See you on the beach - the thread for Hideo Kojima's DEATH STRANDING

yeah, the game isn't boring at all. in its insistence on paying attention to your surroundings and to your movements it's not at all unlike metal gear solid, just without the trappings of Tactical Espionage Action. that absence is the engine of Gamer Backlash, plus i think there's a (faulty) collective assumption of rebuke in that absence.

So it's actually fun?

what if I told you in 2019, that a video game would not only get the idea of "likes" from strangers giving that kick of dopamine, but did so in a way that made it a constructive gameplay dynamic?

there are some abuses of it, like spamming of a bunch of signs that a player has to pass through near home locations, but overall it's a well-balanced mechanic

Still looking for clarity: if you play offline, that whole aspect of the game is nullified?

You get "likes" from doing certain tasks in the game, but the abundance of physical objects in the landscape won't appear

so there's no benefit to the likes if you're offline?

my understanding is that the online components don't require playstation plus

(if that is the issue)

I'm perversely avoiding any actual reviews or gameplay videos atm because every anecdotal comment somehow confuses me further re: what this game even is/is about. Which I find fascinating.

it's possible some of the structures are put up by the NPC porters (your job) in the game, as a few appear, but I don't know that anyone reviewing or even playing the game has done it completely offline

the "likes" are what levels up one of your five metrics

i've gotten likes from NPC porters for shit i've left lying around

OL, there's a backstory that at the core establishes this post-apocalyptic world, what the precursor event was, and some of the basics that differentiate this world from our own. The story starts to answer a lot of the unknowns, but a lot of it is "we discovered this technology, it did amazing things, and something horrible happened" with some additional elements related to the fact knowledge was lost in the chaos and your NPC peers are discovering the history as you are.

fwiw the thread (strand?) title here is a reference that becomes clear not far into the game

finally a game that can breach the high watermark set by bioshock for creepiest cosplay

oh man there's gonna be a thousand norman reeduses at comicon
fat reedus, skinny reedus, buff reedus, black reedus, ups delivery uniform reedus, amazon delivery uniform reedus, DHL delivery uniform reedus, asia reedus, sexy reedus, mecha reedus, dog reedus...

I'm wondering what point in the game unlocks the Chvrches song!

The non-score musical parts so far are ok, but I feel like Kojima has found a band that's halfway between Imagine Dragons and Coldplay

I guess I should say vibe-wise, since there's not just one band

This is actually pretty fun and addictive. I don’t think the gameplay footage really sells it. There is a kind of tactile satisfaction in hauling yourself over the landscape that doesn’t really translate well to someone not holding the controller.

Not without its problems. The MULE and BT enemy encounters seem really simplistic and half-baked. I’m down with de-emphasizing combat, but I wish those systems were a little more sophisticated.

There are certain elements that seem to be deliberately irritating. Trudging through BT morass, mashing buttons as monster arms tear cargo off your back while a baby is crying in your face via the controller speaker is a good example. But that stuff is relatively minor/brief.

I've only had one BT battle encounter so far! And it was right at the beginning, before I really got the dynamic. If you're cautious and well-stocked with grenades or some of the later weapons, you can knock those suckers back to the afterlife.

I kind of want to trigger a battle because apparently if you take out one of the larger enemies that appear, they drop a ton of crystals

gameplay in the looks a bit like a walking version of spintires, would that be accurate?

THE HEART-SHAPED BUBBLE

the president's henchman is 'die hardman' who wears a leather suit, cravat and METAL SKULL MASK 24/7 i can't

i ended up just running the fuck away from the annoying BTs at the incinerator, suddenly found myself at the edge of a cliff, and somebody named igor had left.... a rope for me! at the edge! i liked the shit out of it and rappelled away, thanks igor.

thomas i think spintires is more frustrating and lets you screw yourself over. here a modicum of attention will keep you upright.

love this game. just got the "speed skeleton" and i am booking it across this rock strewn ghost-scape. also i am getting the rhythm of infiltrating BT areas so it's less of a drag. stupid MULEs not so much. i'll figure them out.

I’ve gotten pretty good at shooting MULES in the face with my bolo gun. Drops em.

Game really starts opening up in chapter 3. Trucking my stolen MULE mobile down the highway, wind in my hair. Feels good.

just got the BRIDGES truck, really adds to the UPS vibe. loading that motherfucker up with claimed metals and ceramics all the way to south knot city.

Tracer, Igor was the guy in the truck with the corpse at the very beginning!

Ahhhh!

I've been trying to put a certain feeling into words and I think this is how one says this these days.. This game has big Tomb Raider 1 energy

I have yet to see a single pyramid-shaped breast

Kojima is still insanely bad at female characters, but I'm just shaking my head and sighing when that issue pops up

This game has big Tomb Raider 1 energy

this, to me, is the highest praise, so consider my interest in eventually playing this officially heightened

oh. that makes me much more interested.

womb raider (because babies (not sure where i'm going with this))

womb raider is a mission in this game, kind of

also my nickname in college

sorry

my phone tells me my copy is on the way, presumably on foot over the scenic tundra of brooklyn

https://www.polygon.com/videos/2019/11/11/20959269/unraveled-kojima-name-generator-death-stranding

Since it was announced I've continued to misread the game's name as "Death Standing," and given so much of the gameplay appears to be about finding your footing while traversing rough terrain, "Death Standing" kind of works!'

it's a strand game though

i love that the president's name is bridget strand. some morally bankrupt new media grad student should write something about kojima character names, aristotle's discussion of names in poetics, the relevant bit of the rise of the novel, and compare and contrast with the work of shigeru miyamoto (whose games feature character with much more "realistic" names inasmuch as they jibe with the contemporary social milieu of their settings).

like, are all porters named porter? and all bridges members named bridges? that doesn't seem to be the case based on the people sam interacts with.

I guess, with some exceptions, you can just run away from boss fights? I took down a creature summoned by a certain bad guy last night and later read a guide saying I could have just hopped my way out of there

I'd probably have a lot more of my blood if I had

In any case, I'm now in the middle of Episode 6

I'm in episode 5, episode 4 was the only real misstep so far, I really hated it--but it was very short.

hi i'm a guy with a metal skull mask named Die Hard Man, i'll be introducing you to your dying mother who is the president of the United States, please don't agitate her to the point of death aaaaaaaaaand okay you already have

I guess if you look at the figurines in your private room, you can replay the "detour" from episode 4.

I'm wondering if there will be any landscapes in the game that you can't revisit. I get the impression that everything's always open

Guys I realise this is really basic but it keeps raining on me and damaging my stuff. I have the ability to make post boxes, but they don't allow me to complete/entrust deliveries - is this something that gets unlocked later? For now I'm tromping around getting rained on and freaking out.

There also seems like way more lost cargo than I can reasonably get back to the Knot Cities but the completist in me sort of hates to leave them lying around.

You'll get a variety of options to help with package damage:
- Find an overhang or cave and take a nap
- Unlock the ability to make Timefall shelters you can sit under until it stops raining
- Weather station that adds a map layer with forecasts up to a half hour (I think) that let you plot routes around storms
- Drive a truck that's enclosed, keeping all your cargo dry
- Run around blasting cargo repair spray at your back

I haven't been delivering hardly any lost cargo because in heavily trafficked areas it's everywhere

I kind of gave up on caring about perfect, undamaged cargo deliveries after getting the DELIVERY ROBOT. I'm guessing I need to upgrade it, but the ability to have small tasks done by a couple robots is nice, even if they get B/C grades

I'm also weirded out by the fact the way the cargo bot walks seems like of sexy, like it struts and swings its robot hips?

I've played a zillion hours of this game (but not the directors cut) and I have no idea what's going on here

my sentiments exactly

90% of that is the jump ramps (you run in and it launches you) and a high level upgrade to the stabilizer that has little jets that are supposed to keep you upright but apparently act as an ad hoc jet pack if you abuse it just right

that and the cargo cannon, function of which is pretty clear

Maybe I'll go back one day, this probably is the pinnacle of Art Games, also it's deeply, deeply funny. If you don't get it, that's very much on you

Bit worried Kojima will leave the medium behind now people are giving him movie money

I suspect Death Stranding 2, or whatever it ends up being called, will have gameplay that’s more than subtly different

Yeah I bet

But this one is like Buddhism Simulator or something, can't imagine where he'll go

oh that’s the stabilizer! i was wondering how i finished this thing without realizing there were jet packs.

i would like to go back to this - i’ve done the lion’s share of special deliveries. i put so much work into my ziplines though, do they really degrade in real time? not a fan of that at all! Really one of the very best games ever.

afaik Kojima has two games in the making: Death Stranding 2 ("Ocean") and this : https://www.gameinformer.com/the-game-awards-2023/2023/12/07/hideo-kojima-is-making-a-new-game-called-od-with-jordan-peele

also it's deeply, deeply funny. If you don't get it, that's very much on you

OTM. Pretty much every element of this game is hilarious.

Is it worth me playing through this game again to access the Directors Cut stuff? I have my saved game from when I platinumed it a couple of years ago, but loading it up most of my zipwires are dilapidated and I'm kind of disoriented with the landscape. Curious about how the DC plays out, but not sure if it's worth my time just for the additional stuff

I would love to play this game without all the annoying black shadow creatures that I die to every time

Coming out for iPhone and Mac
Can’t wait to see how strand-type gameplay feels on touchscreen

what???

strand-type gaming is back in 2025!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cs-A1rNvEE

there are so many things in this video that make me think "what the hell is THAT"

hmm

nnnggghngnn want to play it nnnnow

hah, I missed that Kojima also announced ANOTHER game, in the "action-espionage" genre for Playstation

so he has three games in the works

The DS2 trailer is appropriately batshit.

I love how grim and and serious everyone is in these worlds. They're impervious to the absurdity of the universe they're situated in.
It's similar with the Souls games, except when Miyazaki injects humour or goofiness into his games, you can tell he's letting the player into the joke.
With Kojima, every line is delivered with deadpan sincerity, like every word is the most important thing anyone's ever said. It gives the eerie impression that Kokima himself doesn't realise how ridiculous his games are.

'On The Beach' is also a pretty funny title

Because that’s the one place you won’t be if you’re playing this game

https://i.imgur.com/VsxfRch.jpg

Mobile strand-type gameplay has arrived

It's similar with the Souls games, except when Miyazaki injects humour or goofiness into his games, you can tell he's letting the player into the joke.
With Kojima, every line is delivered with deadpan sincerity, like every word is the most important thing anyone's ever said. It gives the eerie impression that Kokima himself doesn't realise how ridiculous his games are.

― ...eh you get the gist of it (dog latin), Thursday, February 1, 2024 12:16 PM (three days ago) bookmarkflaglink

the joking virgin vs the chad genius

It worries me that he described his other new project as half movie / half game. I’m just not interested in exposition

its nice that this has a the joker, are their jokers in all universes, something to think about

That guitar battle looks real dumb

I mean, Death Stranding itself was a third movie, two thirds game. I'm really not sure the dial needs to be moved any further

every kojima game has something goofy involving a guy using a toilet

The mobile version adds another level of difficulty to the game. I made it to chapter 1 though