In more ways than one, the journey really is the destination in Death Stranding.

I would describe the game as a slow burn. The beginning is pretty top heavy with proper nouns and long cutscenes setting the stage, and I would say the entire introductory area is a bit of a slog to work through. That's not even really a criticism because I think it's all like this for a reason. I think part of the reason it felt slow at the beginning is it takes some time to adjust to what the game is doing. YOU need to slow down to its pace, and I think this might cause some people to bounce off the title but my recommendation is you see it through because once you get to the more open second area of the game, it really starts to all come together.

But even then it is slow, and you won't notice it. Eventually you meet the game where it's at. You start engaging with the mechanics that you might have felt seemed like busywork before but now you're min-maxing delivery load and what route should I take? This order takes me past several other locations, should I make stops along the way? This route has MULEs or BTs in its path, what if I took a slight detour and went around this mountain? Then you come across a structure another player has built and it opens up a new route possibility. You see things enough times you start doing mental calculus, what if I put a bridge there and there, then I could skip this huge detour. Pretty soon you are spending hours going back and forth, delivering cargo, improving your routing and methods so that the next delivery run goes smoother. You start thinking about how helpful it would be for the next guy if you took the time to set up that road or make that zipline. It takes actual work and time to do this stuff, it's not what I would traditionally call fun. But you find yourself doing it anyway because it's compelling. I'm earning likes from other players. I'm part of a wordless, cooperative community that's all in this together and we're all looking to make it easier for each other. Eventually you feel obligated to do SOMETHING, contribute your small piece. But then the positive feedback sucks you in, now I don't feel obligated, I feel motivated. You look up and it's 3AM on Monday morning, you have to go to work tomorrow but what if I just did one last delivery, or built that one last structure?

Needless to say I got sucked in hard. 55 hours over the course of 4 or 5 days. And notice how I haven't even mentioned the story yet.

The story is weird, definitely. It's not incomprehensible, though, if you're paying attention. To keep it short and sweet and to not potentially spoil anything, I will just describe my broad thoughts. As I said it starts slow and can be difficult to keep up with at first. Once you get into the groove, it starts to be more about unraveling the mystery of what's going on. That unraveling is very fun to experience. My biggest criticism of the story is that the ending falls a bit flat for me. Not insomuch that it is bad but that it is a bit anticlimactic and only really seems to complete one "arc" of Death Stranding's canon, a seeming origin story for our hero, Sam Bridges. Now that we have set the stage completely, now we can truly begin. But that's where the game ends. Knowing that a second game is coming mitigates this criticism somewhat, but as a singular package I found the end to be a bit disappointing. But as an "episode one", so to speak, it makes for a very compelling reason to tune in next time for episode two.

I'm going to keep it honest with everyone, this game is kinda annoying. I can only imagine how much more annoying it would have been in the original Gameboy version. Look, as always Zelda has fantastic music, and this is no different. In addition, I personally love the art style, I think beyond it being visually pleasing, it fits the story of the game perfectly. And speaking of the story, the dialogue, story and "vibes" are wonderfully melancholy. A strange mixture of joyous and also deeply sad. All of that being said, the game is just constantly a little annoying, whether it's strangely designed dungeons and bossfights or esoteric overworld quests that you just have to guess at. I still overall liked the game, but it would be a hard recommendation to most, and one with a number of caveats.

One of those games you really wish was better. The voice acting and motion performances are truly stellar, and the audio experience is very unique and was engaging/entertaining throughout. The story is a mixed bag, it depends on what you consider to be "the story". Much of the story happened before the game begins - you kinda piece it together. In terms of what actually happens during the course of the game, on paper it's not much. It's definitely intriguing but also somewhat confusing and short. The gameplay itself is definitely the weakest part of the game, it's not "bad" really but it is quite boring and repetitive, even within the game's short runtime (I beat the game in under 5 hours, the average playtime being more around 6-7 hours). Anyway, the parts of the game that are done right are done REALLY well, the rest is middling and mediocre. It will definitely be interesting to see what this team does with the sequel and how it improves upon this title.

Before this attempt, I had tried to play this game and bounced off of it, I didn't really love the unkillable robot mechanic, and I just didn't want to get into it. This time, I gave it a better shot and wow, am I glad I did. There is a slight learning curve to learning how to play the game, and the game is definitely tough, but it's never unfair. I had a lot of fun with my run through this game, the sense of progression and power gain is super satisfying, and then the last boss is just the right amount of tough but fair. Just a super solid experience, it even has an interesting story. I would not consider myself a huge Metroid/Metroidvania fan, but this is making me rethink it. Although I bet this is one of the best out there. My biggest complaint is how most bosses are placed right after a cutscene, which makes skipping the same scene over and over each attempt pretty annoying. It's a minor complaint in a game I otherwise just don't really have anything to complain about.

I feel like I’m losing it. How is this game at 3.6 on here? Is it just cause it’s not ultra high budget or something? I can quibble about some things, like the voice acting was slightly weak. But man, I feel like this game was a joy to play, the atmosphere is great, the music is amazing, the art is fantastic, even mechanically I think it’s really smart especially the way it uses abilities for combat and puzzles/traversal. It’s very intuitive and fun. Maybe the balance could use another tuning pass? But overall I was shocked at how much I liked this game and I pretty much recommend it to anyone. Please ignore this aggregate score on here and check it out, even on Metacritic the average is much better. People on here must be on something. This game fucking RULES.

The start of what makes FFXIV special. There are still things to complain about this game, and the way the quests are designed, but the incredible story and characters and performances just wash most of it away. In hindsight, as someone who is (for the most part) current on the latest expansion, much of the actual gameplay and content still feels a bit simple to a fault compared to later expansions.

Personally, this is possibly my favorite expansion despite the ways it might be worse than other expansions. I have a nostalgia for this expansion, and I think the music and atmosphere and story are my favorites through all the expansions. I prefer the way this game's story manages to be "small-scale", which is something that is quickly lost in other expansions, where the stakes get incredibly high very quickly.

I'll be reviewing this as the base game (A Realm Reborn), not the game as a whole.

ARR is just okay man, it really isn't bad. But having to slog through tens of hours of mid is a really tough ask for the newcomer. My experience is outdated now, since there has been changes to the MSQ since I originally played it. But largely it is the same. Slow pacing, generally too easy, uneven voice performances (before the total recast in Heavensward), and a story that just barely serves to keep you interested till "the good part" finally hits in the last few patches of ARR. If this is all FFXIV ever was, it would be a bit disappointing.

I had never played these games before, so this was a fresh experience for me, not clouded by nostalgia one way or the other. And I have to say, these games hold up very well for what they are. I think the first game is the least interesting mechanically, but that might be as expected. Let it be clear what these games are, though: fairly tough action platformers. That's pretty much it. There's not much else here if you don't already like sidescrollers/platformers, so it probably won't convert you.

TLDR:

The god-tier music, timeless graphics/charm, and general polish were not enough for me to get past what I don't like about this game. Namely, the combat system, the ultra-non-linear design, and the barebones characters and story. I ended up dropping it sometime during the back half of the game and I don't feel motivated to pick it back up at this time. This game didn't work for me so I can't recommend it, but there's a good chance it will work for you, based on general reception and praise other people have for it.

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As someone who considers himself a JRPG fan, I feel I like I have huge holes in my JRPG resume. This is one of those games that I felt it was necessary that I played as both a JRPG fan and just a video game fan. And on top of that, I was excited to play it. The praise for this game is near universal. I had already heard bits of music and screenshots and small clips of gameplay and it all sounded and looked good.

I think, in some ways, this game does in fact live up to the hype. In other ways, this is one of my most disappointing attempts at playing a game ever. And I say attempt because, for now, I have decided to drop it after months/years of trying to pick it up here and there and work thru it.

The music literally is some of the best VGM of all time. The graphics have a timeless quality. The characters have great designs and are charming. The time travel is both mechanically and conceptually very cool. The level of detail in the game is astounding sometimes. However, when it comes to actually playing the game and actually following the story and witnessing the dialogue, I don't feel this game is particularly good or even really up to any sort of modern standard.

This game has one of my least favorite JRPG battle systems ever. So much so that I find it difficult to believe that anyone likes it. It like, has to be nostalgia. Because the feeling I get when battling is that I am fighting the menus/UI, not the enemies on screen. I am constantly on my back foot, trying to keep up with the game as I am fumbling though the menus. I understand why JRPGs went down the ATB route, and I know other games use this system but something about this game's version of it really just doesn't work for me, it only manages to stress me out. Another thing that bothers me is the would-be strategic elements of combat that don't meet their potential. For example, depending on where your party members are in relation to the enemies, it can change how many enemies you can hit with some sort of attack. I will use Lucca's flamethrower attack as an example. It shoots out in a straight line from Lucca and will hit one or more enemies based on angle and positioning. However, you do not have any control over where Lucca is at all, not even like a start of battle placement phase, so it's just lucky, I guess, if you can do something like this. What seems like a cool concept is, to me, neutered in its execution. The tech system is cool but I feel like it corrals you into using the same few characters throughout the game, and then I think the boss design will sometimes punish you for focusing one team when you don't really have great tools to fight it. This is not a huge issue, but one I felt later on as the difficulty rises and bosses start having more complex mechanics.

Balancing wise, the pacing is good in that grinding is not really necessary. What I don't like is that there are a bunch of what I will call "gimmick fights", that aim to, I guess, change it up instead of just doing regular battles all the time. Which is a nice thought, but what it always plays out as is the fight is basically impossible without implementing the gimmick, and then when you do implement the gimmick, it is braindead easy. This is not particularly fun or interesting in my opinion, and honestly feels like I am unable to just play the damn game, I have to solve some unspoken riddle about this particular boss before I can continue playing, which to me feels like I am hit with roadblocks instead of just steady progression over time with "grinding".

I want to also talk about the general design of the game and world, which, much like many aspects of the rest of the game for me, is cool in concept but ultimately falls flat. This game is incredibly open. There are times when you are put down a path but other times when the game just says, "Alright, go figure it out." These "go figure it out" moments are sometimes cool but mostly overwhelming. There is a particular point in the game where basically you choose how it plays out. Depending on what you do or don't do, the ending can change sometimes drastically. I won't spoil anything but some of the things that are going on in this part of the game are conceptually cool, but serve to make the game itself more frustrating to play. Ultimately I don't feel motivated to seek these things out myself because I am not in love with the combat and I don't think the game has the writing chops to back up lots of dialogue heavy sidequests (see below for thoughts on story/writing/characters). So this is where I ended up dropping the game. I don't want to play it. I know that if I go straight to the final encounter, even if I manage to beat it as I am now, I know it will be annoying and I will get a bad ending. I don't want to do the sidequests cause I really just want to finish the game if I'm going to keep playing it. I am genuinely not interested in playing another 5-10 hours to beat this game.

In terms of story, I just don't understand where people are coming from saying that it's like a top tier JRPG storyline or characters. There's just not that much here! There are cool concepts. Interesting implications. What you are doing at any given time is cool. But in terms of raw text and story, there's just not really...anything. People say there are tearjerker moments in here...where? At what point do you actually become invested in these characters, because I can tell you, after getting through maybe 60-70% of the game, that I feel little to no attachment to these characters outside of just liking their design or maybe liking their backstory. It's just not enough. People will say in forums that "Oh, you just want to be spoon-fed a story like FF does, you just don't get it." I'm sorry, but that's bullshit. There is nothing that is that thought provoking, and there's not even that interesting of character interactions to make up for it. It is just not a fantastic or top-tier story, there's just not enough of it to even consider it! And the characters are 1000% being carried by their Akira Toriyama designs. This isn't even that big of a deal to me (I recently completed a playthrough of FF1, which has basically no story or characters at all), but I just feel like I'm in opposite world where up is down and left is right when I see people talking about how great the story and characters are. I just don't see it.

I want to wrap this up by saying that I don't see myself as a contrarian. I don't often find myself just totally disagreeing with the masses on things. There are a few instances where I think people overstate how good or bad something is. This time I am firmly of the opinion that this game is way overrated. More than any other game that I have maybe thought is overrated. HOWEVER...it has to be pointed out that I am obviously in a minority on this subject. Statistically speaking, in terms of you playing this game and forming your own opinion, it is more likely that you will like it a lot more than I do. So, with that in mind, take what I say with a grain of salt.

This is a Metroidvania at its heart, and for the most part it does it well. There are some design decisions that I personally wouldn't have made had I been the one to make the game, but overall, it was a nice, fun, fairly short Metroidvania with a cool twist.

I'd say that the best part of this game is actually just moving around and using your tendrils to grab and eat people. I actually wish the game got out of my way to let me do it a bit more throughout. But there is a section at the end where they really let you go wild, and I had a lot of fun with that.

Overall, it delivers on the premise pretty well, but I have some personal gripes with it that knock it down slightly.

It’s like playing a high budget, really long action flick that you’ll mostly forget all the details about. My biggest complaint about the game is that it’s really too long and just wastes time doing random stuff. It’s generally speaking still somewhat interesting stuff, but they could have cut hours off this game and lost relatively little. And I’ll also say the “branching paths” seemed really shallow and cosmetic. Maybe I’m wrong about that but I’m not going to play through multiple times. Overall, it’s fun, if you like this type of game you’ll like this one.