Death Stranding 2: On the Beach |OT| Ain't That A Beach

Very good. I have a Dolby Atmos setup and the sound stage is constant and alive. Wind whistles around through the speakers and controller speaker. Rain lashes down all around you and also from the controller speaker. You can feel the patter of the rain through the haptics, the rumble of thunder crackles in the distance with deep bass. It's quite an assault on the senses at times and I love it.

Yeah it's as expected, a dense and active mix. The first rain storm at the beginning of the game sounded really good, maybe the best I've heard. Couldn't turn it up though since it's late, will have to put it to a proper test tomorrow.
 
Something I've noticed but not seen it mentioned yet. When you alert a base and enemies come from further away to find you, if you watch them while they are still quite far away they seem to be moving at a reduced frame rate or something? Looks a bit weird. Say you are playing in 30fps they look like they are moving in 15fps or less until they get closer at which point they look normal.
 
Yeah it's as expected, a dense and active mix. The first rain storm at the beginning of the game sounded really good, maybe the best I've heard. Couldn't turn it up though since it's late, will have to put it to a proper test tomorrow.
I have it cranked up and the last 2 nights I have ended up with a headache after playing lol.
 
Fellow porters, happy launch day of DS2 to everyone. I now have my copy. We will all be connected in the strand in the following days and months. We are very bless to experience this surely epic journey in this generation of gaming and era. Lets enjoy, be happy and be grateful. Thank you Mr. Kojima and his team and to Sony and Sony Xdev.
 
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I just put in about 9 hours and I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's a real looker, but so far it doesn't feel different enough from the first one. And if I'm being honest, and as much of a great time as I had playing the first game due to its novelty, I'm not sure I want to do it all over again if all I'm gonna get is flashbacks to 2019. The gameplay changes we do get seem to lean into recreating MGSV, itself a vastly superior experience to Death Stranding.

And I think this might be the moment where Kojima finally disappears up his own ass for good. The first game's weirdness was charming, and made you ask questions you wanted answering, you usually didn't have to wait too long for them, and they dovetailed the world together nicely. Here we get weirdness on top of weirdness to the point where it feels truly nonsensical. The characters look and feel like they've been created by throwing random words and concepts together. Meet Fruitman- he wears a scarf made of bananas which turns into a car.

I'm having a good time, I think. But I was expecting way more given how much Kojima usually brings to the table in sequels. Also a larger icon/text option would be nice because I can't see shit even though I'm playing on a 40 inch screen.
 
Just clocked in about 5 hours. This one is an improvement in every way. Also
Deadman
Sad Metal Gear Solid GIF
 
Fellow porters, happy launch day of DS2 to everyone. I now have my copy. We will all be connected in the strand in the following days and months. We are very bless to experience this surely epic journey in this generation of gaming and era. Lets enjoy, be happy and be grateful. Thank you Mr. Kojima and his team and to Sony and Sony Xdev.
I don't understand this mindset going into a game.

Surely you cannot be objective in how the game is, at least for next 6 months.

Expecting this in GOTY chatter simply cause of this.
 
bouncing off this quite quickly as expected.... It's just as frustrating as the first game but somehow the storytelling is worse. something I never thought possible. I know some people like this shit but it's peak Kojima nonesense, I just want to stab forks in my eyes.
 
I have the game ready to play right now but the wife was very intrigued yesterday when I watched a review. Normally she only like puzzle games but she works in IT and the open source/world sharing thingy got her enthousiast as well as the setting. So I guess I have to wait until she's home.

Which difficulty setting is recommended? I am not a daily gamer anymore by far but I am pretty solid in gaming overall so a challenge is welcome
 
I have the game ready to play right now but the wife was very intrigued yesterday when I watched a review. Normally she only like puzzle games but she works in IT and the open source/world sharing thingy got her enthousiast as well as the setting. So I guess I have to wait until she's home.

Which difficulty setting is recommended? I am not a daily gamer anymore by far but I am pretty solid in gaming overall so a challenge is welcome
W wife. Congratulations brother! I say go with normal and see if it's too easy raise the difficulty, if it's challenging go a difficulty lower
 
I'm only at the start playing in Normal mode, but yesterday i tried Brutal and the mission i was doing in timefall rain, can say i failed the mission cause the cargo was destroyed very fast…soo take this point
 
I haven't played the game yet but it's not hard to imagine kojima doing the same thing again, that is why he is capable of putting so much original and weird shit in his games, he doesn't need any writing talent to justify all of that, he is the quintessential definition of


I kind of see Kojima as a Jazz artist or a Jazz band. He improvises a lot while staying in a certain boundary of overal rules (chord progression). This gives him a lot of space to put in unique ideas but in a still sort of grounded world. But like jazz it's not for everyone and like jazz a lot people think it's trying to be over pretentious. I think it's just a style or language he tries to speak.
A bit like David Lynch

But does the man have an ego? Ow definitely; he knows he's great. But so did Miles Davis

But maybe you think this analogy is stupid. It's just how I look at it.
 
I kind of see Kojima as a Jazz artist or a Jazz band. He improvises a lot while staying in a certain boundary of overal rules (chord progression). This gives him a lot of space to put in unique ideas but in a still sort of grounded world. But like jazz it's not for everyone and like jazz a lot people think it's trying to be over pretentious. I think it's just a style or language he tries to speak.
A bit like David Lynch

But does the man have an ego? Ow definitely; he knows he's great. But so did Miles Davis

But maybe you think this analogy is stupid. It's just how I look at it.
Well said
 
I kind of see Kojima as a Jazz artist or a Jazz band. He improvises a lot while staying in a certain boundary of overal rules (chord progression). This gives him a lot of space to put in unique ideas but in a still sort of grounded world. But like jazz it's not for everyone and like jazz a lot people think it's trying to be over pretentious. I think it's just a style or language he tries to speak.
A bit like David Lynch

But does the man have an ego? Ow definitely; he knows he's great. But so did Miles Davis

But maybe you think this analogy is stupid. It's just how I look at it.
I think he has less boundaries than most videogame storytellers, if you ask me dude need a couple of editors to keep him on a leash.

Everyone can put the weirdest shit in their games if they don't have to justify anything because they have an abstract plot device that does that for them, there is a damn reason why "nanomachines son" is a famous internet meme.


Other writers try to have everything fitting with a logic explanation, but not kojima, if you ask me the former method require more writing talent than just throwing bombastic and weird shit at the wall.

But i erased my previous post because this is not the place to judge kojima writing in general, i haven't played ds2 so i can't speak for this one.

And believe me, i was the biggest kojima fan back in the day.
 
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I kind of see Kojima as a Jazz artist or a Jazz band. He improvises a lot while staying in a certain boundary of overal rules (chord progression). This gives him a lot of space to put in unique ideas but in a still sort of grounded world. But like jazz it's not for everyone and like jazz a lot people think it's trying to be over pretentious. I think it's just a style or language he tries to speak.
A bit like David Lynch

But does the man have an ego? Ow definitely; he knows he's great. But so did Miles Davis

But maybe you think this analogy is stupid. It's just how I look at it.

My man, your message reminds me to this scene from Collateral

 
I think he has less boundaries than most videogame storytellers, if you ask me dude need a couple of editors to keep him on a leash.

Everyone can put the weirdest shit in their games if they don't have to justify anything because they have an abstract plot device that does that for them, there is a damn reason why "nanomachines son" is a famous internet meme.


Other writers try to have everything fitting with a logic explanation, but not kojima, if you ask me the former method require more writing talent than just throwing bombastic and weird shit at the wall.

But i erased my previous post because this is not the place to judge kojima writing in general, i haven't played ds2 so i can't speak for this one.

And believe me, i was the biggest kojima fan back in the day.

Ow I hear you tho. I am not the biggest Kojima fan but I can respect what he's trying to do. But I can get to what you're saying as well although I don't necessarily agree.

I like your comments btw; you have a lot of humour.
 
Well today is the day folks, I'm currently at work, and finish in 5 hours. going to go home, order a large pizza and begin making the deliveries! Happy Portering! (that's probably not even a real word).

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Ow I hear you tho. I am not the biggest Kojima fan but I can respect what he's trying to do. But I can get to what you're saying as well although I don't necessarily agree.

I like your comments btw; you have a lot of humour.
I'm the gaf resident failed comedian so i appreciate that :messenger_blowing_kiss:
 
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Yes that is indeed the problem lol. I find Kojima extremely pretentious, and he is a self-absorbed egomaniac and it drives me batshit crazy. Yet I am all for delivery simulator gameplay, and now that I have some details about the BT's...I want to check it out lol. I've heard about the feature length cutscene in part one, and it makes me want to puke but...I am just too intrigued now! I am willing to overcome my own dislike of Kojima and his usual work in order to try something out of my comfort zone. That's being open minded, and growing personally and all that good stuff, right? ;D
I don't know man. I'm a huge film and music buff and if I only watched movies by "cool" people, I'd have like 20 on my shelf. You also have to remember that, at least in my opinion, most creatives like Kojima don't take themselves nearly as seriously as the press etc. typically interpret them. This is a dude who literally includes piss and shit jokes as gameplay mechanics in almost every game and what not. I truly believe his games have much more whimsical fun elements in them than this "serious pretentious fartist" image that's been created. You watch any interview with the dude and he seems like a jolly and excited kid. He always talks up his staff and what not and people like working with him.

To be clear, I'm not a mega fan or anything. Just coming from music and film "scenes", the actual interview etc. Kojima just seems like a silly dude who likes to have fun and throw all his artistic whims at the wall and go for it. I can respect that aspect greatly in an age of Ubisoft Blockbusters and McSlop AAAA. Anyway, not a defense force here at all just my $0.02. I wouldn't let Kojima's image deter you from trying a unique, new experience. Maybe you'll really dig it....maybe you'll hate him even more after lol

Try Again Lets Go GIF by Acorn TV
 
Make it make sense man!

APAS hello? How the hell were they able to do that and have all that without a connection? Alright DHV Magellan is high tech and uses Tar and Beaches to travel. Cool. But how? Where did you lot get all this power from? I hope it gets explained later on cause it's not sitting well with me
 
bouncing off this quite quickly as expected.... It's just as frustrating as the first game but somehow the storytelling is worse. something I never thought possible. I know some people like this shit but it's peak Kojima nonesense, I just want to stab forks in my eyes.

I don't believe you.gif - sounds like bait.
 
Finally

ZLRoCkDbkA6LLdw8.jpg


Fantastic intro, the music, the visuals (good Lord), the sense of scale, nobody does it like Kojima. I've got the next 3 days to dig in, need to make my wife understand this is of the utmost importance lol. Also, always knew I had the DOOMs...
 
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I don't believe you.gif - sounds like bait.

well, the reason is I just don't understand why every character ineraction has to be so convoluted and cryptic. Kojima's storytelling to me at lesst feels incredibly self-indulgent, with a tendency to include shit that is more about showcasing his 'creativity' than serving the narrative.

I understand some people like this style, for me it just makes me confused and the story itself is not nearly as interesting as Kojima thinks it is.
 
Dude felt barely like a talking protagonist in the first one, every line must cost 10 dollars or something (not sure why, dude biggest success was freakin twd that went to shit after 1 season...)
That's because he had "goddamn cottonmouth" drinking monster energy all the time!
 
I wonder what mindset they were in to think a 6 minute final trailer was a good idea.
Not sure if this final trailer was edited by Kojima himself, but Koji Pro released a similar one for the DS Director's Cut (albeit a bit shorter than this one for DS2). It's still one of my favorite trailers in recent memory.

 
I kind of see Kojima as a Jazz artist or a Jazz band. He improvises a lot while staying in a certain boundary of overal rules (chord progression). This gives him a lot of space to put in unique ideas but in a still sort of grounded world. But like jazz it's not for everyone and like jazz a lot people think it's trying to be over pretentious. I think it's just a style or language he tries to speak.
A bit like David Lynch

But does the man have an ego? Ow definitely; he knows he's great. But so did Miles Davis

But maybe you think this analogy is stupid. It's just how I look at it.
Even if you dont like Kojima's writing, his visual world building in Death Stranding franchise is absolutely S tier. Up there with any Fromsoft game. If there was no tangible story or dialogue in Death Stranding, the game would still completely work, imo. Just through visuals, the game world feels fully realized and unique, similar to Bloodborne or Elden Ring
 
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Even if you dont like Kojima's writing, his visual world building in Death Stranding franchise is absolutely S tier. Up there with any Fromsoft game. If there was no tangible story or dialogue in Death Stranding, the game would still completely work, imo. Just through visuals, the game world feels fully realized and unique, similar to Bloodborne or Elden Ring

Yeah I absolutely loved the first one but not because of the writing, the concept itself just really clicked with me. I forgot 95% of its story tbh and I am not big on SciFi anyway but in games I can digest it better. Very very enthousiast to start in a bit.
 
This game improves on the first in every conceivable way.

I do wish the stealth was a bit harder/more in depth, but maybe it'll upgrade as we get to full outpost infiltration vs the open camps currently. I also wish we had prone stealth. Still, I'm enjoying ditching my pack on the outskirts and going full MGSV with the taser gun.

First boss was also an improvement mechanically over anything in the first, but not drastically. Good start.

Yeah I absolutely loved the first one but not because of the writing, the concept itself just really clicked with me. I forgot 95% of its story tbh and I am not big on SciFi anyway but in games I can digest it better. Very very enthousiast to start in a bit.
I've played the original twice (the second time more recently), and I still don't really understand the metaphysical stuff Amelie monologued about for an hour at the end.

I enjoyed the more personal story with Mads and the Bridges/Die-hardman betrayal though. Mama and Heartman had cool stories too, so the first had some good stuff there (though Higgs/Fragile were misses for me).
 
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Yeah I absolutely loved the first one but not because of the writing, the concept itself just really clicked with me. I forgot 95% of its story tbh and I am not big on SciFi anyway but in games I can digest it better. Very very enthousiast to start in a bit.
Yeah, I did the exact same thing. I did not really care about the singular beats of the story either. I just played it from the perspective of having to connect the world through deliveries. It surprisingly doesn't feel like i missed out on anything playing DS1 that way. I am sure it will be the same for DS2. I still watch all the cutscenes because they are visually amazing
 
I don't know man. I'm a huge film and music buff and if I only watched movies by "cool" people, I'd have like 20 on my shelf. You also have to remember that, at least in my opinion, most creatives like Kojima don't take themselves nearly as seriously as the press etc. typically interpret them. This is a dude who literally includes piss and shit jokes as gameplay mechanics in almost every game and what not. I truly believe his games have much more whimsical fun elements in them than this "serious pretentious fartist" image that's been created. You watch any interview with the dude and he seems like a jolly and excited kid. He always talks up his staff and what not and people like working with him.

To be clear, I'm not a mega fan or anything. Just coming from music and film "scenes", the actual interview etc. Kojima just seems like a silly dude who likes to have fun and throw all his artistic whims at the wall and go for it. I can respect that aspect greatly in an age of Ubisoft Blockbusters and McSlop AAAA. Anyway, not a defense force here at all just my $0.02. I wouldn't let Kojima's image deter you from trying a unique, new experience. Maybe you'll really dig it....maybe you'll hate him even more after lol

Try Again Lets Go GIF by Acorn TV
So there ARE people out there who see it the same (y)

He is always happy when doing interviews, always smiling, joking... He talks highly about other people while other people talk highly of him, always praising his genius level thinking and directing skills and saying that he tries to make everyone feel comfortable ... But he is a pretentious hack, bad writer and awful director, yeah right
 
Oh come the fuck on, the delivery dude came when i was not avaialble so now the delivery is postponed to tomorrow, hopefully the fucker is gonna change hour of the day for the delivery.
 
Ahh I wanted to wait and play this on PC to max it all out. But the new game hype is getting to me.

Never played the first one and I thought it might be boring. This one looks more exciting and has combat so I think I want to get it….but I want to play with the highest settings. Soo now Im considering getting a PS5 Pro…how is it not on sale yet?!

I was going to get a PS5 Pro eventually for GTA6 but
 
Oh come the fuck on, the delivery dude came when i was not avaialble so now the delivery is postponed to tomorrow, hopefully the fucker is gonna change hour of the day for the delivery.

That sucks. Which Carrier and is it regular physical? Curious on why you would need to be present for the delivery unless you requested it?
 
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