General Gaming Death Stranding OT - Special Delivery, update - PC release on July 14 (Steam/EGS)

[best3444]

1 hour ago, Biggie said:

Junkie confirmed 

 

[gamer.tv]

My OT has been playing the game and has put about 7 hours or so into it so far. She says she's enjoying it and has been playing pretty much non-stop. She does however quite like games like; The Sims 4, Minecraft, Stardew Valley, where there's a lot of things to do, but not necessarily cinematic things.

[StephenO1683]

[Kal-El814]

 

[best3444]

2 hours ago, Kal-El814 said:

 

 

@Biggie have to laugh at this.

[Biggie]

55 minutes ago, best3444 said:

 

@Biggie have to laugh at this.

Do I? Obviously that guy sucks at the game. Everyone knows when you start to stumble you press both the L and R triggers to catch your balance. 

[best3444]

1 hour ago, Biggie said:

Do I? Obviously that guy sucks at the game. Everyone knows when you start to stumble you press both the L and R triggers to catch your balance. 

 

Lol I was joking around. You sick twisted fuck.

[Mercury33]

Sweet Christ. I didn’t think it would be possible to be a more boring POS game than RDR2 but this game pulled it off. I think that game where you’re a airline passenger is probably more excited. This is why “artistic geniuses” need a filter sometimes. Good lord. 

[gamer.tv]

Wife is still enjoying the game and about to start Chapter 4. I remember when I was about 7, of all things I bought a copy of N64 magazine and it described Pilot Wings 64 as a game for those "...who appreciated the little things in games" and my wife is that person. She enjoys the challenge and pressure, mixed in with the ticking over of the actual goal of the game (at least so far). 

 

It's also a great game to have in the background as I finish school work. 

[fuckle85]

The thing I love most about DS is, you've got this mysterious, bonk as fuck premise with the interdimensional ghosts, rain that speeds up time, babies used as batteries, grenades made of your character's bodily fluids, everyone becoming a nuke after they die and all that stuff, and all of it feels so new and the gameplay and world design go to impressive lengths to support such a bizarre sci-fi premise. 

 

It can be videogamey at times, but not so much that it breaks tone.  The gameplay loop is essentially a job quota in this world. A important job that your character has to do  -  making deliveries to people stranded by timefall, BTs and terrorists outside of cities.  If such a strange event happened, a job like this would no doubt need to exist. The world looks like what you might expect after a cataclysmic explosion and resembles terrain formed near and/or after volcanic activity (though part of me has suspicions that the setting is even on earth to begin with).  Technology and advanced 3D printing play a vital and understandable role in maintaining and rebuilding any and everything that isn't made of stone.  The timefall is part of the gameplay loop - with your cargo and items in danger of decaying within a certain amount of time, you need to restore or replace it or start over.  Since human corpses explode like weapons of mass destruction, non-lethal combat against hostiles is heavily prioritized.  Vehicles not only respond to rocky terrain like they would in reality; driving more carefully to avoid hitting those rocks and ruts is basically a gameplay mechanic unto itself.  And unlike most action/adventure titles where your character has a magical invisible backpack that holds dozens or more weapons and items, you visibly carry everything you have on you and managing item weight and amount is part of the gameplay and dramatically effects each journey to your destination.  And unlike most games, your character eats and drinks, sleeps and even uses the bathroom.  Overall, DS starts with this fascinating and creative world and its gameplay is based on a sim-like attention to detail regarding living day to day in that world. 

 

I'm back now at chapter 4-5, where it goes from minimalist hiking simulator to more of a full-on open world action game and its super enjoyable. It won't be fun for everyone, but it's such an interesting new experience unlike anything else out there and I'm glad it exists.

 

 

[Xbob42]

1 hour ago, fuckle85 said:

Vehicles not only respond to rocky terrain like they would in reality; driving more carefully to avoid hitting those rocks and ruts is basically a gameplay mechanic unto itself.

A man can have whatever opinion he wants on this game, but this is factually incorrect. The vehicle physics in this game are fucking bonkers bad. Specifically when you try to go over rocky terrain that the game doesn't "want" you to go over. So you'll functionally hit an invisible wall, and if you keep on going at it, you'll either get over it eventually or you'll get launched 10 feet into the air and slowly fall backwards, damaging your items. This is super easy to see near the wind farm, for example, with the rocky terrain that makes it hard to get out on a vehicle. (I can only get out on a trike, and even then it's a PITA and Sam talks about "how this ain't happening, better go on foot" even though you can get past it with a little effort.)

 

Not to mention the weirdly long time it takes to go from reverse to drive, but only sometimes, how momentum is often just cut off completely for no reason whatsoever, how your car... dies I guess? When you get near BTs. But in reality it just stops your car where it is, including mid-air, I got to enjoy the BTs showing up cutscene while about 6 feet off the ground earlier.

 

The vehicles feel pretty good on even terrain and are okay-ish on terrain you're "supposed" to be on, but when you try to get more out of them the engine has no fucking clue what to do.

[Biggie]

3 hours ago, fuckle85 said:

The thing I love most about DS is, you've got this mysterious, bonk as fuck premise with the interdimensional ghosts, rain that speeds up time, babies used as batteries, grenades made of your character's bodily fluids, everyone becoming a nuke after they die and all that stuff, and all of it feels so new and the gameplay and world design go to impressive lengths to support such a bizarre sci-fi premise. 

 

It can be videogamey at times, but not so much that it breaks tone.  The gameplay loop is essentially a job quota in this world. A important job that your character has to do  -  making deliveries to people stranded by timefall, BTs and terrorists outside of cities.  If such a strange event happened, a job like this would no doubt need to exist. The world looks like what you might expect after a cataclysmic explosion and resembles terrain formed near and/or after volcanic activity (though part of me has suspicions that the setting is even on earth to begin with).  Technology and advanced 3D printing play a vital and understandable role in maintaining and rebuilding any and everything that isn't made of stone.  The timefall is part of the gameplay loop - with your cargo and items in danger of decaying within a certain amount of time, you need to restore or replace it or start over.  Since human corpses explode like weapons of mass destruction, non-lethal combat against hostiles is heavily prioritized.  Vehicles not only respond to rocky terrain like they would in reality; driving more carefully to avoid hitting those rocks and ruts is basically a gameplay mechanic unto itself.  And unlike most action/adventure titles where your character has a magical invisible backpack that holds dozens or more weapons and items, you visibly carry everything you have on you and managing item weight and amount is part of the gameplay and dramatically effects each journey to your destination.  And unlike most games, your character eats and drinks, sleeps and even uses the bathroom.  Overall, DS starts with this fascinating and creative world and its gameplay is based on a sim-like attention to detail regarding living day to day in that world. 

 

I'm back now at chapter 4-5, where it goes from minimalist hiking simulator to more of a full-on open world action game and its super enjoyable. It won't be fun for everyone, but it's such an interesting new experience unlike anything else out there and I'm glad it exists.

 

 

Bravo  

1 hour ago, Xbob42 said:

A man can have whatever opinion he wants on this game, but this is factually incorrect. The vehicle physics in this game are fucking bonkers bad. Specifically when you try to go over rocky terrain that the game doesn't "want" you to go over. So you'll functionally hit an invisible wall, and if you keep on going at it, you'll either get over it eventually or you'll get launched 10 feet into the air and slowly fall backwards, damaging your items. This is super easy to see near the wind farm, for example, with the rocky terrain that makes it hard to get out on a vehicle. (I can only get out on a trike, and even then it's a PITA and Sam talks about "how this ain't happening, better go on foot" even though you can get past it with a little effort.)

 

Not to mention the weirdly long time it takes to go from reverse to drive, but only sometimes, how momentum is often just cut off completely for no reason whatsoever, how your car... dies I guess? When you get near BTs. But in reality it just stops your car where it is, including mid-air, I got to enjoy the BTs showing up cutscene while about 6 feet off the ground earlier.

 

The vehicles feel pretty good on even terrain and are okay-ish on terrain you're "supposed" to be on, but when you try to get more out of them the engine has no fucking clue what to

[Biggie]

Why do you hurt me Bob 

[Spork3245]

13 minutes ago, Biggie said:

Why do you hurt me Bob 

 

Because you like it a little rough?

[Keyser_Soze]

Yeah if this game wants to go full Euro Truck Sim the driving physics are going to have to be a bit better. I noticed the vehicle has a jump button for when you get hung up on those rocks.

[Greatoneshere]

I feel like people aren't playing the game correctly? The reverse trike is a bitch to drive - but it's clearly intentionally done that way. People don't seem to have figured out that the trike can hop and jump - you can do wheelies and jump the trike to get over terrain. Is it still frustrating? Yeah, of course it is, otherwise we'd be able to dodge all BT's pretty easily. The game wants to funnel you into corridors and BT's so you have to go off road and pull off some crazy stunts to find new ways around but it works. Part of the game is path finding - if you're using a vehicle, you have to lay out what you think you'll do ahead of time before you enter the BT infested area. I've had plenty of people follow the routes I make online, which feels pretty cool. The game is Truck Simulator. It's a beautiful but primarily empty walking simulator (ala Firewatch, etc.) that mostly plays as a delivery service game with intentionally wonky controls to make the walking and delivery parts harder, but there is a method to the madness. But if all of that sounds boring or strange to you, yeah, I can see why it's divisive, but what the game does it certainly does well, for what it is.

 

I will agree that the pseudo-cutscene that plays every time I enter a timefall, then again when I think BT's are near, then again when the odradek comes out to spot BT's is super annoying, especially since the three moments are never skippable. The baby crying/making noises in BT areas is also tiresome after awhile.

 

I read a review recently that complained about how you can't skip cutscenes. You absolutely can - just hit pause and skip. I think it's weird people don't go through the menus to see "auto arrange cargo" or "skip cutscene" or that the trike can do wheelies and also jump. If people aren't going to bother with the quality of life parts the game does have, it's harder for me to take criticisms from such people as seriously. There's an entire "Tips" submenu to help people out with all of this. Know the game thoroughly before hating on it if you're bothering to play it. I read another review which absolutely hated the "soothing BB" motion controls. They complained about it throughout the review. Except, if you go to the controls menu, you can simply change the "soothing BB" option from motion controls to simply pressing the R2 trigger, removing motion controls from the game entirely. Again, people don't seem to be checking all the options before they complain or criticize. It's not a hidden function - it's right there in the controls menu.

 

As for container damage, just always make sure you have a few container sprays on your person and simply heal the containers before you hand them in. Boom, 100% container delivered. You can also completely fix your vehicle (its "durability") in the blink of an eye by simply parking it in a garage and then taking it back out again. Boom, 100% vehicle fixed. I'm playing on hard and it's not been all that bad at all in terms of difficulty. The landscape is the true enemy, hence people complaining about how difficult navigating the landscape is. Well yeah . . . it's an intentional obstacle, the main one.

[Biggie]

Man once this game starts opening up it gets really fucking good. Literally my GOTY. 

[Keyser_Soze]

[Keyser_Soze]

 

[SaysWho?]

I finally got to play more yesterday. I linked up to the first town left of the starting area (yes, I'm very early still) and delivered a bunch of packages back to the first town. Also, those strand villains were frightening to move through.  

 

Digging it so far!

[Xbob42]

29 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

strand villains

[SaysWho?]

Just now, Xbob42 said:

 

wut

[Bloodporne]

I don't get at all why so many reviews made this out to be light in terms of gameplay or available mechanics and compared it to RDR2 . I really think it has a lot of MGSV DNA in that there's a payback for investing creativity into your play style and that's the exact opposite of RDR2. I've played both games a lot by now and they have nothing in common as far as I'm concerned. 

 

I'm at 31 hours with DS and of course it's not perfect and there is really stupid shit like those little BT mini-cutscenes, but the game actually is refreshingly uninterruptive for a modern AAA title and I expected the opposite. At least the way I've played, it's been massively long stretches of pure, uninterrupted gameplay for hours between any long story cutscenes. I've read it gets heavy in the ending part of the game but so far this reminds me a lot of MGSV's approach to story. I vastly prefer sitting through a few asinine cutscenes and then being left alone for hours with zero hand-holding over, for example, God Of War sticking me with a constant loop of an AI telling me what to do if I even stand still for 10 seconds in a puzzle room. And no I'm not hating on GoW or comparing them. 

 

I didn't think I'd like this game at all and really just wanted to see what all the drama was about with that rental but damn, it's been really memorable and cool so far. Even if it massively shits the bed later like MGSV did with its final "chapter", what I've already played has been really refreshing and engaging as fuck for me. Again, it reminds me of some mid-tier, weird PS2 game but polished as fuck with a huge budget, I really appreciate that. 

[Biggie]

18 minutes ago, Bloodporne said:

I don't get at all why so many reviews made this out to be light in terms of gameplay or available mechanics and compared it to RDR2 . I really think it has a lot of MGSV DNA in that there's a payback for investing creativity into your play style and that's the exact opposite of RDR2. I've played both games a lot by now and they have nothing in common as far as I'm concerned. 

 

I'm at 31 hours with DS and of course it's not perfect and there is really stupid shit like those little BT mini-cutscenes, but the game actually is refreshingly uninterruptive for a modern AAA title and I expected the opposite. At least the way I've played, it's been massively long stretches of pure, uninterrupted gameplay for hours between any long story cutscenes. I've read it gets heavy in the ending part of the game but so far this reminds me a lot of MGSV's approach to story. I vastly prefer sitting through a few asinine cutscenes and then being left alone for hours with zero hand-holding over, for example, God Of War sticking me with a constant loop of an AI telling me what to do if I even stand still for 10 seconds in a puzzle room. And no I'm not hating on GoW or comparing them. 

 

I didn't think I'd like this game at all and really just wanted to see what all the drama was about with that rental but damn, it's been really memorable and cool so far. Even if it massively shits the bed later like MGSV did with its final "chapter", what I've already played has been really refreshing and engaging as fuck for me. Again, it reminds me of some mid-tier, weird PS2 game but polished as fuck with a huge budget, I really appreciate that. 

Because they didn’t actually play the game? Sort of like all the haters posting nonsense when they literally didn’t even know what the game was even about. 

[Keyser_Soze]

22 minutes ago, Bloodporne said:

I don't get at all why so many reviews made this out to be light in terms of gameplay or available mechanics and compared it to RDR2 . I really think it has a lot of MGSV DNA in that there's a payback for investing creativity into your play style and that's the exact opposite of RDR2. I've played both games a lot by now and they have nothing in common as far as I'm concerned.

 

I didn't read a lot of reviews about it but from the impressions I read were: 1. It's weird 2. You mostly deliver packages 3. The story/dialogue tries to be deep but is actually shallow.

Never heard anyone mention RDR2 in relation to it.

[Bloodporne]

5 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

I didn't read a lot of reviews about it but from the impressions I read were: 1. It's weird 2. You mostly deliver packages 3. The story/dialogue tries to be deep but is actually shallow.

Never heard anyone mention RDR2 in relation to it.

I should probably rephrase that actually and you're right. I saw RDR2 dropped a ton on Reddit and probably got it mixed up. 

 

I mean in regards to #3, yeah, it's asinine, tasteless and highly entertaining Kojima nonsense as always. I have no idea why anyone expected this dude to suddenly drop a Dostoevsky novel in video game form. 

[Bloodporne]

15 minutes ago, Biggie said:

Because they didn’t actually play the game? Sort of like all the haters posting nonsense when they literally didn’t even know what the game was even about. 

Nah that's nonsense, of course reviewers and tons of players who can't stand it played the fucking game. 

 

Much like MGSV, it takes a ton of investment to really get into all the layers of sub-systems and get creative. Much like that game, everything is presented, explained and "tutorialized" in text format with long-winded emails and a huge wall of tips texts. I don't blame anyone for bouncing off that shit and only engaging with the very surface-level mechanics as a result quite frankly.

 

I have no idea why I have the patience and perversely enjoy that concept of "figure it out yourself painfully" but I do and so it works for me but fuck I can't fault anyone for hating that entire concept. 

[SaysWho?]

21 minutes ago, Bloodporne said:

Nah that's nonsense, of course reviewers and tons of players who can't stand it played the fucking game. 

 

Much like MGSV, it takes a ton of investment to really get into all the layers of sub-systems and get creative. Much like that game, everything is presented, explained and "tutorialized" in text format with long-winded emails and a huge wall of tips texts. I don't blame anyone for bouncing off that shit and only engaging with the very surface-level mechanics as a result quite frankly.

 

I have no idea why I have the patience and perversely enjoy that concept of "figure it out yourself painfully" but I do and so it works for me but fuck I can't fault anyone for hating that entire concept. 

 

I don't even find it painful. 

[Biggie]

24 minutes ago, Bloodporne said:

Nah that's nonsense, of course reviewers and tons of players who can't stand it played the fucking game. 

 

Much like MGSV, it takes a ton of investment to really get into all the layers of sub-systems and get creative. Much like that game, everything is presented, explained and "tutorialized" in text format with long-winded emails and a huge wall of tips texts. I don't blame anyone for bouncing off that shit and only engaging with the very surface-level mechanics as a result quite frankly.

 

I have no idea why I have the patience and perversely enjoy that concept of "figure it out yourself painfully" but I do and so it works for me but fuck I can't fault anyone for hating that entire concept. 

Tons? I’ve played 20 or so hours and I fully understand. Maybe I’m not a dumbass like most gamers. 🤷‍♀️

1 minute ago, SaysWho? said:

 

I don't even find it painful. 

It’s bliss. 

[Greatoneshere]

Death Stranding is no harder or most esoteric to understand than when people first played Demon's Souls or Dark Souls. The game just requires a lot of patience (like Dark Souls), which is a big ask for some gamers, which is understandable to some degree, though I love Dark Souls and other esoteric and complicated gameplay systems so I'm all in by comparison. I don't mean to say Dark Souls and Death Stranding are otherwise anything alike, just that they are both complicated and abstract, just in very different ways. 

[Xbob42]

I mean the game isn't complicated or complex at all. It has a million little systems but none of them are difficult to grasp. Most of them actually become irrelevant for large stretches of the game. Like how balance doesn't matter at all in vehicles, even on a bike. It feels like certain elements of the game got a LOT more attention than others. It makes vehicles objectively better for at least the first and second map (I've yet to progress beyond map 2), even on annoying terrain. Just take some materials with you and slap a bridge down if you need to. And while you're in the vehicle, you basically get to ignore every system except BTs, and even those are no more annoying than when on foot. Of course, vehicles being largely better would be fine if the vehicles themselves had any depth to their gameplay mechanics, but outside of the trike's ability to navigate more difficult terrain, they really don't. So you really do become a FedEx delivery boy. Some stuff like the zip lines is fun to construct but actually using them trivializes everything and somehow makes things more boring.

Basically everything you get doesn't really provide you with more options so much as function as a quasi fast-travel, where you're playing less game, but being more efficient.

[SaysWho?]

6 minutes ago, Greatoneshere said:

Death Stranding is no harder or most esoteric to understand than when people first played Demon's Souls or Dark Souls. The game just requires a lot of patience (like Dark Souls), which is a big ask for some gamers, which is understandable to some degree, though I love Dark Souls and other esoteric and complicated gameplay systems so I'm all in by comparison. I don't mean to say Dark Souls and Death Stranding are otherwise anything alike, just that they are both complicated and abstract, just in very different ways. 

 

Some games seem overwhelming to me at first. Bloodborne being one, MGSV being another, Death Stranding being another. But they all certainly reward you immensely and continue to improve upon its mechanics, at least so far from what I've played in DS.

[Greatoneshere]

10 minutes ago, Xbob42 said:

I mean the game isn't complicated or complex at all. It has a million little systems but none of them are difficult to grasp. Most of them actually become irrelevant for large stretches of the game. Like how balance doesn't matter at all in vehicles, even on a bike. It feels like certain elements of the game got a LOT more attention than others. It makes vehicles objectively better for at least the first and second map (I've yet to progress beyond map 2), even on annoying terrain. Just take some materials with you and slap a bridge down if you need to. And while you're in the vehicle, you basically get to ignore every system except BTs, and even those are no more annoying than when on foot. Of course, vehicles being largely better would be fine if the vehicles themselves had any depth to their gameplay mechanics, but outside of the trike's ability to navigate more difficult terrain, they really don't. So you really do become a FedEx delivery boy. Some stuff like the zip lines is fun to construct but actually using them trivializes everything and somehow makes things more boring.

Basically everything you get doesn't really provide you with more options so much as function as a quasi fast-travel, where you're playing less game, but being more efficient.

 

I understand what you mean, but the same was the case for MGS5. I'm actually surprised how much of MGS5 is in this game. When you say: "can ignore many of the systems" that's because you've found your play style and thus you have no need for those other systems. Those other systems are there for other people who play differently than you would. In MGS5 I stealthed almost the entire game and was obsessed with fulton recovery of high rank soldiers - the game had tons of weapons and grenades and systems I never really used. But others liked blasting away through whole missions, or gunning everyone down, ignoring fulton recovery entirely, etc. 

 

In terms of future sci fi weirdness, DS is more MGS2 and MGS4, but in terms of gameplay, this game is almost entirely an extension and evolution of MGS5. How did you feel about that game? I loved it for the most part, and it seemed most others did. It had issues, but for the most part, great game.

[Greatoneshere]

9 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

 

Some games seem overwhelming to me at first. Bloodborne being one, MGSV being another, Death Stranding being another. But they all certainly reward you immensely and continue to improve upon its mechanics, at least so far from what I've played in DS.

 

It's exactly like MGS5 in a lot of ways, except delivery service game instead of stealth/action game so you are right on the money.

[Bloodporne]

24 minutes ago, Xbob42 said:

I mean the game isn't complicated or complex at all. It has a million little systems but none of them are difficult to grasp. Most of them actually become irrelevant for large stretches of the game. Like how balance doesn't matter at all in vehicles, even on a bike. It feels like certain elements of the game got a LOT more attention than others. It makes vehicles objectively better for at least the first and second map (I've yet to progress beyond map 2), even on annoying terrain. Just take some materials with you and slap a bridge down if you need to. And while you're in the vehicle, you basically get to ignore every system except BTs, and even those are no more annoying than when on foot. Of course, vehicles being largely better would be fine if the vehicles themselves had any depth to their gameplay mechanics, but outside of the trike's ability to navigate more difficult terrain, they really don't. So you really do become a FedEx delivery boy. Some stuff like the zip lines is fun to construct but actually using them trivializes everything and somehow makes things more boring.

Basically everything you get doesn't really provide you with more options so much as function as a quasi fast-travel, where you're playing less game, but being more efficient.

I don't think they're difficult to grasp either, I simply meant that it takes a lot of investment to learn about the minutiae since everything is presented in text format etc. which is what I can see a lot of players bounce off of. 

 

The vehicles are undercooked I agree with you on that. They feel boring to use but then at the same time I like the act and sense of accomplishment of delivering multiple deliveries at once and/or a huge weighted one. It is a fault of the game though that I also dislike and vehicles just don't feel interesting to actually drive contrary to Sam feeling engaging and interest to control. Now the whole slapping down a bridge and creating the ideal route etc. I find exciting again on the other hand so it kind of balances out for me.

 

29 minutes ago, Greatoneshere said:

Death Stranding is no harder or most esoteric to understand than when people first played Demon's Souls or Dark Souls. The game just requires a lot of patience (like Dark Souls), which is a big ask for some gamers, which is understandable to some degree, though I love Dark Souls and other esoteric and complicated gameplay systems so I'm all in by comparison. I don't mean to say Dark Souls and Death Stranding are otherwise anything alike, just that they are both complicated and abstract, just in very different ways. 

I don't think it is either but we're on the exact same page here anyway. I'm also into that type of "learning" and with my comment I basically meant the same thing, that it's a big ask from some players, and understandably so, just already based on how all this information is presented.

 

I also agree with being surprised by just how much MGSV is in here, in a good way. It should've been called Death Stranding: The Pacifist Pain.

 

Tactical Delivery Operations