I appreciate it, but wouldn't actively recommend. 👍🤔

It’s a kind of experience that you just don’t go around encouraging people to play, because it’s notin the way games usually are, and will not appeal to majority. I thinkbefore you go in. I know whatwanted - a Hideo Kojima Game about death. 🐋 Worked out just partially… But I don’t regret it. ❤In order to appreciate it you need to pay attention and be willing to seek the satisfaction from playing in areasthat recent games (especially mobile) conditioned us to. It’s rather difficult to digest. That’s why you might not be willing to invest money and time into it. It is however a fantastic treat for those who analyse game design, art, symbolism and are generally more appreciative than judging.is a very convoluted sci-fi thriller story wrapped in mechanics of terrain traversal, pathfinding, sightseeing, a bit of stealth, some shooting, and last but not least - appreciation. 🙏 But let’s ask the right question:The game has a AAA price tag. It is fairly long, especially if you're taking your time - I've heard people finish it in 30 hours, but I personally took like 110 hours to finish it to the credits - that’s cause I enjoyed my stay. 😄If you're in for the story... I'm afraid you'd be disappointed. 💀 In my opinion, this aspect could have been so much better. I think it's Kojima's unedited writing who's to blame. The pacing, dialogues, digestibility, conclusion - all are crippled in some way. And I say it with pity, because I’d love this game to be a masterpiece, because it has all the potential, but unfortunately just doesn’t deliver (hehe). 😢 So if you’re interested in the story - you could watch a “film” version of gameplay on YouTube; be advised however that quite a lot of lore is exposed via completely optional text “interviews” and emails, so you might be even more confused by the mechanics of the world. But then again, these could also probably be found on the net.. 🤔 Because it would suck as one. 😄 Honestly if this was a film or a series, it would be a 5/10 mess for me by cinematography standards. This is aexperience, there’s so much more to it than the story and storytelling, that I’d argue that the story isn’t even the biggest or most important aspect.If you’re in for the gameplay… It’s been said a thousand times and the game is even marketed as. The majority of it is preparation for a trip, planning your route, checking out with cargo to be delivered and departure. Your enemies are slippery and rough terrain, the caustic rain that puts time pressure on you, the very few people that are still present on the surface and would very much like to come into possession of your belongings, and the ghosts of the dead who want to take you to the other side. So at least it’s a nice mix.You probably have heard the “walking simulator” critique. It’s ironic how valid it is, and how it’s mostly meant to be, whereas I think it’s absolutely great. ❤ I’m not sure if people who found that as a downside have ever been on a mountain hike. For the first time in a video game I’ve experienced the lifelike difficulty of going down a hill with tens of kilograms of weight on my back. 💦. You can trip over inconspicuous rocks. You will regret not controlling your momentum. 🐋 And it’s not meant to beif you think effortlessly traversing from point A to B is what’s. That’s what I was writing about earlier -(which, by the way, I think is the healthy thing to do in life), if you find reward in the challenge - then this game might be for you.The game tries to stay fresh for the tens of hours by gradually introducing new means of transportation, survival tools, weapons of defense and offense. There are a few biomes of environment, so it also freshens things up as you arrive in a new one.I think many things that people find offensively “bad” have been intentional decisions in design. The game wants you to feel accomplished by first dragging you through hell and later putting it in contrast to how easy things are after you put the pioneer’s effort in building the infrastructure.If you’re in for the experience…You hike mountains, you ride motorcycles. There’s this ethereal feeling of isolation in freedom, as you’re on your solitary journey through the world so empty and rather unwelcoming, but one that can take you by surprise with its beautiful vistas. And yet at the same time you also feel connected to the other human players by the unprecedented. The footsteps you leave can be seen by other players. The paths you tread will be shared with others - hell you even contribute to treading out the grass that grows along them. Together with other players you will collaborate in creating the useful infrastructure of roads and other facilities that help you (and them!) on your way. And many, many more aspects that are state-of-the-art game design. ❤It’s a story about connections. What is it trying to tell? To compliment people for their effort? To treat children with dignity? To find beauty in small things around you? That touch is necessary for you to be a healthy human? To be considerate and caring? That there’s salvation in mundane repetitive tasks of everyday and nihilism is not the way? With a bit of imagination and determination, you will find a lot of beautiful symbolic meaning in the story, about the connections you make with others throughout your life.The one thing that’sandin my opinion - is music. Kojima is known for having a taste in music and apart from the flawless score by Ludvig Forssell that perfectly emphasises on the dreamlike, mysterious atmosphere of electronic future that clashes with scientifically-tangible afterlife, the game is filled with commercial music thatspecifically created for the game (apart from several pieces that), but effectively not only fits, contributes to and enriches, but even expands the experience., who’s the artist most exposed in the soundtrack, was such a discovery for me that I almost immediately went and bought the “Songs from Death Stranding” CD album (along with the actual OST) which features their best pieces. 👍👍👍👍👍 The songs reflect the game so perfectly - in lyrics, in timbre - it’s hard to believe they weren’t written specifically for it. (Actually I think they might have contributed heavily as inspiration.) The music, which I can listen to while driving or working, has effectively expanded my game experience onto the real world.Is it worth it?I have to admire and appreciate how Kojima approached the design of this one. He spoke in interviews that he wanted people to take something from this game that they could apply in their lives. And it’s absolutely great. Actually, I think it’s what art is for, and games can be art (apart from entertainment, which serves a different purpose). What I’m trying to say is that you might not need this game - you might already know what it tries to teach. 😄💦 But then again, even if you already know these principles it's good to refresh them from time to time. Especially in times of enforced isolation it's nice to play a game about being connected.tl;dr 8/10, basically a mountain hike with ghostsKeep on keeping on, humanity. ❤