4.5/5 ★ – SyIens's review of Death Stranding.

Let’s be honest, I could write an essay about my feelings for Death Stranding. But no one would want read that so I’ll try and keep it short. Death Stranding is definitely the boldest game I’ve ever played. The story, gameplay, and new genre were all a big risk. The whole ‘single player post apocalyptic’ story has been done so many times before, but this might be the most unique version I’ve played. The story had a wide variety of tones, and it all managed to feel natural. The story knew when to be emotional and serious (the last 2 hours of the game) and it knew when to be goofy and silly (the Higgs chapter and the private room). There was a lot of terrible dialogue but most of the time it was during the “goofy” parts of the game so it didn’t feel weird. Having each chapter be dedicated to a different character might be the best choice in the game. Every main character is super memorable, interesting, and defined. Although some of the cutscenes were annoyingly long, the story was really good, emotional, and felt fresh. The gameplay is extremely controversial. People keep calling it a “walking simulator” or “Amazon simulator”, but I feel like some of these people only played the first 10-15 hours of the game. Those first hours were REALLY slow, and the gameplay doesn’t get good until you get to the second map, because you unlock so much more equipment, materials, vehicles, etc. That’s where the gameplay really takes off. I love the asynchronous stuff in the game. I loved to donate materials to rebuild roads, and I was so happy when I finished the highway. Helping each other out without physically being there was really satisfying. There are still some hiccups in the gameplay though. And the fact that you can’t play any of the amazing soundtrack outside your private room is one of the worst design choices in any video game ever. But still, I had fun delivering packages through the elements and enemies. I felt like a MULE because I was addicted to delivering cargo😂. I could talk so much more about this game, but I’m just going to wrap it up here. There are definitely weak points in the game, but it didn’t have many. The graphics were great and I didn’t have any glitches or anything of that sort. It was really polished. I would like to platinum it, but that would take too long to do and i have other games to get to. Overall, I knew this game was controversial going in, and I was nervous about it, but putting in 75 hours paid off in the end. Automatic top 10 favorite of all time. Asylums for the feeling, don’t be so serious, and bb’s theme are like the best songs ever.