Topic: Death Stranding OT

@Kidfried It can be quite an organic one to get but mostly if you're preparing to go for it (especially with bumping up the difficulty like I said before).

Getting top ranking for each site takes time but is very achievable. Getting all the collectibles took me some time after completing the game though.

It's one hell of a game though whether you decide to go for it or not and I look forward to hearing how you get on

@Kidfried Totally agree with your first impressions. I remember saying something similar, especially about Die-Hardman. I recall that he likes to explain things to you, then explain them again, and then remind you about what he said. 😂
But it’s a minor annoyance, like you allude to, and it’s not a deal breaker for an otherwise stellar experience.

Started this last night and only up to Episode 2. My goodness, there are a lot of gameplay mechanics to learn and I know that's only going to increase. It really makes me miss instruction manuals. Hopefully, I can remember everything and don't accidentally make the game harder for myself.

I loved what I've seen though! I only play a couple hours a week so this might be my game for the next 6 months or so.

@ScarletSpidey Enjoy! The game does throw a lot at you but you’ll figure most of it yourself anyway. I think it teaches you about plotting routes but I never really used that feature.

That first main area is gorgeous though.

@Keith_Zissou Are you carrying an order or just trying to sneak into the camp to retrieve something? If you go in not carrying anything at all, they shouldn't pay you any attention. So you could build a locker or something just on the outskirts of their base to put all your stuff in.

If you're carrying an order, I do everything I can to go around their perimeter ha!

It's a weird game, I'm REALLY enjoying it, but anything to do with the BTs and Mules, I'll do anything I can to avoid conflict. I just like walking and figuring out the terrain. If it wasn't aiming for the plat I'd just stick it on Very Easy. Normally, I need something to keep me interested in a game but this has got me loving just wandering around.

I'm about halfway through Chapter 3. It's not a game to play on Remote Play (where I do most of my gaming) so it'll probably last me months and months. Where are you up to?

@Keith_Zissou For the mule camps I did originally start sneaking in and taking my time but then got to the point where I was just going in full bore with a truck, knocking down as many as I could that way and then taking others out using a non-lethal weapon. I'm not sure what you've got access to though as I had everything unlocked from my PS4 save.

@Keith_Zissou This might be a spoiler for some so I'll mark it but personally go for the non-lethal assault rifle with blue rubber bullets which I think you get from 5 staring the Distribution Center North of Mountain Knot City. If I know I've got to go to a mule camp then I fab a few of those at a depo and go with the truck method, using the rifle to clean up afterwards. Using the blue rubber bullets means you've got 300 of them between the 2 rifles, so usually enough to take out all of the mules on their own, and also means that you don't have to transport any bodies to the incinerator which is a bonus 😀

@Keith_Zissou They should ignore you completely BUT the second you pick up the retrieved item, they'll be interested in you again so have an exit planned out in advance (which could just be run!). You still need to stealth in but they shouldn't pick you on the scan until you've got the item.

Saying all this, you're way ahead of me, so the Mules might be smarter now.

@ScarletSpidey Just go as slow as possible and avoid BTs. You plenty of items to make it easier to take them out, one in particular is great! As far as I'm aware, the difficulty only really affects combat which is mostly avoidable.

You can also unlock more stuff that makes taking down Mules easier too and the Director's Cut gives you a non-lethal weapon early on which is quite handy. Taking down one or two and you should be able to sneak into a base fairly easily.

@Keith_Zissou I really wouldn't worry about trying to get 5* for places from the start. You'll end up going back and forward between most places loads through the game and you'll be able to do more and bigger deliveries as you progress. It's the one thing I wish I'd known about beforehand!

@Keith_Zissou I think I know the camp you are talking about. Glad to hear you’ve cracked it. I don’t think I’ve ever used the terrorist boots but that’s quite funny 😄

@Keith_Zissou nice dude, it really was such an awesome experience. It still disappoints me that so many people are put off giving it a proper go due to the fetch-quest/DHL-man narrative amongst some media outlets and gamers. Deserves to be played!

@Keith_Zissou According to my profile I’ve got 253 hours on the PS4 game and 18 on the DC. I played way beyond the platinum though and it’s been one of my favourite games of the last few years.

@colonelkilgore I’ve seen a load of comments from people saying similar because they played for an hour or two and then jacked due to the slow pace. They didn’t give this game a chance as, like we all know here, you need to be a good number of hours in to really get it. Shame as it’s something quite radical in a world of very similar games.

@render You hit the nail there — I’m always surprised how people moan about all Sony exclusives are so ‘samey’ and that Sony doesn’t produce diverse content, yet we get people complaining about how different or strange like Death Stranding is. I mean, hey, I get it — the game is not for everyone, but it deserves big respect for doing things no other game has done before. (And yes, I realize DStr isn’t Sony first party but it’s basically completely Sony back with financial backing and given Kojima Productions use of proprietary Decima engine.)

@Keith_Zissou Well said. Agree on all points.

@Keith_Zissou @ColonelKilgore @Th3solution Exactly that, people very rarely seem to want to spend the time to get to know something these days and just want that quick fix. It's a shame as I bet we miss out on so many great experiences.

It's just my personal opinion (not trying to annoy anyone or get blocked etc) but I think this will be exacerbated by the subscription model as it's more likely a game like this would have been dismissed due to people not caring to spend the time required. Not saying that it won't work for other games as I know that's one of the positives they always cite about the subs model, that people are prepared to try different types of games as they haven't paid for them directly - it's more a comment about the nature of a game like this and how it unfolds slowly both story and gameplay wise and has some unusual mechanics etc. I'm hopeful that someone like Kojima can still put out games that challenge our perceptions of what a game can be and provide something for those of us that want something different and are prepared to spend some time getting to know it.

@render Could it not also be argued though that people like Kojima are more likely to be given carte blanche if there’s no expectations of copies sold? Niche and critically acclaimed seems to be exactly what subscription services want, as they’re the sort of things you’d grab new customers with, rather than the evergreen stuff.

@nessisonett Every game will be judged by some form of success criteria, even those that launch on a streaming service. It was easier with sales but what are the metrics they use for streaming services? Is it going to be linked to the number of signups around a games release or how many people play it or how many hours they play for and over what time? Ultimately those things will decide if games of that type get made and put on the service so I don't think it's that clear cut.

The point that I was making was that a game like this was unlikely to do well due to it's nature of being a slow burner. If you don't buy something specifically then you have less investment in it so are more likely just to pass it over and try something else to get your quick fix. It's similar to how albums have fallen out of favour. I can think of many albums that I've thought were just ok on first listen but given further listens I've fallen in love with them.

It's always interesting to hear opposing views though and it's equally likely (at least I hope it is for the future of gaming) that I'm wrong.

@nessisonett @render I think both stances are true — 1) that subscription services will foster new ideas to get some eyes on them where they otherwise wouldn’t, but that 2) big budget AAA projects that push the envelope will be harder to justify.

Kojima is a bit of an anomaly in the industry. He’s built up enough goodwill amongst fans and critics through MGS that he had a lot of creative freedom for Death Stranding. The game is very much like a big budget indie in some ways. Having his own studio has lessened the restrictions on his independent thinking. But most indie studios will have to fight their way for exposure to the mainstream gaming community, so probably will benefit from a subscription service. Effectively this creates a two tiered ecosystem of gaming budgets and so I’m not sure what the long term consequences will be. Like you say, the analogy to music means we miss out on those classic albums that are an acquired taste in favor of one-hit wonders, but we also give independent artists a stage they didn’t previously have. Fortunately, if Sony sticks to their guns, we might be able to have the best of both worlds in gaming.

Edit: Ironically, I was thinking about it and some of the games that I gave up on after a couple hours yet were critically acclaimed are the Bethesda and Obsidian games. 😅 Dishonored and The Outer Worlds come to mind.

@Keith_Zissou Good job, those premium deliveries can be a real challenge.

Have you made use of the cannon yet? It was a new addition for the DC so I hadn’t really used it. I launched some cargo from one the other day and missed the prompt to open the parachute so ended up destroying some materials I was going to add to the roads so I’d probably call that a failed attempt. Not sure how useful it is in general though as it’s got limited range but was wondering if it might be possible to launch cargo into mules 🤣

Another new thing I noticed was that I got a message from Deadman telling me that there was a chiral spike near my location and that I needed to go and get a body to incinerator quick. I looked on the map and it took me ages to find it as it was nowhere near my location. That must be new too as I don’t remember having to do that before thou.

@Keith_Zissou yeah I’d say that’s the toughest challenge done mate… platinum here we come 👍