Death Stranding went from GOTY darling to being Trashed on by Gamers now.

For those not in the know, here is a summary of the premise of the game and what it entails as summarized by someone from that place which must not be named. Any text next to asterisks inserted is mine own.
SPOILER ALERT!!!
BIG BAD MESSY SPOLERY SPOILERS below!!! (phone won’t let me use menu to use spoiler tags)
“Vestan” said:
You play as Sam 'Porter' Bridges, a courier for the United Cities of America (UCA). You *reluctantly deliver cargo and other things to fractured settlements scattered across a post-apocalyptic United States through Chiral Network Terminals on behalf of the company 'BRIDGES'. Cargo plays a major factor in how you traverse the world. Carrying too much makes you susceptible to tripping and potentially damaging your load. You have constantly manage your Sam's weight and balance which makes even basic things like walking a challenge.


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You can equip various 'skeleton' enhancements to help traverse the world easier such as the power skeleton which lets you carry more cargo and equipment or the speed skeleton which makes you walk faster.

Sam is asked by Die-Hardman (commander of BRIDGES) and Amelie (President of the United Cities of America) to finish the job of reuniting America she started three years ago after a series of supernatural phenomena and explosions known as the 'Death Stranding' rocked the entire world and destroyed modern civilization, bringing about interdimensional beings known as 'BTs' or 'Beached Things' that are stuck on Earth and roam the wastes, looking for humans to kill. This has naturally caused civilization to return to a sort of pre-industrial society in all but technology, with people forming small settlements that keep to themselves instead of coming together as one cohesive unit.

Die-Hardman also wants Sam to save Amelie in the process after she was captured by Higgs and the Homo Demens who control Edge Knot City (Los Angeles) and oppose the UCA's goal of reuniting America. They want to secure the independence of Edge Knot City and unite the various settlements through fear and force.

Sam reuniting America involves trekking across a barren wasteland forming 'strands' with settlements that are eager to join the UCA by going up to Chiral Network Terminals and connecting your Q-pid to them. While you do this, you need to be wary of the many dangers the world has to offer such as BTs and Homo Demens. Dying in this game places you in a sort of purgatory state where you have to find your way out from the 'other side' and wake up. Once you do, this forms a permanent crater in the spot you died in which has a severe impact on the game world.

You can equip various 'skeleton' enhancements to help traverse the world easier such as the power skeleton which lets you carry more cargo and equipment or the speed skeleton which makes you walk faster.

Sam is asked by Die-Hardman (commander of BRIDGES) and Amelie (President of the United Cities of America) to finish the job of reuniting America she started three years ago after a series of supernatural phenomena and explosions known as the 'Death Stranding' rocked the entire world and destroyed modern civilization, bringing about interdimensional beings known as 'BTs' or 'Beached Things' that are stuck on Earth and roam the wastes, looking for humans to kill. This has naturally caused civilization to return to a sort of pre-industrial society in all but technology, with people forming small settlements that keep to themselves instead of coming together as one cohesive unit.

Die-Hardman also wants Sam to save Amelie in the process after she was captured by Higgs and the Homo Demens who control Edge Knot City (Los Angeles) and oppose the UCA's goal of reuniting America. They want to secure the independence of Edge Knot City and unite the various settlements through fear and force.

Sam reuniting America involves trekking across a barren wasteland forming 'strands' with settlements that are eager to join the UCA by going up to Chiral Network Terminals and connecting your Q-pid to them. While you do this, you need to be wary of the many dangers the world has to offer such as BTs and Homo Demens. Dying in this game places you in a sort of purgatory state where you have to find your way out from the 'other side' and wake up. Once you do, this forms a permanent crater in the spot you died in which has a severe impact on the game world.

****essentially you are traveling (walking and using vehicles) from the east to the far west, the quasi futuristic Edge Knot city (delivering packages to different people or groups along the way in an effort to rebuilt the bonds of a broken country and to inspire unity and progress across the United Cities of America, in your traversals you will encounter groups who oppose you (and maybe some who help you) and will engage of different forms of combat such as gunplay and melee combat, and even using items and inventory to your advantage such as attacking enemies with your cargo, and metallic suitcases. There are incentives to not kill every enemy as doing so will have a substaintial negative impact on your traversal and progress.

There is:
A big focus on story
Combat
Boss Fights
Enviromental Hazards
Survival Elements
Puzzle solving via traversal
and building bonds
there is also an online component that isnt really known yet
****
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of course, I expect the game to have a lot of twists and turns and evolve quite a bit as you progress.

Also here is an off screen potato quality video of the Death Stranding briefing from Gamescom:
streamable.com

BRIEFING TRAILER LEAKED + VLOG - RePorter Ep #9-NlmJ8vhf3A8 - Streamable

Check out this video on Streamable using your phone, tablet or desktop.
streamable.com streamable.com
 
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ShenmueTree said:
Wasn’t that only the briefing video? Doubt that’s the full story of the game, it’s just the summary of the main mission.

Sounds like a fun time.
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We know why we are moving and where, that's story to me.

It's a shame that had to be leaked but at least Kojima stopped playing hyde and seek with us.
 
Sput said:
We know why we are moving and where, that's story to me.

It's a shame that had to be leaked but at least Kojima stopped playing hyde and seek with us.
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Well, that’s true but It’d be nice if this helped people to stop constantly asking “what do you dooo?” now though. It’s pretty clear what you do in the game, and what your objective is if you have been following it until now.
 
ShenmueTree said:
Well, that’s true but It’d be nice if this helped people to stop constantly asking “what do you dooo?” now though. It’s pretty clear what you do in the game, and what your objective is if you have been following it until now.
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Yes but bc it was leaked. Not bc Kojima said "hey guys... watch this closely you know... This may not be for everybody".

Watching it, the 0,1% of my body that maybe wanted play it, died. So it's nice for me but I insist, this was a scam, and people will see it because a fucking leak. I'm starting to think that the best of MGS was Konami and not Kojima.
 
Sput said:
Yes but bc it was leaked. Not bc Kojima said "hey guys... watch this closely you know... This may not be for everybody".

Watching it, the 0,1% of my body that maybe wanted play it, died. So it's nice for me but I insist, this was a scam, and people will see it because a fucking leak. I'm starting to think that the best of MGS was Konami and not Kojima.
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Oh come the fuck on, this is even more ridiculous than those that think Shenmue 3 is a scam. Games not for you but it’s not a flipping scam. Anyway, this is more of a response than such a nonsense comment deserves, so you can think what you want. Play what you want, but I can’t take this seriously anymore.:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 
ShenmueTree said:
Oh come the fuck on, this is even more ridiculous than those that think Shenmue 3 is a scam. Games not for you but it’s not a flipping scam. Anyway, this is more of a response than such a nonsense comment deserves, so you can think what you want. Play what you want, but I can’t take this seriously anymore.:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
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If I sell Shenmue 1&2 like a game which will like to everybody, I'm lying to the people.

Same here. It's simple.
 
So I'm supposed to badmouth Death Stranding now because...? Some users here are nutjobs. Not just in this thread, I've seen countless posts spewing venom towards Kojima because apparently some people are afraid and mad about it supposedly stealing the spotlight and S3 launch sales???
"I don’t understand the complaints about “lack of gameplay” or how it looks boring, especially when they come from Shenmue fans." Shenmue Tree summed up my feelings about all this.
 
Shenmue said:
So I'm supposed to badmouth Death Stranding now because...? Some users here are nutjobs. Not just in this thread, I've seen countless posts spewing venom towards Kojima because apparently some people are afraid and mad about it supposedly stealing the spotlight and S3 launch sales???
"I don’t understand the complaints about “lack of gameplay” or how it looks boring, especially when they come from Shenmue fans." Shenmue Tree summed up my feelings about all this.
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You can think whatever you want about the game...no one here is forcing your hand to think anything and no one here is telling you that you have to go and bad mouth Death Stranding. It's called being your own person. Cool your jets
 
I am more hyped. I don’t understand the complaints about “lack of gameplay” or how it looks boring, especially when they come from Shenmue fans. Shenmue’s core gameplay consists of walking around and talking to people, yes there is a lot of other stuff to do but the core mechanic is investigation.
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That's fine...but for me, it's the world itself that looks dull and boring in Death Stranding...I had a similar problem with MGS V. That game was fun for about 10 hours until I started to realize it was just repeating the same thing over and over again. The mission structure was very repetitive and the open world itself was very copy/paste. I know, all games are repetitive at their core....but I think when you start to notice you're just ransacking another base that looks like it was literally copied and pasted from the last base you ransacked then it lost its appeal to me.

It was fun to dick around in, but the world itself was so copy/paste Ubisoft check list boring. Not to mention the countless other problems with that game. (Should of left it at MGS4.)

I think my problem with Death Stranding is that its world is just another big dull post apocalyptic waste land...and there are so many games lately that have been doing this that I'm just a little tired of it. (Rage 2, Days Gone, Horizon Zero Dawn)....these worlds just lack personality and charm to me and ultimately these games feel like check list games where I'm just going around ticking off boxes on a check list. I'm just a little bored of that after having played so many games that use these dreary empty copy/paste wastelands for their open world.

That's actually why I find Kamurocho to be a breath of fresh air still...because it's a place with personality and life. That's why I'm really excited for Shenmue III...because I can see vibrancy and life in it. I miss games that have life in them. I'm so tired of doom and gloom which is where everything is lately...I miss games that were once filled with life.

I'm just tired of boring dull generic copy and paste wastelands....especially when there are so many games following this tired formula as of late.

But my other problem with Death Stranding so far is the fact that it still hasn't shown me one thing that's made me say "yeah, I want to actually play this."

It's shown us a lot of Kojima's new found Hollywood best friends but has it actually shown us a CHARACTER we can give two shits about? Or has it shown us a reason why we should care about its plot? Every bit of material I've seen is just pseudo intellectual babble...now maybe in the final product it will all add up to something that will blow all of our minds (I'm holding out hope it will do that because I do kind of want to like this game) but based on the disjointed footage I've seen so far...I'm just not feeling it.

Plus I think some of the writing is on the nose. In game, you work for a company named Bridges...in a game that is all about building BRIDGES to connect people. I don't know...just sounds really on the nose to me.

But like I said, it just hasn't grabbed me in any way shape or form. For all it's talk about it being something new...I have yet to see anything from it that has blown my mind and made me say "Yo, that's different!!"

I'm waiting for that moment but so far, it hasn't shown a damn thing.

It's shown me a bunch of Kojima's newfound Hollywood friends and not a single CHARACTER I'm interested in. It's shown me a bunch of disjointed cut scenes that could potentially add up to something decent or could just be Kojima going too far up his own ass. It's shown me a vast empty wasteland of a world that I am so tired of because so many other games have done this lately and I think it's just becoming boring as all hell.

I'm still waiting for that one thing...that one thing that will make this all make sense but right now? All I'm seeing is a game that really doesn't interest me.


I'm not gonna be a fool and say "oh it's a scam" or "it's gonna take money away from Shenmue III" (I'm a realist...Shenmue III probably won't appeal to the mainstream...it will probably satisfy its core audience and pick up a few curious onlookers while at it....but it won't set the world on fire either)

But for me...given Shenmue III or Death Stranding? I'll take Shenmue III in a heart beat because it's a world that looks alive and is actually a place I want to spend time in...where as I don't know if I can say the same for the dreary boring wastelands that is Death Stranding.

I'm still waiting for that one thing that makes Death Stranding make sense and make it a must play...maybe we will see that at TGS...but right now, I'm not holding my breath based on what I've seen so far. I think a lot of it is just hype based on Kojima's name alone.

That's my full feelings on Death Stranding so far.
 
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danielmann861 said:
But for me...given Shenmue III or Death Stranding? I'll take Shenmue III in a heart beat because it's a world that looks alive and is actually a place I want to spend time in...where as I don't know if I can say the same for the dreary boring wastelands that is Death Stranding.
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This.
 
Shenmue said:
So I'm supposed to badmouth Death Stranding now because...? Some users here are nutjobs. Not just in this thread, I've seen countless posts spewing venom towards Kojima because apparently some people are afraid and mad about it supposedly stealing the spotlight and S3 launch sales???
"I don’t understand the complaints about “lack of gameplay” or how it looks boring, especially when they come from Shenmue fans." Shenmue Tree summed up my feelings about all this.
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People saying “ Shenmue actually has gameplay “is just so dumb. I’ve listed several aspects of gameplay from Death Stranding and it has more core gameplay than Shenmue. I get it, we all love Shenmue here, it’s a special game to all us, but this hating on new shit as if it somehow discredits the magic of Shenmue is just ridiculous. Btw, Here is the core gameplay of Shenmue: Investigation by walking around and talking to people, some QTEs and occasional combat. Yes there is other gameplay elements but these are the core of the game.

Here is the core game of Death Stranding
Melee combat, gunplay via different ammunition type, survival elements and keepsake yourself healthy, puzzles via navigating the environment, hazards, traversal via operating vehicles such as boats, and motorcycles, etc, taking care of your BB, trying to keep away from the underworld and creating huge craters on the surface of the living. All of these work in tandem with the other, and will impact each other and the game world. On top of this it’s embedded in a deeply political story which will have a clear message. (Sorry, not sorry to anyone triggered by the fact games can be and have been political for ages)

That’s just all we know so far too. I’m excited to pick up Shenmue 3 in November, it’s going to be magical, but I am also excited for Death Stranding. I feel they are both two very unique games amidst all the others in a sea of the same old stale sameness. But people got a hate boner for Kojima for some reason. Pretty silly, tbh.
 
The comparision between DS and Shenmue is intriguing. Although I absoulty love Shenmue, I cannot see the same magic in DS Stranding that I can see in Shenmue.

DS Looks like the average bland open world game to me, like Horizon Zero Dawn, GTA, Red Dead Redemption, and many other games that are loved by many but not by me.


I hate it to get bombed with random Tasks that have Nothing to do with the story. I am not made for open world games. I prefer games with good Story telling. And good Story telling in a bland open world Setting is not impossible. It does not work.

Kojima won't change that. MGS 5 has proven that. Kojima is now fasziniated by open world, and he even said he will never go back to the old liniar game design.

Understandable that he wants to try out new things.

Maybe he can do many funny Things with the new Gameplay. But selling this stuff as new concept that has never been done before is a bit weird.

It might be a good open world game with not so good Story telling. Like many games before it.

But let's wait and see what the TGS will Show. Kojima has still once chance to convince the Critics including myself.
 
9dragons said:
I hate it to get bombed with random Tasks that have Nothing to do with the story. I am not made for open world games. I prefer games with good Story telling. And good Story telling in a bland open world Setting is not impossible. It does not work.
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I don't know if I'd go that far personally. My favorite game is Shadow of the Colossus and it too takes place in a dull dreary wasteland...but that dull dreary wasteland is a character itself and it does manage to tell a rather compelling (if not minimalist) story that has always hooked from Colossus #1 to Colossus #16.

My problem with MGS V is that it just didn't tell a great story...sure, the game was fun to dick around with but I thought the story sucked by comparison to every other Metal Gear game he has done. There was nothing memorable about that game...I'm struggling to remember anything about that game even as I type.
 
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Shadow of the Colossus I have not played. But fair point. There might be some Open world games with better stories that I have not played yet.

My Problem with MGS 5 is that is just not MGS. MGS is About Story and Immersion. The MGS Concept that does not work with the plain open world stuff everbody does.

If Kojima would go full open world in a brand new IP I would not complain at all. A new Kojima game with open world like DS might even work. Not for me, I hate open world but for many People.
 
ShenmueTree said:
Here is the core game of Death Stranding
Melee combat, gunplay via different ammunition type, survival elements and keepsake yourself healthy, puzzles via navigating the environment, hazards, traversal via operating vehicles such as boats, and motorcycles, etc, taking care of your BB, trying to keep away from the underworld and creating huge craters on the surface of the living. All of these work in tandem with the other, and will impact each other and the game world. On top of this it’s embedded in a deeply political story which will have a clear message. (Sorry, not sorry to anyone triggered by the fact games can be and have been political for ages)

That’s just all we know so far too. I’m excited to pick up Shenmue 3 in November, it’s going to be magical, but I am also excited for Death Stranding. I feel they are both two very unique games amidst all the others in a sea of the same old stale sameness. But people got a hate boner for Kojima for some reason. Pretty silly, tbh.
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BAH, Yakuza 6 already did that with Haruka's kid! Hell, we were taking care of cats in Shenmue long ago on a little white Dreamcast proving once again that Suzuki was way ahead of the curb! Because we all know Cute Kittens beat BB's! (yes, I'm being a wise ass :D Don't take me seriously just in case.)

Yeah, but I don't trust Kojima to deliver an insightful well written political message...I expect he will deliver some over the top psycho babble bullshit like he always has...that's not to say his ideas aren't entertaining and the themes of his work aren't thoughtful, I think they can be at times.. Hell, MGS2 was very entertaining and thoughtful with its ideas but its delivery felt like I was watching a Saturday late night Anime...which was fun and it still remains one of my favorite Metal Gear games...but time will tell for Death Stranding. I still think it's running the risk of being a little too far up it's own ass to take in any serious manner.

I hope it all comes together...but I don't know...I just can't shake the feeling that this could very well be a bunch of interesting ideas that never really come together in any meaningful way. But that's just my thought. But hey, some said the same of Shenmue when it first released and I loved Shenmue...so who knows?

It's not really a Kojima hate boner for me....it's more so I'm just not feeling Death Stranding and I feel like it's all just hype based on Kojima's name. Meanwhile everything they've talked about feels like a bunch of interesting expanded ideas cobbled together from other games...but, I'm still taking a wait and see approach with it. I will no doubt play it when it comes out just because I am still mildly curious to see if it all comes together.
 
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I don't hate Kojima. I think MGS3 and Peace-walker was cool games. Tho MGS4 turned me off the franchise but I don't begrudge him personally for it. Infact, I wish Kojima revisits and flesh out Zone of the Enders and do a couple more games like snatchers/policenauts.

I still love & listen to the opening to ZOE to this day.


Now in DS case, Since Kojima boldly claims its a revolutionary genre changing game in 2019, I'm having high expectation and keeping tabs. All trailers and press info + Leaks isn't ticking the boxes so I'm gonna take the cynical stance on it. Doesn't help he also has a track record of trolling with fans still keeping receipts.
 
At first I was hyped with DS, those weird videos, the atmosphere, the unknown story, music, but, at this moment, my hype´s gone. The main problem to me is when marketing tell to you that this videogame is fresh, revolutionary, but after a long time you don´t see anything of that. In addition, all of adoration round Kojima...
My thoughts:
If this game was a kickstarter, I can´t imagine the amounth of people asking for refund at this moment.
Sony is conscious about all the negative critics. After Gamescom there is a lot of articles saying good things of the game that look like been written by Sony.
If money was better distributed, true master like Yu Suzuki hadn´t to look for money through Kickstarter. A little less money for Kojima and a little more of support to Suzuki from Sony would be more fair to me.
 
danielmann861 said:
BAH, Yakuza 6 already did that with Haruka's kid! Hell, we were taking care of cats in Shenmue long ago on a little white Dreamcast proving once again that Suzuki was way ahead of the curb! Because we all know Cute Kittens beat BB's! (yes, I'm being a wise ass :D Don't take me seriously just in case.)

Yeah, but I don't trust Kojima to deliver an insightful well written political message...I expect he will deliver some over the top psycho babble bullshit like he always has...that's not to say his ideas aren't entertaining and the themes of his work aren't thoughtful, I think they can be at times.. Hell, MGS2 was very entertaining and thoughtful with its ideas but its delivery felt like I was watching a Saturday late night Anime...which was fun and it still remains one of my favorite Metal Gear games...but time will tell for Death Stranding. I still think it's running the risk of being a little too far up it's own ass to take in any serious manner.

I hope it all comes together...but I don't know...I just can't shake the feeling that this could very well be a bunch of interesting ideas that never really come together in any meaningful way. But that's just my thought. But hey, some said the same of Shenmue when it first released and I loved Shenmue...so who knows?

It's not really a Kojima hate boner for me....it's more so I'm just not feeling Death Stranding and I feel like it's all just hype based on Kojima's name. Meanwhile everything they've talked about feels like a bunch of interesting expanded ideas cobbled together from other games...but, I'm still taking a wait and see approach with it. I will no doubt play it when it comes out just because I am still mildly curious to see if it all comes together.
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Both Yakuza 3 AND Judge Eyes, had plots that were based in real-life and had a ton of political connotations.

As well, when the three real Yakuza played 3, they all said that the plot was eerily similar to a recent even that had just taken place in Japan.

Just wanted to expand on the Yakuza 6 political dealings as well :)
 
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