For those of you that played the original Death Stranding

Did you enjoy the original Death Stranding?

  • Yes

    Votes: 222 62.2%

  • No

    Votes: 53 14.8%

  • Kinda

    Votes: 55 15.4%

  • Unsure

    Votes: 16 4.5%

  • What's a Death Stranding?

    Votes: 4 1.1%

  • Can you repeat the question?

    Votes: 7 2.0%
  • Total voters
    357
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Let me preface this post by stating I'm yet to play the original Death Stranding however the trailers and game play videos of DS2 really have me excited for playing the game, yet I don't wish to do so without playing DS1 first.

Whilst games are such a subjective medium, I hear a lot of mixed reviews as to whether DS1 is worth playing or more the point make me question would I even enjoy it. I am a bit cash strapped at the moment which makes the decision more difficult for me.

My question is to those of you that have played it did you enjoy it and if so why? Likewise if you hated it and never wanted to pick it up ever again, what did you hate about it and why?

To give you some background of my gaming taste when it comes to Kojima's games, I am a fan of the MGS series in general but never really got into ZoE.

If you made it this far, thanks and I look forward to reading your opinions.

Edit - mods I just noticed a typo in the title, if you could please fix.
 
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Thought it was boring. Might give it another chance but honestly what I played of it didn't impress me at all.
 
Only played the first hour or two. Up to when you …

get requested to meet with the US President, who happens yo be your mom, then she dies and you have to carry her body to a cremation site.

Standard Kojima kooky shit. You play his games for the above average gameplay and hope the nonsensical bullshit plot doesn't ruin the overall experience. After the ending to MGS2, I just can't with Kojima.
 
I was surprised how much I loved the weird quirky cargo delivery gameplay. Also enjoyed learning about the world they created, but I wasn't a big fan of the actual narrative. It's a bit sloppy and I really hated one of the characters that will unfortunately return in the sequel.
 
Took me a while to get into it, but then I started to take another approach to this game: Relax and slow pace. Then it came to me and I liked the gameplay, albeit simple, it's satisfying and relaxing in a way.
Couldn't care less about the story, just like any previous Kojima game to be fair. It's complicated just for the sake of being complicated and therefor, so far, never interesting. It's a just a mess of unnecessary twists and turns.

I like MGS because I'm a sucker for stealth games. That's about it.
 
It's something bold that's why I say not many will like it. As for me, I absolutely loved it. The journey was amazing and I actually enjoyed traversing the world and delivering cargo

People ask for new games all the time but when one was offered they said "ew" which is totally fine as I mentioned why at the beginning of the post

Death Stranding is one of those games that you have to play and decide for yourself if it's for you or not. Can't wait for DS2! Its going to be MENTAL
 
Klicked kinda. Enjoyed the game every now and then, at times it was even incredible. However, it lost me completely when it asked me to walk aaaaaalllllll the way back at the end. I was legit mad at that point. And then of course the 1000 endings…
 
I only made it a few hours. I do plan to try it again someday. Still ended up buying it twice on day 1 for some reason, so parts of it appealed to me. That intro was pretty painful though.
 
It had its moments. But also a lot of very boring and/or clunky minute to minute gameplay once the novelty of the concept had worn off.
I personally only finished it because I wanted to see the Kojima-Nonsense-Story through to the end. I´d not replay it if you paid me.
 
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Not really. I think having the traversal be the main gameplay element is an incredible idea on paper. And it is interesting for the first couple of trips but it gets old quite fast. Faster than you are able/supposed to build up the infrastructure. And I found the story to be incredibly poorly written by Kojima's standards. Just bruteforcing the subtext to be "text" in the most on-the-nose way I have seen. But at least it has some Kojima weirdness to it. I am glad it exists, it's just that I am too much of an uncultured retard to appreciate it, I guess.
 
Punished Miku said:
I only made it a few hours. I do plan to try it again someday. Still ended up buying it twice on day 1 for some reason, so parts of it appealed to me. That intro was pretty painful though.
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Same.

I've tried to play the game 3 times and I can't get past the first couple hours. It's just so dreadfully boring. I really want to like it though.
 
No, I did not enjoy it. I bought it for PS4 Pro day one and played for over 20 hours because I paid full price for it, but I couldn't push myself any further.

Years later, I tried it on PC and the same thing happened: it sucks. I have a feeling Kojima is the kind of guy who like to smell his own fart.
 
Some cool elements like the scope and music, but gameplay is so repetitive, so boring.
To get even worse, the story and characters are not worth the effort at all, completely uninteresting.

I can't imagine someone would torture themselves playing DS1 and DS2 in sequence.
Kojima's post-Konami is yet to release a game i care about. Physint is my only hope.
 
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Not that I didn't like it, but I found it dull when played on PS5 a few years ago. I'm not really into Kojima's quirks and fetishes even though I generally love weird stuff. Anyway, I gave up on it. Bought it again on Xbox, played for a few hours and gave up on it again. I don't know, I will give it another chance some day.
 
I liked it very much. So much so in fact I got the plat on both ps4 and ps5.
However… it's very slow and if you decide to build things, very repetitive as well. I don't mind it though since I mostly use it as a "break" for my brain, which after some particularly challenging work days were a very welcome form of escapism.
 
Played it through once when it first came out and when it released on Xbox last year.

It's probably worth sitting through for the crazy narrative, the game play itself was the weakest part of the package.
 
The game has a great story and atmosphere. It isn't really an action game though, and I think the gameplay is where most of the mixed opinions come from. Personally, I enjoyed the traversal, building bridges etc. But I also never really bothered doing the delivery stuff outside what was required by the story.
The game also isn't that difficult and is pretty easy to cheese.
I'm pretty sure it can be had these days for cheap though, so I would recommend giving it a go. If you really can't afford it or don't want to, then watch a playthrough on Youtube or something, as you shouldn't play DS2 without the first.
 
Loved it. Nothing beats setting up ziplines and building the roads

Really hope the BT and Mule locations aren't fixed in the upcoming sequel, would love more unpredictability
 
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Finished it on PS4 pro.
It was 50% fun, 50% a slog.

I remember liking punching troy baker oh-so-punchable-face in extreme closeup at the end tho

I think the game starts being good as soon as you stop caring about the dumb as rock plot and retarded Kojima symbolism.
 
Story is Kojima, but i wouldn't say it's his best, in fact i'd probably put it in the mid-lows.

Gameplay is good as long as you 'get it'. Definitely not for everyone tho.

I did a LTTP a few years back

Guilty_AI

LTTP  Thread 'LTTP: Death Stranding'

I'm a huge fan of the MGS saga, played everything from the first one to V, including Peace Walker and Rising revengeance. Naturally i wouldn't let the most recent game by Kojima Productions slip through my radar.

==//==

First of all, i will adress the most controversial aspect of it: the gameplay

The gameplay loop is easily one of the strongest aspects of the game for me. Lots of people say its boring or that its just an "walking simulator" but i didn't get that impression at all, much the contrary. The open world, the progression system, the types of mission, everything was clearly...
  • Like
  • Thoughtful
  • Love
  • Strength
  • Empathy
 
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It's a great game and a unique experience in itself for being primarily a courier travelling from one place to the next, with the gameplay loop evolving as things escalate ever forward after the start. Incredible soundtrack and atmosphere. Worth trying once for any newcomer.

I am going to be patient and wait a little longer for 2 as want to get the hopeful PC release like I did with FF7:Rebirth for the best experience out the gate.
 
The game is awesome but the story and writing are complete nonsense.

It has some missteps but I'm happy to deal with them for such a unique game. Nobody does it like Kojima so I'm happy he's finally getting to do what he wants, even if it's weird and little self indulgent.
 
I am fascinated by it. Some people praise it to high heavens.

I can pick it up cheaply on xbox but I decided to understand it first. That gameplay loop looks kinda not very appealing to me:



I am sort of player that values good moment to moment gameplay over everything else. I can play weird stuff for story etc but it needs to be short, 10 hrs experience.

Huge 50 hrs games with a gameplay like that? Cannot do.
 
Played the game at release and completed it very fast. I was immediately hooked on the deliveries and enjoyed the lack of combat. After some time I bought the DC for pc, but could not get into it again. Some weeks ago, I gave it a try again on pc and could not get my hands off it again. Had to stop, to not get burned out, before the release of DS2.

Purchased PS5 Pro and oled tv to be ready for DS2. Can not wait!
 
Little Mac said:
Only played the first hour or two. Up to when you …

get requested to meet with the US President, who happens yo be your mom, then she dies and you have to carry her body to a cremation site.

Standard Kojima kooky shit. You play his games for the above average gameplay and hope the nonsensical bullshit plot doesn't ruin the overall experience. After the ending to MGS2, I just can't with Kojima.
Click to expand...
Gameplay of the MGS franchise was always top tier. Not just "above average".
 
i played it on ps4pro at launch while it was kinda weird i hated when server disconnected u so game went same time off, dunno did they ever fixed that issue ?
 
Tried the first release and again with the director's cut.

Some neat ideas but didn't hold my interest for more than a couple hours. And I learned my lesson about "it gets better further in" a long time ago.
 
I bought the game based on the mysterious nature of the world presented in the trailers, and I wanted to see where things went. Gameplay wasn't what drew me in.
There are a few standout scenes where the actors really shine. Unfortunately, there is an actress in a minor part that was asked to perform in a language that was clearly not her native tongue.

The game is not difficult, so don't buy it if you're looking for a challenge.
You'll run the risk of boring yourself if you focus heavily on infrastructure.
If you have a hoarder's mentality, you'll make trips take longer than they should because you will find many packages in the wild.

But what it really boils down to is this: if you want to play a game where you weaponize your piss, shit, and blood, then Death Stranding is the game for you.
 
TintoConCasera said:
Thought it was boring. Might give it another chance but honestly what I played of it didn't impress me at all.
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The first time I played through it I was the same, then gave it a proper bash recently and absolutely fell in love with it. I started really enjoying it when I slowed down and stopped trying to rush through the story, I think a lot of people did the same and missed the point of it.

It's a masterpiece imo, cant wait for the sequel
 
I loved it but dont remember anything about the story. Game play is awesome in its very unique way. Play online to help and get help from others. It gets you "in the zone" after a while. Like I was having a blast just moving boxes...in paper it doesnt make sense. You have to play it and let the game guide you. Suspend disbelief and just let the game grab you. I think its one of the most unique blend of gameplay, online, story, graphics...it is truly a videogame hahha.
 
yes because the story has captivated me. one of the most intriguing stories i've ever seen in video games
it's in my personal top 10
130 hrs 100% completion
fully enjoyed the gameplay loop. it felt like i was actually in this world doing these deliveries. it made me forget i was playing a video game after a point

and of course stuff like this is just too fun
 
Absolutely love it. My #2 of all time.
The gameplay for me is addicting. Having to balance with L2/R2 got tiring when only used in short bursts so I just held both at the same time whenever I had to balance out. You're slower that way, but it feels better to me. And taking it slow is the name of the game here.

The story is serviceable, your usual Kojima sci-fi nonsense over the top stuff with a lot that gets lost in translation (imo). I once learned that in Japan it is polite to repeat something back to the person who is telling you a story or information (to show them you are listening). After that, I saw MGS different than before and snake constantly repeating 'Metal Gear' back to other people made a bit more sense. Still don't know if all of this is true or not but ever since then I think about what is lost when translating from a language perspective that functions completely different than my own and cut Kojima some slack which he might not deserve. But I don't care, I like his style, I think the name he gives his characters are silly of course, but I like all of this flavour to his games.

Played the game when it came out in November '19 for 60 hours and loved it.
Played it again in the beginning of '24 (directors cut) after my daughter was born in November '23 for 90 hours and loved it even more, connecting on another level through my daughter (Lou :messenger_smiling_hearts:)
This game is special to me, has a unique atmosphere, traversal mechanics that are missing in other games for me, grounding me in the game and connecting me through my hands and the controller with Sam, the protagonist and connecting through my mind with the world and it's dystopian atmosphere and through my heart via my daughter Lou and the BB (Bridge Baby) in the game. And yes, I too, like Kojima, like to smell my own farts, preferably while playing Death Stranding 2 next week :messenger_sunglasses:
 
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2 playthroughs, 300 hours and a platinum: still unsure how to feel about it. Definitely unique, but I'm just not ready to play the sequel for now.
 
keefged4 said:
The first time I played through it I was the same, then gave it a proper bash recently and absolutely fell in love with it. I started really enjoying it when I slowed down and stopped trying to rush through the story, I think a lot of people did the same and missed the point of it.

It's a masterpiece imo, cant wait for the sequel
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Yeah I think I'm not alone at the "game didn't click at first" party. This thread made me want to give it another chance, plus it seems that at some point I bought the Director's Cut upgrade already lol, so why not.
 
Yes. Played it at launch in Nov. 2019, enjoyed it very much, and ended up getting the Platinum trophy.

The game starts slowly but truly opens up in Chapter 3. The building mechanics are the meat of the game and are super fun and addictive, but you only truly have access to that part of the game when you're in Chapter 3 (which may take 6+ hours to get, if I remember correctly).
 
The non-violent gameplay is what hooked me. After 100 hours I still enjoyed transporting packages, even the mindless repetition, but when I stepped into the secret flower cemetery and the blue flowers danced around me, a sadness washed over me and I felt pity for how dreadful and miserable the rocks and moss covered hills are, haunted by BTs, in the rest of the game's environment. I could have spent hundreds of hours in the grey mud, if I hadn't stumbled upon this mesmerizing beauty and suddenly I could no longer enjoy the mud. Fascinating game.

gJp07U.jpg

7MuJZb.jpg
 
All time classic. I would have preferred it to remain more cinematic like the first 3 Hours but the gameplay loop for the other 95% of the game was very satisfying. DS2 pre-ordered.
 
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