ksbrar
BACKER
2010
Completed the first time some time in the summer of 2010. Played through again some time later, and quite a bit online.
2019
Tried it out via PS Plus, actually on PS5 given some of the talk about how well it runs. I played for about an hour or two, but just couldn't bring myself to keep going. The zombie genre as a concept for film/games was already done by 2019, even moreso by 2021. And while the writing quality was above Ride to Hell, the bar is fairly low for biker dramas, it seems like no one can write one without it being cringe or unbelievable. Gameplay just reminded me of Ubi-boredom, a giant open world with many unengaging details. I found the much touted enemy AI fine, a bit overrated for the pitch.
That being said, from what I could tell it's not a bad game at all, it's just mostly stale. If you're new to open world games, or never seen The Walking Dead (in either medium), or never played Dying Light or the like, then I'm sure that you would enjoy this game quite a bit. It contains a superset of the elements that made those projects so enticing in their time.
That being said, from what I could tell it's not a bad game at all, it's just mostly stale. If you're new to open world games, or never seen The Walking Dead (in either medium), or never played Dying Light or the like, then I'm sure that you would enjoy this game quite a bit. It contains a superset of the elements that made those projects so enticing in their time.
2022
2019
Played from release sporadically until COVID.
What I most admire about Death Stranding is that it delivered a genuinely new game mechanic. Obviously, the delivery man gameplay loop was the point of much ridicule, but I grok'd Kojima's vision pretty quickly and enjoyed the systems designed to exploit the player's altruism and honor into maintaining a tight delivery schedule and infrastructure. It works as a competitive leaderboard type lure as well as an atmospheric, casual game to unwind to. That being said, once you progress enough into the game to regularly encounter enemies that require lethal means, the gameplay loop devolves into a more standard open world shooter and becomes much less interesting and more tedious.
The story has Kojima's usual weirdness, but aside from the horror aspect I found it sparse in detail enough to mostly ignore. (If you like it, you like it, but it's not particularly deep sci-fi.) I thought it was interesting that concepts like transhumanism and the Singularity had seeped into the lore, suggesting that these buzzwords are now rather prevalent (had also been encountering more usage in the wild for the previous year or two).
I think I got within a few hours of the climax. COVID amongst other things took me off track, but I don't feel a particular draw back to it. Shelved, for now.
What I most admire about Death Stranding is that it delivered a genuinely new game mechanic. Obviously, the delivery man gameplay loop was the point of much ridicule, but I grok'd Kojima's vision pretty quickly and enjoyed the systems designed to exploit the player's altruism and honor into maintaining a tight delivery schedule and infrastructure. It works as a competitive leaderboard type lure as well as an atmospheric, casual game to unwind to. That being said, once you progress enough into the game to regularly encounter enemies that require lethal means, the gameplay loop devolves into a more standard open world shooter and becomes much less interesting and more tedious.
The story has Kojima's usual weirdness, but aside from the horror aspect I found it sparse in detail enough to mostly ignore. (If you like it, you like it, but it's not particularly deep sci-fi.) I thought it was interesting that concepts like transhumanism and the Singularity had seeped into the lore, suggesting that these buzzwords are now rather prevalent (had also been encountering more usage in the wild for the previous year or two).
I think I got within a few hours of the climax. COVID amongst other things took me off track, but I don't feel a particular draw back to it. Shelved, for now.
Played a couple hours.
Eh, not for me. It's too big of a world, with too many tasks to do and combat not enticing enough (but I admire the true variety and detail put into the different classes and styles). Often marketed as a single player game perhaps with instancing, but I think Capcom should commit to calling it an MMO. It's one of the best MMOs out there when stop and think about it, and it'd set better expectations for players, too: it's soo grindy on your own.
Eh, not for me. It's too big of a world, with too many tasks to do and combat not enticing enough (but I admire the true variety and detail put into the different classes and styles). Often marketed as a single player game perhaps with instancing, but I think Capcom should commit to calling it an MMO. It's one of the best MMOs out there when stop and think about it, and it'd set better expectations for players, too: it's soo grindy on your own.
2021
Played with younger cousins sometime in summer 2021.
Played for a couple weeks after release. Such a far cry from the trailers that intrigued us all, but even the bastardized product we received had enough style that I kept going for a while. Utter waste of a preorder (gold edition, too).
Played around release and a couple times after that. Very fun little game, reminiscent of the halcyon days of flash.
2010
Fun little indie/art-adventure game. Don't remember much about it.
It's like David Cage simulated himself 10 times and cobbled together the script from each of his clones' fever dreams. Every cliche, every trope, every unintentionally hilarious French video game aesthetic instance is thrown together in a Unreal Engine 5 decision tree demo.
That being said, definitely his best game. But one playthrough is more than enough. I'm boycotting Quantic Dream after this; the unskippable cutscenes made me want to kill myself a few times.
Also, great soundtrack.
That being said, definitely his best game. But one playthrough is more than enough. I'm boycotting Quantic Dream after this; the unskippable cutscenes made me want to kill myself a few times.
Also, great soundtrack.
2021
Actually quite fun fooling around in this sandbox game with friends.
13/40
One of the greatest VNs ever ;)
Writing decreases in quality as you get towards the end, as there is only so much verbiage you can use to describe "nothingness" (or conversely, political philosophy in a neutral, fully developed way).
Downloading the Disco Explorer mod and setting running speed with a 2x multiplier is almost essential - otherwise movement around the map is a real slog.
One of the greatest VNs ever ;)
Writing decreases in quality as you get towards the end, as there is only so much verbiage you can use to describe "nothingness" (or conversely, political philosophy in a neutral, fully developed way).
Downloading the Disco Explorer mod and setting running speed with a 2x multiplier is almost essential - otherwise movement around the map is a real slog.
2022
Very fun with friends.
2022
A fun rhythm-y, twitchy platformer-shooter with a unique art style and fitting, overacted dialogue. Probably great, but not my cup of tea.
Quite dated in 2022.