Death Stranding: Director's Cut
- DB
- Oct 8
- 4 min read
They call me the wanderer / Yeah, the wanderer / I roam around, around, around...
Here's what I've been watching and playing over the last seven days...
MOVIES
I'm going to try and be thematic for October/Halloween and watch horrors and thrillers, and this was a pretty good place to start
Technically a horror, definitely a comedy, and still as good as the last time I saw it - still haven't seen the sequel though....
GAMES
Assassin's Creed Origins
I think I'm pretty close to completing the base game, but want to clear up all the 'main' side-quests first - I have no idea what DLC I got with the game, but I'll give that a go too... if I have any.
Death Stranding: Director's Cut
Game summary: As Sam Bridges, your mission is to deliver hope to humanity by connecting the last survivors of a decimated America. (Steam)
Just to start off, I'll state that I came into this having not played much of Hideo Kojima's other games and therefore no predisposition to either like or dislike his work, for whatever that's worth.
All I can say is that I completely understand why Death Stranding has been such a divisive game for some people, because there's so much good in it and even more... well, shit in it too.
It looks and sounds great, so there are no issues with it on an audio-visual front (which I believe wasn't the case on release?), with the sound design standing out as especially good.
I also really liked the base gameplay of being given tasks and choosing the right equipment and routes to make the deliveries that form the supermajority of what players will go through.
Maybe playing a less 'out there' game like Euro Truck Simulator 2 helped, but I found it genuinely enjoyable to make sure I was following the route I'd planned and had what I needed to stay on course.
If you're the type to rush through games though, you might not like it so much, especially when coming across enemies - humans and BTs (aggressive ghosts essentially) - who can easily ruin your day if you don't take care.
Unfortunately, that's where the good stops for me.
The controls just don't suit the combat in Death Stranding at all, meaning that just getting Sam to do what you want is more challenging than actually defeating the enemies.
The story is utter bobbins, the dialogue is even worse (despite the cast's best attempts) and the constant stops for extensive exposition are irritating.
I'm honestly struggling to think of another game where the gameplay and narrative are so far apart in quality, although surely there must be something worse out there?
The biggest problem is that pretty much all of these issues comes together in the extremely linear, directed ending which felt really anti-climactic to me, not helped by said ending being dragged out almost to breaking point.
There's more I could criticise, but I don't want to be overly negative when what I've already mentioned should hopefully be enough for someone to decide whether they want to give it a go or not - just be prepared for a rollercoaster of quality in this game.
As for any differences between the Director's Cut and the base version of the game? I haven't played the latter so can't talk about any changes, I just wanted to make it known which version I played to avoid confusion.
Death Stranding: Director's Cut is hard to summarise beyond saying that I think there's more bad parts than good parts to it, but the good parts take up more of the time, roughly balancing things out. [5/10]
Playing through this again, but now on PC and enjoying the better graphics and higher frame rate - now to decide how I want things to play out...
FTL: Faster Than Light
I'm enjoying FTL, but my biggest issue is that I keep hitting absolute brick walls that stop me in my tracks - I'll be upgrading my ship and crew to keep up with the increasing challenge and then WHAM!!!
A bit annoying really.
???
I'm on the last game of this secret batch and would've given up ages ago if I wasn't using a walkthrough, but I am, so will finish it before going through all the games I've left unnamed.
Also currently playing: Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020)
TV
Star Wars: Rebels, Season One
Season summary: The crew attracts the attention of Agent Kallus of the Imperial Security Bureau, who wants to eliminate them as a threat before they can spark a wider rebellion. (Wookieepedia)
Episodes 1 + 2, “Spark of Rebellion”
A decent start, if a little repetitive, although the reveal of Kanan as a Jedi was a really great moment.
Episode 3, “Droids in Distress”
More enjoyable than the 2-part opener, if still somewhat lightweight, and it was good to see Bail Organa at the end.
Episode 4, "Fighter Flight”
A fun episode focusing on Zeb and Ezra that actually has me liking them for the first time.
Episode 5, “Rise of the Old Masters”
A so-so episode only elevated by an Inquisitor confronting the crew for the first time – even with the silly spinning blades.
Episode 6, "Breaking Ranks”
A fun little adventure that felt like it was setting more up? Oh, and who knew blowing up kyber crystals would cause that size explosion? Oh right, they power the Death Star – never mind.
Episode 7, “Out of Darkness"
Star Wars does Pitch Black, albeit a very tame version – but why does Sabine think she can call Ezra ‘kid’ when she sounds like she’s voiced by a young teenage girl?
Episode 8, “Empire Day”
A more serious episode for once, although still very light-hearted in tone – can you imagine how Andor would’ve dealt with the heroes bombing a public ceremony?
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