I have over one hundred hours in this Death Stranding, I like it a great bunch. That said, I'm very critical of it's flaws.
For one, the plot is a over-expositive convoluted mass of themes. Wide as the ocean and deep as a puddle, playing this game can feel like a philosophy undergraduate trying to explain the meaning of SOCIETY in one long and badly estructured essay. Kojima really needs to dial it back a tone or two on that.
On the other hand, this game is a superbly unique aesthetical experience. There is nothing in the world like trecking through the inhospitable wilds of post-apocalyptic USA. This is a game for hours of deep, relaxed introspection.
I also need to applaud the audacity of picking the most hated design trends of gaming and turning them over their head to make them enjoyable.
Take, by example, the idea of the 'walking simulator'. It is a poor choice of words to call Gone Home, Dear Esther or Protheus walking simulators, even though that's what they're mostly referred to. I say that because, even though you walk a whole fucking bunch in those games, what you're doing is mostly mindlessly pressing 'W' while paying attention to other stuff. Walking is just the invisible means through which you interact in these worlds.
Death Stranding, on the other hand, is a literal walking simulator. It's a near perfect, gamified simulation of walking through the interaction of various systems. And it's fucking good.
For one, the plot is a over-expositive convoluted mass of themes. Wide as the ocean and deep as a puddle, playing this game can feel like a philosophy undergraduate trying to explain the meaning of SOCIETY in one long and badly estructured essay. Kojima really needs to dial it back a tone or two on that.
On the other hand, this game is a superbly unique aesthetical experience. There is nothing in the world like trecking through the inhospitable wilds of post-apocalyptic USA. This is a game for hours of deep, relaxed introspection.
I also need to applaud the audacity of picking the most hated design trends of gaming and turning them over their head to make them enjoyable.
Take, by example, the idea of the 'walking simulator'. It is a poor choice of words to call Gone Home, Dear Esther or Protheus walking simulators, even though that's what they're mostly referred to. I say that because, even though you walk a whole fucking bunch in those games, what you're doing is mostly mindlessly pressing 'W' while paying attention to other stuff. Walking is just the invisible means through which you interact in these worlds.
Death Stranding, on the other hand, is a literal walking simulator. It's a near perfect, gamified simulation of walking through the interaction of various systems. And it's fucking good.