Death Stranding....

With an additional 14 hours played (223 hours in total) since my last blog post I think I've finally reached an ending. A post finalé ending to an open world game that feel's 'final' for me. That I can walk away from and be in a happy gaming place, a happy gaming space. With the ending done I'd nothing more to do or prove (to me or anyone else); Since then and 'just playing the game' I'd no achievements to chase etc. The world I 'feel' can be left to 'be'. That includes the degradation of my structures. Maybe other players(10 million apparently) will keep them repaired in their own infrastructure networks.... For as long as they and those last.

Logging back in last night I collected and sent the delivery bots out. Checked on the repair states of roads and zip lines I had up... After a week none needed repair.... I parked up in Mountain Knot and just felt 'complete'. As natural an end as could be after finishing the main game and still getting to play on. 

With over 220 hours of gameplay I can't say I've not had fun or gotten the most out of it. An above average amount of time. Double the time listed for a completionist!! Especially as it's 'free' access via gamepass.

A long journey(here, here, here and here) that didn't feel like it was 'that' long! So maybe there's hope for a cheap Steam version playthrough if the price is right. With the Directors Cut edition being 'better' it would make a difference(no matter how slight) and allow another playthrough(even if it would be shorter and skip some things).

So what else can I add.

All my time I've only ever killed one Mule. An accident with a truck and a lot of mules milling about did lead to an accidental death; And easy fix. Bring the truck back to the distro center, pick up a bike, go back and pick up the body. Go to the incinerator. No hassle other than the time taken for the journey. Easy because it was on the main location for the game. Easy to see the ghost icon over the body as it's 'so different' from the unconscious icon. But in the last few days and with no Mule or terrorist interactions I got a message from Deadman about a body I needed to dispose of! I was stumped. I'd not had combat in 3 gaming sessions! I racked my brain and rechecked where I'd been. Checked terrorist camps nearby. Checked mule camps no so near. Checked on a mule that had fallen unconscious off a ledge into a ravine.... He was still there and still as unconscious as when it first happened, sleeping like a baby. I'd been back and forth on the map when I realized I'd taken a Fragile jump back to the start area ... Maybe something had happened there....

A 'quick' bike trip back to the main city from the distro center and midway I bumped into the dead body.... A mule I'd bumped with my bike... I recall never bothering to check if he was dead as the bike hit 'usually' renders them unconscious. Bad luck but not irrevocable. That said it took 3 tries to get the body and go to the incinerator. First time I tipped off another mule and he died. 2 bodies is not fun so I reloaded. It seems they can no longer be touched by a vehicle without being killed. Second time around after picking up the body I went over a bump and landed on another mule, killing him. I reloaded. Long story short I did get the body to the incinerator. But I forgot my own rule about BT areas. To 'just let it happen'! Better to fight a big BT than dozens of smaller ones. It all worked out in the end but one last video of that last journey:

A Casual Carebear Gamer

If you've read this far then one final thing. A Youtuber I watch, who does long form(long long form) video essays; Noah Caldwell-Gervais also did a video on Death Stranding. I think it was one I'd missed or ignored back when it was released but I came across it and it's worth a mention and a watch.