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

[Jason Liang]

Oh lord, Troy Baker again, but now as an emo clown with a guitar that shoots lightning. Is he the only voice actor in the industry? And fighting robots instead of humans. Much decline.

Kojima's first choice wasn't available

 

[Talby]

Metal Death Stranding: Revengeance.

 

[Darkozric]

with a guitar that shoots lightning

 

[Alienman]

Bit annoying how it undermines the first game (even if it wasn't great). It made a big deal of killing Troy Baker, there was no way back from where he was. I'm getting strong Palpatine vibes from this. Somehow Troy has returned.

 

[Darkozric]

They should've brought Steve Vai for the role, he loves this kind of poserium.

 

[Machocruz]

Top notch graphic design again, aside from the usual goofy Kojima stuff. Stunning environmental work. These guys might be the best in the industry.

 

[abnaxus]

 

[La vie sexuelle]

Better times, better Kojima.

 

[Cyberarmy]

Famous and succesful Turkish movie director Fatih Akın is playing the role of a PUPPET in this game?!?!?!?! The bloody hell?

 

[VonMiskov]

It's a vanity project and stream of consciousness from Kojima. Don't look for any sense in it. Also don't buy it, don't feed him.

 

[Terenty]

The story will be typical Kojima anime drivel with some cool ideas and the best cutscenes in the industry, but the main appeal is obviously the gameplay and how they tweaked it compared to the first game

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

It feels very Japanese sci-fi to me. It's got bikes (Akira, FFVII, Advent's Children), this depopulated, post-apocalyptic world (Neon Genesis Evangelion, Advent's Children again, a lot of more obscure anime), Angel-like monsters, bunker bases, secret science experiments on embryos (again Akira), a bit of Japanese ghost horror, etc... Even Fragile is an evolution of the moe Rei/ Tifa-type that Japanese fiction prefers to Western femme fatales, complete with a kawaii umbrella motif

Anyway, I enjoyed the setting, as well as its technology, quite a lot. Plot and dialogue could have been better.

The big influences on Death Stranding are most likely these.







It’s been so long since I’ve seen that 12 Monkeys trailer I forgot it used music from Bram Stoker's Dracula. That’s a good trailer.

12 Monkeys is most definitely an influence. And I’d wage a lot of Death Stranding is reworked ideas from Silent Hills. I’d guess that’s the same with Metal Gear Survive too. My guess would be Silent Hills was going to be a Silent Hill game that leaned into The Mist, the big influence of the first Silent Hill game, more than any other and would’ve had giant monsters roaming around.

 

[Machocruz]

Film-Ripman

 

[DJOGamer PT]

Top Kekman

 

[DJOGamer PT]

the enviroments look pretty good though
this game will at least make for some aesthetic wallpapers:

 

[DJOGamer PT]

Kijima is a good writer

disagree
he has interesting ideas, but they are way too clunkily executed
i am more willing to give credit to his co-writer (Tomokazu Fukushima), seeing as right after his departure we got MGS4

while simultaneously forming a cult of his personality

I think this is more detrimental than him hanging out with other pretentious hollywood directors
Reminder that for years many a Kojimbo fangirls denied that Snake was indeed inspired by Plissken
Yet, some time after MGS5 we did get Kurt Russell revealing in an interview that he was approached to voice Big Boss in MGS3

 

[Harthwain]

he has interesting ideas, but they are way too clunkily executed

I don't know about the other games, but in the case of Death Stranding having an interesting idea beats the execution (if only because this is something new to explore). It also doesn't suffer from cognitive dissonance that's so common in games, which further helps to treat all these weird ideas as excuses for gameplay mechanics, whereas in other games you have the divide between the narrative and the gameplay.

 

[Machocruz]

Nevan is the first thing I thought of when I saw that scene.

It has my attention. I didn't play the first, I heard the combat and boss battles were mediocre. But if they can marry good action to the great visuals, I'll be sold.

 

[La vie sexuelle]

Kijima is a good writer

disagree
he has interesting ideas, but they are way too clunkily executed
i am more willing to give credit to his co-writer (Tomokazu Fukushima), seeing as right after his departure we got MGS4

Kojima needs to be looked at more broadly, through the prism of his earlier games. From Metal Gear in 1987 to Policenauts in 1994, that he wrote on his own, we can see Kojima's harmonious development as a writer/designer. His most popular game, Metal Gear Solid, the one he wrote with Fukushima for first time, is not his best at all and sets a certain trend for the future - pushing the boundaries of the medium at all costs. That's why, despite Fukushima, MGS2 was so repulsive to many people, it was a triumph of form over substance.

Personally, I like style over substance, but only up to a point, which is why I generally like Kojima's games, even the ones after MGS, but I don't take them seriously either. That's why I couldn't stand Death Stranding - it's a stupid, over-complicated game that forces me to take it very seriously.

while simultaneously forming a cult of his personality

I think this is more detrimental than him hanging out with other pretentious hollywood directors
Reminder that for years many a Kojimbo fangirls denied that Snake was indeed inspired by Plissken
Yet, some time after MGS5 we did get Kurt Russell revealing in an interview that he was approached to voice Big Boss in MGS3

Having cultists is one thing. Believing in your own cult - second. Interestingly, even the most cynical cult founders eventually succumb to the faith they created. I think nothing shows this more clearly than the history of his cameos in MGSs.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

Making another stealth game after this.

He has to throw Sony a bone
After all they're the ones paying the bills for his glorified movies

Glued hands instead of a surgical mask...

This next one is going to be about Covid isn't it?

Troy Baker... Is he the only voice actor in the industry?

Well there's always Nolan North and Steve Blum

Kojima needs to be looked at more broadly, through the prism of his earlier games. From Metal Gear in 1987 to Policenauts in 1994, that he wrote on his own, we can see Kojima's harmonious development as a writer/designer. His most popular game, Metal Gear Solid, the one he wrote with Fukushima for first time, is not his best at all and sets a certain trend for the future - pushing the boundaries of the medium at all costs. That's why, despite Fukushima, MGS2 was so repulsive to many people, it was a triumph of form over substance.

Personally, I like style over substance, but only up to a point, which is why I generally like Kojima's games, even the ones after MGS, but I don't take them seriously either. That's why I couldn't stand Death Stranding - it's a stupid, over-complicated game that forces me to take it very seriously.

But even going back to his earlier career it seems evident is interests where converging on making something like MGS and later MGS2

I mean, Metal Gear Solid is essentially just Metal Gear 2 but in 3D
The plot beats, the characterization of Snake, the writing and game scenarios are almost carbon copies
The biggest difference between the games is Snake's relationship to the antagonist and MGS overall theme of genetics (which imo ties the whole story very neatly)

As for MGS2, I think people hated that game at first simply because of: the Snake/Raiden bait and switcharoo ; the Shell's quality as a level is all over the place ; the disjointed nature of the plot and particularly the last act
But IMO it's by far his most unique work and the one more reliant on its substance
And personally as far as that substance goes, I think its the most intering thing he ever wrote
The concerns over the upcoming digital age, the power and influence of memetics, the deceitful nature of videogames and the way the game weaves post-modern literary tropes to connect these themes ended up producing a genuinely fascinating movie-game
There's been nothing like MGS2 before and since its release

I think nothing shows this more clearly than the history of his cameos in MGSs.

Don't forget in other games:



"I want my productions to convey real, raw human emotions."

 

[Ezekiel]

Making another stealth game after this.

He has to throw Sony a bone
After all they're the ones paying the bills for his glorified movies

Would be cool if it was stealth in a totally new kind of setting, but we all know it will be full of guns again.

 

[La vie sexuelle]

Making another stealth game after this.

He has to throw Sony a bone
After all they're the ones paying the bills for his glorified movies

Glued hands instead of a surgical mask...

This next one is going to be about Covid isn't it?

Troy Baker... Is he the only voice actor in the industry?

Well there's always Nolan North and Steve Blum

Kojima needs to be looked at more broadly, through the prism of his earlier games. From Metal Gear in 1987 to Policenauts in 1994, that he wrote on his own, we can see Kojima's harmonious development as a writer/designer. His most popular game, Metal Gear Solid, the one he wrote with Fukushima for first time, is not his best at all and sets a certain trend for the future - pushing the boundaries of the medium at all costs. That's why, despite Fukushima, MGS2 was so repulsive to many people, it was a triumph of form over substance.

Personally, I like style over substance, but only up to a point, which is why I generally like Kojima's games, even the ones after MGS, but I don't take them seriously either. That's why I couldn't stand Death Stranding - it's a stupid, over-complicated game that forces me to take it very seriously.

But even going back to his earlier career it seems evident is interests where converging on making something like MGS and later MGS2

I mean, Metal Gear Solid is essentially just Metal Gear 2 but in 3D
The plot beats, the characterization of Snake, the writing and game scenarios are almost carbon copies
The biggest difference between the games is Snake's relationship to the antagonist and MGS overall theme of genetics (which imo ties the whole story very neatly)

From a story perspective, you're right, but what made MGS stand out was its approach to gameplay. While MG2 is just a toy where the plot functions alongside the gameplay, in MGS the gameplay is identical to the plot (hence the multitude of strange micromechanics). This is the beginning of video games as we know them, "interactive experiences". After all, this approach would be taken over by Bioware a few years later, destroying the classic RPG.

As for MGS2, I think people hated that game at first simply because of: the Snake/Raiden bait and switcharoo ; the Shell's quality as a level is all over the place ; the disjointed nature of the plot and particularly the last act
But IMO it's by far his most unique work and the one more reliant on its substance
And personally as far as that substance goes, I think its the most intering thing he ever wrote
The concerns over the upcoming digital age, the power and influence of memetics, the deceitful nature of videogames and the way the game weaves post-modern literary tropes to connect these themes ended up producing a genuinely fascinating movie-game
There's been nothing like MGS2 before and since its release

Sometimes people don't know why they feel the way they do, so they choose something more obvious, and not necessarily correct. Of course, I didn't like the change of protagonist, but in my opinion MGS2 was the first one in which the gameplay and narrative became weird. After all, this is a game in which Vamp appears :D

I think nothing shows this more clearly than the history of his cameos in MGSs.

Don't forget in other games:



"I want my productions to convey real, raw human emotions."

What's worse than pure Kojima? Kojima refined by CDPR.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

After all, this is a game in which Vamp appears :D

Eh...
The first one had an ESPer that could break the 4th wall just because

Vamp was initially just meant to have the healing powers and super agility due to the NANOMACHINES SON
The whole running on water and other weird shit are the remains of a scrapped deadcells member - a chinese mystic codenamed Chinaman
Also Vamp was orginally supposed to be a german female and have a fear of crosses due to a childhood trauma of being present in a church bombing, this was even been the original reason why the bomb disposal expert and Plissken/Snake survived Vamp's assault

But yeah 2 is the weirdest of the bunch (while still making coherent sense)
Death Stranding though just seems weird because it's "An Hideo Kojima ''game'' ", like he was reveling in the fact that he no longer had a bunch of corpo suits to reign in his whacky shit

What's worse than pure Kojima? Kojima refined by CDPR.

At least it's just there as an hidden easter egg and not an actual mission...

 

[La vie sexuelle]

After all, this is a game in which Vamp appears :D

Eh...
The first one had an ESPer that could break the 4th wall just because

Vamp was initially just meant to have the healing powers and super agility due to the NANOMACHINES SON
The whole running on water and other weird shit are the remains of a scrapped deadcells member - a chinese mystic codenamed Chinaman
Also Vamp was orginally supposed to be a german female and have a fear of crosses due to a childhood trauma of being present in a church bombing, this was even been the original reason why the bomb disposal expert and Plissken/Snake survived Vamp's assault

But yeah 2 is the weirdest of the bunch (while still making coherent sense)
Death Stranding though just seems weird because it's "An Hideo Kojima ''game'' ", like he was reveling in the fact that he no longer had a bunch of corpo suits to reign in his whacky shit

I think the anime aesthetic makes all the antics easier to digest. The more realism there was in Kojima's games, the more difficult they were to digest for Western, especially American, audiences.

I have my limits set slightly differently, I enjoyed MGS4, but Ground Zeroes, especially Death Stranding, is beyond my tolerance.

What's worse than pure Kojima? Kojima refined by CDPR.

At least it's just there as an hidden easter egg and not an actual mission...

Yes, but it's hard to miss it because the game forces us to sit in the lobby.

However, it wasn't Kojima from his white glasses phase, which I consider a positive.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

Yup this is real...