Finally finished Death Stranding.
I put off playing this game 'cause every explanation I heard of the game made me think "I would absolutely hate this game"
And the explanations are fairly accurate. Seriously. The game is a delivery simulator. You spend most of the game delivering items from point A to point B.
But I loved it. The game manages to make menial tasks feel interesting and challenging. And the story is amazing. It's told mainly through cutscenes so you can just watch all the cutscenes on YouTube to get the full story, but there are some key points in the game that won't hit home unless you play through it yourself.
The game itself is a metaphor for loneliness and making connections. It's not a subtle metaphor either. It basically slams it in your face the whole game. But at the same time it has interesting nuances that hint at a deeper story. There's many twists too and it gives you enough hints throughout the game to figure them out before they arrive, but they still hold much impact.
There's so much I loved about the game. So many things that kept bringing me back. Honestly, it may be effectively a delivery simulator but it's one with amazing strategic depth to it.
But the biggest thing for me was the performances. Norman Reedus is his usual self. Never really puts on anything more interesting than what he does in Walking Dead. He's not the best actor. But he's perfect for this role. Most of the scenes he doesn't say anything. He only talks if it's needed to drive on the story. And it works perfectly as it gives you an Affinity for the character. He's a guy who doesn't like people and doesn't want to make connections. He sells that point well and it also adds to the connection you make with him as the main character.
The other actors though, absolutely amazing. Full of deep monologues, and I honestly think the character of Higgs is Troy Baker's pinnacle role. Considering that he played Booker Dewitt in Bioshock Infinte and Joel in the Last of Us, that shows how good his performance is in this.
It's a long game, there's much that would be considered tedious, but it's 100% my favourite game of 2019. Absolutely brilliant.