Let me start by saying this game is not for everyone. While that may seem obvious to anyone who's played a wide range of games, it's apparently not obvious to everyone. I also know that "not for everyone" is used to justify a lot of crappy games, so let's dive right in to the meat of the review. Keep in mind the review will have spoilers.

Death Stranding is a strange game, from concept to story. You play as a delivery man in a divided world after an event known as the "Death Stranding" occurred. Now, you'd think playing as a delivery man would be exceedingly boring, but there's a lot more to it.

Your primary goal at any point in the game is always going to be moving cargo from point A to point B, there's no escaping that. You're a delivery man, not a soldier or a spy. However, the cargo may require special care. For example, some cargo can only be carried by hand, which completely shifts the delivery process.

Before you even set out on a delivery, there are things you need to think about: your route, how much weight you're carrying, how you're transporting the cargo, just to name a few. You start out delivering on foot, but as the game progresses you'll unlock upgrades to your equipment, vehicles, and even the ability to build roads (you don't choose the road locations yourself, though). You also unlock fast travel between certain points, but you cannot bring any cargo with you.

Each terrain type is different and provides different challenges, but you'll always want to keep an eye on your stamina. If you're going over terrain that has many steep areas, you'll probably try to move more slowly to avoid falling. If the terrain is wet, you have to be careful not to slip.

I won't get into the specifics of delivering much more, lest this review turn into a guide, but you get the idea: delivering isn't as easy as going from A to B. This is not a walking simulator, despite what the trolls may claim.

Equipment can be crafted at certain locations, including one piece of equipment that's essentially a 3D printer you use to create structures. You can make bridges, generators (to recharge your vehicles and your own battery), watch towers, and more. Equipment and structures decay over time, but structures can be upgraded, to slow the rate of decay, and even repaired. Naturally, upgrading and repairing incurs a resource cost.

Structures you build are shared online among a few people, if you're playing online to begin with. This means others may use those structures, as well as upgrade and help maintain them. They can also delete your structures from their game, but only you can destroy your structures from your game. Resources donated to build roads are also shared, though the specifics of how that works seem to be a mystery.

The story is way over-the-top, with some fourth wall breaks and comedic moments, but also philosophical musings and critiques of society. In other words, typical Kojima. There are also some plot twists; some you can probably see coming, others not so much.
One of the best things about the story is that every single story thread is given a conclusion. I had questions while I played the game, but every single one was answered by the game itself. This isn't one of those pieces of media that prompts the fans to ask questions it has no answers for so it can pretend it's "deep" and spark debate among fans to see which "theory" best fits the incomplete story. This game's story is complete and was thought out from start to finish.

The main characters' names are all puns, as is common in some works, but don't let that scare you off. They have depth to them beyond what their names might indicate.

The game, like the story, is complete. No partitioning pieces to sell off as DLC, no lootboxes, no microtransactions, nothing. You buy it and you get the full experience, end of story.
Disclaimer: There were a few colors for minor items that you could only get if you'd preordered the game, but I don't consider those to be significant.

From a technical standpoint, this is a very good port. Some people are reporting issues that the devs are working to fix, but for most players the game runs perfectly, as evidenced by its score.

Now for the parts of the game that some people might have issues with.

• The game and story take a while to really open up. Even then, the game focuses primarily on getting past enemies unseen, to protect your cargo. There's a lot of action in the game, but it's in very specific areas and parts of the story.
  
• Your character barely speaks even when people ask him questions directly. Personally, I find this incredibly annoying.
  
• The soundtrack can be a bit... odd, at times.
  
• Some product placement, which some people say "breaks immersion". I don't mind it because I know it probably had to be done to secure enough funding for the game, and it's not like there's no product placement in other games.
  
• Because structures are shared online, this may reduce the difficulty of the overall game in certain areas. Although this is the point of the game, some people don't like this. To avoid this, you can play offline or just dismantle the structures and build your own.
  
• There is no NG+.
  
• There's a certain part at the end where you'll just alt+tab out for about a minute at a time because it functions as a sort of unskippable cutscene. This is my main complaint about the game, which should tell you a lot given that it only comes at the end and you only have to suffer through it once.

Bottom line, if you're someone who enjoys more slow-paced games that require you to plan for the journey ahead and can accept the negatives I pointed out above, I would recommend you get this game. If you're someone who needs a game to be full of action from start to finish, this is not for you and you will not enjoy it.

Let me start by saying this game is not for everyone. While that may seem obvious to anyone who's played a wide range of games, it's apparently not obvious to everyone. I also know that "not for everyone" is used to justify a lot of crappy games, so let's dive right in to the meat of the review. Keep in mind the review will have spoilers. Death Stranding is a strange game, from concept to story. You play as a delivery man in a divided world after an event known as the "Death Stranding" occurred. Now, you'd think playing as a delivery man would be exceedingly boring, but there's a lot more to it. Your primary goal at any point in the game is always going to be moving cargo from point A to point B, there's no escaping that. You're a delivery man, not a soldier or a spy. However, the cargo may require special care. For example, some cargo can only be carried by hand, which completely shifts the delivery process. Before you even set out on a delivery, there are things you need to think about: your route, how much weight you're carrying, how you're transporting the cargo, just to name a few. You start out delivering on foot, but as the game progresses you'll unlock upgrades to your equipment, vehicles, and even the ability to build roads (you don't choose the road locations yourself, though). You also unlock fast travel between certain points, but you cannot bring any cargo with you. Each terrain type is different and provides different challenges, but you'll always want to keep an eye on your stamina. If you're going over terrain that has many steep areas, you'll probably try to move more slowly to avoid falling. If the terrain is wet, you have to be careful not to slip. I won't get into the specifics of delivering much more, lest this review turn into a guide, but you get the idea: delivering isn't as easy as going from A to B. This is [b]not[/b] a walking simulator, despite what the trolls may claim. Equipment can be crafted at certain locations, including one piece of equipment that's essentially a 3D printer you use to create structures. You can make bridges, generators (to recharge your vehicles and your own battery), watch towers, and more. Equipment and structures decay over time, but structures can be upgraded, to slow the rate of decay, and even repaired. Naturally, upgrading and repairing incurs a resource cost. Structures you build are shared online among a few people, if you're playing online to begin with. This means others may use those structures, as well as upgrade and help maintain them. They can also delete your structures from their game, but only you can destroy your structures from your game. Resources donated to build roads are also shared, though the specifics of how that works seem to be a mystery. The story is way over-the-top, with some fourth wall breaks and comedic moments, but also philosophical musings and critiques of society. In other words, typical Kojima. There are also some plot twists; some you can probably see coming, others not so much. One of the best things about the story is that every single story thread is given a conclusion. I had questions while I played the game, but every single one was answered by the game itself. This isn't one of those pieces of media that prompts the fans to ask questions it has no answers for so it can pretend it's "deep" and spark debate among fans to see which "theory" best fits the incomplete story. This game's story is complete and was thought out from start to finish. The main characters' names are all puns, as is common in some works, but don't let that scare you off. They have depth to them beyond what their names might indicate. The game, like the story, is complete. No partitioning pieces to sell off as DLC, no lootboxes, no microtransactions, nothing. You buy it and you get the full experience, end of story. Disclaimer: There were a few colors for minor items that you could only get if you'd preordered the game, but I don't consider those to be significant. From a technical standpoint, this is a very good port. Some people are reporting issues that the devs are working to fix, but for most players the game runs perfectly, as evidenced by its score. Now for the parts of the game that some people might have issues with. [list] [*]The game and story take a while to really open up. Even then, the game focuses primarily on getting past enemies unseen, to protect your cargo. There's a lot of action in the game, but it's in very specific areas and parts of the story. [*]Your character barely speaks even when people ask him questions directly. Personally, I find this incredibly annoying. [*]The soundtrack can be a bit... odd, at times. [*]Some product placement, which some people say "breaks immersion". I don't mind it because I know it probably had to be done to secure enough funding for the game, and it's not like there's no product placement in other games. [*]Because structures are shared online, this may reduce the difficulty of the overall game in certain areas. Although this is the point of the game, some people don't like this. To avoid this, you can play offline or just dismantle the structures and build your own. [*]There is no NG+. [*]There's a certain part at the end where you'll just alt+tab out for about a minute at a time because it functions as a sort of unskippable cutscene. This is my main complaint about the game, which should tell you a lot given that it only comes at the end and you only have to suffer through it once. [/list] Bottom line, if you're someone who enjoys more slow-paced games that require you to plan for the journey ahead and can accept the negatives I pointed out above, I would recommend you get this game. If you're someone who needs a game to be full of action from start to finish, this is not for you and you will not enjoy it.