10.31.2023

death stranding was one of the surprising highlights of the year.
from what i’ve heard about the game online it seemed to be a undefinable game, reviewers had a difficult time explaining it so when i saw the directors cut on steam, i picked it up.

for the next 2 weeks i was captured by this game, but i can’t say exactly what it is. and now i understand why reviewers are so conflicted.
the gameplay is something i enjoy, it doesn’t reward me like other games but it’s not boring, the opposite of boring. the gameplay is always engaging.

like a skateboarding game, the only thing stopping you from playing is, well putting down the controller. except i wish it was that way. the biggest “flaw” in this game i would say must be the cutscenes,
stopping you from playing to tell you things you already know, wether from telling you before or through environmental storytelling.
it feels like everyone who created this game knew what to implement but all implemented it themselves so we’re left with 5 different ways that the game tells you organic matter effects bt’s.

when playing this game, 2016’s “the witness” kept popping into my head, and i think that’s because these are both games i enjoy immensely, but they seem to be dead set on not wanting the player to play the game.
the witness treats the player as intelligent but seems to also explain the story to the player in way too much metaphor.

death stranding has the same problem, where it wants to show you this beautiful world, and has these great moments of discovery, but then also explains exactly everything you need to know in blue text at the bottom of the screen.
that alone is fine (i mean you can turn off tooltips) but then the game feels the need to also have del toro explain to you how it works again.

i want to enjoy this game, i really do. the themes are great and something i’ve wanted in video games for awhile.
one of the best things for me in the movie whiplash other than the impeccable acting and instrumentation, is the concept of dedication to the highest degree, but death stranding can’t even get that right.
sam seems like he couldn’t give less of a piss about saving america and he’s only doing it because he’s bored.

when the main character cares, it makes me wonder why i should care. i know i’m being contradictory, i loved my time with this game, i’m glad it was made and to anyone who hasn’t played it and enjoys any of these games, i recommend you play it. just don’t play it with a keyboard

OH AND THE THIRD PERSON SHOOTING SECTIONS. i don’t like big heath bars, like at all. i want someone to die very quickly so i can move on.
the enemy’s your shooting have just enough health to piss me off. and these sections are just long enough to irk me but not so long that they make me stop playing.

they remind me of the nightmare sections in night in the woods, i understand why this is here, i just don’t want to do this right now give me germ and let me play bass already.
i just want to deliver a package to conan and him go “your a real one, now i’m gonna go fuck my cosplayer wife”