Death Stranding will be out November 8th, 2019.

[Wolf Kanno]

Done a little more playing. I'm actually not as far along as I thought. I'm still in Chapter 2 actually but the game continues to be interesting as I experiment with a few things.

Combat is a little more generous than my first impression. The MULES are subject to the same balance mechanics as you are so dealing with them is actually easier than I was lead on, despite them having weapons. They unfortunately can take a beating, much like trying to beat up guards in MGS1/2, but they stay down a bit longer when you knock them out. Sneaking into one of their encampments was actually really fun, and I may hit up the first one I discovered earlier to see if I can find more stolen goods. For those wondering what I mean about balance mechanics, it's easy to knock them off balance by switching directions or even colliding with them when they do catch up which lets them stay open for a beating from you. Granted, they can do the same as you, but leading them into bad terrain can give you as much of an advantage as them. Likewise, the game takes momentum seriously, so running down a hill with a full cargo load and colliding with one of them will knock them flat on their asses as well. It's actually really clever so far, though it may change once I start to get into the bigger open areas.

I feel the easiest way to really explain the core game mechanics is that it takes some elements most people take for granted in other titles and adds a few layers of realism to it to actually make them more challenging. It's too easy in this game to get greedy and overload Sam with too much weight which causes several problems, but due to some of the online mechanics, its not as simple as just dropping needless materials because anything you leave out in the open can eventually be picked up by other players if you abandon it for too long. The environments are more realistic with rocky terrain and high winds causing issues usually ignored in most action titles with explorations options. Oddly enough, it's the Timefall rain that is the biggest hazard so far for me. It degrades the cargo you carry the longer you walk around in it. It only gets worse because that's usually when B.T.s show up. They will force you to choose between either taking it very slow to get past them unmolested while your cargo degrades quickly by staying in the Timefall, or you can risk hoofing it and watch as they all attack you, potentially make you drop and damage all your cargo, and usually involve trying to escape a giant cthulu oil whale that transforms the whole region into an oil ocean. So there is some interesting mechanics that makes this a bit more unusual than just go here and there. I actually overloaded Sam's load last night cause I kept finding and picking up too many lost cargo packages, I discovered the fatigue mechanic which slows down Sam's ability to regenerate stamina and slowly degrades its maximum as well. I also destroyed two pairs of shoes doing this which was nice in some ways because it sowed that shoes actually have a long shelf life if you don't overdue it.

The biggest mechanic that is often downplayed is the games online mechanics which are trying to build a stronger community of people. I just gained the ability to create bridges, and since unlocking it, I've noticed a few more player generated ones have been popping up. Likewise you can leave lost cargo in special terminals the players create for other players to obtain and deliver for you instead. You can also share unused weapons and items for other players to take as well. There is a big push for player cooperation in this game that is reminiscent of the Souls series.

I just unlocked my first vehicle, but I'm holding off until I do the big run back to the main Bridges base. I also unlocked minor delivery quests, so I'm dealing with those at the moment before jumping back into the main plot.

[Wolf Kanno]

While this is certainly not a game for everyone. If there is one element of the game I hope future AAA developers take from Death Stranding, I hope it is the idea of making more non-violent and non-competitive co-op experiences. It's the most unique feature of the game so far and the one that has been the most interesting. Despite the bleakness of the setting, the game is incredibly positive focus with a real push for online community and friendly NPCs. The fact you can only Like other player contributions has been an interesting social experiment the game utilizes. In many ways, it takes the most interesting aspect from the Souls series online elements while dropping the more negative aspects that feed a community of online griefers that we really don't need in gaming.

On the gameplay front, I may have mentioned I unlocked a vehicle, well I've been testing it out and its been super nice so far. I still can't drive anything in an open world environment without looking like a spaz, but it has made a few of the delivery quests much easier like the ones that involve speed or needing to haul a cargo that is well beyond Sam's load capacity. I do need to pull my self away from sidequest hell and get back to the story proper though. I've already maxed out the rank of two of the four locations I've unlocked.

One other feature that is interesting is the Timefall rain. In the story, it's a rain that speeds up time for anything that it touches, except possibly vegetation and a few materials, to degrade an an accelerated pace. I've mentioned before that this rain is one of the biggest hazards in the environment, especially since B.T.s usually show up during it. Something new I discovered is that it will actually destroy structures you and other players create, so maintaining certain structures is another feature this game has. You can build Postboxes to store materials, bridges, power generators for vehicles, and even watch towers but the Timefall will eventually destroy them. What's unique though is that players can upgrade these structures, even if they didn't build them. So that was a neat element I discovered last night. I've also had more fun beating up MULES and taking back stolen cargo from them. In true classic Kojima fashion, the MULES have one of the most hilarious backstories in the game so far. These guys are not scavengers or raiders who steal this stuff for self-preservation. No, these are former couriers who got so addicted to delivering packages and getting praises for it that they became addicts and will steal other courier's stuff to deliver it themselves. Like a crazy UPS guys who hijacks FedEx trucks cause he loves his job too much. The premise it too ridiculous not to be amusing and reminds me of the nonsense like the Zanzibar Poison Hamsters or Japanese Singing Sand from the early Metal Gear games.

[Wolf Kanno]

I have been entrapped by sidequest hell, which I should have known was going to happen. I'm not feeling much in the way of burnout, so that's a good sign. Granted, I'm doing a better job of not playing until I finish every regions quest, so that may be helping.

I have discovered a quirky NPC known as the Luden's Fan who is minor fourth wall breaking character in that he's obsessed with a game franchises that is thinly veiled to be Death Stranding itself if his name didn't already give it away. He's kind of amusing if only because he's an atypical otaku in terms of interest so almost all of his packages involve toys, figurines, and other memorabilia. Now if he didn't smurfing live on a mountain whose easy path involves taking a stroll through a MULE camp and the rougher path is a nightmare to go through on a vehicle and it subject to being hit with Timefall/BT invasions...

With that said, the game has finally given me a weapon to deal with BTs and I almost feel like the game has used this moment to crank up their appearances. Yet even with a means to defeat them, fighting them is just not a good idea since you have to be close to even see them, they tend to phase out of reality and said weapon is a grenade style weapon, and they always appear during Timefall so spending any extra time to fight them is just adding more damage to your cargo. It's in the engagements with the BTs that this game feels the most like Metal Gear since stealth is important and in the case you screw up and have to face Cthulhu Whale, the easiest way to get out of that mess is actually to try to run away from its zone of influence, so in a way, it's similar to getting spotted in a enemy base in the Phantom Pain where sometimes retreating out of the base was the better option.

Of course this all accumulated into an actual boss fight eventually which was actually pretty fun since the battle involves a bit more platforming than you would think. It wasn't a terribly difficult fight outside of having to fight with the menu screen to get the right equipment, but it has raised my hopes that DS will have good boss fights like the older MGS games. I also met who I imagine is the game's big bad. I know a lot of people think its Mads, and while I can see him as a sympathetic antagonist, Higgs (Troy Baker's character) pretty much reeks of main villain. I'm not saying Mads may not come in and steal the show from him eventually, but so far Mads is being built up as one of the most sympathetic characters in the story. I'm actually going to be sad when I finally exhaust all of the flashbacks about him cause he's been adorable so far.

Also, the Private Quarters sections never cease to amuse me, and I appreciate that. I had an interesting conversation about this with a friend concerning how this game still has a lot of sexual fan service, but for once, it's the guys who are getting the treatment. Some of the shower sequences with Norman's character are probably going to make some people who are not comfortable with their sexuality feel very uneasy. I'm having a blast. I also learned that if you view Norman's crotch region he reacts in a few amusing ways reminiscent to the Easter eggs involving Quiet and Meryl in MGS.

Anyway, I'm suppose to jump into the next section of the plot, but unlocking the new city also unlocked a few new quests and I want to max out my rank with this area before moving on because I get the feeling that getting back here is going to be pain in the ass. Hell, just getting to this place was a pain in the ass. Still, the game has me pretty hooked.

[Wolf Kanno]

Not a huge update, I'm still just screwing around doing a few quests and trying to explore a little more of the map that I can. The only new update I can give is discovering what actually happens when you lose to the MULES. The easiest path to the Luden Fan's bunker by vehicle involves driving through a MULES camp, and I finally learned how dangerous this can really be, as well as learning that MULES come in different flavors.

These guys use stun rods as their weapons which most will know if you watched any of the more recent trailers. Well those rods can actually overload your bike in addition to knocking you unconscious. Which happened to me and then devolved into a barroom blitz as I had to fight off eight of these guys. The worst is a MULE that wears a more padded hood. For some reason, this guys seems to have some kind of energy shield that makes knocking him out through fisticuffs nearly impossible in a straight fight. My guess is that he has to be taken by surprise... or you can just try to run him over with your vehicle.

You do have a rope item you can use to lasso and tie up these guys with, but it's purely stealth and is useless if they are coming right at you it seems. Course I haven't played with this tool very much, so I could easily be wrong about this. Another strategy with dealing with the MULES is utilizing a variation of the old dirty mag/food strategy of classic MGS. These guys only care about your cargo, so they will often ignore you to grab any they see first. Course this also means your vehicle as well. In close quarters, they will smack you with their cattle prods, but they usually attack whatever cargo is on your person first. So, an easy way to go in for a stealth take down is to simply leave a package, like one of your tools, in the open so they will focus on that, then sneaking up and taking them out.

Now, if you screwed up like I did, and got overwhelmed, then all that happens is that the guys knock you out and steal all of your cargo that is not your personal tools. Those they simply leave scattered about your person. Hell they won't even take your bike and will park it next to you as well. The issue now is that you have to get your cargo back. A lot of it will probably be on their persons, so you'll have to take them down one at a time to steal it back. Their camps also have a storage unit you can break into to retrieve your stolen goods from as well as stolen goods from other players and NPCs. So even if you don't need to get your own stuff back, it's never a bad idea to sneak into their camps and raid these units anyway. The real issue here is that having your crap stolen increases the likelihood of your cargo getting irreversibly damaged which reflects poorly on the mission status screen. I ended up going down from one to three ranks depending on the item thanks to this excursion. Thankfully I had a save from before the fiasco so I reloaded to get the mission done properly and get my S ranks. Still, it was neat to see what really happens when you lose to them. Now my only real question I have is trying to figure out if I can get one of these guys to wander into BT territory and cause a void out. I don't think it's likely since it seems the A.I. for them is designed specifically to avoid BTs at all cost. If Timefall starts, they retreat to their camps and stay put. They won't even bother you much if they see you waltz into their camp during these times. Course I'm still in the kiddie pool of the game's starting area, so perhaps I may run into some more daring and stupid ones in later sections. That would be a really intense sequence to protect other humans during a BT invasion.

I ended up saving under a rocky nook, cause on my way to one of my destinations, I ran into some timefall and further down the road is a BT zone, so I'm camping out waiting for the rain to pass hopefully. Afterwards, I have a big haul to the stupid Wind Farm and then I'm going to complete one of my missions that involves sneaking into a new MULES camp to retrieve some stolen cargo. Still having a blast.

[Wolf Kanno]

So I've moved forward a bit with the plot and I'm now in the second section of what I assume is probably four sections of the game. We're in the breadbasket states, or at least the ones that survived. Supposedly around Iowa or possible the borders of the western Great Lake states. Despite those areas being nothing but farmland in real life, the place looks more like Montana or even my own home state being mountainous and even some slight desert like properties. Terrain is much rougher here, and I'm going through shoes like nobodies business. This is also the place where MULES really come into their own as a threat. There are three huge settlements of these assholes and they are sporting vehicles now. Course I can steal these vehicles if I want... yet sadly they get terrible gas mileage compared to the motorcycle.

I now see why a lot of early reviews are saying you should wait until Chapter 3 to start doing side quests. You get to deal with some quirky doomsday preppers who are all apparently wacky mad scientists. The first guy, who is modeled after smurfing Junji Ito of all people, builds you cybernetic power armor legs to help you carry more weight. The guy who I believe is based off a Hollywood director is an arms maker and he's built me my first actual weapon. It's an electrified Boa Gun that launches non-lethal boa's to ensnare opponents. Great for all of the MULES I'm dealing with. The weapon can apparently be modified to face off with BTs as well though I haven't tested it yet. Sadly, my only run in with the critters involves the quest to get this guy on your side. It's a pretty cool one actually because it involves hunting down his tools in the ruins of an abandoned city.

Plotwise, we're finally exploring the character of Fragile as well as getting more dirt on the Homo Demens terrorist groups. The game is getting a bit more political at this point as we have started to learn more about what has been going on in the regions of the U.S. that Bridges has had little contact with. Even the Bridges guys on this side of the continent are a bit less friendly. I am going to try my best not to linger in this region too long. Just get my Stars and move on. I sure as hell don't want to backtrack to the last region and try to finish all the quests waiting for me there despite having all the tools to make it so much easier.

[Wolf Kanno]

I am still knee deep into Chapter 3. Discovered the BTs have another mini-boss form, this one being a Cthulu Panther that murdered me before I got a good look at him. I reset because that crater was in a very bad place for me. I do plan on purposely taking him on down the road though. Every time you see a significant story event, or defeat a BT, you unlock an adorable Green Army Men replica of the event or enemy in your private quarters. Not to mention that seeing how the first boss was just a bigger and nastier version of the mini-boss whale squid, I figure I should get my practice in now...

I think the most amusing thing to take away from Death Stranding is simply appreciating certain modern conveniences that we take for granted. Mainly transportation infrastructure and weather services. In the new chapter, you can build highway style roads which makes getting around this massive map unmolested so much easier. I also unlocked a weather service app that gives me the weather forecasts that helps me sidestep Timefall. Since gaining a lot of useful tools including the ability to create structures to protect me from Time fall and allow me to wait out the storm, to actually being able to build sleeping quarters wherever I want as long as I have the materials; I've decided to take Fragile's offer and jump back to the first zone to finish up some more quests and to hopefully encounter one of my friends contributions to the game so I can make a Strain Contract with her. I didn't realize until now how much the first zone is basically Video Game Ireland where Rain is the default setting with only different variances to tell them apart. Oh, I also unlocked the ability to use robo-couriers to send packages, but I'm probably going to ignore them because while their success rate of getting the package to the client is high, their grades on the scale are awful and so I'm probably better off just delivering them myself. I also unlocked the little hover carriers you've likely seen in the trailers that follow Sam. I have not used them as much since I'm better about not overloading myself with weight and I'm pretty sure they can't be used with vehicles.

I have actually reached my home state at this point as well, and I must say the mountains look just as intimidating to climb as they do in real life. Not looking forward to crossing them just yet. I got more info on Fragile and I find it amusing how little she cares about personal space and boundaries. I had a very awkward sequence with her that would have probably been misconstrued as fan service if A) It ended up being the opposite, and B) the entire situation illicit a knee jerk response of "who the smurf does this?". Of course, this being Kojima, I shouldn't have been surprised that we play one of his games and not have to be subjected to his favorite soap box real world topic: nuclear weapons. Yes they show up in this one, but how important they will be remains unseen. Technically Voidouts are more destructive and easier to pull off despite the absurdity from some of the emails about 3D Printed nuclear weapons. This game has also taken some interesting potshots at the current U.S. President and the whole Brexit nonsense, though in a way not to directly reference them by name.

I'm honestly surprised how good this game has been turning out. You really wouldn't think that being a post-apocalyptic UPS guy would be fun, but it's actually been pretty thrilling.

[sharkythesharkdogg]

I might take a look at this one, but it sounds like at least part of the gameplay element is geared towards playing it when it is new? The community building aspect?

I'm also laughing pretty hard at Die-Hardman. Some of these characters sound like rejected Megaman ideas, and that's exactly what I expect to come from Kojima.

[Wolf Kanno]

I might take a look at this one, but it sounds like at least part of the gameplay element is geared towards playing it when it is new? The community building aspect?

Honestly, a lot of that element is slowly given to you. For instance, what actually appears in terms of structures you and other players can build is based on where you are in the game. I just zipped back to the starting area after getting a few more tools and found the place suddenly filled with them. The actual highway element in the third chapter didn't become available to me until I finished the mission that explained what it was. On top of all of that is that many of these structures are finite and will collapse over time if players don't maintain upkeep. Part of my reason to jump back to the early areas was to actually restore and upgrade a few key generators and bridges I had built but some players had already been doing that for me. I did lose things like ladders and rope climbing things I put up, but they deteriorate faster. Also, people are dropping off or losing cargo all the time. Looking at the Share Locker last night, many of these starting areas are still overloaded with packages to certain places.

I'm also laughing pretty hard at Die-Hardman. Some of these characters sound like rejected Megaman ideas, and that's exactly what I expect to come from Kojima.

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[Jessweeee♪]

I'm loving this game. It's really relaxing. I feel all warm and fuzzy inside when BB gives me likes.

Also, I love how Kojima went out of his way to make it so you could only have positive interactions with players and they still found a way to grief others by abandoning vehicles in inconvenient places.

[Fynn]

NGL, the baby alone is selling me on this game and is making me regret more and more that I don't have a PS4

[Jessweeee♪]

Also when I actually looked at the map and realized I walked from DC to Illinois in an hour.

[Wolf Kanno]

I was laughing more at the Great Lakes area looking like the southern half of my state. Now I am in my state, when I'm not taking ten minute excursions down into Texas.

I made the mistake in Chapter 3 of actually exploring and discovering how nightmarish the future locations are going to be. I'm actually impressed by how much of the map can be explored considering maybe only half of it makes up Chapter 3. The rest of the map isn't required until later chapters. Still, crossing that mountain is going to be a doozy cause holy hell I did and discovered some new BTs I'm already dreading to encounter again.

I finally reached Chapter 5 and Chapter 4 was kind of a major left turn for this game. It was short but incredibly intense. I won't spoil much outside of it falling into "now for something completely different". It was the first story mission I did lousy on cause I kept getting killed. Now I'm on Chapter 5 and needing to hook up with MAMA. I also finally got the chance to customize vehicles and my gear, so now I'm much more colorful.

[Wolf Kanno]

Have a few interesting tidbits for anyone playing, there are some gameplay spoilers:

• From what I can tell, Standard Missions repeat, so don't linger in an area after you've maxed out a client's Star Rating because you'll never actually leave. If you feel compelled to make that list shorter, then use the Delivery Bots once they are unlocked.
• The exception to this rule is with a few of the client's available in the second area. Most of the Preppers you can deliver to will award you special materials or unique items that can't be fabricated after you perform a number of deliveries to them. Special note to the Craftsman and the Chiral Artisan's Studio as they give you an upgraded Custom Hermatic Grenade and Chiral Boots which are both significantly better than what you can fabricate from Chapter 3 onward. Save the grenades for dealing with the big BTs though.
• The other reason to keep doing missions, even if they are repeats is to raise your overall grade, for every ten levels in a grade you increase one of your abilities.
• Once Premium Missions become available, you should probably use them when redoing Standard Missions. Premium Missions add additional challenges to a mission that garner bigger scores to raise your rank and unlock a trophy or two. You can select the premium conditions when selecting a standard mission. They are not terribly difficult, and chances are most players are already doing the requirements for them anyway for normal missions.
• MULES upgrade with Sam after certain milestones. For instance, once you unlock the Sticky Gun, MULES will also start using them, even in older areas. This is a warning, because it also happens when you unlock real guns...
• Knocking out every MULE in a camp is beneficial for a few reasons. It garners an email from the local clients and an additional Like from them which should really help with that 100 Email Trophy. It also makes it more likely to earn a higher score for Bots sent through their territory. In later Chapters, it also allows NPC Porters to travel easily through their area gaining Likes and the ability to trade with them. It is temporary though, but if you're going to go through a small encampment, it's not a bad idea to clear it out.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

In personal news, I went back to the first area again to figure out what was going on with a strange email I got concerning the Crematorium. Turned out it was a bust and I already picked up the contents the last time I backtracked. Yet this hasn't been all for naught. I noticed that most of the MULE camps had Memory Chips, so I went back to all of the ones in the first area to make sure I grabbed any. Discovered a new client I totally missed my first time through so I'll likely max out my rank with him before going back to the main plot.

The story has still managed to keep me invested, and now that I've noticed missions repeat, I can probably move on faster between areas. I'm currently trying to get to Mountain Knot City, which is at the heart of the scary huge mountain I explored in an earlier post. On the brightside, the game unlocked what could possibly be the most broken tool for getting around in this game for me, a zipline. We'll see how that goes. I've met MAMA and learned her tragic backstory while also unlocking some more mysteries surrounding the creation of the BBs from Deadman. My MGS experience has taught me to never trust anyone in these games, and it seems that trait is ringing true.

[Jessweeee♪]

man smurf mountain knot city region, especially during chapter six

[Wolf Kanno]

man smurf mountain knot city region, especially during chapter six

You can say that again.

I'm in Chapter 6 as well. Been avoiding trying to get to the Roboticist, instead I'm running orders for the Novelist's Son, the distribution center, the Doctor, and Mountain Knot City. I've also been trying to get the highways built in this region.