Okay, where do I even begin with Death Stranding? This game has had so much controversy with its reviews, for so many reasons. Whether it be with the haters dissing the game's gameplay, or the die-hard Kojima fans praising the game, let me tell you, Death Stranding is the pinnacle of gaming in this current generation of consoles.
What makes Death Stranding so good though? Well let me start with the story, which is one of, if not the best story I have ever experienced in a video game. Death Stranding follows a crippled UCA, or United Cities of America, the USA's new name after an apocalyptic event dubbed the "Death Stranding" occurred. In order to rebuild the country, Sam "Porter" Bridges, legendary deliverer, travels from coast to coast to reconnect society, while also trying to find the late-president's daughter Amelie. Without going too much into detail, the twists, turns, emotions, and symbolism in Death Stranding is like nothing else I've ever played. The entire time, I felt motivated to continue to play the game, quenching to see how the story would unfold.
Now speaking of the story, I should quickly mention the cast of characters as well. I would say for the most part, every game has that one dislikable character, and frankly, that can be inevitable. Game writers can't appease everyone. Death Stranding, on the other hand, has such a likeable and bright cast of characters, that I couldn't help but love each and every one of them. Each of them have a unique and strangely deep backstory told through the in-game cutscenes and interviews, and can't help but love and appreciate how much time and care Kojima and his team put into the characters.
Finally, I have to point out how visually stunning the game's presentation is. It really pushes the PS4 Pro and (soon to be) PC to its potential, and it shows! And you know the game devs know they're making an absolute beautiful game when they add a "Great View!" sign for other players to discover. Sweeping hills and valleys, ginormous snowy mountains, all while vibing with some LOW ROAR.
Speaking of LOW ROAR, I wanted to combine the music of Death Stranding in the presentation portion of this review, simply beacuse of how Death Stranding handles its music. Yeah you have different themes play at different parts of the game, but in the overworld, while traveling from point A to point B, there really is no music. The only time there is music playing is when you reach a new part of the map that's required for the story. This may seem very shallow for a game like Death Stranding, but I'd say it works very well. Depending on the song, it can really set the mood/ tone of what's to come, and I think that's very clever.
Now of course, even though I say Death Stranding is the pinnacle of gaming in this current generation of consoles, not everything in this world can be perfect, so let me discuss the gameplay of Death Stranding.
Death Stranding at its core can be called a walking simulator, as you control Sam "Porter" Bridges working as a deliverer. Start from point A, and deliver cargo under certain restrictions and time limits to point B. For some extra assistance, connecting online can offer different support for other players, like signs for guidance, or structures for convenience and transportation. Along the way from point A to B, you may come across MULE camps, groups of people stopping porters like Sam, or BTs, which what came to America when the Death Stranding occurred. This is where Kojima's previous work with the Metal Gear Rising series comes in, as you have to sneak your way through MULE and BT infested areas, or you'll be in SERIOUS danger. Sounds pretty good on paper, but the way they executed it left the gameplay to be very controversial.
Now for my personal thoughts and feelings. For starters, there are WAY too many side quests. Sure, if you want the Platinum trophy, you don't need to do all of them, but playing Death Stranding blind and just assuming you have to do all of them made me feel very intimidated by the scale of the game. Also could have been nice to have more missions than just point A to point B, as frankly, that's about 95% of them. Also, combating BTs and MULES was fun at first, but did get a little shallow the more you faced them, as you get pretty stacked with weapons further in the game.
Now how I see this controversy is that if you want to play Death Stranding for the gameplay, then your motivations are WACK. Nobody in their right mind purchases Death Stranding for the gameplay. It's like buying a Mario game for the plot, or Tetris for the graphics. Death Stranding's main selling point is its story, characters, and presentation, as mentioned before. In those fields alone, Death Stranding succeeds as being an enjoyable video game, and can really influence the industry in many ways, since so many categories in games can be defined by showcasing Death Stranding and its accomplishments.