I... I have so much to say, and somehow, nothing to say at all. This game is probably one of the most controversial games of the last few years, and has recieved a lot of criticism as a walking simulator. In reality - I don't even know what to make of Death Stranding. All I can say is that I think it was a very soothing game, and delivering stuff is nice. I thought the gameplay was actually the highlight, as well as the wonderful visual design. Lots of good performances, with the highlights being Mads Mikkelson and Tommie Earl Jenkins, who both had particularly striking emotional scenes. The story itself was a bit of an uh, anomaly? I don't really know what to make of it. If I were to be super charitable, I would say to you that I need to replay it to get a full story opinion - but I ain't fuckin' doing that. This game is way too long already. I think narratively this game has many glimpses of greatness, and oftentimes does reach the stars it aims at in specific scenes and pieces of dialogue. But as a full thing...? It is just so messy. By the end, I was totally lost. Maybe I'm stupid, but it just stopped making sense to me after a while. Thematically, I find the game very strong, but there is just so much exposition dialogue, jam-packed with abbreviations and complex in-universe concepts that make me feel like I'm studying for my university course, and I haven't done the required reading. I like the main cast of characters though. Definitely noteworthy, I enjoyed them and their little interactions. Shout out to Heartman! He was great.

One of the big criticisms people seem to make about Death Stranding is that it is more movie than game, or that it is an indication of Kojima's desire to make films more than video games - or rather, that the gameplay is shit and poorly thought through. I don't know where this perception came from, I think the gameplay and it's dynamic evolution with complex environments and scenery alongside more and more equipment development ultimately leads to one of the more dynamic sandboxes I've seen in a while. That, and I think the presence of BT's are really fucking scary. They really freaked me out, so any section with them was extra tense. Delivering stuff is also just fun! I like helping people out and giving them stuff they need, even if it is pizza or something stupid like that.

So, yeah. Death Stranding. It sure was a game. I liked it! Not excessively so, but it definitely was a fun time and I'm glad I gave it a shot.

All I can say is that Kojima clearly didn't want to just "make a movie and then add gameplay later" as a lot of pessimistic critiques seem to imply. His vision is a lot, lot, lot more confusing, incoherent, weird and ultimately charming than that.