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.

Death Stranding....

209 hours played means I'm plus 38 hours since my last confession blog post. Yea, who was I kidding when I said I'd not do the other locations to 5 stars! 

Short distance, long distance and abandoned cargo runs all made it happen more quickly than I thought. 

Completing the locations(The Veteran Porter, Novelists Son & Prepper) also gave a lot more lore in the form of interviews and e-mails; As well as collectibles(useful and not). Not only from them but from other NPC's which adds some nice world building.

Oddly enough I'm not pushed to discover all the remaining data chips(never say never eh).

The last location done was the 'First Prepper'; He's was the most remote and took the longest.

Once I'd gotten him to join the network I was at least able to put up a Zip-Line to link into my and others zip-line strings to make it easier. Lost cargo hunting was a great help in boosting his standings/likes. They tipped the balance, hunting for such lost cargo also added to the 'fun' in dangerous areas.

A Casual Carebear Gamer

I'd seen it in screenshots but never thought who would give it as a gift... The Santa hat comes from the Prepper.

While all of that was on the go, adding in the usual infrastructure upkeep was par for the course. It's no wonder I was still playing the game a lot. 

This was also helped along by the likes reaching the high 900k's. Not a goal I'd set but as it was so close and I'd all else done, it was an easy 'goal' to fix on... Once I'd topped the 1 Million like mark more meaning to play was fading away. 

So where and what now?

I still want to be in the game; But I don't want to be in it for the sake of being in it. The 1 Million likes was an easy ticking/pottering along goal. But now.....Having no goals is pointing me back to that which I don't want to do.... Data chips.

I think I need a more direct break from the game. Don't play for a week and see what the state of roads and infrastructure is..... 

DEATH STRANDING....

At 173 hours of gameplay it's an extra 43 gameplay hours since my last post(first post here); That's an average of 6 hours a day. An average I quite can't believe. But after thinking about it there were a lot of late nights.... Yeap 2 and 3 in the a.m. So no wonder; And no wonder I've bags under my eye's. Thankfully I've not been asked 'are you ok?'. Not sure what I'd have replied with or how coherent I would have been.... "Pizza delivery..... Super Cell storm.... Vietnam..... Giant Whales in the black".

My gamplay is also about 6 hours post the full ending of the game(an end that less than 4% of players see for themselves). That ending is as full on Kojima as anything else. Maybe moreso. The ending is long. Very long. With two credit scrolls, one of which has 'gameplay'. All of which(the ending) has peak Kojima acronyms and explanations that are descriptive and not. The ending was like a semi interactive movie of two and a half hours! Hours that do tell an ending. Players will get what they get from it as they will the gameplay and how much detail they picked up on. That finish, I think, long as it is, will leave you asking more questions. An end to a game that will leave you thinking. All that said I was 'happy' or maybe happy enough with the ending and how it all played out. The game has been more emotive for me than expected(mainly via the music included). The gameplay more addictive so no wonder again that I've continued to play it, it clicked with me; To a point where I need to cut the cord(pun intended). I can appreciate the Kojima style and stroytelling; And get why things are the way they are and why they were done. Forgive it for it's fourth wall breaking cheesey humour. Yes I have more questions, yes things could have been less bloated and less up it's own áss..... But I get it.

So with a metric ton of spoilers where do I start......

The end game journey there and back and back again is no joke. There's sparse and scattered player infrastructure once you go to the opposite side of the mountains(geologist/paleontologist). As there are less and less players to build and maintain remote structures.

Push further and for me it wasn't worth setting up anything either as the area isn't one to linger in for any reason other than the immediate narrative. The area is eerie to a degree and it's supposed to be. Lost and abandoned. Remnants that do remain scattered around tell their own story of previous travelers scavenging a worlds end at the worlds end.

A journey as big in scope as in scale. "run".

On the final location before the journey back it see's the players private room go full Red Alert with the sounds of the 'Boss' booming from outside.... Yet your able to use the room as you would do normally which made me laugh a lot. More than it should.... Causal do whatever with the Red Alert going off......Red Alert Shower.... Red Alert use the toilet....... Red Alert sit looking sad....... 

Humorous but no evading the next steps. In retrospect I wouldn't want much changed.

The ending, the Journey back is one long mix up of narrative, gameplay and boss fights. One more extreme and ramped up than the next. Expletive loved it all. What an experience! Of course I can say that after having gotten trough it all!

All boss fights all narrative.

The next part, the starting area is one long arena of BT's. Some more avoidable than others(as said in game... Not going back form a Cliff); Some larger than others... Into more endings and more narratives.

All that said(and unsaid with screenshots) and being the completionist, the trip back(to Lake knot) with the over the top rain and BT activity was also the perfect time to make that last pizza delivery(Pre Cliff fight(just about)). Supper glad I did as it expands the story of one of the 'Bosses'.

The bunker, the weapons and the extra star..... It would be too much of a spoiler to explain why beyond those. But it's worth it if you've made it this far(imho).

All said (again)and done the game ending has finality while being open ended.... Yet to allow more gameplay you find yourself reverted in time(not in save, player is still 'current') two weeks before a major event(post last Cliff fight, pre end end). I'm ok with that. 

Of the remaining things to do in the game I'd one last chip and cube to recover.

Previous to all this and in the last post I said I'd visit the Middle Knot crater and I did ... Nothing there but ruins. Best hint I can give is to take two ladders..... If not more.

That's because it's a setup for the cube recovery. Not so empty in regard to that.

Getting both was easy enough. The chip in the old shopping mall that's usually a heavy BT area; So to see it with 'easier' Terrorists was nice and 'easy'. Even with the removal of all the normal player objects(ladders and ropes).

I'd also 3 remote bunkers/delivery clients to seek out fully. The Prepper. Novelists Son and The Veteran Porter. But I have to say I looked up their rewards and getting to 5 star with them doesn't seem worth it. So if I do, do them it'll take time. The jobs for them seem rare. Had I known about them earlier in the gamer I'd have pushed though and made things work. Maybe I still will.

I only knew about the Prepper from the last pizza delivery(it's pickup location) near the Spiritualist.

From here on in it's business as usual. Maybe do the ratings on those leftover locations. Maybe not(knot?).

On a side note I've found myself altering my players colour scheme post end game. Just seemed the thing to do.... Not a real decision but spur of the moment.... Semi separation of narrative in screenshots maybe. Guess I'm a puzzle as much as the game narrative. Maybe just thinking about it all waaaay too much.

But I've been enjoying the game world for what it is. Deliveries. Building infrastructure. Maintaining that infrastructure, be it roads, zip-lines, generators or shelters. That's all fun for me. Plus the slight buzz of getting the likes from other players I've helped as they use what I've added to the game.

All with the added bonus of messing with MULES/Terrorist camps etc. 

If the game clicks with you I'd say take your time with it as I have and see it through to the end.