Topic: Death Stranding OT

@colonelkilgore I think part of Death Stranding’s setback was this portrayal (mostly by gamers who never played the game) that it was a “walking sim” and a game exclusively of “fetch quests”, both terms that have derogatory connotations to the gaming crowd. Sure, it’s a sophisticated walking/hiking sim and deliveries are akin to fetch quests, but the game is so much more than that. It really undersells the whole strategy, beauty, fantastic storyline, immersive world, stealth, combat, and online world building.

Anyways, I think the description of the gameplay is hard to fathom and was a put-off for many gamers.

@Th3solution you're probably spot-on on that I was just having a giggle there... though there were some 'iffy' reasoning by some journo's when reviewing Days Gone in particular.

Back to Death Stranding though, yes fetch quests (and delivery quests for that matter) have rightly got a bad name for they're over abundance in open-world gaming since... ooh GTA3 probably... but as you say, there is so much more to the simple fetch/delivery quest when playing DS. But DS got the brunt of fetch quest hatred when literally every other open-world game is stuffed full of them. It just riles me up that even to this day a few of my mates who I consider legit gamers still sneer and actively avoid listening when I explain why they should give it a go.

@colonelkilgore oh yeah, I realize you were posting with tongue firmly in cheek there. But you gotta wonder... 😜

@Th3solution @colonelkilgore I just constructed my first post-box after a lengthy break from the game and gaming in general (Elden Ring is hollowing me for gaming in general, just get the feeling it's going to blow everything else out of the water!) great feeling of satisfaction and achievement because I got lost a few times on the way to the postbox construction site, and had BTs to deal with (I survived - no craters) on to order no.7 now!

@TheBrandedSwordsman hey buddy, glad you’re back at it! Yeah as much as I’m looking forward to Elden Ring (it’s the game I am most excited for... even more than God of War: Ragnarok) I’m just getting on with whittling down the backlog (well I say that but it’s actually still growing far faster than it’s being whittled).

Not sure if you’ve tried any of the other Soulslikes out there but there are some good ones. Maybe they could tide you over?

@colonelkilgore I tried Mortal Shell and as much as it impressed me - I sucked at the game, couldn't get the hang of the 'harden' mechanic and that put me off other Souls-likes. I also tried Nioh, I was good at that but the lack of PvE variety in that game put me off, so I never went back to it. As for Remnant: From the Ashes - I don't believe that guns belong in a Souls or Souls-like game, Hunter's pistol etc. excepted. (As you can just quite easily not use them).

@TheBrandedSwordsman fair enough, well hopefully Elden Ring won’t be too far off.

@TheBrandedSwordsman Glad you’re back in the Death Stranding journey. The construction aspects will only get better and better. I didn’t really use postboxes much. I’d check in on other online players’ postboxes every now and then, but I found them relatively supplemental in my travels. There are some much more substantial creations coming up that you’ll be able to build and, more importantly, start seeing pop up in the online world to help you out.

By the way, I’m not sure if you saw and I forgot to tag you, but I completed God of War the other day and got the platinum! I know you were interested to see how I liked it and i absolutely loved it! Obviously if I stuck with it through to the platinum then that is telling in and of itself. 😄
Anyways, it really scratches a lot of gaming itches, with engaging combat, addictive puzzle solving, beautiful environments, a rock solid story, and deep exploration options. The game kind of has it all. I’m sad that it’s over.
And back on topic — Death Stranding is one of the other titles I’ve played in the last year that I didn’t want to see end.

@Th3solution Congratulations on beating God Of War, I've done it twice, but with no Plat to my name. So, well done. Death Stranding is a great game, yeah, and, hey ,when you put it that way, I'm glad I've got a long way to go before I see the end.Also, I never see you in The Music Thread, care to tag me in there sometime to let me know what your tastes are? It'd be great to rap with you about tunes in there sometime.

@TheBrandedSwordsman Sure thing buddy, keep me up to date with how your Death Stranding experience goes and I’ll drop a post soon about any new thoughts I have on the music subject. (Which Death Stranding’s music is great by the way. A real highlight)

@Th3solution It's a deal then, I'll keep you posted about Death Stranding and you can drop me a line in The Music Thread sometime.

@Th3solution I just completed order no.7 ,it was harder than the previous orders, even though I'd done it on my previous attempt at the game, infiltrating MULE territory and recovering the stolen goods, I'm on to order no. 8 now. It's quite a relaxed and meditative game, with large portions of it consisting of strolling acorss weather-beaten post-apocalyptic greenery, but yeah, when the BTs and MULES get involved it's a whole 'nother kettle of fish!

@TheBrandedSwordsman Oh yeah, very true. I guess that’s what I like about it. I like the slower moments with the nice soundtrack playing and the beautiful scenery with just enough tactical strategy to keep you on your toes; then intermixed with moment of tension when the alarms go off that you’re about to be in danger. Many players have been critical of the combat, but I think it’s pretty good. Nothing spectacular, but not bad either. As you progress you’ll get access to more varied weapons and ammo. The MULEs are not as visually interesting as the BT enemies and bosses, which I think are fantastic, design-wise.

@Th3solution Do you know which order no. enables you to access the motorbike? 'Cause I think I missed that the first time around And very much looking forward to the BT-related enemies and bosses. The stealth sections are managable thus far, but the last mission from my first playthrough invoived a trek to Port Knot City and I am sure they would have given you a motorcycle at least for that. With regard to the combat, I don't think I've seen enough of it yet to make a fair judgement, but the variety in weapons and ammo sounds excellent.

@TheBrandedSwordsman Yeah, I don’t remember when the motorbike access gets granted, but it’s probably not too far off. It does add a different layer of travel when you get those. Strategy changes a little. Trying to out run MULEs or BT’s can be tempting. It can be successful but can also end in disaster. 😅

Yeah, without spoiling, you’ll have some strategy involved with weapon and ammo choice, so look forward to that. However, depending on the situation, you can get by with more than one option as far as how you approach the combat. Probably the weakest part of the combat is the melee part. It has some nice ideas, but I ended up button mashing if it came to hand-to-hand and I usually could survive that way.

@Th3solution I struggled with order no.9, but just completed it. I approached it first when I had had a few beers and wasn't trying as hard as I should have been o out manouvre the BTs, so I got caught, killed and after I repatriated my cargo was too severely damaged to be delivered, so I rage quit. And then, today, I tried again and took my time manouevring around the BTs and succeeded at delivering my cargo. Got the plans for the generator now as well, so the ability to motorcycle should soon be mine!

@Th3solution @TheBrandedSwordsman it's been a while but I think I actually found a discarded bike way before I had the ability to build one... really looked after it too as I knew I wouldn't have one for a while if I killed it.

@TheBrandedSwordsman I remember there are a few times when you have to make it through a BT laden area very carefully. Of course, as you get the chiral network up in each area you are able to see where online players usually post signs warning you of areas where BTs or Mules roam so you can try to just completely avoid them by going around sometimes, but there are plenty of tricky times when BTs police an area that there is no way to avoid going through. It takes quite a bit of patience to go slow, hold your breath, etc. in order to make out the other side. Also, you can just fight to BTs if you are well armed and feel confident thereby clearing the area if you want. Personally I usually took the stealth approach to sneak my way through.
Like I said before, when you have access to motorbikes you can sometimes try an aggressive approach and just floor it and hope you can outrun them through an area, but honestly that usually doesn’t work. Typically there are rocks and obstacles enough to hold you up at some point and all it takes is the slightest hesitation and they will catch you and pull you off your bike and you’re in for a tough battle at that point and likely will have your cargo damaged severely.
So the slow and steady approach is the safest.... kinda like a Soulsborne boss 😄, if you get greedy and try to rush, usually you’ll pay for it. Patience is key.

I invested quite a bit in building roads (not sure you have access to those yet, I don’t remember) because a paved road + motorbike = insanely quick and safe traversal from point A to point B. There are other options too which I won’t spoil but suffice it to say, the further into the game, the more things you can construct and the more online structure will appear and it opens up pretty quick travel options.

@Th3solution I don't have access to road-building yet but I just charged up the motorbike and am looking forward to some smoother traversal. How does it work when you reach a BT-laden area? Can you push the bike along or what? How do you get it through the BT-infested area, other than riding it (presumably very slowly + carefully!)Actually I presume you would just drive around, right? Once you see the sign just go another way, rather than trying to somehow drive through their territory in an impromptu and implausibly successful fashion.

@TheBrandedSwordsman The approach to making it through BT’s with a bike is difficult. Most of the time the area is too big to just drive slowly and hope they don’t hear you. You have to either try to speed through quickly and get out of the area before they catch you (usually not successful), or abandon your motor bike and walk through the area in the usual stealth fashion. It’s a bummer to have to leave it, but the bike will remain there and be there for a while in game should you come back through that way again.

I will say that you’ll find that there will be quite a lot of abandoned bikes online. So it will hurt a little to leave your trusty vehicle behind in order to traverse a BT area or a severely rocky terrain, but there is often more bikes just sitting around that other players left behind that you might find on the other side of the area. Later on there will probably be times that you’ve got plenty of them around. They become fairly disposable. You’ll have to deal with the challenge of limited charge also so occasionally have to abandon one on the road when it runs out of juice if there’s not a charging station nearby or you don’t have supplies sufficient to build a charge station on the fly.

One other approach you could take if you really need your bike (say for example you have too much cargo to carry on foot and need the bike but the BT’s are in the way and there is no way around) — you can get off the bike and then fight the BT’s to clear it, then go back to your bike and resume on it through the area. If you get pulled off the bike to fight, the cargo gets damaged and scattered pretty severely. So fighting them on foot in a more planned and purposeful manner will save you a lot of headache if you absolutely need that bike.

But yes, if there is a route around it then that’s a good option to just drive around the area in question. But Kojima was a tricky little rascal and sometimes there’s no avoiding it 😄