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Death Stranding Review Thread

If you read the reviews, they mostly still say the same thing about those points. It's just the score is suspiciously high for how the actual reviews read. We already know Famitsu score is bought and paid for. Seems OP or mods is going to continue to allow an inaccurate OP with metacritic and opencritic scores.

Not sure why fans are upset. There is way more sweeping under the rug in favor of DS than biased bashing. I read these threads and their complaints and think, try being an xbox fan. Every xbox thread is 10x worse than this. You got it good.

Because a former Famitsu editor Hirokazu Hamamura is in game? Are others reviews also payed because giving high scores too?

This surely wouldn't bothers you if Death Stranding is an Xbone game.
 
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FranXico

Member
I read these threads and their complaints and think, try being an xbox fan. Every xbox thread is 10x worse than this. You got it good.
The amount of trolling, shitposting and low level insults seen in this thread has far exceeded those seen in any Xbox exclusive thread.

Seems OP or mods is going to continue to allow an inaccurate OP with metacritic and opencritic scores.

BTW, both mods and OP have been asked to update the OP. Since watching the score go down is so important to you.
 
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treemk

Banned
The more I think about it the more I realize how stupid it is for this game to get reviewed poorly. It's not for everyone that's for sure, but for who it is for I think it's an undisputed masterpiece. I don't like sports games but if I played the best one available and then rating it poorly that would just be incompetent and unfair if I was a professional critic. I can completely understand if you're not into this kind of thing with your gaming time, but if you are it is a 10/10. Part of the issue is that it is a new thing so there's not clear boundaries for what type of game it is and who would be into it. The "walking simulator" complaints make me think of classic WoW which also has a shit ton of walking, way more time spent walking and it's way less engaging - you literally just hit autorun and steer a bit. But it's understood that it's a type of game that requires a certain level of patience, and the walking is something you have to go through to earn your way towards more efficient travel methods.
 

molasar

Banned
Let's not forget it is a swimming simulator as well. I have moved some stuff from one bank of the river to the other one this way to save some time.
Like a real otter.
751d975e82c6d04217a5f3fc1b2c55e5.jpg
 
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mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
The more I think about it the more I realize how stupid it is for this game to get reviewed poorly. It's not for everyone that's for sure, but for who it is for I think it's an undisputed masterpiece. I don't like sports games but if I played the best one available and then rating it poorly that would just be incompetent and unfair if I was a professional critic. I can completely understand if you're not into this kind of thing with your gaming time, but if you are it is a 10/10. Part of the issue is that it is a new thing so there's not clear boundaries for what type of game it is and who would be into it. The "walking simulator" complaints make me think of classic WoW which also has a shit ton of walking, way more time spent walking and it's way less engaging - you literally just hit autorun and steer a bit. But it's understood that it's a type of game that requires a certain level of patience, and the walking is something you have to go through to earn your way towards more efficient travel methods.

The bolded makes 100% PERFECT SENSE!
 

MiguelItUp

Member
The bolded makes 100% PERFECT SENSE!
Right? That was what I was thinking about for awhile as well. Actually anytime "walking simulator" is/was brought up. WoW and MMOs in general contain a TON of walking and on foot traveling, but they're loved by MILLIONS of people. But some people can't get into them at all, never have, and never will. Those that love will praise it/them to no end, those that couldn't care less will be negative and possibly berate them cause it's just not their cup of tea.

Those that love will review high and praise, those that hate will review low and avoid/berate.

All in all this doesn't mean they've failed, this doesn't mean they WILL fail. This just means they aren't for you, and that's okay as such things exist for everyone.
 

tassletine

Member
How does the title "Death Stranding" sound pretentious?

Pretentious : Attempting to impress by affecting greater importance or merit than is actually possessed.

Death Stranding is a new term only applicable to the game. It's asks of you what does that mean? Sucking you into finding out. That it's got Death in the title alone makes it sound damn important.
Death Stranding -- What can that be? The title makes no actual sense though.

Now, I haven't played the game, but that sounds like a pretty pretentious title for the sort of gameplay it offers.
Doubly so knowing that I'll have to sit through long cutscenes explaining in depth what the title means.

I like Kojima a lot but he has a tendency to take basic ideas (sometimes great ideas) and cover them with a load of nonsense is frustrating.
 

Saruhashi

Banned
The more I think about it the more I realize how stupid it is for this game to get reviewed poorly. It's not for everyone that's for sure, but for who it is for I think it's an undisputed masterpiece. I don't like sports games but if I played the best one available and then rating it poorly that would just be incompetent and unfair if I was a professional critic. I can completely understand if you're not into this kind of thing with your gaming time, but if you are it is a 10/10. Part of the issue is that it is a new thing so there's not clear boundaries for what type of game it is and who would be into it. The "walking simulator" complaints make me think of classic WoW which also has a shit ton of walking, way more time spent walking and it's way less engaging - you literally just hit autorun and steer a bit. But it's understood that it's a type of game that requires a certain level of patience, and the walking is something you have to go through to earn your way towards more efficient travel methods.

It gets me thinking about which games have absolutely no "down time" at all.

Online shooters maybe but even then there are some people who employ less aggressive and more defensive strategies.

Platform games maybe but those tend to not be so immersive and levels are generally quite short.

I'd argue that if you want to make a truly immersive game then you actually do need to have significant amounts of just spending time in the world. It might not be "walking" as such but to some extent you do need some kind of exploration or "slow it down and get immersed in the world" aspect.

It's a very strange mismatch between what the developer is actually trying to do and what the player is expecting.

Taking Breath of the Wild as an example. They want to show a quiet broken world that represents the remains of a once vast and busy kingdom.
How can you do that while also having the map packed full of NPC and enemies and things to do? I think maybe you can't.

There's a bit of a divergence between that creators can potentially do with the medium and what consumers actually want.
I think even the phrase "walking simulator" is a good illustration of that.
If you want to make an immersive, world building experience, then just walking around in the world and looking at stuff is a necessary component of that.
However, if players want action and events happening around every corner then it's more difficult to get that right.
 

ethomaz

Banned
Pretentious : Attempting to impress by affecting greater importance or merit than is actually possessed.

Death Stranding is a new term only applicable to the game. It's asks of you what does that mean? Sucking you into finding out. That it's got Death in the title alone makes it sound damn important.
Death Stranding -- What can that be? The title makes no actual sense though.

Now, I haven't played the game, but that sounds like a pretty pretentious title for the sort of gameplay it offers.
Doubly so knowing that I'll have to sit through long cutscenes explaining in depth what the title means.

I like Kojima a lot but he has a tendency to take basic ideas (sometimes great ideas) and cover them with a load of nonsense is frustrating.
The bold explain a lot because you will know that in the Prologue already.
Death Stranding is the name of the mysterious cataclysmic event that destroyed the civilization and give birth to BPs.
You don't need to sit through long cut scenes to know that.
How do you know his ideias in this game is nonsense if you didn't play it? lol

It is the same as you hate a movie title without watch the movie to know why the titles was chosen.
 
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treemk

Banned
Pretentious : Attempting to impress by affecting greater importance or merit than is actually possessed.

Death Stranding is a new term only applicable to the game. It's asks of you what does that mean? Sucking you into finding out. That it's got Death in the title alone makes it sound damn important.
Death Stranding -- What can that be? The title makes no actual sense though.

Now, I haven't played the game, but that sounds like a pretty pretentious title for the sort of gameplay it offers.
Doubly so knowing that I'll have to sit through long cutscenes explaining in depth what the title means.

I like Kojima a lot but he has a tendency to take basic ideas (sometimes great ideas) and cover them with a load of nonsense is frustrating.

It's not pretensions or obscure, death is stranded on earth and humans are left dealing with the consequences. You may spend the game finding out what caused it but you understand what it means from basically the very beginning of the game.
 
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imsosleepy

Member
I actually wonder if the community aspect really was the main factor of reviewers shitting on DS.

Don't get me wrong most game journos are useless, but the online aspect is absolutely vital for the game to function properly.

It maybe the first time in history when a game can't be properly reviewed before release at all.
I just head to get to a new point wich was a super long distance away and hard to traverse. Reviewers mostly walked all that. I helped build a highway and others finished it and I drove to it on a bike...
 

ethomaz

Banned
RT shits on the game


I believe his criticisms could be better posted before the launch.
Now it is basically looks like false attempts.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
You can guess what his review is... how wrong and not objective can a person be?
Well, at least Mack is a "character" reviewer and everyone knows the type of games he will like or not before he touches them
 

Psykodad

Banned
[
RT shits on the game


The game is full of criticism about the US, NATO, spreading of "democracy" etc and that is based on just the first three chapters.

I don't think it's contradictory that Kojima is sceptic about americans. Lol
 
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MiguelItUp

Member
The title makes no actual sense though.

Now, I haven't played the game.
Honestly before even playing the game I looked at the title and wondered if it meant anything. Reading "Death Stranding" made me think of purgatory, because it's death being stranded. But then it also made me wonder if it had something to do with death being stranded elsewhere. Maybe even in the real world. Which also seemed pretty plausible with what the trailers had shown us over the years. I can't imagine I was the only one that thought about that or made that potential connection.

Come on man, lmao.
 

ethomaz

Banned
Honestly before even playing the game I looked at the title and wondered if it meant anything. Reading "Death Stranding" made me think of purgatory, because it's death being stranded. But then it also made me wonder if it had something to do with death being stranded elsewhere. Maybe even in the real world. Which also seemed pretty plausible with what the trailers had shown us over the years. I can't imagine I was the only one that thought about that or made that potential connection.

Come on man, lmao.
How dare that Kojima being pretentious to title a game where the death is stranded as Death Stranding.
I can't accept suck narcissism.

Because it is a Kojima game people will even blame the title without knowing nothing about the game lol
 
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mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Pretentious : Attempting to impress by affecting greater importance or merit than is actually possessed.

Death Stranding is a new term only applicable to the game. It's asks of you what does that mean? Sucking you into finding out. That it's got Death in the title alone makes it sound damn important.
Death Stranding -- What can that be? The title makes no actual sense though.

Now, I haven't played the game, but that sounds like a pretty pretentious title for the sort of gameplay it offers.
Doubly so knowing that I'll have to sit through long cutscenes explaining in depth what the title means.

I like Kojima a lot but he has a tendency to take basic ideas (sometimes great ideas) and cover them with a load of nonsense is frustrating.

Don't you think you are being a bit unfair, considering what I bolded from you? Does a title for a movie, game, or music album have to "make sense" on the surface? Isn't it expected that you'll have to play the game in order to get the title?
 

TheSHEEEP

Gold Member

:messenger_tears_of_joy::messenger_tears_of_joy::messenger_tears_of_joy::messenger_tears_of_joy::messenger_tears_of_joy:

Yeah, about what I expected.
Love how he compares the game to someone who sneezes into a tissue, throws it on the floor, says "This is art" and everyone goes "*gasp* It's amazing"! :messenger_tears_of_joy:

I fully agree with him that if this game wasn't made by Kojima and didn't star Hollywood people, its ratings would be much, much, much worse across the board.
 
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Nothing will ever stop the Persecution Complex Express. Choo choo, mofos!
But this thread is one big persecution complex over an 83 scored game, which is a great score if you're into ratings that dont really mean anything as taste is subjective.

Dont think its crying to ask for an accurate OP. 🤷‍♂️
 

ethomaz

Banned

:messenger_tears_of_joy::messenger_tears_of_joy::messenger_tears_of_joy::messenger_tears_of_joy::messenger_tears_of_joy:

Yeah, about what I expected.
Love how he compares the game to someone who sneezes into a tissue, throws it on the floor, says "This is art" and everyone goes "*gasp* It's amazing"! :messenger_tears_of_joy:

I fully agree with him that if this game wasn't made by Kojima and didn't star Hollywood people, its ratings would be much, much, much worse across the board.

I believe it should be much, much, much, better score.
If it was a Indie game than it should be called genial.
 
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Bryank75

Banned

:messenger_tears_of_joy::messenger_tears_of_joy::messenger_tears_of_joy::messenger_tears_of_joy::messenger_tears_of_joy:

Yeah, about what I expected.
Love how he compares the game to someone who sneezes into a tissue, throws it on the floor, says "This is art" and everyone goes "*gasp* It's amazing"! :messenger_tears_of_joy:

I fully agree with him that if this game wasn't made by Kojima and didn't star Hollywood people, its ratings would be much, much, much worse across the board.


That really is not a fair comparison, you are trying to say something that took no effort and has no actual meaning is equivalent to a game that took years to make, has easily 45 hours of content in just the main story and probably over 100 to complete everything. A game that may start off slow but has epic boss battles, excellent acting, some poignant and touching moments and excellent topography, graphics and gameplay.

Some people might lose interest in it, it's much more of an RPG than it was initially suggested and the story does get convoluted a little but there are great innovations and the themes are explored nicely.

It's so disingenuous and dishonest to parrot these views, just more blind hater talk.
 

Bryank75

Banned

His big problems are that it has Monster energy in it and it's too easy...... and that some of the story is contradictory. HA

The rules of the world in DS are not the same as the rules in the real world, he just came at the whole thing from a closed minded perspective.

The only thing that is deeply flawed is his concept of what a good game is.
 

Bryank75

Banned
He may be wrong but that is an excellent review lol
He just makes bullshit clickbait videos... tries to drum up attention by being controversial.

Most games these days are easy, so that criticism is bullshit.
Being caught by the BT's is very inconvenient so you don't want that to happen, just cause he didnt give a shit about being caught really shows that he wasn't invested..
Same with him not feeling the emotion and questioning some of the plotpoints, it seems like he had decided he was not invested before playing.
 

ethomaz

Banned
He just makes bullshit clickbait videos... tries to drum up attention by being controversial.

Most games these days are easy, so that criticism is bullshit.
Being caught by the BT's is very inconvenient so you don't want that to happen, just cause he didnt give a shit about being caught really shows that he wasn't invested..
Same with him not feeling the emotion and questioning some of the plotpoints, it seems like he had decided he was not invested before playing.
He probably started the game already with that mindset.
 

Bryank75

Banned
He probably started the game already with that mindset.
Yup, that is the impression I get.
DS reminds me of Bladerunner or Mad max..... if you sit down and watch Mad Max and before you do read that it was shot in Australia, then sit down and watch it and keep saying to yourself 'this is australia, not a post-apocalyptic wateland' you're not going to enjoy it because you have damaged the illusion based on your mindset. Same deal with this guy.


This guy had the idea..
 
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imsosleepy

Member

:messenger_tears_of_joy::messenger_tears_of_joy::messenger_tears_of_joy::messenger_tears_of_joy::messenger_tears_of_joy:

Yeah, about what I expected.
Love how he compares the game to someone who sneezes into a tissue, throws it on the floor, says "This is art" and everyone goes "*gasp* It's amazing"! :messenger_tears_of_joy:

I fully agree with him that if this game wasn't made by Kojima and didn't star Hollywood people, its ratings would be much, much, much worse across the board.

yea I really dont get that.. ITs a really, really good game for what it is. Its graphics are insane, there are no bugs, the mechanics are really wel thought out and work well, the movements are smooth as fuck, there are alot of new cool ideas in this game like the death mechanic, the purgatory, the climbing, the traversal, map design, amazing cutscenes, great characters, good pacing

If you dont like it thats fine, but we cant deny its a really good game. But why is this game judged SO HARSHLY?
I really dont get it. There are so many different types of games and often times if a reviewer does not like a certain type he stil reviews it and appreciates it for whatit is and can look at it if its good or not but with this game.. its just a hard ''IT SUCKS'' no mention of anything good in the game
 

imsosleepy

Member
His big problems are that it has Monster energy in it and it's too easy...... and that some of the story is contradictory. HA

The rules of the world in DS are not the same as the rules in the real world, he just came at the whole thing from a closed minded perspective.

The only thing that is deeply flawed is his concept of what a good game is.
fucking minecraft is easy to, the game does not necessarily wants to be very hard, its not its intention. People have such weird expectations of this game and then judge it hard when it does not align with what they wanted from it instead of judging it for what it is
 

imsosleepy

Member

I never have been so disconnected from reviewers then this game. the journey is amazing to me. Yet here yet again another "not recommended" review

Just full blown not recommended. Not even a "not my type of game but a good game nonetheless"

There aint many triple a games that get that.. but I am Glad that most people who try it in the ot love it
 

Saruhashi

Banned
yea I really dont get that.. ITs a really, really good game for what it is. Its graphics are insane, there are no bugs, the mechanics are really wel thought out and work well, the movements are smooth as fuck, there are alot of new cool ideas in this game like the death mechanic, the purgatory, the climbing, the traversal, map design, amazing cutscenes, great characters, good pacing

If you dont like it thats fine, but we cant deny its a really good game. But why is this game judged SO HARSHLY?
I really dont get it. There are so many different types of games and often times if a reviewer does not like a certain type he stil reviews it and appreciates it for whatit is and can look at it if its good or not but with this game.. its just a hard ''IT SUCKS'' no mention of anything good in the game

In my opinion, the game is judged so harshly because it's Kojima.

People say that it gets good reviews only because it's Kojima but at the same time some of the harsh reviews are more harsh because it's Kojima.

I can understand it. At times Kojima can honestly be completely full of shit. Also there is a lot of almost "hero worship" of Kojima in the gaming sphere.
So I think if there are people who want to bring him down off his high horse then that makes sense.

I think people get annoyed when they see Kojima getting all this publicity and basically being allowed to act like he is the fuckin king of gaming or something.

He is a very good developer and I like his work. I love Death Stranding too but I also think the guy talks a load of old shite at times.

Many critics see him as a guy who wished he could make movies but is stuck making video games and Kojima seems to give off that kind of vibe actually.

Which is fucking weird since his games are always so heavily packed with weird and interesting gameplay quirks and systems. Gameplay, game mechanics, how to tell a story via the medium of a game is what he actually excels at but still this thing that "Kojima wishes he could make movies" persists. It's so fucking strange.

One of my thoughts on Death Stranding is that it's an indie game that somehow ended up with a AAA budget.
The ideas, the mechanics, the core of the game is something you might see coming out of a game jam or something like that.
It's a great and interesting idea that would be confined to some niche pixel art game that would sell for 15 bucks and would get little attention from the mainstream.

What happened though is they managed to get the budget to turn it into a REALLY polished and fully padded out experience.
Then they had a big mysterious marketing campaign that is usually only for big AAA releases.
Then they had a series of kind of pretentious interviews and presentations and whatnot.

So when the game releases it is coming up against people who are VERY set in their ways regarding what a game ought to be and what a AAA game ought to be.
This is poorly articulated by just describing it as "boring" or "walking simulator" or "it's just taking packages from A to B".

An indie release would not really face this and would be given room to "breathe" and find it's audience.
It's kind of weird to see people lining up to put the boot in when it seems obvious to me that this would not normally happen.

"If Ubisoft or EA released this then you'd all be saying it's shit". That's the thing though Ubisoft and EA would NEVER release this. They just play it safe to get their sales numbers and they avoid the baying mob because their games are just straightforward and mainstream.

If Ubisoft or EA released this then I would 100% be on board. It's unique, the gameplay is compelling, the world is immersive and the whole package is very thoughtful and interesting.
 

Neff

Member
if you sit down and watch Mad Max and before you do read that it was shot in Australia, then sit down and watch it and keep saying to yourself 'this is australia, not a post-apocalyptic wateland'

I always got the impression that Mad Max's Australia escaped relatively unscathed from the fallout, but (and here's where we strand into Death Stranding) fell into decline due to the collapse of global logistics and trade.

Death Stranding is still great btw

In my opinion, the game is judged so harshly because it's Kojima.

People were clearly itching for him to take a fall, and honestly I can see why. But you've gotta give Kojima credit- he delivered (no pun intended), like he always does.
 
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HelpYouFall

Member
You can guess what his review is... how wrong and not objective can a person be?
Well, at least Mack is a "character" reviewer and everyone knows the type of games he will like or not before he touches them


1) He's a critic. They're not supposed to be objective. There is no 'wrong' in having an opinion either.
2) He's highly entertaining (to some) and I think it's mostly what he's aiming for. His "angry old man yells at cloud" routine is very deliberate in that sense.
3) You are actually wrong about him having his mind made up before he plays a game. On the top of my head he has thumbed up Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Modern Warfare and Gears 5. Games that I thought for sure would get bodybagged by him
4) The fact that he's so popular, is a clear indication his opinion resonates with a certain demographic. Namely people who are tired of the way some companies try to sell their games and and overall feeling of games being dumbed down and made idiot proof while being hyped to death. I'm talking in general here, cause that's not how I see Kojima Productions at all. His clip of the 'combat' in this game is very telling in that sense though, maybe? It doesn't have to be your opinion obviously, but his point that the combat in this game (and others) is retarded and mindnumbingly boring is as valid (he even provides proof of how stupid it looks) as that of someone who only rambles on about how brilliant this game is
 
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