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So, I finally beat Death Stranding last night. Spoilers ahead... (In blurred text?!?!? This is new to me!)


I absolutely loved the game, despite it not being a flawless experience.

I waited a bit to play it, as I was a lot busier around the holidays. I put just under 100 hours into the game, and I have NEVER put that much time into a game play-through before.

There's obviously a lot to talk about with the game, but as someone who is frequently critical of modern games having 'more of the same' more often than not, I was so happy to play through this game. It's able to bring out emotional and affective responses to bring out what it feels like to be in this sort of situation. These are not typical things that people play games, which is why I understand certain player's responses to it. If you look to games for an escape, then starting out by making some early deliveries and having no actual personal contact with anyone is not what you want from an escape. But it evokes that feeling of struggle and isolation and confusion early on, and begin to show improvements with the more connections that you are able to make. I also felt like new mechanics and traversing options were made available at the perfect times early on, and that the ones later offered you a viable option for your approach to the game. I, for one, only used the floating platform once for a delivery. I found more use in building up road ways and using vehicles for multiple deliveries, that was up until heading into the mountain towards Mountain Knot City, where zip lines became my jam (and I littered the countryside with them too!)

The point was that the game presented me with opportunities for how to play the game, but I didn't feel the need to always take advantage of them. I've watched a few videos on other people's analysis of the game, and have noticed a lot of gameplay footage where people are trying to use a motorbike to traverse sheer cliff faced mountains to make a delivery. I can't help thinking that these people missed the point of having this sort of vehicle entirely. They did the thing that most video games want you to do: introduce a new mechanic, and use it right away no matter what.

The story may have laid a few points on too thick at times, but I felt like it was very well thought-out. The character work is pretty great overall. Even character's that weren't as well fleshed out in the story, such as Die Hardman, were given a chance to shine that made their arch all the more rounded. Also, never once was I bored by what I was doing, because the atmosphere really drove home the themes of really making a difference by making a delivery and bringing people into the network where information and ideas could be shared and accessed.

At the end of it, I'm so happy to see a game like this, with a huge dev team and budget behind it, finding ways to zig when all other games would zag.


I avoided spoilers for it totally before I'd played, so now allow me to go back through this thread and look up what comments you guys made about it when you played!
 
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I'm curious... as one who is at least somewhat new-ish to Animal Crossing games (I adored one years ago but my memory doesn't offer much...)
I'm curious whether folks think they're the sort of games where one should consult a guide or watch "for beginners" videos or if they're best to just go into blind... (admittedly I'm hoping it's the latter as I'm feeling too intimidated lately by games that seem to need some internet guidance.) I'd appreciate any input / opinions!
 
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akhliber said:
I'm curious... as one who is at least somewhat new-ish to Animal Crossing games... I'm curious whether folks think they're the sort of games where one should consult a guide or watch "for beginners" videos or if they're best to just go into blind... (admittedly I'm hoping it's the latter as I'm feeling too intimidated lately by games that seem to need some internet guidance.) I'd appreciate any input / opinions!
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Blind, if it's like all the other games. Some things require specific seasons to acquire, but there's no deadlines. You won't miss things by accident without being able to get them. You can't take too long to do something. You don't get your progress judged like in Stardew. The worst that can happen is one of your neighbours might move out, or some annoying stupid duck might move DIRECTLY IN THE DESIGNATED CONSTRUCTION ZONE FOR YOUR COMMUNITY PROJECT AND YOU CAN'T GET HIM TO LEAVE NO MATTER HOW MANY PITFALLS YOU PUSH HIM INTO.
 
Max Sterling said:
Blind, if it's like all the other games. Some things require specific seasons to acquire, but there's no deadlines. You won't miss things by accident without being able to get them. You can't take too long to do something. You don't get your progress judged like in Stardew. The worst that can happen is one of your neighbours might move out, or some annoying stupid duck might move DIRECTLY IN THE DESIGNATED CONSTRUCTION ZONE FOR YOUR COMMUNITY PROJECT AND YOU CAN'T GET HIM TO LEAVE NO MATTER HOW MANY PITFALLS YOU PUSH HIM INTO.
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You pretty much summed up exactly what I was hoping to know, so thank you. I adored my time with Stardew Valley, which was inspired by remembering I really loved "one of those old Animal Crossing games" but the weird deadlines and such seemed unfamiliar and intimidating and I kept feeling the need to look to the internet instead of just "having fun with the game." A wonderful game still, but I'm glad to hear I may not have to expect that with the new AC :)
 
Max Sterling said:
Blind, if it's like all the other games. Some things require specific seasons to acquire, but there's no deadlines. You won't miss things by accident without being able to get them. You can't take too long to do something. You don't get your progress judged like in Stardew. The worst that can happen is one of your neighbours might move out, or some annoying stupid duck might move DIRECTLY IN THE DESIGNATED CONSTRUCTION ZONE FOR YOUR COMMUNITY PROJECT AND YOU CAN'T GET HIM TO LEAVE NO MATTER HOW MANY PITFALLS YOU PUSH HIM INTO.
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In the new one, you select the space where you villagers' houses will be yourself!
 
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