the camera is pointed in the direction you want to scan, not Sam.

* The BTs fade in and out. So even if one is detected by the scanner you might not see it until it fades back in.
« Last Edit: November 18, 2019, 12:18:29 AM by Trippy »
Sky
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Reply #27 on: November 17, 2019, 08:20:41 PM

Where are you guys seeing your time played?
Trippy
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Reply #28 on: November 17, 2019, 08:40:08 PM

Go to Bridge Links and then you can view your profile.
Yegolev
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Reply #29 on: November 18, 2019, 07:45:46 AM

Death Stranding is more awesome if you go in absolutely blind.

Why am I homeless?  Why do all you motherfuckers need homes is the real question.
They called it The Prayer, its answer was law
Mommy come back 'cause the water's all gone
Falconeer
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Reply #30 on: November 18, 2019, 11:08:17 AM

100% agree. I made a huge effort in staying away from all sorts of spoilers, including gameplay, and that's the best decision I could have made.

Death Stranding is all I am playing now and all I want to play. I thought building highways and play dystopian truck driver was the best thing ever, but that was only because I hadn't start connect mountain peaks with ziplines. This game is very addictive.

In other news, I can't add Sky because of privacy settings. Heh. Yegolev and Trippy, care to share your Climbing Anchors with me? I remember we had a psn names thread here on f13, but I can't find it now.
« Last Edit: November 18, 2019, 11:10:25 AM by Falconeer »

Yegolev
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Reply #31 on: November 18, 2019, 12:03:37 PM

My PSN name is very easy to guess. I think we are connected there? Will check.

Also, I can no longer read this thread. I'm only just now to Port Knot. I'm learning way too much from the comments here.

Why am I homeless?  Why do all you motherfuckers need homes is the real question.
They called it The Prayer, its answer was law
Mommy come back 'cause the water's all gone
Sky
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Posts: 32117

I love my TV an' hug my TV an' call it 'George'.


Reply #32 on: November 18, 2019, 12:07:09 PM

Go to Bridge Links and then you can view your profile.

Thanks! Looks like around 36 hours, which is pretty massive for me for just 10 days!

I guess I'll have to look at my privacy settings  why so serious? First thing I usually do is lock all that shit down tighter than heck.
Trippy
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Reply #33 on: November 18, 2019, 12:23:05 PM

On PS4 I'm Okono88. I might have to change my privacy settings, though.



Death Stranding is all I am playing now and all I want to play. I thought building highways and play dystopian truck driver was the best thing ever, but that was only because I hadn't start connect mountain peaks with ziplines. This game is very addictive.
I'm hoping the PC version will have a more explicit "grouping" function than the PS4. Then we can get an f13 group going to build the ski resort I'm fantasizing about right now in the "Rockies".
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Reply #34 on: November 18, 2019, 12:46:53 PM

My PSN name is very easy to guess. I think we are connected there? Will check.

Also, I can no longer read this thread. I'm only just now to Port Knot. I'm learning way too much from the comments here.

You are the reason I knew Death Stranding was released since I saw your achievements popping up left and right.  why so serious?

edit: autocorrect NOT
« Last Edit: November 18, 2019, 01:10:04 PM by 01101010 »

Does any one know where the love of God goes...When the waves turn the minutes to hours? -G. Lightfoot
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