Death Stranding is really cool. (Gaming)

by cheapLEY , Saturday, November 09, 2019, 20:42 (1628 days ago) @ Cody Miller

It's honestly brilliant.

I'm about 8 hours in. I've made it to Episode 3, which is where everyone says the main gameplay loop really comes into its own.

I am absolutely enthralled.

As Cody said, the mere act of navigating the world has been turned into a gameplay mechanic. Navigating the world is this game. And it's incredible. Balancing a massive pack filled to max capacity with it teetering precariously with every step while you climb rocks or repel down cliffsides. There's lots of managing balance and momentum as you move around and navigate obstacles.

There are other twists, two different enemy types to add extra challenge, but mostly, you just walk around the world delivering packages from place to place, and that core loop is incredibly satisfying in the weirdest way.

I can't comment much on story. It's pretty heavy-handed (You get a smartphone that is a literally a set of handcuffs, and lots of gameplay mechanics revolve around getting "likes.") But still, the universe has lots of cool concepts, and the presentation is cool.

I've heard this is a decently long game (like 50-60 hours or even more), so who knows if the gameplay loop I've seen so far will remain compelling, but I'm really enjoying it so far.