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

[Salodin]

Roads can def be completed by others, I've had two completed online, but it's less frequent. They def prioritize contributing materials over finishing, and they get me so close that I loaded up a truck with metal and ceramic and built the road from the craftsman all the way past distro center of mountain knot in one trip.

I was at like 12ish hours by then end of chapter 3 i think. Ch 4 was super duper easy for me, but that part played A LOT like MGS5. Chapter 5/6 are probably my favorite so far, only cause you're pretty much finished with the tutorislizing.

Spoiler: show

ch6 is a pain because BTs can fuck up deliveries, even if they're easy to dispatch. But also, the game cheaps out. Canonically, you shouldnt be able to see BTs without your BB, even with DOOMS, but when you scan for enemies they still show up when super close, and when they find you. Originally, I thought they'd make them actually invisible and tough to deal with, but they got scared about the gameplay I guess. I only had to sneak past them once, afterwards I already had ziplines setup and didnt have to worry about them again.

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[Vil]

Spoiler: show

That's valid, but I forget what part of the detection was BB's enhancement. I just assumed it had to do with the odradek pointing and going crazy (don't think it did that during this) and the scanner showing them clearly from distance. The faint outlines when they're on top of you, I don't know if that's normal, if it's DOOMS or if it had to do with BB. These are the sort of things that I don't really feel like looking into during the game because I know I'm begging to end up accidentally hitting a massive spoiler.

edit: Actually, I do remember from early on that he's just able to sense them. Oh well. My dude's so hopped up on Monster Energy that he can see shit.

[Elcura]

I finished this last night, around 60-70 hours with minimum 3 stars in every area and everyone connected to UCA. The last few chapters are very interesting and really test the infrastructure you've put in place up unto that moment.

Also I fully recommend doing every pizza delivery, but be warned you can't complete it until much later (basically near the end).

Overall I think the story is very good, but the dialogue ranges from normal to Kojima bad, but there are some parts of the game that are very impressive and breathtaking, especially near the end.

I feel like the game is a walking simulator in the sense you need to learn how to literally walk, then run, then occasionally crawl, then you can jump over rivers or carry stacks of weapons and tools to deal with everything and the game builds you up to being something of an action hero but only if you work for it, otherwise you kinda remain a clumsy baby the whole game.

Definitely not for everyone, but a great game if you give it a chance and work with the slow build up.

Chapter 8+ to ending spoilers but very scattered

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Everything going from the tar belt and back was amazing. The game (not sure if it hand holds but I don't think it would lol) lets you figure out ways to get around puzzles based on what you've read or experienced. I didn't know you had to fight the BTs near the end of the map to trigger the buildings to pop up since I was just gonna clear the area but realised something was different with 2 invincible whales show up so I book it out but oh look I can actually reach the marker OK this is the way. On the flip side, some of that stuff isn't very obvious.

Higgs fights were my absolute highlight. Kojima does boss battles amazingly given the context of the game. You start off fighting a giant with rockets then have to knife vs gun a guy then you get an intimate fist fight. Amazing. The giant BTs you fight aren't that tough but are impressive in scale.

The final parts of the game when the chiral levels are insane and it's constantly raining are fantastic too. The mountain area is visually breathtaking and getting ambushed by BTs on ziplines was fucking great (but only happened once, but it was enough to make me super paranoid and weapon focused).

The ending of you just on the beach trying to figure out a way was amaznigly annoying but also worked super well in context. Overall I got my fill of Kojima fucking with my head and I think I got everything I wanted out of the game and story. There's legit like a 2 hour ending sequence or something lol.

And finally, amazing soundtrack as well. really elevates a lot of the game. I'd say the roaming track songs were great but often over way too soon as it gets easier to travel around.

[Salodin]

Spoiler: show

He can feel em, not see em. That's why bb is so important, cause bb-28 is the only DOOMs compatible bb that they know of. But gameplay wise it isnt enough of a difference to matter, it turns out. You can also just throw hematic grenades at your feet and hold your breathe, and by then you can see the cord and cut it or throw another grenade at the bt that is obviously there even without bb...idk, combat is just not challenging enough to make me concerned about restrictions like this anymore. My only concern is how much cargo I can carry, period. Lol.

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[Salodin]

I'm just starting ch8, how many hours do you think I have if I just binge the story straight?

You saying it tests my infrastructure makes me want to finish this road before I keep moving on lol

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[Elcura]

I'm just starting ch8, how many hours do you think I have if I just binge the story straight?

You saying it tests my infrastructure makes me want to finish this road before I keep moving on lol

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The 2nd area matters the most for that, but as long as you have good methods for getting across the map it doesn't matter what you use.

As for chapter 8 (Heartman?) I'd say you still have like...10 hours more or less (probably more).

[Vil]

Didn't rush to the finish, but I left a few things undone. Found all the secret Preppers and got them on the Network, but didn't max out all of them. Also only found a few memory chips, but I never even thought about those except the times when I'd be surprised by picking one up.

Game of the Year. Well worth the wait on this project. I don't know how you try to compare it to even some of the more narrative-forward games of this generation, and am not going to try to. I don't want to do it for a long time, but I do kind of want to play this in offline mode sometime just to see what that's like.

There's so much stuff in this game that I really thought wouldn't work and shouldn't work, but sort of did. Most of this revolves around the structures. Did anybody come across a safehouse that people actually put materials into so you could fabricate stuff? They were a nice place to refresh ammo/vitals but in practice they were garages for extreme areas which was amazingly useful, but kind of weird. Many postboxes that I came across were not really used, and while I liked the idea of lost cargo/entrusting, if I lost something, I'd simply forget about it even when seeing the message that someone picked it up. However, the idea of building the world and helping others in general in what's presented as an empty world came across better than I would have expected. Ziplines, generators, and timefall shelters were great community structures and watchtowers were ok even though I didn't use them a ton.

Stats:

Spoiler: show

90 structures built, 16,424 materials contributed to them, 4124 contributed to others' structures
40 road sections restored, 150,307 materials contributed to roads

Distance traveled - 1147km
Foot - 271km
Bike - 111km
Truck - 463km
Zipline - 301km (LOL)

Play time - 117:33
Orders Completed - 645
Pieces of Cargo Delivered - 2416
Weight of Cargo - 34.6t
307k likes (almost an exact split for NPC and Player)
333 Porter Grade, Master Deliverer

Episode 8 to the finish:

Spoiler: show

Cool way to cross the Tar Belt. I was walking around cutting the cords on all the BTs thinking I was looking for something and started getting confused because I wasn't sure if there were just so many or if they were respawning. Fortunately, I read the emails that basically hinted about having things rise up and whatnot.

Brief stuff on the way to Edge City was great, Giant BT boss sufficiently cool. Higgs fight was outstanding. At that point, I was kind of surprised to see Cliff again, but another good episode with him.

Having tar open up and BTs grab me when I was on the zipline through the mountains was terrifying with the amount of lines I use that go over BT areas, especially since I had a final delicious pizza for Peter Englert!!! lmao @ that whole mission line. I was going to possibly do some more missions in the mountains (Evo-Devo, First Prepper, Veteran Porter, and Novelist's Son are the ones I didn't finish), but besides wanting to look at the scenery, I wanted to get the hell out of those areas asap.

Holy crap the ending. That was a lot to take in and at least it was somewhat broken up because that was insane. Someone should have told me to go get a snack or something before starting.

Not sure if this was post-game, or if it was just something I didn't get til post-game, but a character's real name revealed in one of those interviews:

Spoiler: show

Of course Die-Hardman's name is John McClane. Damnit, Kojima!

Actually something during episode 8, wondering if people encountered this:

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Were there two types of BTs in the volcanic area when picking up the cases in the tar? Ordinarily, I'd Bola > Cut, but maybe it was my camera angle/obscured by the other, but I couldn't see a cord for some, and they took several more grenades to kill. There were also some BTs on an area of the mountain that I only went on accident that were showing up as red when scanning, but I just got the hell away from them

[Elcura]

Chapter 8+

Spoiler: show

There's definitely different types of BT, but I'm not sure when they show up. There's the golden/chiral ones you see with the last few bosses that just chill in the 1st area and will absolutely murder you before even taking you to a boss if you aggro them. Was a nice surprise game over lol

Never saw any red ones aside from BTs that are close to a grenade and get coated in blood but aren't dead yet. But yeah that Zipline ambush scared me shitless, but I don't think it happens multiple times? I think it's just a way to make you more cautious about ziplines.

Would also like to mention how breathtaking the mountain area is when the chiral network goes berserk. Seeing the clouds clear and the aurora in the sky and the whole area tinted green is amazing, especially considering how long you spend in that area getting used to how it looks. I kinda wish that every BT you killed just cleared the sky a bit more. I might have spent a few more hours hunting down BTs lol.

[Malithar]

I'm just now in chapter 8. Kind of taking a break on the story again to work on roads, ziplines, and getting star counts up. I'm sure there's specific orders to get your delivery time up (prolly the pizza ones? I've only done one so far), but damn, does that lag behind everything else. Feels like the pacing on timed orders could have been spread out more so that category could keep up with your other stats.

I love the ziplines, but it feels like they almost break the core of the game. If I want to carry stupidly large loads, then trucks are still the go to, but they make any difficult terrain a one time affair, assuming you're prepared with PCCs and/or you get some lined up well in your network. I wish the UI for using them was slightly different, like allowing you to pick an endpoint and just zip along to there, or showing all of your available directions via some means other than cycling through them. Originally, my idea was to have straight shots to the different places I placed them, with a central hub or sorts. As I expand though, it's quickly turned into more of a spiderweb due to obstructions and convenient distances.

Chapter 6/7 spoilers

Spoiler: show

I really loved Sam's time with Deadman during this. For the first time, he felt real. Between the different scenes, he actually held a conversation and talked back. I really liked seeing his personality come through during those scenes, more often than not, you're left with silence. I was a little taken back in the early bits of it when he just randomly started calling BB Lou and it wasn't addressed for hours. Makes sense once they explained it, but it was still really awkward at first.

[Salodin]

The thing with ziplines is for them to be super convenient you need to spend a lot of energy on them. I was able to complete my zipline highway, but it cost me all my bandwidth. I cant make anything else, not that I really use anything like safe houses or watchtowers.

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[Vil]

I'm just now in chapter 8. Kind of taking a break on the story again to work on roads, ziplines, and getting star counts up. I'm sure there's specific orders to get your delivery time up (prolly the pizza ones? I've only done one so far), but damn, does that lag behind everything else. Feels like the pacing on timed orders could have been spread out more so that category could keep up with your other stats.

I love the ziplines, but it feels like they almost break the core of the game. If I want to carry stupidly large loads, then trucks are still the go to, but they make any difficult terrain a one time affair, assuming you're prepared with PCCs and/or you get some lined up well in your network. I wish the UI for using them was slightly different, like allowing you to pick an endpoint and just zip along to there, or showing all of your available directions via some means other than cycling through them. Originally, my idea was to have straight shots to the different places I placed them, with a central hub or sorts. As I expand though, it's quickly turned into more of a spiderweb due to obstructions and convenient distances.

There's just fewer timed ones overall, or maybe it's that other ones would tend to be more convenient for me. It was just so confusing for a long time early game because it was just chilling there in single digits while the others were getting into the 30s+. At the end of the game, it was about 15 below bridge link (my highest) and around 10 below the other 3. Considering premium deliveries put a time limit on, you'd think that would contribute but I don't believe it does unless it's a specific timed one.

My ziplines kind of got a bit confusing towards the end, not that they weren't confusing before. At times when there's a storm, it gets even more confusing because I'll come around a corner and there'll be two spots on peaks and if it's somewhere I hadn't been in a couple chapters, I'll get a bit hazy on them. At least if you pull up the map, it'll show you where the selected zipline goes. I agree that it would have been nice to be able to plot a course, but oh well. Then I wouldn't have the thrill of spamming the x button while approaching a spot because the pole was right in the middle of a MULE camp or BT area.

Salodin, did you build them everywhere? I did a route through the east region which was pretty basic and then a good network up in the mountains and a couple paths (weather/farm, etc.) but mostly didn't bother if there were roads. There was something like 25% available in central when I finished. There were plenty of places that I wouldn't mind driving, and I'd only be going to them when planning on taking on like 6+ orders at once anyway so ziplines might not work.

[Salodin]

The mountain ranges were well ziplined, to the front of their border. And this connected to the weather station, to the waterfall, and from the waterfall I had them to time fall and distro for lake knot. I removed the ones to south knot after the road was built, but I had them from distro to the elder, junk dealer, and all those down there the road doesnt reach. Including the collector.

I. Dont. Want. To. Walk.

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[Elcura]

Once I finished the Junk/Film/Artist areas I just destroyed my bridges and never looked back lol.

I nearly had ziplines all around, but basically they mostly just went up and down the mountain at various angles and I focused on any area that didn't have a road near it.

The worst thing about ziplines is once you have them setup but randomly you'll find other players ziplines near by and more than once I got lost because some random zipline appeared and lead me no where.

[Kaisha]

While I'm dicking about in chapter 5 I need to know...

Spoiler: show

Where the heck are all the birds and animals? Intro CS had a bunch, and then fuck-all since.

[Salodin]

While I'm dicking about in chapter 5 I need to know...

Spoiler: show

Where the heck are all the birds and animals? Intro CS had a bunch, and then fuck-all since.

Trying to think hard, and I have heard animals in the distance but have seen nothing.

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[Odesseiron]

I died 25 seconds in.

[Salodin]

Lmao that's great. This game really is mario without the special powers....

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[Vil]

I suspect that it may have just been standard orders, but I'll tag it anyway. Something that I was curious about during the game and thought of again earlier today.

Spoiler: show

There was that ruined building just NW of the Craftsman in a BT area that at least was named when you'd get close enough to it. Nothing ever took me there though and I kind of ended up forgetting about it by the time I got to ep 6 and rarely used that stretch of the road. Retrieval order or something, maybe?

Similarly, the incinerator between the waystation and the distro midway up the mountain. I did swing by there once, sort of wondering if there was some sort of secret in there but only came across the terminal in there like the one in the east region. Do you get to burn something/somebody? The waystation/distro capped super fast for me so I left the waystation alone and only used the distro really when I was unlocking the adjacent areas and was hoping for a quick order while I was nearby.

[Salodin]

Spoiler: show

There are lethal weapons, I assume if you kill someone you have to incinerate the body but i haven't needed to test this out. Alternatively, it could just be there for canon sake. Those communities would need an incinerator.

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[Malithar]

105 hours to complete with full stars across all the areas. I find myself split on the game. I overall enjoyed the game, I think it's definitely an experience worth having and I don't regret buying in at launch. That said, there's certainly some aspects that grate on me negatively. Not just "this is more difficult than it should be," but more like missed opportunities and gameplay/UI decisions that end up feeling more punishing.

I great example is shared lockers. I'd happily donate stuff more often if I could do so from the myriad of other menus. Oftentimes, I'll be gearing up for deliveries, or in my private locker, or in the cargo menu at a terminal with a vehicle. Everything I don't want either gets stuffed in my locker or tossed on the floor because spending the time to load it up, exit the menu, enter the dedicated donation tab, then donate, is just annoying. Another example is the color choice for UI elements. Maybe my eyes are worse than I think, but god damn does that light blue cause me issues in the overworld, specially in the snow.

They could have done a lot more with the open world too. Someone mentioned it earlier, but no animals feels strange, considering they were all over in the opening. Having hunting or food gathering and delivery be an aspect you do could have added a good bit extra to do, while adding a further use for lethal weapons. Even make it so it spoils extremely quickly in timefall, causing you to actually work around it. By time I visited the weather station, I was long past needing weather reports to avoid timefall because I could just power through it.

Storywise:

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Amelie is still out there, right? I don't know if that's sequel baiting since it sounds like Kojima wanted to move on to other things, but the story didn't feel complete to me. I don't follow exactly how Sam is BB. I mean, I get that he was. But how has he aged to the age he has? Did he just have accelerated aging in Amelie's beach I guess? Or maybe that long has passed, and BB simply time traveled to the present, bridging the two. The characters that were present in BB's memories didn't feel like they were 25~ years younger though.

I also didn't catch why Cliff had Amelie's makeshift BBs, nor why he was so well connected to the soldiers in his beach. I guess that just symbolized that he was a great captain as Die-Hardman let on?

Beyond those bits, I enjoyed the story overall. Dunky poked fun at this, but I really do wish the mid game had a bit more story threads instead of it being front and back loaded so much. I didn't like Sam's super silent protagonist take early on. Specifically, his interactions with Fragile and Higgs felt very awkward for the first 4 or 5 episodes.

Answer may be spoilery for some, but is there any specific post game content?