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Death Stranding |OT| Keep Walking, Nothing To See Here

Humdinger

Member
Question. I'm considering a purchase. Do I have to be consistently connected to the internet to enjoy the game? Or can I just connect occasionally, get downloads, and then play offline for long stretches of time?

I've read about the way the game incorporates things that other players leave in the world, which help you out, and how you can also help others out by doing the same.

My issue is, I normally play unplugged, with occasional hookups to get updates (like once every week or two). Will that style of play work for Death Stranding? Or do I need to be plugged in all the time?
 

MiguelItUp

Member
Question. I'm considering a purchase. Do I have to be consistently connected to the internet to enjoy the game? Or can I just connect occasionally, get downloads, and then play offline for long stretches of time?

I've read about the way the game incorporates things that other players leave in the world, which help you out, and how you can also help others out by doing the same.

My issue is, I normally play unplugged, with occasional hookups to get updates (like once every week or two). Will that style of play work for Death Stranding? Or do I need to be plugged in all the time?
You do not need to be consistently connected to play and/or enjoy. That being said, Kojima mentions it's preferred so you can experience the gameplay element of sharing structures and items with other players.

As someone that completed the game, I'll add that seeing other people's structures and interacting with them definitely helped carry the game's weight.

If you're still incredibly interested and have a limited connection, I think the experience will still be very good. So I'd definitely recommend checking it out than not, personally.
 

#Phonepunk#

Banned
The game is pretty seamless about incorporation online elements, which are mostly tied to your SP in game progress anyways. My internet connection goes down constantly and I never have an issue. If you’ve leveled up an area enough to see constructions they should appear whether you are connected or not.
 

Mista

Banned
Question. I'm considering a purchase. Do I have to be consistently connected to the internet to enjoy the game? Or can I just connect occasionally, get downloads, and then play offline for long stretches of time?

I've read about the way the game incorporates things that other players leave in the world, which help you out, and how you can also help others out by doing the same.

My issue is, I normally play unplugged, with occasional hookups to get updates (like once every week or two). Will that style of play work for Death Stranding? Or do I need to be plugged in all the time?
The game relies heavily on the online elements and it's a massive part of the experience. Once you've seen something built it'll be there even if you disconnect

My advice is always stay connected to get the most of the game but at the end it's up to you of course
 

Humdinger

Member
The game relies heavily on the online elements and it's a massive part of the experience. Once you've seen something built it'll be there even if you disconnect

My advice is always stay connected to get the most of the game but at the end it's up to you of course

What do I miss if I only update once a week or so? It sounds like once you check in, it will download everything everyone has built, and it will remain there even if you disconnect. I'm not clear on what I'll be missing out on, with occasional check-in's vs. persistent connection. Can you clarify that a bit?
 

Mista

Banned
What do I miss if I only update once a week or so? It sounds like once you check in, it will download everything everyone has built, and it will remain there even if you disconnect. I'm not clear on what I'll be missing out on, with occasional check-in's vs. persistent connection. Can you clarify that a bit?
Just whatever that isn’t built during your time offline and the upgrades. Later on in the game there’s new stuff too. So play as you like just try to frequently update every couple of days
 

Grinchy

Banned
I'm just not sure how I'm feeling at this point. There are times where I think this could become an awesome game and other times where I hesitate to even classify it as a game in the first place.

I just do not understand why every action comes with a cutscene you are just going to skip, why every menu interaction is so clunky, why 500 words are used to describe something that could be explained in a sentence, ect. And while I love the story elements not being explained so you're kept in the dark, so many of the actual gameplay mechanics are done that way too, which can often be frustrating.

When your tips menu has hundreds of wordy entries, you've done something wrong. You've gone mad. And I'm barely anywhere in the game! I'm going to keep going for a few more hours and decide then if this is getting shelved.
 

-Arcadia-

Banned
I'm just not sure how I'm feeling at this point. There are times where I think this could become an awesome game and other times where I hesitate to even classify it as a game in the first place.

I just do not understand why every action comes with a cutscene you are just going to skip, why every menu interaction is so clunky, why 500 words are used to describe something that could be explained in a sentence, ect. And while I love the story elements not being explained so you're kept in the dark, so many of the actual gameplay mechanics are done that way too, which can often be frustrating.

When your tips menu has hundreds of wordy entries, you've done something wrong. You've gone mad. And I'm barely anywhere in the game! I'm going to keep going for a few more hours and decide then if this is getting shelved.

I relate so much on bolded, despite loving the game. The pacing would be remarkably improved without this needless friction.

Adding this, likewise for how difficult Sam can be during heavy action scenes. There’s tactical thinking, then there’s making me walk slowly past an incapacitated BT while I’m jamming on run, because I didn’t put away a light item. :messenger_expressionless:

I do have to say, give it time. You’re early? Chapter 1 or 2? Everybody feels this way at first, and it’s kind of magnified if you stay in that first area too long. You’re in a tutorial and Chapter 3 is the entire game opening up in a really glorious way.

You’ve only seen the most basic framework of Death Stranding, and it’s not only a very different game by then, but continues to constantly reinvent itself, expand on mechanics, and introduce new ones, seemingly all the way though the game.
 

Mista

Banned
I'm just not sure how I'm feeling at this point. There are times where I think this could become an awesome game and other times where I hesitate to even classify it as a game in the first place.

I just do not understand why every action comes with a cutscene you are just going to skip, why every menu interaction is so clunky, why 500 words are used to describe something that could be explained in a sentence, ect. And while I love the story elements not being explained so you're kept in the dark, so many of the actual gameplay mechanics are done that way too, which can often be frustrating.

When your tips menu has hundreds of wordy entries, you've done something wrong. You've gone mad. And I'm barely anywhere in the game! I'm going to keep going for a few more hours and decide then if this is getting shelved.
1- If the game is simply not for your taste then you can simply drop it without the need of feeling tortured
2- Who the hell skips cutscenes especially when most of them are crucial for the story in games?!
3- I enjoyed all the details in the interviews, mails and tips. I didn't expect less from a perfectionist like Kojima
 

-Arcadia-

Banned
1- If the game is simply not for your taste then you can simply drop it without the need of feeling tortured
2- Who the hell skips cutscenes especially when most of them are crucial for the story in games?!
3- I enjoyed all the details in the interviews, mails and tips. I didn't expect less from a perfectionist like Kojima

Grinchy means the little cutscenes for every little action, like recycling.

I do have to disagree, because I was feeling similarly about the gameplay in some regards early on, even if I always loved the experience. I really think he should keep at it, because he likely hasn’t hit the real game yet.

I agree on the tips, though, it’s just a side effect of how deep and well-thought out the game is, and I love how many different mechanics are at play.
 
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Mista

Banned
Grinchy means the little cutscenes for every little action, like recycling.

I do have to disagree, because I was feeling similarly about the gameplay in some regards early on, even if I always loved the experience. I really think he should keep at it, because he likely hasn’t hit the real game yet.
Ah yes those were annoying but it can be skipped very fast
 

Con_Z_ǝdʇ

Live from NeoGAF, it's Friday Night!
You've gone mad.
That's right!

Kojima is mad. Sometimes in a good way. Sometimes confusing.

He can explain the world in one sentence and is unable to say really important things right out. It drags to long on some points. On purpose I think!

If I hadn't watched some trailers before the games release and got some information I would have been more confused than I allready was after starting the game.


But keep going! The game explains everthing quite well. It gets better every hour.

At least more than games like in the MGS series.
 

Con_Z_ǝdʇ

Live from NeoGAF, it's Friday Night!
3- I enjoyed all the details in the interviews, mails and tips. I didn't expect less from a perfectionist like Kojima
This right here!!!

If somebody thinks he likes the game at early hours... just dive into those mails and interviews.

They are so great! It adds an unbelieveable amount of thoughtfulness. You will get so much more out of the game by reading them. Just like in From Software games when you read item description.
 

Con_Z_ǝdʇ

Live from NeoGAF, it's Friday Night!
I agree on the tips, though, it’s just a side effect of how deep and well-thought out the game is, and I love how many different mechanics are at play.
I said it before in this thread that the amount of optional content in this game is crazy! And content is in relationship with gameplay mechanics!

It is just really "difficult" to decide if you want to progress with the story or unlock more, by fulfilling more contracts.
 

Mista

Banned
Got a psn card from my bro and saw this on sale so I decided to buy it.

Just made it to episode 3 and I am really digging this game. Super chill with great music. Just hope the story holds up by the end
Oh the story will be more than you can expect trust me. Have fun
 

LokusAbriss

Member
Pressing Question: will I always have tons of anxiety when I get near BTs?

They are not that big of a problem. But the worst thing is when you feel safe, thinking you sneaked around them successfully and then they come at you!

It is sometimes easier to let an attack happen and then run away from the beast. When you are out of the "battleground", the BTs are gone and you can continue with everything. Helps in areas, where you need to collect cargo.
 

Mista

Banned
Pressing Question: will I always have tons of anxiety when I get near BTs?
I fee you😂 A little bit later on maybe but it will reduce a lot. You’ll get the hang of it. Always think of them as how they are. They aren’t evil, they just want to be in the real life because they’re dead.
 

Grinchy

Banned
So I met the character voiced by Troy Baker and the whole sequence was fucking amazing. Those are the times when I am in love with the game.

Then, I made the bone-headed move of doing a side mission instead of progressing the story. I'm starting to feel like doing side missions is a mistake every time.

There is too much trial and error going on. Good design teachers a player things naturally. For example, there's an earlier mission that sends you somewhere and you encounter a bunch of BTs on the way. After getting to the destination, you can now travel to and from without encountering the BTs again. So, naturally, a player expecting good design thinks they've been taught that you won't be repeating the same BT scenario every time you go through that path.

The side mission I chose had no BTs on the way to the MULE camp. This reinforced the lesson that you won't just repeat the same BT scenario over and over and don't have to stock up your inventory for it. I stealth the camp perfectly, go to the facility nearby with my huge load, and save. On the way back, it just repeats the "BT every 3 feet" scenario that you just went through in the last mission. I could have easily prepared for this if there felt like there should be any reason to. But, just like the first time through it, it's all trial and error and preparation and logical thinking weren't meant to be there. And to me, that's bad design.
 

Lupin3

Targeting terrorists with a D-Pad
Now that a whole bunch has played the game here, how are your PS4 Pros doing noise level-wise? I'm intrigued, but don't dare to buy anything that may push my Pro, and thereby me, to insanity.
 

#Phonepunk#

Banned
yeah very quiet. PS4 Pro looks amazing as well. very wonderful and beautiful game.

still doing the odd delivery here, 170+ hours in. is there an end to deliveries eventually? been keeping track by seeing which ones i have rank completion on and doing the undone ones. i'm guessing you can eventually do all of them?

also the memory chips, i feel like i didn't explore that much, i have like half a dozen of them. oy...
 

KiNeMz

Banned
So I met the character voiced by Troy Baker and the whole sequence was fucking amazing. Those are the times when I am in love with the game.

Then, I made the bone-headed move of doing a side mission instead of progressing the story. I'm starting to feel like doing side missions is a mistake every time.

There is too much trial and error going on. Good design teachers a player things naturally. For example, there's an earlier mission that sends you somewhere and you encounter a bunch of BTs on the way. After getting to the destination, you can now travel to and from without encountering the BTs again. So, naturally, a player expecting good design thinks they've been taught that you won't be repeating the same BT scenario every time you go through that path.

The side mission I chose had no BTs on the way to the MULE camp. This reinforced the lesson that you won't just repeat the same BT scenario over and over and don't have to stock up your inventory for it. I stealth the camp perfectly, go to the facility nearby with my huge load, and save. On the way back, it just repeats the "BT every 3 feet" scenario that you just went through in the last mission. I could have easily prepared for this if there felt like there should be any reason to. But, just like the first time through it, it's all trial and error and preparation and logical thinking weren't meant to be there. And to me, that's bad design.

The BT areas are designated by some certain circumstances you will learn later. As you would assume, you get more efficient at travel by late game. It pays to do side content later on. Play the game anyway you want to. I think that the beauty of it.
 

Mista

Banned
yeah very quiet. PS4 Pro looks amazing as well. very wonderful and beautiful game.

still doing the odd delivery here, 170+ hours in. is there an end to deliveries eventually? been keeping track by seeing which ones i have rank completion on and doing the undone ones. i'm guessing you can eventually do all of them?

also the memory chips, i feel like i didn't explore that much, i have like half a dozen of them. oy...
I have one more settlement to max out and then I’ll see if there’s more. I assume there’s
 
Is there a way to identify what all structures you have created in the world so as to dismantle older ones to free up bandwidth? Also this game needs a better way to skip repeated cut-scenes instead of having to do two steps to skip.
 

KiNeMz

Banned
Is there a way to identify what all structures you have created in the world so as to dismantle older ones to free up bandwidth? Also this game needs a better way to skip repeated cut-scenes instead of having to do two steps to skip.
Go into the bridge link and it defaults to your own profile. You can view all your stats and useful data there.
 

#Phonepunk#

Banned
The BT areas are designated by some certain circumstances you will learn later. As you would assume, you get more efficient at travel by late game. It pays to do side content later on. Play the game anyway you want to. I think that the beauty of it.
Some areas just always have BTs some don’t, some have them a lot, like the Wind Farm, so in those cases it’s best to just note where the trouble areas are and bundle together a bunch of deliveries thru there so that u have to deal with it less.

Plus, there is a way to avoid more or less all BT encounters, but it is the reward for doing deliveries the hard way so I won’t spoil it. You are rewarded for your hard work with a number of traversal options that entirely bypass them. One delivery method still makes your sensor stop but you can continue on. The other you just go thru then entirely.

If you want to get to the story I’d suggest only doing Sam deliveries that should put u on the right path.
 
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ethomaz

Banned
I believe all areas with BT have times without BT.
I crossed Wind Farm without BT more than once.
Near Episode 4 you receive a map that shows where is raining (BT) and you can predict the map for 30 minutes in the future so you know if it will stop to rain soon or not.
The three to protect from Rain have an option to fast forward 10m so you can make the rain stop.

Of course when you are in a mission with BT then it will never stop to rain because it is required for the mission.
 
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Mista

Banned
You guys weren't kidding about things getting better in episode 3. I just played for like 3 hours and am only stopping because I need to get some sleep. Really digging the area and the missions here.
Oh you just wait mate. Things are going to be wild! Have fun
 

-Arcadia-

Banned
You guys weren't kidding about things getting better in episode 3. I just played for like 3 hours and am only stopping because I need to get some sleep. Really digging the area and the missions here.

Yep. If you go through the thread, this same thing happens over and over again, including to me. It’s crazy how consistent it is.

It makes me wonder if Episode 1 or 2 could have been altered to be a little more enjoyable, or if the slow burn is a necessary pillar of the design.

I think my problem was thinking like I do with other games. Usually, games don’t completely reinvent themselves constantly throughout their playtime. You get a set of mechanics, and that’s mostly it. So, I transferred that to DS, and largely assumed the limited early-game mechanics were all the game would ever be.

Which ended up creating a real, ‘Is this it?’ feeling for the gameplay, even though I loved the vibes and ideas of the experience.
 
I believe all areas with BT have times without BT.
I crossed Wind Farm without BT more than once.
Near Episode 4 you receive a map that shows where is raining (BT) and you can predict the map for 30 minutes in the future so you know if it will stop to rain soon or not.
The three to protect from Rain have an option to fast forward 10m so you can make the rain stop.

Of course when you are in a mission with BT then it will never stop to rain because it is required for the mission.

It's been over a month since i finished the game so somethings are vague memory wise, but there are specific locations that always have BT's and those locations always have Timefall. From what i understand and remember, Timefall is a seperate "enemy" or gameplay mechanic that requires you to do better planning.

In my experience (although the later updates might changed stuff), i was always seeing BT's on the same spots, and always Timefall started happening on those BT spots. I even remember all the spots, although not the names that much.


1st Map - Always, at forest, before port knot, before, delivery, close to the starting facility after crossing the two rivers straight ahead from that, at the second map, always, near the desert of the Junkyard, near South Know at the bridges, next to the pizza guy. Anyway, never found a random spot (unless it was part of the main story, which obviously changes the natural flow of things) that had them.
 
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Grinchy

Banned
Yep. If you go through the thread, this same thing happens over and over again, including to me. It’s crazy how consistent it is.

It makes me wonder if Episode 1 or 2 could have been altered to be a little more enjoyable, or if the slow burn is a necessary pillar of the design.

I think my problem was thinking like I do with other games. Usually, games don’t completely reinvent themselves constantly throughout their playtime. You get a set of mechanics, and that’s mostly it. So, I transferred that to DS, and largely assumed the limited early-game mechanics were all the game would ever be.

Which ended up creating a real, ‘Is this it?’ feeling for the gameplay, even though I loved the vibes and ideas of the experience.
Yeah, I was thinking about that earlier. I wonder if instead of giving the illusion of freedom for the first 2 chapters, it would have been better to have a tight, linear, story mission only run up to chapter 3. Then the game opens and Die Hardman tells you about how there are new orders available in the previous area.

It really hurt the experience for someone like me who always does side stuff when it's available. I was like 9+ hours in when I got to chapter 3! That's 9 hours of gimped gameplay and wondering wtf kojima was thinking.
 

ethomaz

Banned
It's been over a month since i finished the game so somethings are vague memory wise, but there are specific locations that always have BT's and those locations always have Timefall. From what i understand and remember, Timefall is a seperate "enemy" or gameplay mechanic that requires you to do better planning.

In my experience (although the later updates might changed stuff), i was always seeing BT's on the same spots, and always Timefall started happening on those BT spots. I even remember all the spots, although not the names that much.


1st Map - Always, at forest, before port knot, before, delivery, close to the starting facility after crossing the two rivers straight ahead from that, at the second map, always, near the desert of the Junkyard, near South Know at the bridges, next to the pizza guy. Anyway, never found a random spot (unless it was part of the main story, which obviously changes the natural flow of things) that had them.
If you are in a mission that include BTs yeap you will ever have rain and BTs.
But if you are not then you can wait until the rain stop (no rain = no BT).
I did test in a lot of places and the rain stop if you fast forward the time (sometimes needs 50m or more).
BTW if you kill the BT you will have o rain (and so no BT) for some time too in every place.

You have a map that shows where is raining now and in the next 30 minutes.

PS. I just delivery two pizza and I never got BT or rain in both cases.
 
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If you are in a mission that include BTs yeap you will ever have rain and BTs.
But if you are not then you can wait until the rain stop (no rain = no BT).
I did test in a lot of places and the rain stop if you fast forward the time (sometimes needs 50m or more).
BTW if you kill the BT you will have o rain (and so no BT) for some time too in every place.

On free roaming (no orders) i could never exhaust the BT's on their area, unless i stood still let them grab me spawn the boss, kill or escape the boss, which gave me a small window of no BT's for about 5 minutes in that spot.

And in sidequest orders i kept getting them always on the same spots.

I never used the shelters to be honest, the game was extremely easy to bother with those and never had a problem even completing premium orders on hard, so i don't know if skipping time outside a BT spot would make them dissapear.
 
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Terenty

Member
I never used the shelters to be honest, the game was extremely easy to bother with those and never had a problem even completing premium orders on hard, so i don't know if skipping time outside a BT spot would make them dissapear.

Getting caught and killing the boss or running away only gets rid of BTs for about 5 mins, whereas if you wait out the rain under a shelter they will be gone much longer allowing you to go back and forth without them for quite a long time. Its especially usefull if you are building something or trying to 5 star
 
Getting caught and killing the boss or running away only gets rid of BTs for about 5 mins, whereas if you wait out the rain under a shelter they will be gone much longer allowing you to go back and forth without them for quite a long time. Its especially usefull if you are building something or trying to 5 star

I know, i'm saying it on my first sentence. In my game i saw different behavior. Specific spots for BT's. Not once in the game (after encoutering them once) got suprised by them.

As for the shelters, never had the need to build them, i've actually built only one for the trophy, it's not that hard to 5 star the Facilities, except maybe two or three that are on hard locations.
 

Phase

Member
Is there a way to identify what all structures you have created in the world so as to dismantle older ones to free up bandwidth? Also this game needs a better way to skip repeated cut-scenes instead of having to do two steps to skip.
You can dismantle your structures from the map screen.
 
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