don’t…don’t read this, it’s long. it’s about death stranding and i don’t talk a lot so it’s a d u m p
well hey, so i just finished death stranding and while i shoulda expected the late-night punishment and subsequent frustration with a protracted ending, i’m still on the side of “i had a good time” and now i’ve got that vg postpartum. DS was really my particular flavor of neurodivergence and, with the exception of the last 20%, i’m really going to miss the high-concept non-violent core gameplay. i could keep playing it, i guess, but i really sank like 100+ hours into it without considering 100%ing it so there’s not a lot of gas left.
this isn’t really anything more than decompression, i suppose. i’m in the denouement of grad school so i’ve had to be real choosy with what games i play and when, relying on vibe or w/e to really dictate what i had time for. so far it’s been destiny, apex; shit that just occupies my time rent-free. i platted ghost of tsush and arkham knight, took a big fat long break over the heat dome summer, thought i wanted to blast through ff7rm but actually felt the melancholy of death stranding most appealing for a nice portland autumn, especially since i walk to work, do a lotta walking, walking, walk, etc.
i like shooting shit in games but i tend to like doing other stuff more and that’s what this did for me. it was probably around the 30hr mark i realized i wasn’t necessarily supposed to have completed the road system. it was after i completed the roads that i got the ziplines which…hooboy…gave me a big ’ol new tool to sink hours into. the intricate zipline network i made sure did make me question my role in the intention. did i rob myself of an experience at the ass-end of the game because i was able to skip a pretty big pain in the ass? did i pull another mgs:revengeance and soften myself for an entire game before the sudden forced shift in combat efficacy? i’m satisfied, i guess i’m just peeved at how the endgame made me feel like i was supposed to be learning how to play a different game.
i could really do with kojima getting a merciless editor cuz i’m cool with what he’s got to say, sure, fine, i just don’t know that i need more than 10 hours of people saying the same shit about connection in sometimes different ways. i also agreed to participate so maybe this is nothin’ more than just a gripe. gripin’. too dang long, man. let me have the literal emotional trek you’re about to put me on, don’t have a third character literally grab the avatar’s arm to continue going over the same shit you’ve been working on for the entire game. again, i chose to participate.
gonna just end it here. loved the majority of the game. still feel like i’m sittin’ at 10% on kojima’s taste in music (i get what he’s going for but still not for me) and i’m real bummed that there’s not an easy replacement for this obtuse void. i’m sorry if ya read this but i’d be stoked to talk about it more!
i finally installed control! planning on finishing ff7rm and blastin’ through control over the break!