Hideo Kojima, one of the most legendary faces among the gaming landscape. His first game was published in 1987, a top down stealth game known as Metal Gear. This was considered by many to be one of the very first stealth games to be ever made. It was simple yet complex. Players had to figure out how to get from point A to point B without getting noticed, and it was a test against their patience and strategy skills. It was limited at the time due to the NES hardware and it wasn’t until 1994 when Kojima could expand his ideas using new gaming hardware, mainly the PlayStation. With the jump from pixel graphics to 3D models, Kojima could create more expansive worlds with complex storytelling and characters. That’s when he came up with the idea for the follow up, Metal Gear Solid, his first true masterpiece. Metal Gear Solid was one of the most revolutionary games back then during the PlayStation era. It had one of the most incredible pieces of writing during it’s time, being able to blend fiction with political ideologies. Characters were lifelike and dialogue felt human, and the gameplay helped set the path for the stealth genre. Thanks to Metal Gear Solid, Kojima slowly inched his way towards massive success. Going on to expand the Metal Gear Solid universe, the gameplay formula, and creating what we now know as the Metal Gear timeline.
His last entry in the series would be Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain in 2015, which was considered by many to be one of the greatest games of the year. Afterwards things took a sharp turn for Hideo Kojima. Due to problems with the company he worked for Konami, Kojima was eventually laid off and the beloved series he created was tarnished under Konami’s filth covered boots. It was a devastating time in his life, but he continued to make games because he had passion for them. He started his own independent studio named Kojima Productions, and later made a partnership deal with Sony. Months later during E3 2016, Kojima announced his new project Death Stranding, an open world game that took place in a ruined world. Not much was known about Death Stranding during the time of its announcement, but as the years went on more was revealed about his next latest masterpiece. It would have a graphically detailed world, a story about a fractured society being put back together, characters being played by famous actors like Norman Reedus and Mads Mikkelsen, and much more. What started as a small crowd of supporters turned into massive hype.
Fans were speculating what Death Stranding would be like and if it would live up to the hype. Finally in 2019, Death Stranding was released on the Playstation 4. Seeing how the Playstation 4 was hitting the market with titles like God of War, Persona 5, and Bloodborne, you would think its success would help out with Death Stranding as Kojima's new original property. Turns out reception was mixed when the game finally came out. Many mainstream reviewers praised the game as a cinematic achievement, stating the writing was superb keeping the player constantly engaged with the game. Others complained it was convoluted and lacked a sense of meaning. Some thought the game had an intriguing gameplay loop, and others were massively let down stating it was tedious and there wasn’t any fun to be had at all. This led to a fight between two divided audiences, debating whether Death Stranding was a good or bad video game.
I wasn’t really into Death Stranding when it was first revealed. I was worried more about other titles at the time and being able to keep up with everybody else. However, as each announcement came out I slowly became more interested, and wondered what Death Stranding would actually be like. This was shaping up to be Kojima's most ambitious project. When the game finally came out I looked at the reviews and my excitement quickly turned into confusion. Would this be a game I would truly have fun with? The way people were describing it, Death Stranding sounded like everything wrong with Triple A gaming. Moving far away from having engaging gameplay and more towards flashy cinematic cutscenes that focused more on style than substance. However, this was just a public reception and my thoughts were left to float around. I started wondering if I should even buy the game or not, and eventually I took the risk and bought it when it was on sale. I sat down, loaded the game up, and all the doubt I had was immediately swept away within the first few minutes. Oh my lord.
I actually think Death Stranding is one of the most intriguing games I encountered with Triple A gaming recently, it found a way to subvert expectations, and may be Kojima's greatest game. I think the reason why this game didn’t do so well was because people’s expectations were too high, so when the final product came out people wanted it to be in their vision. That’s a little unfair, because Death Stranding does a lot of things no other games would dare to do. I loved almost every aspect of it, and it’s one of my favorite releases to come out from last year. Today we’ll be talking about why I think Death Stranding is so amazing and why it deserves your attention. So load up your cargo, strap on your BB, and prepare to expand the Chiral Network.
Story
The United States of America has been torn to shreds due to a cataclysmic event known as the Death Stranding. A paranormal plain known as The Beach has been leaking over monstrous creatures in the real world known as BTs, what seem to be remnants of the dead. What remains of the USA is nothing more than vast fields and ruined structures, and surviving citizens have built underground cities to protect them from BTs. The only way they get the supplies and resources they need are through porters, otherwise known by many as “basically” mailmen. We follow the role of a courier named Sam Porter Bridges, a lonely wanderer who travels from city to city delivering packages. Not much is known about his past, but we soon learn that he is the son of the US president, Bridget Strand. After his recent delivery which results in him getting attacked by BTs and going through a void out, which are giant explosions that wipe out huge patches of land through BTs coming over to our world using corpses, Sam is saved by a doctor named Deadman and is brought in to see his mother who is slowly dying of age. Bridget tells Sam that America needs to be put back together and she wants him to do it, but Sam refuses the offer. Bridget dies immediately in front of him leaving Sam feeling guilty and he then has a meeting with the director and close friend of Bridget, Die-Hardman. Hardman states to Sam that he must reunite America and that his sister Amelie has been planning this the whole time. They get a call from Amelie who states that for the past years she has been traveling across America and telling cities to make terminals for the Chiral Network.
The Chiral Network is an online system that will connect the cities of America together, hoping to bring them together and exchange the knowledge they have about the Death Stranding and where it came from. During her journey to the east coast she was attacked by a strange terrorist group known as the Homo-Demens. Their leader possesses powers unlike any other, being able to control BTs and travel to The Beach whenever he wants. He’s keeping Amelie captive on The Beach, and Amelie tells Sam that he must come and rescue her. Sam still refuses to help, but after remembering how much his sister loves him he agrees. Before he sets off east he goes to a nearby incinerator to cremate his mother’s body before another voidout happens, but he is also told to burn a malfunctioning BB which survived the previous void out he was in. BBs are tools with baby-like beings inside them, and using them allows porters to detect BTs and avoid them. The BB failed to do its job during the last delivery and is to blame for the void out. Sam, feeling remorse for the BB, decides to keep it and it actually turns out the BB properly works for him. Now geared up and prepared to face the terrorists and BTs that stand in his way, Sam travels across America delivering packages, connecting cities to the Chiral Network, and hoping to save Amelie. He may even discover things that should have been left forgotten ages ago.
Gameplay
A lot of gamers complain that Death Stranding’s gameplay loop is tedious, and that what makes the game feel realistic is also what makes playing it really annoying. A gameplay loop is what you are going to be doing constantly throughout the game but in different ways, and the gameplay loop in Death Stranding is to deliver packages from city to city through walking. Nothing more and nothing less. People describe the game as a “walking simulator” and that it's too “frustrating” especially when you want to progress with the story. Well what I’m about to say is treason, because Death Stranding has a sense of immersion I have never felt in a game beforehand.
In an open world game you are always trying to figure out how to get from one point to another without encountering so many dangers. For example in Breath of The Wild you wonder how you get to the tower or shrine you see in the distance, or in New Vegas you wonder how you get to New Vegas or the giant facility surrounded by mutants who are all several levels higher than you to handle? Same goes for Death Stranding. How do I reach my destination in the most efficient way possible? You can take on orders, which assign you to deliver packages to a certain location, and depending on how many orders you accept you can end up carrying a really heavy load. You have to figure out how much you want to take, what tools to bring along the way, and how to balance out the load so you are not toppling all over the place.
The world is somewhat empty and at times it’s basically a giant field to walk across, but that’s what makes Death Stranding feel so special. You're a lone wanderer exploring a ruined country filled with paranormal monsters and natural landmarks trying to work against you. Don’t some open world games do this? Shadow of The Colossus had a sense of loneliness due to it’s empty world and people praised it as an all time classic, including myself. Why can’t we accept that loneliness with Death Stranding?
Every so often you’ll run into some obstacles. Either the terrain is really hard to navigate or enemies like Mules, who are rogue couriers obsessed with keeping cargo with them, will try to nab some of the cargo on your back. Luckily Sam can craft a wide variety of tools to get around any type of problem. He can use ladders to cross gaps and climb to higher ground with ease. Bring along P.C.Cs which are devices that allow him to build structures like ziplines and bridges. However, they will require lots of material or donations from players online. Vehicles like the bike or truck that allow him to travel long distances within a short amount of time, but struggle to get over rocky terrain. Guns to defend himself because why not? Any tool work great when used right.
The most devastating obstacle of them all are BTs, but there are not that many signs telling you when they are nearby besides a detector on your shoulder and Sam taking a very deep breath. If you do encounter them, be ready, don’t make so much noise, and take your time to get around them. Standing still will allow you to see them, and if they become aware of your presence you can hold your breath for a limited amount of time so you can sneak by them. If they do somehow catch you, they will try to drag you away to a monstrous creature and that’s when you run away.
Be careful that your suit is powered by your BB, and when the BB is stressed out you start to lose power. When the BB’s power is depleted you won’t be able to detect BTs using the detector, so like I said earlier take your time when sneaking by. Mules, BTs, timefall rain, falling over, or letting your cargo tumble down hills are all factors that will damage your packages and if they are completely destroyed you cannot complete the mission which requires these goods and earn your reward. Most of the time you just want to avoid any conflict which means the game doesn't have that much action.
So this connects back to how you want to plot out your trip and where to go to make each journey easier, but this means when something thrilling does happen it actually has an effect. There are times in other games when the nonstop action and combat can be the thing that leads to frustration and annoyance. Borderlands 3 is the perfect example. You shoot wave after wave of enemies, but after the ten hour mark it starts to lose it's effects of excitement? When action starts to ramp up in Death Stranding it's a fight or flight response. You're in the middle of nowhere and no one can help you besides yourself. Death Stranding a majority of the time is a peaceful game, but it's one I honestly love. I've been playing a lot of action games recently and this is a nice break amongst all of them. To hike across a field and enjoy the calmness of the world. You're rewarded for going at your pace and that’s how most games should be. Rewarding. Hopefully you can reconnect America and locate where Amelie is.
Thoughts
Death Stranding is the game I’ve needed for a while. I don’t know if it’s because I've been playing frustrating games these past few days, but there is something about Death Stranding that speaks to me. The gameplay I personally had a really good time with, so that concerns me a bit and whether I’ll become a mailman when I grow up or just have weird tastes for games. It’s not for everyone and it takes some time to get used to, but all the elements and components click together to make a functional engaging experience. You have to plot out where to go, what’s the most efficient route, be aware of what may be in certain sections of the world, and figure out how many packages you want to deliver so you can increase your bond with several cities.
The soundtrack is amazing, it’s mostly just licensed songs from bands like Low Roar but they fit the lonely atmosphere of the world. Speaking of the world, I thought the idea of it was pretty good too. A desolated America struggling to survive an all out apocalypse and it’s made up for with some really good world building. The rules and laws this universe follows are consistent and the writers do a great job reinforcing these rules. This one video I watched was a good example showing how the rules of Death Stranding are enforced. Timefall rain makes everything it touches age faster, so why not put this natural event to good use? There is a farm that uses the timefall rain to make their crops grow within days or ferment alcohol so they can sell beer to other cities. That’s a very genius move when I actually see it in action. Also the video I got this from was about Skyrim’s magic being poorly written into the world.
The amount of detail and polish in this game is amazing. Death Stranding may probably be a better looking video game than Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. There is an online aspect and it’s actually really good. You can use structures forged by other players to bypass obstacles and make your deliveries much easier. You can even contribute to other player’s projects by submitting your own resources, so in the end everyone helps out everyone. I don’t get why people hate the controls to this game because I found the controls to be tight. Mistakes like falling over and dropping your packages are more on the player rather than Sam randomly slipping over clumsily.
Biggest part to talk about is the story which I honestly loved. It’s not the greatest story in the world because structurally it's all over the place, but the way it reveals itself constantly kept me interested. Like I said this game has some really good world building and once all the puzzle pieces are given to the player it all starts to make sense. There are a lot of memorable characters each with tragic backstories. I won’t spoil them, so you're just gonna have to figure them out yourself. There were quite a few scenes with tons of build up and they are all nailed perfectly. The ending scene even got me and surprisingly this is one of the five times a video game ending almost made me cry. Yeah, I literally teared up to a game where Norman Reedus’ character fights creatures using grenades made of his own piss! There’s this one character played by Mads Mikkelsen and the development behind his character is outstanding. I would tell you what happens, but it’s something you experience yourself. The voice acting is great, featuring many talented actors which explains why it took so long to develop the game, because they were spending time recording many of the cinematic scenes.
Death Stranding in my opinion is special. I actually recommend people to try this game, because it was factually proven that a majority of the people who hate this game haven’t tried it. Once you play this game you can understand why it’s so memorable. There are a few things I hate though. Vehicle psychics are a little abysmal especially when driving on rocky terrain, but that's understandable since that’s how vehicles work in real life. Sometimes walking is more effective than driving them, but I rather prefer walking because you get to enjoy the world around you and your vehicles drag the attention of enemies especially BTs. Building structures are nice but building one yourself is useless since over the past few months this game has been out several other players have constructed stuff for others to use. And enemies get annoying when in big groups, but luckily you can just run away from them which is great. I honestly love my time with Death Stranding, you can obviously tell by now. I just hope people can understand what Kojima has accomplished here. Another masterpiece made by a brilliant mind. In the end I give Death Stranding a 9.5/10 for excellence at best.
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