Death Stranding (PS4) Review | VGChartz

VGChartz's Lee Mehr: "Instead of serving as a heterodox example of untrammeled artistic freedom to celebrate, Death Stranding winds up being a cautionary tale. Is the game unique? I’d say it qualifies as that, yes. But after tackling its bumbling, sometimes-contradictory gameplay until completion (40 hours), all that translates to for me is it being a uniquely annoying time. Coming from someone who can find engagement in protracted Codec conversations, I’m still stunned at how tiresome this game’s story tends to be. There’s incredible tech and nuanced online features behind this game, but those only mitigate my irritation. If leaden pacing, meddlesome gameplay, and turgid storytelling is Kojima’s way for us to “build bridges” with one another, I’d rather have the wall be ten feet higher."

[Gazondaily]

I would struggle to see myself through to complete this.

I still remember the behind closed door showing at EGX. Everyone queued up for a long time to see what was basically Kojima playing the game. When we finally got there it was complete bewilderment about what we were seeing. People started walking out despite waiting for so long. I stayed thinking, there's got to be more than this.

None of it looked fun or compelling. That boss battle looked pointless. The combat look generic. The rest of it...well, I reckon Kojima has gotten away successfully with passing off trite gameplay mechanics as something 'unique' to a few people. And to think, people made a lot of noise over BoTW's climbing mechanism. Now you have this, a game that encompasses that and more at its very core.

Also...that princess beach scene....flippin ek

[lifeisgamesok]

I didn't think it looked that "fun" but I gave it a try because it was something new and ended up loving the game, it's a work of art

I'd give it a 9/10

[Gazondaily]

Fair enough. Each to their own. I haven't tried it so your opinion on it has more substance than mine atm imo.

[The Wood]

It's a madness septic. . .there's a lot to ingest. I was just way more at ease when I got GUNS. . . .before that I was taking the scenic route just to avoid those Shits. . . Bare mileage. . . . I'm more direct now. . .borrow my copy when I'm finished

[Larrysweet]

Goty period sad people to dumb to see it

[coolbeans]

Although I thinks it's cool to see you got that level of enjoyment, I'll personally never be able to register how that's the case. It's one of the most antagonistic games to even my often-weird sensibilities.

[Gazondaily]

@The Wood

Safe for the offer. I'm happy to try it out. When we linking up??

[D__RAiL]

I had fun from the start but it may click with people later on or never. Its not a safe game and I am glad that someone is thinking outside the box. I dont even like most of his games. I liked MGS II and III and thats it.

[Dee_91]

im addicted to it and i'd give 10/10 on originality alone. however im not surprised that some people wouldn't like it.. its weird asf

[The Wood]

I wont be done for a minute though but should link up soon.

[Thunder_G0d_Bane]

So much truth.

The reality is, if this game wasn't made by Kojima would people even give it a chance? Would it even get any love at all? It probably would have been ignored and bombed.

This is why gameplay has to speak for a game not the name of the developer...

[P_Bomb]

The conspiracy theories you guys have about this far surpass anything Kojima has ever written.

[mkis007]

Ever been to a museum? Ever wonder why what is seemingly a splatter of paint goes for thousands/millions? Why Pablo Picasso is famous?

You just don't like it! No one is telling you you have to! Art is subjective. Just because it is made by Kojima goes both ways here. People wouldn't be so vitriolic about the game if it wasn't by him.

There are a few franchises/genres I laugh at any time they go up for an award. At least I acknowledge there is a legitimate following for them.

[Taero]

@mkis007 easy, money laundering and tax fiddling.

[rainslacker]

Many great games go without notice because they don't have a big name behind them. This game is a good game, and it gets more attention because Kojima made it. Question is...would all the people saying how bad it is bother if they knew it wouldn't irritate those who did like the game?

On one side you have a group of people willing to give the game a chance because they recognize the name behind it. On the other, you have people who won't even play the game making definitive statements about how bad it is, and anyone who likes it only likes it because of some unfounded loyalty to the man behind it.

Dunno which side you think is more in the right there, but I'm enjoying the game.

[3-4-5]

Exactly......without his name this would be a game getting crapped on by everyone....but the fan boy club has to worship everything.

If you want his next game to be better than this....fans need to let Kojima know the truth.....don't kiss his ass....let him know what needs to be improved and what you didn't like.

[galmi]

Imagine if it was made by Bethesda or EA? lol

[sprinterboy]

I'm amazed gaming is your hobby cause all you do is talk negative of it.

[I_am_Batman]

Just looking at a couple of demos of the game isn't enough to come to any conclusions, not even the one in the first sentence of your comment.

Since games cost money and require time to finish I can't blame you for skipping a game, that failed to catch your interest. My main problem with your comment is the assertion, that people got tricked into liking the gameplay and implying that it is objectively trite.

This is a bold claim, considering it is based on your subjective impression from the limited exposure you had to Death Stranding.

I've put close to 150 hours into this game and I think it's a masterpiece. I've been trying to have an in depth discussion with dozens of people across different platforms since I've finished the game, only to find out that the vast majority of the people I approached haven't even played the game. The once that have will not discuss specifics. They usually try to pass their subjecitve problems with the game as objective criticism or stay so general in their critique, that it's impossible to scrutinize their claims.

I'll add a disclaimer here just in case someone willingly or unwillingly misinterprets this comment: I have absolutely no problem with people disliking Death Stranding. I just have a problem when people try to pass their subjective criticism as objective fact, when people are unaware of their cognitive biases or construct illogical arguments.

[Traecy]

Well said!

[I_am_Batman]

@L7CHAPEL

You might want to read my comment again. Nowhere in my reply to Septic have I said or even impied that using videos, reviews or demos to inform your purchase decisions is irrational or unfair.I actually said the exact opposite.

Quote from my reply to Septic:
"Since games cost money and require time to finish I can't blame you for skipping a game, that failed to catch your interest."

I merely took issue with forming conclusive opinions based on those methods.

And to your second point there is no consensus about the game being boring among the people that played the game. It's mostly parroted by people that haven't played the game creating feedback loop that vastly blows this issue out of proportion. Like I've said I've been trying to have a discussion with a lot of people repeating this point and found that most of them haven't played the game at all, and the ones that did (or at least I couldn't verify that they didn't) are usually not interested in having an in depth conversation about game-design and mechanics. If you go on the subreddit for example you'll find that the vast majority of people there love the game.

[Donnie81]

Even if you have never played the game you pretty much nailed it. After about 25 hours I can’t even make myself go back to it yet. It’s really boring

[ShadowWolf712]

It's very rare that I agree with you, but this is one of those times.

[GaboonViper]

Agree, Kojima is my fave developer but I just could not get into this game, it's kinda like marmite, some people love it others hate it, for me a massive disappointment.

[rainslacker]

So...what you're saying is....you haven't played the game?

[Gazondaily]

If that's what you got from my comment then I don't think you can be helped here...

[rainslacker]

You didn't answer the question. You could have done that in less time than it took to write the response you did.

I ask, because while you're anecdote is interesting I guess, I would like to know when responding to you in other threads where you have posited your opinions on the game.

I got what your comment was saying...people were confused, didn't know what they were watching, and it seemed like the game wasn't an interesting game. But, that's what a lot of people who seem to be hating on the game are also doing, and they talk about it as if they have intimate knowledge of how it all comes together based on some videos they watched, or anecdotal scenarios that others have put forth.

What I got from your comment....As far as I could tell, your comment had no point except to say that you agree with the review because of some pre-launch preview you saw a while back. You're supporting the review because of your pre-determined belief of what the game is. Which is why it'd be interesting to know if you agree with the review because you played it, or because you just want to dislike the game because you like to do that with games that get attention for PlayStation.

[Gazondaily]

Had you actually looked at the third comment above, you would have found the answer to your question. But I suspect that you (1) in your haste to devalue my opinion/your desire to defend the game, didn't notice that or (2) noticed it but continued anyway.

Third comment. Read it. Its not hard.

[rainslacker]

I replied to your first comment. Not the third one later down in the conversation. But, OK, you haven't played it. I don't have to be hasty to devalue your opinion, because you did that well enough yourself, as most people do in similar instances.

So, the next question is, why are you offering up a self-affirming anecdote to support the review, despite having limited experience with the game itself? Did you just feel you had to come in and discuss how the game was bad, because of what you experienced at a game conference? I know it's possible if you play a lot of games to have a good idea of if you'd enjoy it or not, but seems you went to extra effort to express your own feelings on the subject, compared to hundreds of other games you wouldn't bother to talk about at all.

I wouldn't care so much, but we see a lot of people who haven't played it saying that it's a bad game, or boring, or any other manner of negative things about the game, and then calling anyone who disagrees some fan boy or overly infatuated with Kojima.

[Clover904]

This is simply a game you have to play to understand how addicting and fun it is. You cannot just watch videos. It seems that most people who are playing it deeply enjoy it.

[windblowsagain]

I remember that. I was on the toilet thinking this game is similar to what i'm doing.

[lifeisgamesok]

If you feel like you're babysitting in this game then you're playing it wrong and you didn't take the time to learn the mechanics

It's always easy to tell who sucks in this game by watching them fall everywhere or by reading how they had to keep attending to the BB

The game is great when you know what you're doing

[Ratty]

They either suck or they're full of it because I didn't have to do a lot of "babysitting" either. BB's gauge barely even goes down. He was always laughing for no reason (indicating that his gauge was maxed.) I must have soothed him about 10 times in a 100 hours. He got autotoxemia one time and that was a story event to teach you about that mechanic so that doesn't count.

I mean I agree the game has flaws but that isn't one of them. I do agree that combat isn't the game's strong suit. I didn't feel a sense of threat most of the time when fighting (played on normal) regular encounters or bosses. I feel Kojima missed an opportunity to make this game much scarier. I still loved it overall.

The social strand system is really well-down. I usually wouldn't care about social features in a game as they feel tacked on most of the time but this is something else. It felt good being told that someone used a bridge or repaired a generator I made. It drove me to repair or give materials to upgrade other people's structures as well. I feel the second map kind of discourages this at first however because I used most of my resources rebuilding roads that I didn't have enough to build bridges and stuff. At least at first.

[Chumdiddy]

Same. I find myself not interacting with or using BB at all for long periods at a time.

I get someone not liking the game. Shoot, I don't like Smash Bros, Mass Effect and many other beloved games. That's fine.

I just wouldn't call any of them 4/10 games. A 4/10 is basically dogs#it and the technical achievement in DS alone is worth 4. To then say it has NO worth after that? BS. A lie or someone that absolutely didn't want to learn how to play the game and/or asspained that it wasn't what they wanted it to be.

Again, don't like it. That's fine. I'm REALLY enjoying it and I'm only halfway done (Just reached SKC and based on details I assume so) at the 45 hour mark. I just built my own zipline highway to 3 different cities. It fn rules.
I just finished episode 4 and that alone is the best thing I've played in 2019.

The game isn't perfect or what I wanted it to be. That said, it's abso-fn-lutely isn't a 4/10. That's a joke score. You being bad at something or not liking it doesn't make it bad. I can both dislike Smash Bros and know enough to give it a good score because it's clearly a well made, beloved game.

[rainslacker]

Only time I ever have to bother with BB is when I misjudge some terrain and end up falling down. I will admit, it is annoying, but not because of the soothing mechanic. It's because he starts crying and it goes on until you soothe him. Maybe it's just my aversion to crying babies.

Otherwise, when he's happy and laughing, it's sometimes cool to actually turn the camera around to see what he's doing. On the ziplines he will sit there clapping and having fun.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

@Chumdiddy

So 6.5/10.

10 for graphics sound and presentation

5 for gameplay

5 for funfactor

[SyntheticForm]

I rarely had to soothe BB.

The only time BB is really a factor in game play is when you spend to much time in BT territory and he nears autotoxemia. I mostly interacted with BB in the PR and very rarely paid him attention out in the world. He never really cried because I was always careful. Even when he does cry, he'll eventually stop and his 'happiness' bar only goes down a little.

I really believe that people who are making BB out to be this nuisance who you have to constantly placate haven't played the game. BB is no trouble at all. RDR2 horses on the other hand...

[P_Bomb]

I forget Lou’s there half the time until she laughs and claps on zip lines.

BB rejuvenates every time you sleep, rest in a bunker or hot spring, laughs and likes when you go through signs or just drive on the highway. Laughs when you sprint jump in the acceleration suit. All of these things fill the health bar. There’s even a BB accessory that reduces stress. I prefer the time fall reduction trinket myself. Maxed out the kid half way through.

You’d have to go out of your way to fail state. I’m talking AFK among the BTs, falling on your face repeatedly, sitting in the freezing snow ‘til autotoxemia and playing offline to avoid the numerous safehouses, time fall shelters, preppers and vehicles strewn across the land. There’s also an easy mode you can toggle.

[FunAndGun]

Yeah, the ones who can walk upright and not fall will beat the game. See a BT? Just walk away. It's very easy, once you master the walking upright part. It's almost like there is zero challenge....

[Hungryalpaca]

I’ve played about 15 hours total so far. I’ve only had to tend to BB once outside of the requirements in cutscenes or scripted sequences. I don’t even get how these people get BB to the point he needs caring for. They obviously didn’t pay attention to the tutorials.

[PressPlayBros]

I had to soothe the BB maybe twice through the entire game playing on normal. It's really not that hard to not fall over or get it upset.

[coolbeans]

To think you did alright with your initial responses of detailing how you felt about it to making a new one with one of the laziest canards when it comes to criticism: "you just played the game wrong." Normally, wrongly playing a game wouldn't result in one successfully completing the campaign, but let's go with this.

I can only speak of playing this on Hard difficulty (as the difficulty text for it harmonized with what I was hoping to get out of it). With that in mind: I'm shocked to see how casually others were in dealing with their BB. For me? Frustration was punctuated during the rocky portion between a distro center and a wind farm (Chap. 3). Getting within spitting distance of BT's makes the Odradek gyrate like crazy and BB begins pouting. Certain pathways are kinda littered with them and I took a couple tumbles. And yeah, I'll say it: several critical tumbles I put on the game's iffy balancing system that feels hellbent on testing your patience. Then comes the wailing, the scanner spinning, angry BT's detecting you, etc. etc.

How exactly can anyone say this guy's not taken the time to learn mechanics...in a 40-hour game finished to completion? And while I'm not disregarding higher skill ceilings and practice, at what point is it fair to interrogate THE GAME itself as to how you can suck your way to the finish line on Hard difficulty? This limp hand-waving of such an annoying aspect is baffling to me.

[P_Bomb]

“ I can only speak of playing this on Hard difficulty (as the difficulty text for it harmonized with what I was hoping to get out of it). With that in mind: I'm shocked to see how casually others were in dealing with their BB. For me? Frustration was punctuated during the rocky portion between a distro center and a wind farm (Chap. 3). Getting within spitting distance of BT's makes the Odradek gyrate like crazy and BB begins pouting. Certain pathways are kinda littered with them and I took a couple tumbles. And yeah, I'll say it: several critical tumbles I put on the game's iffy balancing system that feels hellbent on testing your patience. Then comes the wailing, the scanner spinning, angry BT's detecting you, etc. etc. ”

I’m on hard too. Post game. 150hrs. The early parts you’re talking about I initially struggled with as well but only because I forced a bike through. It’s the games first difficulty spike. You will learn from that as I did. On foot it would’ve been a cakewalk. I learned that by trial and error I then applied to the rest of the game. Most of my terrain issues to this day are because of the vehicles I try to squeeze through. The boost goes out of control easily and it can turn into bumper cars.

I don’t know why you’d use the word “shocked” comparing your experience to others’. Limp hand waving or whatever. I...don’t feel limp lol? I’m getting close enough to cut their umbilical cords. Good enough to almost be at platinum and that involves far more BT and Mule time than the story takes you through. I’ve built highways through them.

Why aren’t you throwing your blood grenades at them? One is usually enough to kill them. One bomb pack has 5 (later 10). You can hold several. It also draws others to a spot to open a path for you. You can also use your body fluid bombs. The game gives you tools. It’s up to you to use them. I took a bike through there. A bike.

Mentioning the spinning odradek a couple times makes me think you aren’t that familiar with the mechanics afterall. The spinning doesn’t give away your position. It gives away their’s. It’s a good thing. Why would that be among the things that frustrated you?

Hold R1 to hold your breath and you can crouch walk right past them. R1 also shuts up BB’s crying. I’ve had BTs handprints stop right beside me after hitting R1. You can also throw blood grenades on the tar guys trying to pull you down. Kills ‘em/removes the tar.

Hold R2+L2 to force balance on rough terrain. You won’t fall. You can even sprint albeit slower. L2+R2 is key until you get better suits later that go to lvl 3 themselves. They’ll improve your traction. You can also increase your breath holding and balance by leveling up.

“ How exactly can anyone say this guy's not taken the time to learn mechanics...in a 40-hour game finished to completion? ”

There’s a fellow in this very thread that finished HZD pretty much melee-only, then complained about it. If the game gives you bows/arrows/bombs, use them. You can force your way through many games. I’ve seen ppl do underwear-only runs of Bloodborne. You can absolutely finish a game by intentionally handicapping yourself. Just because you can drive in reverse, doesn’t mean that’s how the developers intended for you to race.

[Traecy]

Exactly!

[warriorcase]

Good point. I'm at chapter 8 and I think I've attended to BB to calm him around 8-10 times in total. You really don't need to do it often.

I often wounder if the people complaining or having difficulty are the same that had difficulty with red dead and are expecting games to just have more arcade/fortnight controlling with snapping unrealistic movement, and when they don't get that it's a struggle. I can't see why so many people I've read about are having trouble with the game. It clearly points everything out to you and even provides gear options to mitigate traversal difficulties.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

That sounds like a chore...if I wanted that I'd put up a post on Care.com

[xX-oldboy-Xx]

VGChartz do reviews? I thought they just inflated a failing console sales numbers. You learn something new everyday, although I will add - try and be accurate at what you're known for before deversifying into reviews.

These articles really do bring out all the people that haven't played DS but have an opinion on it, they seem pretty rattled by anything Kojima/Death Stranding related.

[Knushwood Butt]

To be fair they've been doing heterodox, untrammeled reviews for a long time.

[generic-user-name]

Lol!

[rainslacker]

Raise your hand if you had to break out the dictionary more than once in the first sentence of the review....

[Christopher]

I got this. This just shows you're a fan.

[coolbeans]

Hey, if you learned something perhaps their review enterprise wasn't a total failure.

-"I thought they just inflated a failing console sales numbers."

That's what the review scores are for: balancing everything out.

-"...be accurate at what you're known for before deversifying into reviews."

Demanding accuracy while disregarding spell-check indicators in the same sentence is peak comment section.

[SierraGuy]

That's inappropriate.

[william_cade]

They had to get theirs.

[sprinterboy]

The reviews for this game have been stupid, clearly it's a good game but it ain't no 10/10 but it ain't no 5/10 either.
Anybody who reviewed this game around 7s or 8s knows what their on about.
Personally I'd give a solid 8.5/10.

[Chaos_Order]

I'd give it an 8.5 too but I completely disagree with your "logic." How can you possibly dictate what score other people "should" have given it? Whether someone gives it a 10 or a 5, who are you to say they're wrong?

[CorndogBurglar]

Because once a score starts getting too low its indicative of a broken game.

Opinion and fun factor should definitely play a part in reviews, but more importantly the QUALITY of the game should be a major focus.

I have no interest in Death Stranding at all, so I have no dog in this fight, but by all accounts it's a well made game with little to no glitches, good sound, graphics, etc.

So giving a game something low like a 5 or 4 wouldn't be accurate. The only way that would work is if the reviewer is very clear that they are ONLY reviewing the "fun factor" and nothing else.

[Christopher]

"So giving a game something low like a 5 or 4 wouldn't be accurate. The only way that would work is if the reviewer is very clear that they are ONLY reviewing the "fun factor" and nothing else."

The site does explain their review scale.

4 - Poor
Buy or rent these below average titles at your own risk. They get a few things right, but too many obvious problems make them difficult to recommend.

[FernDiggidy]

Personally I'd give it a solid 6.5/10

[rainslacker]

I'd put it between a 7 or 8.

[phoenixwing]

4 out of 10 is for broken games not something as polished as death stranding the score doesnt fit imo

[sprinterboy]

Someone gets it

[Gazondaily]

They don't. You dont get to decide that 4 out of 10 is for broken games.

[SegaGamer]

So what is 1-3 for then?

1 = Terrible and broken
2-3 = Poor but just about playable
4 = Below average
5 = Average
6 = Above average
7 = Good game
8 = Very good game
9 = Brilliant game
10 = As close to perfect as you're going to get.

It's really not that hard to get your head around.

[CorndogBurglar]

Those scores are not accurate in the least bit.

I can't remember the last time I played a game with a 5/10 rating that I considered to be just an average and working game. Games that get 5's are usually a mess.

I rarely buy anything lower than a 7 because I find anything with a lower score than that is not an very good game. There are always exceptions, mind you.

[Christopher]

"I can't remember the last time I played a game with a 5/10 rating that I considered to be just an average and working game. Games that get 5's are usually a mess."

Blame the big sites that don't score below 5 often enough for bad games. For many sites, the mass majority of games score between 5/10 and 10/10. They almost entirely ignore anything below 5/10, where games scoring in that range are rarer than 9/10 or higher games each year.

[CorndogBurglar]

@Christopher

Of course it's the big sites, magazines, and reviewers faults. They are the ones that grade anything lower than a 7 as a piece of crap. And it's happened so much and for so long that its now the norm.

I don't dispute that at all.

[coolbeans]

That metric is not reflected by the site's review methodology, for one. And what kind of logic are operating on for 4/10 to be considered "broken." I'm genuinely curious because it seems like that kind of mentality is what got us to this point in respect to common 7-10 review scales.

[phoenixwing]

@coolbeans you don't seem like a troll so i'll respond to you.

I'm purposefully going by what's the norm i didn't dictate it. The fact that the hive-mind of people flocks to scores and purchasing decisions based on 7-10 and that it reflects in metacritic it affects the bottom line of a game. Which is reason enough to be annoyed by the score. Second the game is polished in it's use and mechanics, there aren't many bugs, and it does what it sets out to do on top of a good story. So for it to receive below 6/10 is kind of egregious. It's one thing to not like a game for its merits but it's another to purposefully lower the score beyond acceptable only because you find it tedious.

I'll also be honest with you that i didn't check vgcharts scoring system mainly because I don't want to give them clicks.

[rainslacker]

Is it the readers or the sites fault that we got to that mentality though? I mean, broken is kind of a hard term to use nowadays because plenty of broken games still get high scores. It's either good or bad, and all the technical merits within seem pointless to factor into the score since there is no consistency. There's no rhyme or reason to what the scale means nowadays, which is the sites fault. It's the readers fault that they've allowed the sites to get to that point, and feel anything average is not worth playing....something that dates back to print magazines.

Even sites that explain their grading scale seem reluctant to abide by the meaning of that scale.

[coolbeans]

Appreciate it, phoenix.

-"I'm purposefully going by what's the norm i didn't dictate it. The fact that the hive-mind of people flocks to scores and purchasing decisions based on 7-10 and that it reflects in metacritic it affects the bottom line of a game."

But what if you're someone who's never cared for this norm in the first place? People are capable of walking out of a theater considering a movie 'sub-par' (4/10, 2/5 etc.) and perhaps still acknowledge some good qualities. It could be some ambitious, yet godawful mess like I've heard is the case for 'Jupiter Ascending.' But then scores are so processed within the games media, there's no flexibility in considering a game being '5/10 level' bad without it having to be utterly broken. That's so skewed in favor of publishers getting outlets to prop up whatever they ship out.

As far as the bottom line goes: I can sympathize with the complaint when I saw the Obsidian/Bethesda debacle as well, but that's on the publishers for conjuring up such a skewed system.

-"Second the game is polished in it's use and mechanics, there aren't many bugs, and it does what it sets out to do on top of a good story. So for it to receive below 6/10 is kind of egregious."

No contentions about how combed-through it is in respect to bugs. I can't sign off on that assessment of the story. Not because of its 'weirdness' or whatever (I like MGS 1-4), it deliberately wastes so much time. The world-building concepts are cool, but any of that engagement gets soaked up by dialogue, pacing, some characters, and on and on and on. Just like how I'm existing on this different planet regarding the gameplay, I don't follow (most of) the praises for this botched narrative.

-"I'll also be honest with you that i didn't check vgcharts scoring system mainly because I don't want to give them clicks."

Well, if you're so dead-set on not clicking try to find some screencapped image or something. It's communicated as below-average/sub-par.

[phoenixwing]

If 4 out of 10 is their below average then my only complaint is that their 4/10 isnt like a lot of other websites scoring and also we disagree on the story being good. Its ok to disagree though i just hope youre able to understand why to some people its goty worthy to them because the game executes on what it wants and creates an experience for those who like it.

[FernDiggidy]

The shit gameplay needs polish.

[jwillj2k4]

Scoring is subjective. Polarizing games like death stranding, no mans sky and sea of thieves all have common “simulator with no substance” gameplay mechanics which make scoring them highly subjective. For me 4/10 means playable with glitches. 3/10 means playable but boring, glitches or not.

[waverider]

If someone gives a 4 on the DF then should be writing about the weather, because the game isnt a broken mess, like so many this GEN. I know for some its hard that something diferent got such an impact on the world of videogames, that more then a month later there are still some who try to downplay.

The reality is that some of the biggest names in the industry are praising the game. Is it for everybody, no. Like many games. Do we need that studios try something diferent beside racers and shooters? Yes. Will this game win more goty awards? yes, it will. Deal with it.

[coolbeans]

If you're able to acknowledge that it's not a game for everybody...why the antagonistic response when you see proof of that?

"The reality is that some of the biggest names in the industry are praising the game."

Cool. Are you suggesting the thoughts of industry veterans should dictate the subjective thoughts of everyone else?

"Do we need that studios try something diferent beside racers and shooters? Yes."

Agreed as well. But, if you think that's the case: wouldn't you ding some points against Kojima & co. falling back on dumb shooting galleries occasionally, rather than holding steadfast to the delivery-sim core?

[waverider]

1. A game not being for everyone doesnt mean its broken mess (4). There is no game this year that match it in a open world graphics, animation, sound, effects, actors, story, ambience and so on. Not liking the style of the game doesnt mean 4, 3, 2, 1 and 0. Its just an item in a review. Not the review.

2. Just saying that they havent any kind of agenda. They arent seeking clicks for their site, they arent payed, they arent hurt because another major hit of the gen isnt on their box. A Major Goty contender on the awards that are today? Tomorow?

3. There one of your problems and many have. This game means much more then being a delivery-sim, that it is. You are right There. And i really dont know why i want to deliver stuff, but i want. There is more to it.

I hope Kojima and other try and do new stuff, but is sad that so many gamers since the day this game was reveal for the PS4 started a campaign againt him. thousands and thousands went to metacritic when it was possible to make «reviews» destroying the game

[coolbeans]

1.) But a game receiving 4/10 doesn't translate to a broken mess either, especially from the site's methodology. I mean...I follow in respect to graphical fidelity, but listing off everything else is just overselling it. Hiring big-name actors doesn't suddenly mean it's in an echelon all its own, especially when the dialogue seems so listless. Norman Reedus could be switched with anyone else for his gruff protagonist attitude during most of it. I guess by "style" you mean design, which I don't see why that shouldn't be a critically emphasized.

2.) Woah, woah. Which industry veterans are you talking about? Because you painted such a broad brush, I figured you were including Cory Barlog (employed by Sony-owned Santa Monica Studios), Keighley (literally IN the game), film directors (who are often also good friends of his anyways), etc. etc. Like...what the heck? Are we supposed to disregard THAT potential positive bias as well?

And I'm not really following the timing portion. If it's late...that's just the case of it being late. Would it seem less contrived being submitted a couple days after TGA's?

3.) Hey, I can sympathize with the idea of something more abstract or intangible making said deliveries somewhat cathartic. Like, mentally I could follow along with someone else's reasoning (to a point)...but it's in direct conflict with my own personal experience that left me so bored. Just as someone can it's "not a game for everyone" it's not that hard to say "and I'm not one of them."

4.) "...thousands and thousands went to metacritic when it was possible to make «reviews» destroying the game"

I mean...fine. I don't see the purpose in meta-bombing (aside from stances against micro-transations or the like), but that's kinda the nature of the internet. It's annoying, but that shouldn't cloud out those with more genuine frustrations with it.

[waverider]

1.) But a game receiving 4/10 doesn't translate to a broken mess. Sorry, maybe for you or for that site, but 4/10 is a game that got huge problems running, needs a 40 gigas update day one and More. Could the actors be switched, yes, but Reedus and Mads were so cool. Sorry dont agree with you on that.

2) Bias? Barlog a sell out? But i can say Masahiro Sakurai, J. J. Abrahams e Masamune Shirow and others, or because some are japonese are also bias? When diretors of other studios and rival studios come out saying positive stuff is bias?, but some that does a review and many, after reading, are saying the same that many told even before the game come out arent bias?

3) You can be bored, i accept that, You can say that in review, but a review is the sum of many topics and not only one. More, i can make a review of any game and make it like the game is boring, for me, even if the game isnt.

4) The purpose was to try and make the score much lower then it should.

[Christopher]

"Do we need that studios try something diferent beside racers and shooters?"

You're aiming that gun at the wrong reviewer. Check his other reviews on the site. Get an idea of what games he plays overall. I mean, there's a penchant there for playing bad games, but we can't fault him for that.

"Deal with it."

I'm fairly certain coolbeans doesn't get paid based on whether or not people agree with his opinion or how few awards it wins.

[SierraGuy]

He's still annoying though and keeps going off on some fairytale rant... almost as annoying as the author's verbiage.

[coolbeans]

1.) "Sorry, maybe for you or for that site, but 4/10 is a game that got huge problems running, needs a 40 gigas update day one and more"

I mean...alright. I can appreciate that's your translation of a 4; but having said that, I'm more than happy to contest DS has got YUGE problems that cripple player engagement lol. But that's me stretching your intention.

2.) So, I think we're really getting into the weeds there in regards to bias. We all have it to some extent. I'm just counteracting the notion of how you propped up prominent gaming veterans (in general) and relied on unjustified assumptions of clickbaiting to substantiate the supposedly unjustified score vs. the text. IF we go by that logic, why is it unfair to point out positive bias towards an admittedly-unique game that one of your friends just released? It's less about selling out or nationality and more about considering their influences.

It's better to focus on the text itself, but here we are.

3.) Worth consideration, but for a game running this long and often feeling so boring it's tough to treat all qualities with equal regard.

4.) No, I get that. Sorry. I meant more as to dismissively say "don't you have something better to do?" just make troll reviews? It's stupid to me, but that's the internet.

[waverider]

Thanks for this talk. Its very hard to be able to just talk about games, consoles, opinions with others without a personal attacks. We can have a different opinion, but still talk without calling names. Until next time.

[silenthillstrangler]

well said.

[lociefer]

Played the game and finished it, i hated every second i spent with it, words cannot describe how freaking horrible it is. But it's not a 4, a solid 6 maybe.

[FernDiggidy]

Story is interesting. Gameplay is absolute shit.

[Chumdiddy]

lolok

[Jsm89k]

Do people like it because it’s a fun game or just an interesting story? I like to play games with interesting stories but at the end of the day it’s a game first. If the gameplay isn’t good then I can’t see myself completing it despite if the story is good.

[Veneno]

The gameplay is great. Even after the story I am doing all the side missions which I never do unless the gameplay is great. Last time I did that was the original inFamous on PS3.

[Master of Unlocking]

Well, at least it's a well written article, with solid points to back up its low score. I kinda expected more scores like this one coming from the press in the US, actually. The japanese press is behind Kojima (of course), and it's more of a tie in the european press, continental Europe being (as always) more in favor of a Kojima game or any other japanese game than the british press.

I always knew this game was going to be a love it or hate it thing, to the point where Kojima's reputation as a trendy heterodox game designer would be perhaps put into question. I'm glad his game actually received better reviews than I expected, but I'm still not gonna rush out to buy it. I think I'll probably just wait til it's below the 20€ mark. I never counted this game as a reason to convince me to buy a PS4 anyway, it was never right up there along with the Uncharteds, Dreams, God of Wars, etc. If it did okay then all for the better, that would be yet another game to buy at some point, if not not a problem, there are enough other AAA titles to play on this console.

At this point I simply hope his game will do okay enough sales-wise so Kojima can make other games, it would be too big a loss to see him quit IMHO, but yeah, some people gotta be cautious with how they use the word "genius". I'm not sure there's any real genius in this industry btw.

[Phantom68]

This game is very poarizing but i struggle to understand such a low score.

[rainslacker]

Incredible tech and "nuanced" online features....4/10. I mean....I guess it's good they're not finding some stupid political thing to downrate it on, but a below average score?

Makes sense.

Outside the author breaking out the thesaurus for his first sentence, how do you give a game that is solid on every technical aspect, doesn't have any major bugs, has high production quality, and say it has incredible tech with "nuanced" online features a 4 of 10?

[coolbeans]

It ain't easy, but with enough consideration one can reach said conclusion.

-one of the most obnoxiously designed games in respect to its delivery-sim template
-overwhelming sense of tedium at fetch quests
-shoe-horned shooting galleries & annoying boss fights that are rarely engaging
-incredible lengths taken to waste your time
-one of Kojima's worst stories (not bereft of good qualities like the world-building though)

These and smaller frustrations add up to make the gaming equivalent of a root canal--a quality one at that though. How'd the score happen? Kojima's avant-garde nature found a way.

On your other question:

"Is it the readers or the sites fault that we got to that mentality though?"

The chicken-or-egg scenario for this has always been a dicey one because both sides crave hype for different reasons. I'd LEAN towards sites any day b/c corporate like Gamespot was willing to fire Gertsmann for a tepid 6 and game publishers used to buy out the VAST MAJORITY of ad space back in the day.

I just think the best solution lies forward by creating some momentum and carving a (slightly) different path. Simply treating games similar to that of movies where you don't see tough criticisms without a corresponding score BACKING it.

[rainslacker]

Not sure it's worth discussing the finer points of the subjective matter within the game itself. That's been done elsewhere, so I'll just say I can agree with some of those points, but not others, and personally feel the negatives add up to a below average game given the technical quality and online depth that the game aspires to, and mostly achieves.

In that vein, I concede that yes, there are times when really well made games on a technical level, are not necessarily above average when taken as a whole. However, I tend to look at how I rate games with the technical achievements built in, and feel that DS holds some level of above average execution.

On to whose to blame.:)

I think personally the sites are more to blame. 7 and above being worth one's time is a time honored tradition that dates back to print magazines. I recall that being a thing back in the NES days. Not sure how it got to that point, but I think publications knew that games that didn't get good scores would have trouble in the market, and they may not have personally felt they should hinder a games success just because it wasn't more than average. Over time, I feel that just raised the standard, so reviews now are like they're graded on a curve. But, that only makes average games that don't stand out, or have some other silly politics attached to it, stand out more as bad, because the scales have been tipped.

Overall, the readers probably still go with 7 and above as being the only one's worth considering. At least in a very broad general sense. Probably a carry over from the days of old.

I feel review scores have become pretty much useless, and have felt that even before the internet took off. The content of the review is now more important, but nowadays, with the lack of what I'd define as respectable and proper reviewers, I feel that even the content of the reviews are less than useful. Exceptions exist, but those good reviewers can't stand out in the sea of mediocrity.

I don't think there's any real solution in today's news market. It's not even just gaming, but the media is all about being incindiary, and this is to drive traffic, hence money, to make a 24/7 news income, from a world that doesn't have 24/7 worth of news to report. Even in the regular news, they just report on the same thing over and over again, despite there being tons of stuff going on in the world, so incendiary commentary has taken the place of proper news for the most part. Like the regular news media, the gaming press has gone from informing the readers, to trying to influence the readers on a grand scale. It's no longer just relaying news, even with some slant that leans towards how the news is presented, to just outright telling people what they should think.

All that has also led to a lower editorial standard, a lack of ethical behavior(as the case you cited, and many others could be noted), and a complete degregation of worthwhile news and commentary within our community.

On the positive side though, it has helped sites like N4G thrive, because now instead of having maybe one or two articles a week to get some news, you get hundreds of articles a day, 10-15 of which are good at getting people riled up so they want to come and visit, and because of the proliferation of outlets, aggregate sites are more useful to get that little bit of news that actually does happen. Just have to suffer through the swill....which is where most of the discussion actually happens anyways.

[coolbeans]

A lot to take in!

"In that vein, I concede that yes, there are times when really well made games on a technical level, are not necessarily above average when taken as a whole. However, I tend to look at how I rate games with the technical achievements built in, and feel that DS holds some level of above average execution."

And I can follow that line of reasoning. There's just something particularly aggravating here that stretches one's patience beyond previous limits that bears down on my head--even while thinking back on parts while talking about it. Like having an artistic idea with a total disregard of a player's patience. But that be opinions.

Anyways...

"Overall, the readers probably still go with 7 and above as being the only one's worth considering. At least in a very broad general sense."

Well, I don't fundamentally disagree on locking 7-10 as what you'll strive to put $ down for a (non-sale) price. I still casually recommend 6's, but it's one of those cases where genre fans can still get their kicks. It's just the need to temper expectations TOWARDS that so it feels more typical.

I'd say the rest is a pretty incisive assessment about today's journalist/editorial culture so I'm not sure what else to add. lol

Anyways, I believe this is my last comment for this article so...until next time.

[Suave_Langosta]

So I came to this article purposely to get honest answers. I want to get the game, but I don’t know if it’s for me. Can some give me the most honest summary of the game and what exactly it is? Good or bad, I’m just trying to get non biased thoughts.

[Veneno]

If you truly love Kojima then get the game. Death Stranding doesn't have that hard Kojima Metal Gear gameplay but it has its own identity and very much retains the Kojima magic that persists through all of his games.

So in short if you are expecting Metal Gear then you need to tame your expectations. If you want " Kojima Magic" then this game has it in spades. It is truly a landmark moment in gaming.

[LucidIllusion]

Rent and try it out yourself. Guide your own will.

[Veneno]

Rent it from where?

[janus225]

Sure this game its not for everyone! Its very atmospheric like Ico, Shadow of Colossus or Firewatch (beautiful game).

[Traecy]

I'm 48 hrs in & I'm enjoying every bit of it.

[Elda]

I would definitely give DS an 8.5 out of 10 for being somewhat unique. I'm intrigued by the bizarre story,the gameplay (though it can get a little tedious & frustrating),the production,the graphics,the atmosphere & the music.

[Rambokind]

Haha, 4/10! That's a well-deserved grade.

[LucidIllusion]

4? ha

[chiefJohn117]

The game looks like a 4/10 to me so I'm not surprised by this score

[Gordoncordon]

it's perfect? no, but it's not a 4/10 game neither

[GrmpyolGamer]

I think 4 is abit low. 6 is probably more accurate

[frostypants]

OK vgchartz.