Death Stranding Director's Cut - Kojima's post-apocalyptic deliveryman simulator

[Jason Liang]

Finishing Act 2 and I'm impressed. Gameplay is so smooth it's almost therapeutic, the story is exciting and the setting well thought out. Even the cutscenes are not so cringe this time.

Something I'm really liking about the setting is that it ditched a lot of post-apocalyptic tropes and went with original (and poignant) ideas instead. For eg, I was annoyed at first that the surviving humans looked super clean and civilized and not the Mad Max-esque ragtag hobos we usually see in the genre.

Death Stranding takes placing *during* a still ongoing Apocalypse, not post-Apocalypse (which is why it's quite unique and cool). You are in a story while human existence is ending, not decades after near human extinction. People are going mad and suiciding, not struggling to survive and dying of radiation. It's more The Rapture, The Stand and Gehenna from VtM and not Mad Max.

 

[KIss My Ass]

Gotta go back and finish the director's cut content.

No you don't. You should never have played the game in the first place. What the hell is wrong with you people anyway? Why tf are you playing a literal hiking sim?

 

[HeatEXTEND]

Gotta go back and finish the director's cut content.

No you don't. You should never have played the game in the first place. What the hell is wrong with you people anyway? Why tf are you playing a literal hiking sim?

What, you don't like hiking?

 

[Modron]

I think if he liked hiking he would prefer to actually go hiking over playing a videogame about hiking. But that's just me.

 

[HeatEXTEND]

But the videogame has supernatural shit and guns, that's worth something.

 

[Silva]

The way so much exposition is delivered through log entries gives the world an impersonal separate feeling which fits nicely with it's themes. This is sort of conflicting for me, it works well for the theme but regardless I still wish for more rich world building delivered in other forms.

I noticed other potters (NPCs) showing up outside more frequently around areas I've helped, which is interesting (I'm playing offline). But yes, I wish the game had more ways of delivering the theme too.

What, you don't like hiking?

..and throwing piss and shit at enemies!?

Spoiler

Reminds me of my youth when we threw sacks of piss at bus windows at 6 o'clock, to hit workers in suits going to work (we only aimed the most well dressed ones). We called it "perfume de mijo" (piss perfume) at the time. Oh man, good times. There was this day where the bus stopped and the driver actually came out running and screaming for us. That shit scared our 10 yo selves and so we ended our "operations".

 

[illuknisaa]

The worst part about the game is the more you play the more you learn about mechanics that don't matter.

 

[Silva]

Even the cutscenes are not so cringe this time.

I talked too early.

That hourglass chick arc is the worst attempt at videogame acting I've ever seen. It's like an alien being or AI who's clueless about human emotions or interaction trying to replicate it. Reminded me those David Cage games, but I honestly think this is worse.

And these moments feel more jarring here than in MGS because the later is a silly premise from the start. A shame.

Game is still great, though. I'm reaching South Knot city.

 

[Duraframe300]

Even the cutscenes are not so cringe this time.

I talked too early.

That hourglass chick arc is the worst videogame acting I've ever seen. It's like an alien being or AI who's clueless about human emotions or interaction trying to replicate it. Reminded me of those Cage games (Fahrenheint and Omikron), but worse.

I think these moments feel more jarring here than in MGS because the later is a silly premise from the start. A shame.

Game is still great, though. I'm reaching South Knot city.

Fair warning: It shits the bed storytelling wise around the last few chapters. Including Sam switching his personality on the fly and then reverting back for no reason as well as plot points getting ignored (and then randomly focused on again AFTER the event where they should have made a difference).

A big mess that would have been easily avoidable. Just a warning though to be prepared for it, you're plenty away from that.

 

[Diggfinger]

What does the Director's Cut add in terms of gameplay-experience? (Not skins, preorder crap whatever).

I got the normal version dirt cheap for PS4.

 

[kites]

What does the Director's Cut add in terms of gameplay-experience? (Not skins, preorder crap whatever).

I got the normal version dirt cheap for PS4.

Biggest addition besides QoL stuff are the new tools (thruster pack, cargo cannons, zip-lining cargo). Some more lore/side-quests, you get Maser gun earlier, etc..

Overall not a huge deal unless you’re playing on ps5 and care about 60fps, upped resolution, and haptic feedback

 

[HeatEXTEND]

That hourglass chick arc is the worst attempt at videogame acting I've ever seen.

It's really quite something lol

 

[illuknisaa]

What does the Director's Cut add in terms of gameplay-experience? (Not skins, preorder crap whatever).

I got the normal version dirt cheap for PS4.

I only have the normal version free from epic and what I've seen director's cut it doesn't add anything meaningful but it adds silly stuff like this:

 

[Silva]

Had a great moment now I was stranded (hah) at the south part of Axt 3 doing a mission for that Junk Dealer dude, but with all my stuff corroded by rain, and nowehere near to fix em. Meaning, I had to actually plan go around (among some canyons and Mules), scavenging materials to build a shelter and only then advance. The feeling of being stranded (heh) on the front while low on resources and threats on all sides was really great. Reminded me of Stalkers.

Oh, and that WW1 boss is metal indeed. I hope they don't fuck Mads character (Cliff Unger?) down the road.

 

[illuknisaa]

Had a great moment now I was stranded (hah) at the south part of Axt 3 doing a mission for that Junk Dealer dude, but with all my stuff corroded by rain, and nowehere near to fix em. Meaning, I had to actually plan go around (among some canyons and Mules), scavenging materials to build a shelter and only then advance. The feeling of being stranded (heh) on the front while low on resources and threats on all sides was really great. Reminded me of Stalkers.

This sounds cool but also pointless. Only gear that matters and can erode is your boots so all you gotta do take a 5min walk from junk dealer to distro center and make new boots. You can just leave your stuff at junk dealer and get new gear. Mules dont even aggro if you dont have any cargo (its not like cargo even matters anyway outside of specific story missions). You probably have weed that you can use to craft new boots.

 

[Silva]

This sounds cool but also pointless. Only gear that matters and can erode is your boots so all you gotta do take a 5min walk from junk dealer to distro center and make new boots. You can just leave your stuff at junk dealer and get new gear. Mules dont even aggro if you dont have any cargo (its not like cargo even matters anyway outside of specific story missions). You probably have weed that you can use to craft new boots.

Actually it was the mission to get Junk Dealer. So he wasn't on the network yet, meaning I couldn't fabricate nor store things with him. I also had another mission to recover something from the nearby Mule camp at the same time. In resume, I overextended and my resources ran thin. Boots, bola gun,, packages, power skeleton, everything was at the end of durability and I had no sprays anymore. Even my energy was at the end - I was almost passing out before building the shelter (I'm playing on hard).

But yeah, it's possible I missed some trick. I'm a bad at Minecraft.

 

[Star Citizen]

It in the top 5 worst games I've played, so theres that

 

[illuknisaa]

This sounds cool but also pointless. Only gear that matters and can erode is your boots so all you gotta do take a 5min walk from junk dealer to distro center and make new boots. You can just leave your stuff at junk dealer and get new gear. Mules dont even aggro if you dont have any cargo (its not like cargo even matters anyway outside of specific story missions). You probably have weed that you can use to craft new boots.

Actually it was the mission to get Junk Dealer. So he wasn't on the network yet, meaning I couldn't fabricate nor store things with him. I also had another mission to recover something from the nearby Mule camp at the same time. In resume, I overextended and my resources ran thin. Boots, bola gun,, packages, power skeleton, everything was at the end of durability and I had no sprays anymore. Even my energy was at the end - I was almost passing out before building the shelter (I'm playing on hard).

But yeah, it's possible I missed some trick. I'm a bad at Minecraft.

Sprays don't do anything. Sprays only protect containers not cargo or equipment. Timefall only damages equipment (and materials) not cargo.

 

[Silva]

Sprays don't do anything. Sprays only protect containers not cargo or equipment. Timefall only damages equipment (and materials) not cargo.

I was carrying cargo too, not sure if from the other mission or found on the ground. Their containers was fucked and I had no sprays. That and my gear was corroded and nearest base with a room and fabricator was far away.

Looking back now, my problem was being greedy and getting various missions at the same time, and wanting to deliver lost cargo too. If I focused only on the Junk Dealer it would probably be easier (though his location seems abnormally isolated regardless, so I can see other players having trouble with him and the Chiral Artist girl missions).

 

[Silva]

Does Fragile come with us on missions later on, ike Quiet did in Phantom Pain? That would be cool as fuck.

BTW, what are some key unlocks from social links? Is there some pattern here like, preppers give tools while stations give aesthetic shit, or say, 5 star level always give OP stuff... etc? I really liked the speeder exo that you get from Junk Dealer.

 

[orcinator]

The worst part about the game is the more you play the more you learn about mechanics that don't matter.

For me it's the gas mask that you use once.

 

[illuknisaa]

The worst part about the game is the more you play the more you learn about mechanics that don't matter.

For me it's the gas mask that you use once.

There are actually two spots with hazard gas (near film director is one spot) but sticky gun is a tool you unlock much earlier and is a far better tool for getting stuff out of gas.

 

[Silva]

The delivery bots cargo condition estimation is bonkers, right? What should I do to approach the shown condition, construct roads?

Are roads even feasible offline?

 

[Harthwain]

Are roads eve feasible offline?

If you

Spoiler

raid Mule camps for supplies

then you can "fund" your roads, even offline. It does help with delivering goods. Especially when you get or steal

Spoiler

a truck.

No idea on bots though. I always treated them as "do missions automatically when you can't or don't want to do them yourself at the moment".

 

[Silva]

Thanks Harthwain . I didn't know Mule camps were full of resources. BTW, do they upgrade their gear as time passes or I'm imagining things? They got sticky guns and trucks now that I don't remember seeing early.

No idea on bots though. I always treated them as "do missions automatically when you can't or don't want to do them yourself at the moment".

But playing offline the whole point of doing deliveries is raising the social strands. Problem being, whenever I use bots the mission rating is so shit (usually C) that I gain very little likes.