Death Stranding | Head Crab Edition (PC) | Director's Cut (PS5)

**Salodin** · 2019-11-01 18:54

This game stopped being a must buy day one the second they announced a PC version in the summer. I've been glued to the coverage cause now I want to know if the plot and gameplay are enough to day 1 even though I'd rather have it on PC, but idk there so many games to play and the better version is only 6 months away...

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**Andalusian girls** · 2019-11-01 19:08

Originally Posted by Krandor

Are you implying that 30+ hours of fetch quests and tripping over pebbles is your idea of a good time?

did people forget NieR: Automata so quickly

you can have all the whacked out cutscenes and unique, highly personal plot you want while combining that artistic vision with compelling gameplay, not 40 hours of fetch quests with wonky mechanics.

**6souls** · 2019-11-02 01:09

**Salodin** · 2019-11-02 09:03

Kojima is the king of FOMO...

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**6souls** · 2019-11-06 16:46

Originally Posted by Katlan

Also, I don't like how the world building aspect is shared between others who have the game. Sounds like the later you play the game the less building, etc... you will have to do as everyone else already did you dirty work.

This week's Giant Bomb podcast confirms that offline mode will self generate built items to help replicate the online mode.

**6souls** · 2019-11-07 09:23

**Malithar** · 2019-11-07 10:31

Pretty excited to get it tonight. I'll be at Best Buy at 8PM for it.

**Nitsuki** · 2019-11-07 11:40

Actually borrowing my friend’s ps4 pro. Won’t be able to play it until tomorrow night. Can’t wait!!

**Salodin** · 2019-11-07 12:39

Street date is actually 8pm the day before? I need to know

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**Malithar** · 2019-11-07 14:38

I dunno how it works elsewhere, but my local Best Buy is releasing it before they close tonight if you pre-ordered. Can pick it up between 8-9PM EST. Some might be doing midnight releases instead. Based on their web listing, it seems like you can just buy it the night before, doesn't have to be pre-ordered.

Originally Posted by Best Buy

Arrive at any Best Buy store just before 9 p.m. local time, while the doors are still open, to ensure you can buy your game.

**Salodin** · 2019-11-07 16:02

Works for me. Guess I get to see some cutscenes tonight!

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**Salodin** · 2019-11-07 16:03

So uh, game be out tonight and I think it's only fair we start transitioning to spoilers for discussions, and labeling as such in the thread title.

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**Malithar** · 2019-11-07 16:10

Yeah, no doubt. I'll spoiler anything after tonight for a week or whatever is deemed long enough. Had to cancel my vacation day tomorrow cause of workflow, so I won't get to hit it super hard until Sunday, but I'll still clock a few hours each day, plus 6~ tonight.

**Vil** · 2019-11-07 16:45

Damn, if I knew today was an option, I might have considered that. Ended up pre-ordering for delivery because tomorrow I likely may not have a chance til late. Oh well. Those of you that are starting tonight, enjoy!

**AoE** · 2019-11-07 17:33

On the fence on this game so god bless those of y'all making the $60+ sacrifice for the rest of us.

**Salodin** · 2019-11-07 18:41

I would if best buy let me. Of course it's the no neck that offers to help me and refuses to sell it until tomorrow. I'm sending a sternly worded email in the morning. Hope yall continue to go out of business.

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**Malithar** · 2019-11-07 19:41

Mine let me pick it up without issue, sorry you got a shitter.

I ALMOST got a collector's edition for the price of my special edition. Told the girl what I was there for and she brought a collector's edition up, scanned it, but she realized the name was wrong when she checked ID. XD I've never had that happen, but I don't know if I would have had the will to stop it if she didn't catch it. I'd of felt guilty I think, specially since that'd mean some other fan would show up for their missing collector's edition. Surprised how big that thing was. Made a console box look tiny.

**Salodin** · 2019-11-07 20:35

I ended up going to the mall which is down the street. As I was walking up to the gamestop, someone was walking out with the collectors edition, with the biggest shit eating grin on his face lol.

Physical games suck ass, I'm installing the game now and it's taking forever. Downloading the game digitally is the way to go, for this hassle. I haven't bought a physical game for my xbox in ages, and am borrowing a ps4 for this haha.

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**Kaisha** · 2019-11-07 22:07

I don't even get to see my copy until Monday. Remind me never to pre-order a game from a place that doesn't pre-ship stuff, even if it's saving me $20.

**Malithar** · 2019-11-08 00:34

I'm only 4~ hours in, but a few thoughts.

Spoiler: show

I'm enjoying things so far, but I can see what both the positive and negative reviews saw.

The opening segment feels pretty poorly done. You're literally just thrust into the world with no direction, no real story, and no reason for what is going on. I could see some not seeing the city in the distance and going the wrong way. Hell, I died within a minute of starting because I didn't realize momentum is such a massive force when running, so I went careening off the cliff a little bit in front of where you start lol.

You go to the seam when you die, but my body was like a 4 second swim in front of me, so I don't really see the draw of that whole segment. Perhaps it'll become more involved in the future. It's nice that there isn't a game over, but it feels sort of pointless. It doesn't help that the first 2~ hours are pretty much a tutorial without much direction, but plenty of limitations, and a movie that doesn't explain much.

Story wise, it's alright so far. It's extremely light on details that you understand, and it feels like if you knew more about the backstory or the terms they're using, you might enjoy it more. I'm sure it'll open up as the game goes on, most of the reviews raved about the story being good. I gotta say I'm particularly annoyed that twice, characters showed up and they weren't addressed. In the opening scene, someone just pops up, causing you to crash, and when you see them, not a word is mentioned. Then, there's the scene from the trailer where Higgs seemingly summons a BT, yet no one seemed to notice him.

BB is cool though, watch for him to make gestures and faces when others are talking. I'm pretty sure I caught him flipping off Deadman when he was talking about him being faulty when you get back from one of your first BT encounters.

So far, there's just "take this here" and "go do this here" quests. I don't mind those, but I hope there will be some more variety mixed in, too.

I'm finding quite the problem with the asynchronous online functions. Maybe it's because it's launch night, but I just found a massive amount of clutter and redundant equipment. After connecting the first area to the chiral network, I came outside and saw a sign where someone was requesting a ladder, so I set one up. I came back a couple minutes later and there were six other ladders all within seconds of mine. I dunno if my game didn't sync properly, or if others just threw ladders down anyways, or maybe mine didn't show for them. It just seems awkward at the moment.

Signs are very strange too, since some signs ("Keep on Keepin On" or whatever it is, for example, which fills your stamina) provide a tangible benefit, instead of just a warning or words of encouragement. It feels like a bad idea to include a function like that, as the signs with benefits will be littered all over the place. Like, one of the trailers showed the speed up sign for vehicles. I can imagine dozens, if not hundreds of those littered across a common vehicle route, specially since there are no limit and they don't take resources to setup. Thanks to the sign issue, HUD clutter is a massive problem as well. In some sections, I felt like I was looking at an open world map in a Ubisoft game.

Maybe the porter level is expanded upon as you progress further, but at the moment, it feels like it's a number to make you feel good, and that's about it. The five different groups seem to cover quite the spread, but the majority of tasks fall into the Miscellaneous category. I was expecting some benefits, such as increased stamina, blood, carry weight, etc, but so far, the levels don't seem to do anything. I did reach the first title, which said it'd increase the amount of likes I get. Maybe other tangible benefits are locked higher up.

At the moment, there is nothing to collect in the world. There are chiral crystals which I can't gather yet, and lost cargo which I can deliver for likes, which feeds into the porter levels. In a sense, I'm thankful, so I don't find myself exploring every nook and cranny, but at the same time, that's one of the reasons to play a game like this, so I'd like there to be something to gain for doing so. At the moment, outside of the feel good feeling and getting around the map, the reward feels like it's missing for exploring or doing anything. I was expecting there to be rewards or benefits to delivering cargo, such as materials or equipment, but so far, the sole benefit is likes.

Navigation is definitely unique, and challenging at first, once you load yourself down. R1 is your friend, you'll be pushing that every 10-20 seconds for a little while, unless you just want to rush through an area regardless of missing cargo or tripping. You come to learn what terrain is dangerous, and ledges and stuff start sticking out as you're maneuvering. That said, the act of maneuvering seems defeated by the game mechanics. Why bother balancing myself as I make my way through difficult terrain if I can just crouch and hold R2 and L2 at the same time? Sure, it drains stamina a bit, and it's a tad bit slower, but it's riskless. I can get around the stamina issue by just letting it go for a few seconds and I'm good to keep going again.

I haven't gotten into any combat yet, but based on signs and stuff in the area I'm in, there will be some human enemies coming up. That said, I don't have access to any weapons. Maybe the first encounter will be more procure on site type of play, or just throwing packages and fists like one of the trailers.