If this were any other dev I would have just said "fuck that, I'm not playing that trash', but I'm in full denial mode that Kojima made fucking Boston Marathon the video game. I'm downloading it as we speak. *sigh*
The mad genius did it, I'm enthralled by this game. It starts off in Kojima fashion with loads of cutscenes, extremely well done cutscenes. The mystery of this story is setup rather well but it is still Kojima writing meaning you will get long exposition with the subtlety of a hammer. If the story doesn't connect this would probably be a rough go.
The game is about walking and delivering packages but it's done in a way where you are constantly getting new mechanics and tools all the time. How interesting can walking be, well imagine having to take a trek through a BT (evil ghosts) invested area with a ton of packages on your back which makes it harder to get around and with rain that deteriorates your packages. All of a sudden that walking becomes thrilling as every step could lead to a fall, or a BT spotting you. Navigating terrain is the game and there are all kind of obstacles which can be overcome with gear used by you or left by others. It's all pretty cool.
Combat and stealth is rather shallow so it's not going to please certain people. It's weird, but if the gameplay loop grabs you it's fun.
My PS4 doesn't turn on, won't boot through. I have to wait till it's fixed to Kojima it up -_-
SupremeAC said:Bummer. I hope it gets fixed soon and won't cost you an arm and a leg.
You got it all wrong, this has given him a temporary reprieve from playing a 45 hour walking simulator. The PS4 was trying to save him from himself!
It's not Metal Gear, but it's a very unique experience & somehow hard to put down. I played it for like 6 hours straight the other night. Very cool to see what they were able to do with the Horizon engine. I hope Sony's teams do the same kind of thing on PS5 where every 1st-party game is using an in house engine instead of some global system like Unreal or whatever.
Not perfect by any stretch; there are parts of the game where traveling long distance can get tedius, especially over rough terrain without the right equipment. And the cutscenes can be a bit much in usual Kojima fashion. But the good outweighs the bad by a large margin.
This guy should totally be the one working on the Shenmue series. Imagine what he could do with the forklift.
So how can I describe why this game is fun... let’s see. It’s got that carrot on a stick thing down perfectly. Every mission seems to give you some new gadget or gameplay mechanic to work with, there is a constant steady stream of the game expanding with new things to do, new items to use, new ways to deliver and so on. You start with ladders and now I’m delivering metals to way stations to build roads. Those roads make delivering super easy but the satisfaction from other players using your road is so great, get all those likes, rank up get cooler shit and so on.
Obviously it’s all been done before but this got the Kojima mystery and attention to detail. Plus once you do head into new territory it’s back to that walking survival game that’s actually compelling. It still has plenty of those oh shit something went wrong and now it's on to salvage it. Whether it's a bunch of MULE dudes coming to Jack your cargo or steal thing through BTs it can get intense. Combat though is clearly an after thought as you can take care of anything in your path with relative ease if you came prepped. If that aspect of the game had even half the gameplay of MGSV this game would be perfect.
for now though I am addicted to delivery!
Interesting impression, Edge and Vader, thanks.
How does the interaction with other players work? Also what's been done before? Paperboy is the other delivery game that immediately springs to mind.
There's not really interaction. It's kind of like the Dark Souls/Nioh type of thing (which I like) of leaving behind messages, but this game takes it a step further with the ability to build roads, bridges & set up ladders and other things that people will be able to use in their game. You can also leave weapons & items for others in a locker. It's a really cool idea, but in some ways that's what this game feels like; a cool idea that's not completely fleshed out. It feels like an experiment, which is part of its draw.
I get the feeling much of this game is leftover ideas from MGS5 that never got off the ground, but are still not completely cooked through.
The one part of the game that kind of annoys me is the vehicle travel. It doesn't feel like there's many areas where you can use the bike & not want to destroy it with a grenade. Kojima clearly thinks most of the USA is a hellish Mars type of landscape. Huge chunks of rock every two feet makes for a bumpy ride. Also the idea of leaving LIKES for everything makes me feel like I'm playing Facebook The Game, which I could definitely do without.
Close to 30 hours in and still on chapter 3. Kojima is the master of the slow drip of new gameplay mechanics and gadgets. You start as this lonely dude with a backpack worried about tripping over a rock and now I feel like I'm the CEO of a one man UPS. I have trucks, bikes, little floating loading stuff. I'm hauling huge loads of materials to parts of the world to build roads and bridges. I'm making it easier for the delivery routes not just for me but everyone else. It's an incredible concept that works so well.
I feel this is the revolution in open world I want. It's sort of the opposite of BOTW where that game gave you all the tools up front and said you do whatever, this game is a constant steady stream of goals and rewards. It's also without the icon chancing of say a Ubisoft game. The game is the travel from one place to another, not the destination and that changes how you experience the world. If you do break down the individual components it is lacking, combat is poor, stealth is basic, it can be repetitive, but it somehow all works.
I don't really understand this mentality. The desire for the games you play, books you read, or TV shows you watch, to only agree with your own conclusions is bizarre (this is essentially the "SJW" position as well). What do you get from that experience that is lasting? Feelings of validation are fleeting. Even weirder is that he seems to be implying that games shouldn't make value judgements at all. What even is the point of them, then?
I'm currently reading LOTR, and it's great. I'm not a closet gay Torry nerd with a fantasy about the imaginary Merry Ol' England, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying it; not only that, it shows why such fantasies are so attractive, which enlarges my understanding of humanity and its weirdnesses. People with this sort of attitude are cutting themselves off not only from learning interesting things that might challenge their beliefs or allow them to argue for them better by pointing out flaws in them they may not have thought of as well as giving them the flaws of their opponents' thinking, but also cutting themselves off from so much joy.
It honestly makes me sad.
Foolz said:Rant
He's busting balls. He's not really a Kojima fan at all, I think he said the only games he liked were MGS1 & MGS3. I don't agree with him on that, but it's his opinion. I think you're thinking about this too deeply. You're assuming he's some ultra closed minded guy who lives in a bubble bc he thinks DS isn't so hot.
Dvader said:Why did you link to some crappy cheap knock off of Alpha Omega Sin. He's an idiot.
Because I knew you would love it. He's actually nothing like that dude, but they used to do a podcast thing together. He doesn't even make videos anymore btw.
We have made it, for years we have wondered what is Death Stranding. What would the legend Kojima do after he left Konami and his Metal Gear franchise behind. Well it is here and its a walking simulator...
But not just any walking simulator, its THE WALKING SIMULATOR. 60+ hours of delivering packages and watching hour long cutscenes of Kojima certified nonsense. I cannot wait!