I tried Death Stranding again... 

The environment is the most impressive part of this game. It looks real, like a photograph of actual landscape in Iceland.

Death stranding is just one of those beautiful therapeutic games where you can play whenever

Shoutout to the moment when you crest a hill and “Asylum For the Feelings” starts playing. It’s my favorite gaming moment of all time

i love Death Stranding so much. The atmosphere of this game is something you don't see often in video games.

Look, it's obvious that Kojima games aren't for everyone and I'm okay with that. Death stranding is one of my all time favorite games. It hit at the right time in my life, as I was dealing with Grief and the world was falling apart so the themes were incredibly relevant. What I appreciate about Kojima's Death Stranding is how genuine the story is. There aren't enough games out there that earnestly try to connect with their players. I'd prefer a game that tries and somewhat stumbles in it's execution to just another mascot platformer or super hero action game. To me, such things are dime a dozen. Death Stranding is a diamond in the rough.

I played offline with no roads or any help from fellow players. Man, it makes it so much grittier when your hiking down mountains and avoiding the shadow ghost. (I played during the holidays and all the npcs wore Santa hats, it was so wholesome.)

when you deliver her, the mom emails you and tells you she adopted her as the girls original mom is dead and she speaks no english when she adopts her. A lot of the story is also on the mails and data

Honestly one of my all time favourite gaming experiences. Whenever the music starts I just get chills..

My mother took her own life a year before Death Stranding came out. I'm 35 now. I hadn't talked with or seen her in 14 years. Death Stranding let me be able to have the closure I was never able to in life. Was able to carry her body up a mountain, to a funeral pyre and watch her ashes drift on the wind. When I was a kid we went to Colorado together. In real life I didn't find out for 6 months that she had died and her ashes sit somewhere unknown to me. I'm not a Kojima fanboy and I only played the first four hours and yet it happened to be the most impactful gaming experience of my life. I don't know another medium that can let us existentially process death while interacting with it

Death stranding is beautifully niche, it knows exactly the kind of player it caters too and sticks to that path 100%

I think Kojima is similar to George Lucas when it comes to his writing. He has some great ideas but his writing usually has some very noticeable flaws especially when it comes to characters and dialogue.

replaying it for the third time, only then do you realize, that in fact, it is you who have become the MULE. Bravo Kojima.

I loved the long cutscenes and the cinematics and not fully understanding the world until the end. The further I went, the more I got to uncover about the story and the characters and it felt great. I wish I could wipe this game from my memory and play it all over again

Kojima knows how to produce an atmosphere that envelops the player...claiming it's just a walking sim is like looking at a Monet painting and calling them "flower paintings" when they're so much more

I used to love coming home from work and playing this for a few hours. There’s something so cozy about it. Loved the calm rainy atmosphere. I’d do a few deliveries and listen to a podcast or something at the same time. Pausing it for the cutscenes of course. Great game.

I was sceptical but I played this last year. The gameplay is relaxing and somewhat addictive especially when you upgrade your tools. Story is weird but u can see past it with an open mind. Graphics are great.

i love when someone tells me there will be a link in the description and then there is links to everything but what they said in the description, really shows you care. also you can think something is bad and be wrong just like other can defend things that are bad, your not enjoying something doesn't make it objectively bad just like someone enjoying something doesn't make it objectively good. but coming into a fandom and trashing it wile saying anyone who disagrees is a sycophant isn't a good argument either, it is possible you don't get things or they aren't for you and that's ok you don't need to like everything.

I honestly don't this this dude has ever watched any sort of media. Story progression and revealing more parts of a story is a way to keep the audience interested. This game has fantastic story telling, a task that should be boring that has been made fun and interesting, and a great acting.

Man.. the strong suit of this game is it's story. It is all 100% explained by the end and it all actually makes sense.

I was surprised how much I liked Death Stranding. It had an interesting and unique story, good characters and voice acting, tense moments when having to engage in combat on your way to your destination, good terrain challenges, fantastic soundtrack, and motorcycles and trucks were a nice addition to mix up traversal and make it more fun. And it's cool how you can form strand contracts with friends to share your world structures with each other. Can't wait to see what he comes up with for a sequel.

Death stranding is probably the best game that I just couldn't bring myself to finish, like I loved the time I spent playing it but the way it was made me feel like there was no point booting it up unless I had a few hours to play which also made it feel like a drag despite liking it.

The story is coherent, its just actually super complicated, maybe over complicated. And its delivered in the weirdest way, but it all makes sense from A to Z

The game is very addictive and calm.

A truly remarkable gaming experience- I got back into gaming at 40, I’m a landscaper and a rock climber, spend a lot of time outside and perhaps that’s why DS appeals so much, it’s therapeutic, often banal and mostly beautiful and yet oddly difficult to recommend to anyone.

Hi Luke! I totally get your point and I remember being bored at some cutscenes.. I chose to be lenient because I understand that some actors being japanese, the translation and having a different voice layed over can really mess up the purpose of the intended result. Now what worries me sometimes is that people tend to stick to negatives and oversee the overall beauty that this game offers.

That scene wasn't bad at all... She's Japanese bro.

in my fucked up brain i justified 99 % of the characters in this game being and acting autistic as a consequence of them living in bunkers and shit and reconnecting them with each other is like a from software fan touching grass for the first time in years that's why i didn't mind the japanese woman speaking in gibberish bit .

I actually really enjoyed this game. I went into it for the story, knowing the gameplay might be subpar. The story got a little weird, but I still felt engaged with it, and the gameplay loop kept me eager to keep playing and obtain that next upgrade that makes exploring a bit easier. I really did like planning and building the infrastructure, trying to be as efficient as possible. The landscape was beautiful to look at and drive through. I did get disappointed near the end though, because I kinda knew the ending wasnt too far away. It made me not really care about the infrastructure as much, since it was soon going to be irrelevant. I had no interest in 'aceing' the missions after I beat the game, so I stopped caring about it a bit. Instead of building a large zipline network or anything like that, I just did the bare minimum to get to the end. I was also disappointed by the size of the map. I know others will call me crazy, but I think it should have been bigger, with more methods to traverse the terrain getting unlocked. When you start, and you find your first base, and it pops up on the map of the US, your like "Wow, this is gonna be EPIC!" As you play the game, you realize that you can drive across america in like 10 minutes. There was never really a reason to go back east, and the west was just the endgame, so yeah I dono....it felt small to me.

It’s really sad that a lot of gamers trash this game because it’s not a dopamine rush to their brains. It’s a calm game (despite the bleakness) and IT’S A WORK OF FREAKING ART. And still, underneath that, the story is incredible. It’s complex. It’s Kojima. And because it’s complex, a lot of gamers think it’s ‘arrogant and boring’. They’re missing out.

I don't know why but to me rebuilding the highway in this game is like crack cocaïne, it's all I want to do, it is my main goal before anything else, I just love it for some reason

I loved this game, the end scene on the beach was so emotional and so well done, it was the closest to having a wee tear in my eye I’ve ever had in a game, no game has had that impact on me before or since. What a fantastic adventure and experience the game gives to the player, the gameplay is addictive and you get lost in the world of death stranding.

I played death stranding while I was having a really rough time, I would say it's the type of game where your enjoyment is tied to your mental state. I really needed it.

As someone who has loved Kojima's work since the original MGS on PS1, I absolutely loved Death Stranding for daring to be different and fresh in the stale landscape of boring open world checklists ala Ubisoft and....literally everyone else. The traversal of the land was your greatest challenge, the BT's slightly less so. It was an experience that made me love gaming again!

15:00 It would be an awesome sign of progression if as you reconnect the infrastructure you get to see more people. Imagine starting with a few people you interact with and after lets say 60% of the game you now know 20-30 new characters. They do not all have to be flashed out, its ok for some of them to be in smaller groups but it would show people clustering together and forming the seeds for the new civilisation. This would be a nice contrast to the main character who is afraid of being touched and as the conclusion of the game gets near, the main guy feels the grip of his phobia getting stronger, or even getting easier depending on the message you want to send...

I play this game when I wanna feel like I'm delivering Amazon packages, except I don't get in trouble for taking a potty break in between deliveries.

"sometimes a rope can just not be made of blood" is the summarising sentence for me

When I played the campaign, I had the online component turned off. I was completely on my own. It was a difficult game, but the challenge felt somewhat rewarding once I got through it. Then after the campaign I enabled online and was shocked about how easy was to travel and avoid the BTs. There was so much stuff littered across the whole map by online players to help out. I think using online help with the campaign would have made it much too easy, and less enjoyable. Also many online players leave some of the the most useless things placed in the most stupidest places.

I think Kojima's writing process is just thinking of cool moments and then stringing a plot between them. Certainly seemed that way with Phantom Pain at least

I think what you're not fully getting with that cutscene is that in the story, I think in one of the emails from her mother or maybe her husband, it's mentioned that she didn't speak English at all until her mother taught her. So English isn't her first language and she's not great at it intentionally. She's translating her words in her head as she's speaking them which is why her speech feels so stilted. Idk if you've ever met someone who's learning English as a second language but their speech is very similar. So I saw it less like "Oh, she sounds that way because the VA is reading from a script." and instead saw it as, "Oh, she's trying hard to translate what she's thinking into a language that is still fairly new for her."

dude you have no idea about acting if you think that scene you made fun of is bad acting.. it is just an emotional girl in misery who is trying to find hope and I haven't even played the game,it is not bad acting it is realistic, you took acting classes and in exchange it took away your empathy?

I think the filmmaker equivalent of Kojima is David Lynch. I may not necessarily ever feel like I'm totally aware of exactly what is happening in their stories but I very much enjoy the way that they tell them. Beyond that, I think Kojima has some of the best visual storytelling in any game through his cinematics...they are very well directed. I also enjoy the way he manipulates and subverts some industry tropes and expectations in really memorable ways.

I loved this game.. your review was one of the few i have disagreed with your "take" on a game.. to each his own tho.. I won't ever get angry about someones opinion.. i think for me the game came along at the right time. I wanted a chill game i could take a few hits off the vape pen and just chill on.. the music/the beautiful areas of the world.. it was all just so cool to me at that time but i could see being in a diff mood and not liking it as much

One of the most underrated gems of our lifetime. A true masterpiece of a game.

The Chiral Artist voice acting is believable. She is meant to not be speaking her native tongue. I understand what you mean, but I think it works better this way. To humanize her character more. I am bilingual myself, and I've been around people who talk worst than this. This scene was actually huge too. It's the first Sam brings people together and not just supplies. It's perfectly fine if it didn't work for a lot of people, but to me... that scene meant a lot.

I think the most grating part was how long the game is, and it doesn't feel like it needs to be that long. There's so many side deliveries you can do that unlocks useful equipment that didn't need to be locked away for dozens of hours.

That moment when Kojima built his spin on Truck Simulator, but the crowd showed up for metal gear…

The fact I know criticism can affect the future is the reason why I despise the abomination that are unnecessary/unfounded/unfair criticism. They can and will affect the developers/publisher choices on the future

This game had an incredible soundtrack

I love Death Stranding. Love the atmosphere, love that I dont understand everyting about it right away, and love the satisfaction of delivering those damn pizzas!

I know it's a small detail but on the Director's Cut, they fully use the ps5's controller new features (better and localized vibration, adaptive trigger, etc) and it also works on pc

I bought it day one, put it down after about a week. Didn't beat it. Just picked it up again today (oct 2022) and I'm SUPER into it. Idk why I decided to give it a second chance, but I'm so glad I did. It's so much deeper than I initially thought

Death Stranding is it’s own thing and I respect that. I didn’t 100% it but I finished the story and I can safely say I would play it again. It’s very calming and beautiful and slowly becoming one of my favourites.

I been very sick of AAA run of the mill games. I have ventured into indies and found the passion I was looking for again from devs. I have also been thinking of death stranding since it was so different from every other game

I like how the story is written, having a storyline that causes reflection and the need to remember about previous scenes is good and interesting. This game makes you stuck to the storyline because of the many questions that are always appearing, in the end everything is crystal clear, you really have everything explained in the cutscenes or in the text documents in Sam's room.

This game as to be played alone, preferably at night with a nice light setup and silence. No Talking, No Voice, and you could hear everything append in the World, noise of BT's, Noise of Terrorist, its a game that has to be enjoy quietly to really get the juice of it.

This video was a waste of my time. It's okay to dislike it and it's okay that people think you're missing points about the theme. It doesn't absolve it of bad acting or any other complaints, but there are a lot of nuances brushed over commonly in a lot of commentary.

Preach brother! I absolutely adore Cyberpunk 2077. I love the world, I love the story, I love the upgrade system and I love the gameplay. I can say confidently say it's one of my top 3 favourite games of the past 10 years. But I'm not silly enough to claim it's one of the BEST games of the past 10 years.

To preface I never played this game till last week I didn’t think I would enjoy it at all maybe just the story but the opening monologue about the Big Bang was seriously a stellar idea that drew me in. Then a single song played and I vibed then after talking to deadman and getting my cargo I walked out the gate ending the cutscene and I was absolutely hyped to legit just walk. I’ve never had such a moment like that and it’s a testament to writing and directing as well as the geography I weirdly understand each symbol on the ground there’s a intuitive part to all the land and it’s sweet

I remember when i first played it last year i was so lost and scared because walking in games is a more hands on feel . I ended up taking over both maps in the end

I absolutely love this game. A lot of the story and typical Kojima stuff was lost on me a lot of the time and I would zone out in the cut scenes. But the gameplay always hooked me. Man, I'm gonna reinstall it again soon.

I just started my 3rd playthrough of DT and I'm still just in awe as I was the first time I played it. Death Stranding isn't a video game, it's an experience.

11:41 this made me think of jojos and how araki names all his characters after musical references, and now I'm thinking how much I would LOVE a game designed and directed by Kojima but the story being written by Araki.

One of my favorite modern games, i'm on my 4th or 5th play through, my only hype with it is that there isn't a way to skip through the games lengthy tutorial for those playing it a 2nd to 5th time i mean you can skip cutscenes and tutorial speechs but i wish we had an option to skip the first 3-4 hours of gameplay with a brief clip of events leading up to traveling with fragile to the main regions that would be helpful for those who just want to dive into the game

Her acting isn’t “bad” they did it for inclusion, because like you know there are people who speak like that in the world and they also play video games and sometimes they like to see “themselves” in said video games

I have a love hate relationship with this game. I love how unique it is and the risks they took with the gameplay and story. Even though it's not for me I still give it props for standing out and being different from other games.

I haven’t finished the game but I really want to meet the “FistMeHardMan”

6:40 that’s how I felt about this game. The thick but calm atmosphere was relaxing. If the game didn’t have such ridiculously long cutscenes I’d probably play it more as one of those game to just boot up and chill after a super busy work day.

I would love for you to check out Snowrunner. If you find this delivery journey experience fun and relaxing/rewarding... That game's whole terrain and map is alive, in that the mud, snow and water as all physics based. How all the different trucks have there respective purpose etc. I actually didn't expect you to cover Kingdom Come Deliverance, and I really enjoyed that game. Was great to see you cover lesser known games 👍🏻

I enjoyed this game for what it was and how different it tried to be. That being said, I really hope they don’t make a sequel to it. I really want to see Kojima go back to a more linear format, or something that feels vastly different from Death Stranding and MGSV

Recently started a new game on Director’s Cut on PS5 after platinuming the original on PS4 and I love it, I’ve had trouble recently jumping into open world games like Forbidden West and Dying Light 2 and although this is also open world it’s such a therapeutic and satisfying game that I have gotten fully invested again. I would say I don’t think the story is as misunderstand-able or convoluted as people say, once you get round the terminology and what beaches are and can be used for its one of Kojima’s more easily understood games and I love it.

The cars not being able to be driven easily off-road is trying to incentivize you to build roads. Much like in real life, you shouldn't drive a car up a mountain. Similarly, it's not "meta commentary" to remark that the world is purposefully lonely. That's part of the game in-universe, not even meta-textual.

The scene with the Japanese chiral artist is actually one of my favorites 😭 I understood who and what she was referencing and idk I feel like it makes sense that a lot of the characters are quirky and socially awkward because they are so isolated in this world. The music that played behind this scene also captivated me. Idk man, the acting in this game overall was spectacular. I think your opinions are leaning more into the subjective realm

Lol the whole concept of the story of Death Stranding I absolutely feel inlove with. I finished it and managed to understand why everything happens the way it is. And I actually believe its the game’s STRONGEST suit. I think it was the pacing that might be the tough pill to swallow. But believe me I have NEVER been so captivated by a story that purely involves walking as its main loop. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

This game felt like work and I don't want to play games after actually coming home from work that feels like additional work.

Just playing Death Standing (directors cut) for the first time. To be honest, I don’t remember hearing much about it and it was free to download. I love it, and I think it’s weird that I love it cause you’re just delivering packages lol. That cut scene with the chick though OMG it bothered me so much. Wish I had played it when it first came out though because I’m building a lot of roads seemingly on my own and that’s probably because not many others are actively playing

love this game and personally I found its story extremely fascinating

Although the game has its merits eg cinematography, acting etc I think it’s overshadowed by its uneven script and gameplay. It’s a solid game but not outstanding

I played on launch and had about 10 hours and I still hated it and eventually dropped it That’s until the director’s cut came out and I went back in and finished it in a week. It has become one of the most memorable experiences from last gen for me. I’m always glad I gave it another chance That’s why I understand people who hated the game to some extent. Because I was one of them. The game definitely needs your time and attention. And I’m pretty certain that most would’ve felt otherwise about the game if they gave it more time

a quick recommendation. if you like the delivery guy gameplay loop but want a more realistic or pure experience with complex physics, particularly with trucks. try snowrunner. its pure extreme offroading truck delivery game with no story or anything. a relaxing time with some serious challenge from the terrain and physics. and it has enough content for hundreds of hours if you get the dlc

Here because DS2 has been announced - I played 25 hours on PC and never finished it, I've been playing it on PS5 this weekend, sunk around 10 hours in, and I'm enjoying it. Always a fan of seeing Kojimas visions and game design. Also, bloody hell this game is gorgeous.

I love Death Stranding, consider it one my all-time favorite game ever and have spent over 250 hours on it but it has very obvious shortcomings and flaws.

Never played this game but I heard you mention a few videos back you were working on this and I've be looking forward to it. Thanks

I love the Carson Clay reference, that’s exactly how Death Stranding feels. There’s an element of pretention that’s unavoidable. Still love the game though.

The problem with your first video is that some of your “constructive” criticism was really bad. So disagreeing with it is being a “sick-a-fan”? Maybe some of your points wasn’t 100% spot on? Like claiming that the map of the game was procedurally generated

Death Stranding was one of my favorite stories and games I've ever played. I totally think it depends on personality and even level of maturity. Was a beautiful experience that I feel privileged to have been able to play

Probably one of my top games of all time. So much hate was geared towards this game in the beginning but overtime I think a lot of ppl gravitated towards it and theres a very solid community of people now who understand Kojimas vision for this game and love how unique it is, especially in todays gaming market. Ever since the first trailer was released I was hooked on how dark and mysterious it was. And when I finally got to play I was astonished at the detail and story and acting, it was incredible. Yes it can be very tedious delivering tons of products to different parts of the very large and rocky map, and yes at times it can be a bit clunky. But its so calming and graphically incredible. I can't explain it but Hideo is a genius when it comes to creating moments that you'll remember forever. He takes his time to truly create unique works of art and experiences unlike any other. Can't wait for Death Stranding 2!

from the moment i saw the first gameplay i knew i would love this game, even with all the negativity and hate on release i bought death stranding and was absolutely blown away, I found the world, story, gameplay, characters amazing, definitely one of my favourite games of all time

I know many people did not care for this game but I consider it an absolute masterpiece.

While I agree on almost everything Luke says here, I really don't get the confusion about the story. DS's story is actually very straight forward, more so than the Metal gear series. Yes, really. My first playthrough of this game I wasn't even paying attention that much on the story since it's a Kojima game and I came in expecting to NOT FULLY UNDERSTAND, at least for a sequel or two. But nope, even though admittedly the story pacing was somehow drawn-out or slow, just reading on mails, doing all deliveries, I kinda got the gist of the story immediately as it was unfolding. I don't know if it's the modern gamer's mindset of instand gratification, Luke feining confusion, or he just plainly do not want to understand the story. It's like you play a Kojima game expecting something different from the guy that brought you some of the most confusing, convoluted stories in gaming and then expecting it to be different somehow.

Want to know something crazy? My first play through, those zip lines, I assumed only went down hill. I never used a zip line through my first play through and still got 5 stars on all those mountain hideouts. Took FOREVER. I found out zip lines actually go both ways on my 2nd playthrough and had so much fun setting up zip lines to travel massive distances really fast, and discovered how you can actually use up all the bandwidth in an area, which I couldn't figure out how anyone could use all the bandwidth on my first playthrough. I rode bikes everywhere and fought alot of BTs on my first playthrough.

Currently playing this game right now and im having a blast! Another great vid Luke

Everything was really amazing but i just wanted 1 thing Better Vehicles with Offroad Suspensions. This game could ve been a great offroader as well. Imagine a 4x4 , 6x6 or 8x8 with full flexible suspensions , riding around the rocks , it would ve been so satisfying just like how walking feels. I wish they paid more attention to driving

Literally just started watching a Cyberpunk video from you lol

this game is so fun and addicting for no reason lmao

Death Stranding is a game you need to "feel" not really "play" as per say. It has more heart and emotion than just about anything else out there. If you have ever experienced the loss of a child, or of a parent - then this game hits different. You may not "know" or "understand" what is going on - but that is because your 'logical'/'rational' brain is preventing you from connecting emotionally with the story. Much of it stems from pre-internet paranormal folk-lore that was rampant during the late 70's and 80's, which is "kojima's time" (such as babies having an inherent connection to 'the other side'), and to be honest, it is best to switch your logical/rational brain off in order to fully "understand" it.. Everything is "explained"... whether you accept the explanation or not is up to you. In the end, it's actually a pretty simple story. A nihilistic man who believes he is alone with no ties to the world around him, discovers that actually, he does care and is capable of love. It's a message a lot of "sweaty gamer" types really need to hear. Sure, the landscapes are empty - but this ties into the story. Sure, once you connect a location, it becomes trivial to roam around the landscape - but this ties into the story. So many elements of the game design tie so perfectly with the meta-narrataive that even "bad" elements become an aspect of the meta-narrative. For me personally, it's one of the best games I've ever played. It's hard to put into words how much I love the game or why I love it so much. Somethings just aren't quantifiable, like love.

Death Stranding is a social commentary on how you don’t get it.

Yeah, gaming needs more creative titles like this havent played yet but i appreciate him trying something totally new

I love your take on Death Stranding and a lot of its elements, I as well enjoy the game but there are major issues that I do have with it like many other games. As you said before the story can sometimes come off as a bit too much, personally I love the moments where its simple, yet strangely nice in a way, like carrying your mother to her final resting place or having be the porter that everyone can rely on, where it gets strained is the part where your mother is the President of the United States, or (as you said) flying whales and beaches and strange names and etc etc... like I honestly believe that if the game kind of pulled back some of its bizarre and crazy elements it might have won game of the year in terms of storytelling for me, maybe the game could've been a story of one man who is doing his part to connect America after a harrowing apocalypses, where we can see humanity and hope slowly come as we "keep on keeping on", where the roads/structures we built are being use by npc/people and not just players, where we can tangibly see people gain hope again and express it, where we see them come out of there shelter to greet "The Great Deliverer." Where the World becomes Redeemed not by a Gun Toting, Rambo like, killing Machine, but by a flawed man trying to mend himself as well as the world. The game tries to do that element and it almost succeeded, but then it keeps on falling over itself by having to bring up these "Philospical" and "Powerful" messages about humanity, which then kind of comes of as a bit... pretentious at times. I LOVE Death Stranding and I hope the sequel is amazing. (A bit of criticism for you Luke, and I hope it doesn't come off as rude, but where you pointed out that the minority (Or majority) of the Fanbase are very vocal and are telling you this and that about Death Stranding and constantly trying to justify Hideo action is true and I get it, but this point has been reiterated by you multiple times already, the community infatuation with Hideo choices hinders the potential of a game. but I don't need to keep on hearing that over and over again. you've made your point my friend. I was curious if this video has anything new to say in terms of perspectives and it does, but it also just reiterate some of your previous talking points (Specifically the Fans protecting Hideo and what not). I would argue that this point has been explored and talked about before Death Stranding, people have pointed out Hideo strange actions before and have also pointed out Fans weird tendency to go on the offensive/defense of Hideo, I hope you know this, but I still enjoyed your video nonetheless, hope you have a great day and keep on keeping on friend.)

Hey Luke just wanted to say great job with these videos. Super polished, music is great but not too distracting, the commentary has substance and overall really enjoyable content

"It's an acid trip" This sounds like an insult to regular acid trips.