Finished Death Stranding: Director's Cut on PS5 earlier today. I didn't know much about this one other than that some call it a walking sim and that it's dozens of hours long and I had doubts whether I would enjoy it, also because I didn't like Metal Gear Solid's transition into an open world much (though I will give MGS V another chance one day). Anyway, in the end I was very positively surprised by Death Stranding.
The gist of it is that most of mankind is gone, survivors live in bunkers and everyone depends on brave souls called porters who deliver everything the people need - the hero, Sam Porter Bridges, is one of them. What happened to mankind, you ask? Well, when people die they cause nuclear explosions now and also there are invisible monsters called BTs on the surface. And rain that causes everything and everyone to age rapidly. Also, porters depend on BBs, babies kept in pods, to detect and evade those monsters. It may sound like a typical Kojima game but frankly it's not. Yes, it does have a weird and convoluted narrative and features some crazy imagery but also: it's only accentuated by Japanese weirdness rather than soaked in it. The plot is complicated, it does raise a ton of philosophical questions and has a number of twists, there are cheesy moments, but given the setup it's all played pretty straight and feels a lot more "western" than Kojima's past works and it's much easier to take it seriously.
But what does it play like? Well, those who call it a walking sim are dumbasses because the thing about walking sims is that the walking is trivial there. Yes, there is a ton of walking here but there is actual gameplay in that walking. So basically what you're constantly doing in this game is deliver stuff, thereby advancing the story or gaining the support of survivors (which unlocks new stuff for you that can make your life easier). However, navigating the world isn't trivial at all because not only are there dangers in the form of the aforementioned monsters and some hostile humans but the simple act of walking up and down hills or climbing cliffs and getting past rivers has its challenges and will require some focus and/or the use of tools like ladders, ropes and even simple structures like bridges. Kojima picked a "survival" approach here with a whole bunch of things to manage (like weight, stamina, container condition and battery power) and many factors that are there only to make life difficult for you. It's not quite as challenging as climbing the bosses in Shadow of the Colossus but I suppose it often requires a similar degree of planning and focus.
So, it's a pretty ballsy game to be honest. While there is some stealth and combat here it is indeed mostly a game about navigating a large and unforgiving world on foot, sometimes using vehicles. And it has worked out pretty great in my eyes. It could have been a bit deeper, some things could have been a bit better technically (especially jumping and vehicle physics!), but I've found it to be a game that manages to be very engaging. Sometimes it does get a bit "meditative", sometimes also a bit boring (at least if you overdo it with the optional deliveries) but it is also very satisfying in so many ways. There are just tons of rewarding moments in this game: whether you've made a long and difficult delivery or overcome a small obstacle like a river by placing a ladder or building a bridge or you've unlocked a game-changing tool that will allow you to deal with obstacles and enemies in new ways. And it's also emotionally very powerful, not just in the main narrative with its tearjerker moments but also in many other situations, largely thanks to the many beautiful songs in this game. And also, while dealing with the BTs (the aforementioned monsters) it occurred to me that Death Stranding is sometimes giving me the experience that I was hoping to get from the Stalker games (and heck, I suppose one could describe this game as Japanese Stalker in a way).
Finally, the game also has a pretty decent online integration. I don't play multiplayer games much but I often enjoy games that seamlessly integrate online multiplayer into the singleplayer portion, like the Souls games, and Death Stranding does a whole bunch of this stuff. You can't physically run into other players (though you will sometimes see where a player is currently resting) but there are many different ways in which players passively support each other e.g. because structures placed by one player will appear for other players and players can then send likes to each other. There are also numerous other ways in which players can support each other (and in some cases also compete) but I won't go into all of them. Anyway, the good news is that clearly many players are still playing this game and this online component adds quite a bit of life to the game.
Okay, time to wrap it up: yes, I enjoyed this game greatly. I've found it to be quite moving until the very end and also quite impressive and very satisfying in terms of gameplay. Looking forward to Death Stranding 2!
