Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

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Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by Scoop20906 »

I saw the new trailer at the Gaming awards. It looks ... interesting but I have no idea what is going on. Still, I have to say I'm hooked. Now, I just need to wait 4 more years.
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by Daehawk »

heres that new trailer

I have no idea but its starting to look like something I wont care for. I dont got for the silly stuff usually. Incoherent stuff.
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by rittchard »

Wow is there no interest in this?

I pre-ordered it after seeing there was a kind of movie-only type of mode. That doesn't mean I will actually finish it but at least it makes me feel like I could potentially finish it lol.
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by Smoove_B »

I am on overload with The Outer Worlds and Red Dead Redemption 2 and this looks weird.
Maybe next year, maybe no go
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by disarm »

As a big MGS fan, I'm very curious/interested, but my gaming time is so limited lately that I don't think I can really jump into a lengthy, slow-burn game right now...at least not without good reviews and some positive word of mouth.
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by Scoop20906 »

Got the pre-order earlier this week. Ready to walk all over the place and give it a chance.
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by malchior »

I'm going to check it out. It'll be weird but I'm hoping it'll be wonderful weird.
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by malchior »

Here are my initial Impressions - I have about 10 hours in now.

First off, I went into the game almost 100% cold. I didn't really follow the press on this other than knowing Kojima was spearheading it and it'd "star" Reedus. I have been a MGS fan forever so I have some faith in Kojima even when the games are flawed experiments such as the Phantom Pain. Alright disclaimer done. This will be major spoiler-free.

This is a difficult game to describe. There definitely is a lot of walking and at the beginning lots of long cut scenes. I almost think of it as an action/puzzler w/ community elements. You are walking across beautiful landscapes managing the balance of the main character as you amble across the world delivering heavy goods that are on his back. You have to manage the weight distribution, etc. And every once in a while you'll be beset by marauders and the main 'antagonists' of the game. They add in tools to make trips easier over time but the general mechanic is moving from spot to spot, choosing the best routes, and getting stuff done. The communities choices affect your game. For instance, if someone builds a structure in an area it'll possibly appear in your game. You vote on how good the usefulness or placement is through 'likes'. It is an interesting and topical mechanic to be sure.

In the spirit of keeping this spoiler free I won't describe the 'big bads' but you get a sense of what they are early in the game. However, you are only getting very brief glimpses into the backstory. As a player you are largely in the dark about what happened to this world to make it the way it is. Things that the main character know are being revealed as the game goes along. It is a weak element to my ear because it is forced exposition of this ilk, "Well *AS YOU KNOW* blah blah blah..." (10 minute cut scene). In addition, the motives of the character are somewhat unclear so I can't put myself in his shoes. I'm just moving him around. It is a weird disconnect.

I am getting to a point that the game is opening up a bit so we will see how that holds up but it is neat so far. I am enjoying it but it definitely is going to be a game that divides people.

Positive elements:
* It is gorgeous - runs like a dream at 4K out of the PS4 Pro
* The mechanics of moving him around are good
* I enjoy the interactions with the 'big bads' which are tense and sometimes outright scary.

Weak elements:
* The menu system is sometimes infuriating. It isn't intuitive at all.
* The fights against humans are so far a weak point for me

Weird elements:
* The BB. Holy lord is this game super Japanese in that sense. I won't describe it but if you play it - dear lord - that was a risky design choice.
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by MonkeyFinger »

Just barely getting started and yes... super weird and super Japanese. :wink: Menu system is as noted, non-intuitive as well despite the context help. And after playing around with the D-pad I tried to keep from falling down a steep hill and ended up stopping and taking a leak. :shock:
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by Daehawk »

From what Ive seen streamed it appears to be a human pack mule simulator.
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by MonkeyFinger »

Playstation Blogcast discuss their impressions of the game starting at 16:30.
-mf
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by Buatha »

I believe this video gave me a good idea what the game was about without spoiling any of the story/plot details.

Obviously, this game speaks to him (and he is a Kojima fan), but he realizes it's not a game for everyone and more of an experience.
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by Daehawk »

Doesn't even look like a game to me. Its ok...Ive never really enjoyed Japanese nonsense story games. But heck Im not enjoying anything these days. I think my gaming bug died.
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by MonkeyFinger »

Finished up the prologue yesterday morning, making my first delivery which triggered at least 10 minutes of cut scenes. We were supposed to be leaving so the wife was there, waiting for it to get to a save point. When it finally did, I got some serious side-eye and all I could say was: What. The. Fork. :lol: Actually looking forward to getting back to it today.
-mf
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by hepcat »

Is it as weird as Deadly Premonition? Because if it is...I'm in.
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by MonkeyFinger »

hepcat wrote: Mon Nov 11, 2019 12:46 pm Is it as weird as Deadly Premonition? Because if it is...I'm in.
I would say the weird parts match up pretty well to its weirdness but then you bolt on DOOMS, chiral allergies and dust, aphenphosmphobia, BBs & BTs, hiking, deliveries, weight and urinary management, likes from customers, repatriation from death... and that was just the prologue.

:pop:
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by rittchard »

I "played" the prologue and first chapter (I think). I use the word play loosely because it was 90% cutscenes - I'm not complaining because I put the game on "Very Easy" and was expecting kind of a cinematic experience. And it really doesn't disappoint in that regard, it's just a really really weird movie lol. I'm not a huge fan of Daryl, but it was enjoyable seeing him half naked in the beginning. The environments are really cool and as others mentioned it really is gorgeous. Really cool music too.

Given that Star Wars is coming out though I doubt I will get much further in this, we'll see.
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by Scraper »

I'm in Chapter 3 and at that point the game really opens up and has a lot more game play. Fast travel and weapons are both unlocked at this point. I'm enjoying the game, there is definitely nothing else like it in gaming. The story really has me guessing and I hope by the end of the game I will be able to make sense of everything.

As much as I am enjoying it though there is no way this is a 10/10 or 100% game as some review site have given it. There is a ton of quirkiness here from the story line, game play and even the button assignment and menu navigation. Nothing is ordinary in this game. So I feel like there will be a ton of differing opinions on just how good this game is.
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by Grifman »

I watched a few "Let's play" and the game/story is definitely very strange and I had no idea what/how was happening most of the time. But I will say that I LOL'ed when the player did some dumb stuff with Reedus and Reedus looked at the screen and gave him a side-eye. That was hilarious.
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by gbasden »

Scraper wrote: Tue Nov 12, 2019 10:01 am and I hope by the end of the game I will be able to make sense of everything anything.
This seems to be the case with every Kojima game for me. Except I usually don't. For whatever reason, I just don't seem to get his stuff.
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by Scraper »

gbasden wrote: Tue Nov 12, 2019 10:55 pm
Scraper wrote: Tue Nov 12, 2019 10:01 am and I hope by the end of the game I will be able to make sense of everything anything.
This seems to be the case with every Kojima game for me. Except I usually don't. For whatever reason, I just don't seem to get his stuff.
Yeah you're right I don't expect to make sense of "everything". But I do have some story line theories so I'm hoping those theories hold up or the real answers actually make sense. But lets be real, with Kojima I doubt any of that will happen.
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by Buatha »

From my understanding of the video I shared earlier, no, not everything will be explained.

The best analogy I have heard is that Kojima kind of went George Lucas where he did it all...and probably could have used some tuning to the story and gameplay...but he's Kojima, so eff u, other designers :)
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by MonkeyFinger »

If you were wondering about Sam's pee, there's more to it than the holographic mushroom that grows. And no, he's a bit shy you can't do this around people or look at his wee-wee. :lol:
-mf
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by Scoop20906 »

I’ve not figured out peeing but I notice the little “like” symbols on the holographic mushroom it creates? Other players “stuff” shows up in my game world but why would I “like” them. Don’t understand what I’d up with this.
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by Scraper »

I'm about half way through the game now and I am honestly surprised by the conservative use of cut scenes. This is easily Kojima's game with the most game play and fewest amount of cut scenes to get in the way. Even when there is a cut scene they are brief compared to his previous games. For those still in chapters 1 and 2 just know that the game opens up after that and the world is much bigger than it seems at first. Think of Chapters 1 and 2 as the opening island on Breath of the Wild.

Once I started to unlocked the various guns and vehicles the game became much more enjoyable for me. Figuring out how to avoid the BTs and then eventually kill them also opens the game up much more.
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by MonkeyFinger »

Still in chapter two (near the end, perhaps?) but I'd heard that and am looking forward to it (guns and vehicles!) in spite of it layering on more and more options and history and weirdness as I progress the story. Also heard something about chapter four being a bit... crazy. Not looking for details so much as confirmation. :wink:
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by Scraper »

MonkeyFinger wrote: Tue Nov 19, 2019 10:11 am Still in chapter two (near the end, perhaps?) but I'd heard that and am looking forward to it (guns and vehicles!) in spite of it layering on more and more options and history and weirdness as I progress the story. Also heard something about chapter four being a bit... crazy. Not looking for details so much as confirmation. :wink:
Chapter 4 definitely throws a curve ball at you. Still not sure how to interpret what happened in that chapter and I'm almost done with chapter 6 at this point.
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by MonkeyFinger »

So... not all that near the end of chapter 2 as I'd thought. Made it to the Wind Farm last night, now need to make the long trek back Capital Knot City (and take a shower) but at least now I think I'll have the bike for last part of it. Dang but they keep adding on complexities as you "level up" - "You now have access to this, this, this and that via your Cuff Links and can do this, this and that at any terminal". I may need to keep a notebook, feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the things I'm probably not doing but should be or that I should be more involved in the social / shared world aspect of this. "Likers get likes!"

Dear Mr. Kojima,
Once the network opens up more, would it be too much to ask to add in some kind of Chiral printing based fast travel? :think: "One to beam... way the heck over there!" :wink:

Spoiler on something like that, stumbled across elsewhere:
Spoiler:
Zip lines! No clue when that "tool" shows up but I saw someone tweet about spending a bunch of time setting them up "all over the place" and having a blast zooming around. 8-)
-mf
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by Scraper »

MonkeyFinger wrote: Sat Nov 23, 2019 10:14 am So... not all that near the end of chapter 2 as I'd thought. Made it to the Wind Farm last night, now need to make the long trek back Capital Knot City (and take a shower) but at least now I think I'll have the bike for last part of it. Dang but they keep adding on complexities as you "level up" - "You now have access to this, this, this and that via your Cuff Links and can do this, this and that at any terminal". I may need to keep a notebook, feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the things I'm probably not doing but should be or that I should be more involved in the social / shared world aspect of this. "Likers get likes!"

Dear Mr. Kojima,
Once the network opens up more, would it be too much to ask to add in some kind of Chiral printing based fast travel? :think: "One to beam... way the heck over there!" :wink:

Spoiler on something like that, stumbled across elsewhere:
Spoiler:
Zip lines! No clue when that "tool" shows up but I saw someone tweet about spending a bunch of time setting them up "all over the place" and having a blast zooming around. 8-)
You are still at the very beginning of the game. Fast travel does open up later and yes the zip lines are awesome. I have an entire network of them all over the place, makes for super quick travel.

Also, don't worry about the leveling up and likes. It will all happen organically.
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by Scraper »

One final tip. Get to chapter 3 as fast as possible. Don't worry about the side stuff until then. After fast travel opens up you can always go back to the starter area and finish stuff out if you want to, personally I haven't bothered because there is so much to do in the bigger game area.
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by MonkeyFinger »

Thanks. Been doing deliveries, MULE fights and other random things far too often - time to head to Port Knot City and put an end to Chapter 2! I hope. :wink:
-mf
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by Scraper »

I beat the game yesterday. It clocked in at 52 hours for me. As for the story (without spoiling anything) I will say that Kojima actually does try and explain everything. It doesn't necessarily make a whole lot of sense and I still have tons of questions, but at the end of the story I at least understood what happened and why. Also, I was able to accurately predict some of the surprises about midway through the game, but overall it's Kojima and some stuff just can't be figured out in advance.

If I have one gripe about the end is that it was too long, I would guess that there is easily 2 hours worth of cut scenes to get through with little to no game play in the last 3 chapters. He could have cut some of it down for brevity. But I guess he was conservative with cut scenes throughout the game so he had to make it up somewhere.

Especially
Spoiler:
The beach scene with the credits, god I hated that part, LOOOONGGGEEEST credit scene ever. And then when the actual credit scene rolls you can't skip it which made it even worse.
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by coopasonic »

I finally started playing this yesterday and I'm having fun with it. More fun than I expected (of course my expectations were LOW). It's a very interesting concept and the gameplay is actually fun. It kind of reminds me American Truck Simulator, but a lot more personal. I don't have access to my own trucks, but I like to use them when I can steal one from the bad guys.

I've been playing on easy and it has been... easy, but not too easy.
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by Scraper »

coopasonic wrote: Sun Mar 22, 2020 6:29 pm I finally started playing this yesterday and I'm having fun with it. More fun than I expected (of course my expectations were LOW). It's a very interesting concept and the gameplay is actually fun. It kind of reminds me American Truck Simulator, but a lot more personal. I don't have access to my own trucks, but I like to use them when I can steal one from the bad guys.

I've been playing on easy and it has been... easy, but not too easy.
It doesn't take long to get access to your own trucks. My biggest tip is to rebuild as much of the roadways as you can. It makes the "Truck Simulator" portion much easier.
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by coopasonic »

Amusingly I got the truck like the next mission after that post.

Yes, actually roads are super nice.

I'm kind of sad I have to actually do work today and I can't just handle deliveries all day!
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Re: Death Stranding - Kojima and Norman Reedus

Post by Punisher »

coopasonic wrote: Mon Mar 23, 2020 9:45 am Amusingly I got the truck like the next mission after that post.

Yes, actually roads are super nice.

I'm kind of sad I have to actually do work today and I can't just handle deliveries all day!
Plot twist..You're actually a UPS driver IRL.
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