Death Stranding Director's Cut

I really liked the prologue. The story has me intrigued. The graphics look amazing.

On episode 2. I like the world building. It’s strange and I don’t have a clue what’s going on but I’m liking it. The gameplay has its moments but also sometimes I’m kind of annoyed. Too soon to really tell how I feel though.

Finished episode 2. It’s a B+ currently. You need to be in a certain mood for it. It’s quite chill. Definitely a better stoned game.

There are some QoL changes that would make this game better. It’s awkward moving around items. Some repetitive cutscenes take too long.

My biggest complaint right now is that for a game that is only about traversal the vehicles feel like shit. Walking on foot feels good but a lot of the time I want to take trucks or bikes and both feel really rough. I also don’t like the combat system against mules. I know the game isn’t about combat but it’s still a small factor and it should feel better.

I do really like the music. I love when the game pans out and plays some super chill and nice song when traveling.

Started episode 4. The Mads cutscene was sweet.

I’m on I think episode 9 now. I’ve liked the snowy mountain sections of the last area. I like that vehicles can’t be used. It’s more fun trying to figure out how to climb this snowy mountain top than just driving these slidy unsatisfying vehicles over bumpy land.

The BT humpback whale sequence was cool. Probably my favourite part of the game so far. I hope there are a few more of those types of boss fights in the game.

The big BT boss fight was alright because the spectacle was a bit cool, gameplay was super simple. The Higgs fight was shitty though.

This fucking running in the beach cutscene after the “Mario and princess beach” line. Are you for real Kojima. 9/10 times I think studios and producers need to give the creative directors room to do what they want but Kojima needs to be kept on track.

I liked the humpback whale fight. It’s not hard but the spectacle was again pretty cool.

Some of these final cutscenes have me rolling my eyes. I’m getting hallmark vibes.

Closing Thoughts:
The graphics are great. The world looks awesome but is lacking some variety. For a game that is supposed to be about all of America the environments looks very similar.

The delivery boy gameplay is better than it sounds, when on foot. It’s at its best when trying to tackle mountains and when you need to use ladders and ropes effectively. I enjoyed deciding what equipment to bring on my treks and which deliveries to pick up. The semi constant progression with new gear is decent, although a lot of the items suck and there’s no reason to use them. 

Vehicles are my biggest issue with DS. They feel awful. They are slidy and don’t feel grounded. For a game so heavily based on just getting from point A to point B the vehicles are unacceptable.

Combat against mules and BTs is very generic and overall not great from a gameplay standpoint. It’s clear that they didn’t want combat to be a big part of the game because it doesn’t fit with the games message/story, but then why add it at all? I was never really into it except for the spectacle of the BT fights. They look cool, especially the unique larger scale fights.

The story has a lot of great ideas but I don’t like the style of story telling. It goes, step 1: just talk about something even though the audience has no fucking clue what’s going on. Step 2: ignore that info for awhile. Step 3: randomly have some character explain everything in some one sided speech. Also its cheesy as fuck. All these names are hilarious. Hideo’s use of homonyms is ridiculous. Hideo thinks he’s the most clever guy ever but everyone else in the room is trying not to make eye contact with him because otherwise they will break down and laugh.

The music is fantastic. I loved it. I plan to listen to soundtrack when going on runs.

Final Score: B+