Topic: Death Stranding 2: On the Beach | OT

@Th3solution oof! I built a bridge that happened to be near a rock 👀 but I only realised after it was built as it nicely links to a path, but for whatever reason the path had a big rock in it 😅 maybe it is a common placement due to being near a path and thus a logical place, also not susceptible to floods, but maybe it was my actual actual bridge... Where was this bridge? 😅 I need to find out if there is a way to look at the Mexico map from where I am or not, I guess at some point it may be an option.

The first delivery in Aus is actually really good, so the game definitely starts to step up. Someone left a well placed timefall shelter early, which I used a ladder and anchor to get to, instead of going around a big rock while wary of BTs (it probably wasn't necessary but it was fun when the unknown was out there) then I planned quite a nice route from there with another climbing anchor and timefall shelter of my own. It is really good when you pick a direction and have to adapt on the way because of threats, obstacles and the like.

Enjoy when you get a chance anyway, it is the kind of game that can be broken into chunks fairly easy. Soon you will be able to advance the gift delivery, probably when you are bored of the preppers. Maybe it is time next session for you to do so. Like I say there is another chance to clear stuff up anyway, so you should be good to go 👍

I think I remembered or found a good use for postboxes, they seem to have a mass of pre-stored materials in them. So when you want to build, instead of hauling all the way from a base each time, you can nick some from a box and maybe even finish a build without all the travel. Yet to test it, but it was an idea when I noticed the fabrication part also has stored materials in it. (Actually not sure on this, now. Do people deposit or is it just lucky that sometimes you find them full. Who knows)

Got my first jumpscare last night. I knew it was coming and so it just made me laugh. Admittedly I had turned the volume down a bit as I could tell something was coming and didn't want to have the massive audio hit as that is the worst part of them, but still.

Who is this guy? What does he want? Did he get lost going to the toilet? Does he need a nappy change? He looks even funnier and far more harmless the right way up, too...

A whole session just doing deliveries and building. Woops. Chapter 3 still 😅

@Th3solution i've not fallen off this game, but i've not played it much apart from a good session over bank holiday. Did you manage to keep playing it at all, or have things been too hectic lately? I'll look forward to a write up when you do get round to more. You may have caught me up if you managed a few sessions, but i'm guessing you got delayed too.

When I played i'd forgotten how to dodge or avoid attacks, so I messed up while trying to work out what I was doing and how to control Sam. I think I took 264% damage vs something and got a B rating 😭 playthrough ruined (if I was bothered about these things) But it still stung, a little.

@Ravix Over last weekend I managed to get a couple hours, but that’s it. I ended up splitting some of my game time working through Alan Wake which I never finished. But I did get a lot of deliveries done in Mexico, met the artist and I think all the stations in the area. I think I’ve got all of them up to 3 stars and a couple are almost at 4. So far so good. I might try to get some 4 stars and then progress the story some. But I don’t know what my availability will be this week, with real life being busy as it is.

@Th3solution ah, no worries then. Hopefully things get less hectic soon. The delivery system is legitimately a great way to wind down and almost meditate through gaming, at least. I must admit my only session this extended weekend mostly involved deliveries, too. But I forced myself toward one main quest and cutscene at the end just to feel i'm still involved in the narrative.

Honestly, you are probably good to go (I may have overestimated my bond level with mexico, and most were actually on level 3 to 4, rather than 4+, as ratings gets harder to push up the further it goes, I think) and it might be worth rewarding yourself with a little story at some point, soon. But, I guess, like me you are finding some joy, and a kind of relaxation in the more menial parts, anyway?

@Ravix Yes, for sure. The deliveries are a nice chill meditative experience. Like other open world narrative games, I opt for doing some roaming and checking off these side activities when I have limited game time and then save the juicy story bits for when I have more extensive committed gaming time. The MGS games taught me that with Kojima you might get stuck into a long series of cutscenes when you hit the those certain points. So unless I have a definite 45 min window, I’ll try not to trigger a major story point. 😅

Off subject, but I enjoyed my time with Alan Wake, and I think I’m finally at the last chapter. It’s a good Portal game and the game autosaves about every 2-3 minutes so it’s a good one for when I just had a few scattered minutes through the day and I could sit down with that for even 15-20 minutes and feel like I made progress. Fortunately DS2 also has the ability to save anywhere and also checkpoints regularly, but it’s not as linear so 15-20 minutes doing a couple deliveries doesn’t push the game completion in the same way.

@Th3solution was it Alan Wake 1 or 2 you were on? I know at some point you wanted to start from the beginning but that may be an old memory. I think I had been processing the information as if you were on 2 now, it being a PS5 Pro centric game. But i'm now doubting that due to it being a good portal game, and 2 is more of a survival horror, I think, so I can't imagine it having easy checkpointing.

As if to say my brain has seemingly let me down, as we may have talked about it already and I feel like whichever it was i've still forgotten 😬

Saving in DS2 is super forgiving too. I don't mind hard games, or long games, obviously, but I do love a good checkpoint or manual save so I can play it on my time. Which is why it is weird that KCD gets scolded for lack of checkpoints as I always max out my save files in that game and have to overwrite a bunch of old saves (it has like 200 slots, too, I swear 😅) it also has exit saves at any freeroaming moment, which is all we ever really need for our peace of mind.

If anything Kojima feels like he is being quite reserved (for now 😅) from what I have seen, so far, but he is probably saving it all up for later. Sometimes I feel like it does need more cowbell (cutscenes) but I know at some point it will likely turn into an inescapable movie, and it is mainly because i've been slow playing it at the moment that cutscenes are so few and far between (I do feel like I have memories of Mama being around for a very long cutscene in the first game, so there is form in DS for it, not just MGS, but I think you are safe, for now)

Last night I loaded just to check what was next and plan whether to start the next main mission for next time, but I ended up doing a bit of delivering and building, shipping some materials for bigger construction elements to make it easier for me in future, so I can eventually mainline some more story, hopefully. It really is theraputic, and the 'other porter' likes are really starting to rack up. If you are on the same server as my game it will be a walk in the park as we will have fully rebuilt Australia for you 😛 (it doesn't quite work like that, but still)

Let us know when you get around to some story meat, anyway 🫡