![]() The magic of the Social Strand System is augmented by these new additions too, as rogue ladders, vehicles and structures left behind by other real players become important bastions in your own journey, creating a reciprocal feedback loop of empathy.ĭid I mention that it’s stunningly beautiful? The fluidity of rushing water and the sheen on Sam’s outfit when he’s weathering a storm were some of the many inspired details that stuck out to me during my playtime. All of these features are spliced into the experience naturally, too, so depending on where you left off, you might have some or all of it to dig into already. It’s clear that Kojima Productions has been careful not to trivialise delivery by making these features overpowered - they just sand down some of the game’s rough edges, which will hopefully pull in even more players. I dread to think of the amount of time I wasted looking at that slowed-down Odradek cutscene in my original playthrough. One of my favourite additions is a setting that makes it so unnecessary animations don’t repeat themselves every time you trigger them. There are thrusters that negate fall damage, jump ramps, rideable cargo-carrying buddy bots and catapults that lob your deliveries across significant gaps. I wouldn’t want all of it gone as that’s the charm, but there are a few clever tweaks implemented in the Directors Cut that will make your life easier. If you fell off of the original but are willing to give it a second chance, the good news about the Directors Cut is that as well as looking incredible, some of the systemic chaff has been cut away. It’s unlike anything anyone has ever made as a result, and I think the Directors Cut is the best way to experience it. Death Stranding just gamifies all of that and throws in a heart-rending narrative led by an ensemble cast, Monster Energy drink cans and mushrooms you have to piss on for social media likes. We still find that compelling and embark on challenging expeditions for the rewarding endorphin rush and fascinating views when we get to the top. It’s a slog! But so is climbing a mountain in real life. ![]() ![]() I love this about Death Stranding, but I also know many people dropped it for the same reasons. Bo Burnham hit the nail on the head when he skewered it in his latest special, Inside: “It’s like, fucking boring, but that’s the point, you know?” Absurd, hilarious, tragic and thought-provoking. I woke up right nearby, in an even worse position, with no progress made to any useful destination. All that did was create a semi-permanent crater in the map and cause my DualSense to start violently screaming as my chest-mounted baby succumbed to autotoxemia. Perhaps I could wake up next to a friendly structure and quickly upload my data!īut that’s not the kind of game Death Stranding is. Even after so much time with the original game, my first brainwave when I loaded in was to purposefully let Sam get sucked into a tar mausoleum by some nearby umbilical demons, in the naive hopes that if I died, the game would reset my checkpoint. The control scheme and myriad systems are, of course, a lot to put up with. Relearning the wheel for Death Stranding Directors Cut made me further appreciate the divided response to Death Stranding. This was after 130 hours of playtime, so I knew I’d seen everything, but something kept me pushing on until I had no choice but to drop it.ĭeath Stranding Director’s Cut. Back when I was hooked on Death Stranding, I would get into a routine of setting off my automated delivery robots and challenging myself to scale the trickiest mountains, without any real aim, just in case they were hiding something. ![]() This explains why my Sam was standing in the middle of nowhere, his feet bleeding because he had worn through his last pair of hiking boots. With a game this nuanced and Hideo Kojima behind the wheel, there was always going to be a follow-up, but I was convinced I’d seen everything after I popped the Platinum trophy. READ MORE: Ten years on, ‘Dark Souls’ is still corralling us through its hostile worldĪs it turns out, the spot where I left Sam couldn’t have been more of a retroactive fuck you to my future self, who didn’t expect to be covering a new version of the game so soon.This was easily the most humbling ‘delivery’ I’ve ever made in Kojima Productions’ latest, given that I hadn’t touched my save file in nearly two years. Before you can transfer your save data to the Directors Cut of Death Stranding, you have to log into the PlayStation 4 version and ferry protagonist Sam Porter Bridges to a delivery station, regardless of where you left off.
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