Death Stranding

Robert ninja · 14-07-2020 8:44pm

Steam stream on right now for it: https://steamcommunity.com/broadcast/watch/76561199020432912

Can't chat unless you purchased it. Nobody talking about the DRM obviously.

Retr0gamer · 14-07-2020 9:47pm

shaveAbullock wrote: »

I also picked it up because I'm bored od the last of us 2.

I really expect to dislike it and will be pleasantly supried if I find it fun.

First impressed are how much better it looks running at a decent frame rate!
It plays a bit odd with mouse, it's not a game designed for doing 180 or 360 spins. I'm going to plug in a controller

I actually started to enjoy the last of us 2

but I'm early in. If it's as long as people say I'll probably grow sick of it.

As for this game.... 2 hours in and I don't know wtf is going on. Taking a Halo 3 shaped break!

14-07-2020 10:59pm

Digital Foundry tech analysis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggnvhFSrPGE

shaveAbullock · 14-07-2020 11:08pm

It's a solid port, I'm happy with that aspect. I didn't know Kojima checks in with valve every once in a while, I figured he only had a real interest in Sony's consoles.
So far I'm enjoying it, I'm just not sure if I will still fell the same way in a 20 hours or so.

Retr0gamer · 15-07-2020 9:29am

Seems like an excellent port. Runs great although I've had one hard crash to desktop.

As for the game..... I've only finished Chapter 2 so basically the tutorial but it already the story seems like baffling pretentious ****e.

Zero-Cool · 15-07-2020 9:33am

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Seems like an excellent port. Runs great although I've had one hard crash to desktop.

As for the game..... I've only finished Chapter 2 so basically the tutorial but it already the story seems like baffling pretentious ****e.

Oh the story is super nonsense and only really kicks in around chap 5 or 6. I think by chap 7, I was all in with the story and just played main missions to see how it would play out. Chapter 3 opens up new gameplay mechanics making traversing easier and faster, lots of fun putting the world back together but if you feel it's dragging, just move on with main missions.

Penn · 15-07-2020 9:42am

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Seems like an excellent port. Runs great although I've had one hard crash to desktop.

As for the game..... I've only finished Chapter 2 so basically the tutorial but it already the story seems like baffling pretentious ****e.

Oh Mama.... if you already feel the story is pretentious you need to have some heart, man, or you're going to end up feeling quite fragile. You'd have to be a dead man not to appreciate the strands of story throughout.

....

....Die-Hardman.

Canis Lupus · 15-07-2020 9:42am

How bad are the cutscenes in this? Thinking of splashing out on PC for something different but I really have no patience for game stories and even less for watching hours of Kojima cutscenes. Am I going to be driven demented by the story or is it easy enough to just 'play'

Penn · 15-07-2020 9:44am

Canis Lupus wrote: »

How bad are the cutscenes in this? Thinking of splashing out on PC for something different but I really have no patience for game stories and even less for watching hours of Kojima cutscenes. Am I going to be driven demented by the story or is it easy enough to just 'play'

The first few hours are very cutscene heavy. After that, far less, usually just chapter starts and ends but a lot of gameplay in those chapters (Chapter 3 onwards), but when they do happen they can go on for quite a bit.

Retr0gamer · 15-07-2020 9:48am

For how utterly ridiculous the story is the cutscenes at least have never been boring. It's also funny that to think what was going through these actors minds when they were asked to say some of these lines.

They haven't really gotten in the way of me enjoying the game like the opening of Last of Us 2. I'm still intrigued enough to keep going with it.

Zero-Cool · 15-07-2020 9:49am

Canis Lupus wrote: »

How bad are the cutscenes in this? Thinking of splashing out on PC for something different but I really have no patience for game stories and even less for watching hours of Kojima cutscenes. Am I going to be driven demented by the story or is it easy enough to just 'play'

I quite enjoyed the cutscenes. And this from someone who fell asleep during an MGS 4 cutscene just to wake up to a 'Press start to continue' message which seemed to continue the cutscene. Like that fecker Kojima knew I had dozed off.

Markitron · 15-07-2020 10:53am

If you can go along with the utterly bonkers story, the cutscenes are actually quite good and very pretty at times.

The end of the game is basically a 2 hour cutscene and there are some really really good scenes in there.

Penn wrote: »

The first few hours are very cutscene heavy. After that, far less, usually just chapter starts and ends but a lot of gameplay in those chapters (Chapter 3 onwards), but when they do happen they can go on for quite a bit.

Yea this game has significantly longer stretches of gameplay than any other Kojima game. Chapter 3 (or maybe 4) is probably about 40-50% of the entire game and barely has any.

Retr0gamer · 15-07-2020 11:07am

Felt the intro had a decent gameplay to cutscene ratio that it wasn't aggrevating. And the cutscenes while utter nonsense are entertaining at least. There's no watching eggs fry like in MGS4.

So far.

Markitron · 15-07-2020 11:09am

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Felt the intro had a decent gameplay to cutscene ratio that it wasn't aggrevating. And the cutscenes while utter nonsense are entertaining at least. There's no watching eggs fry like in MGS4.

So far.

There will be times when some characters won't shut the **** up whilst dumping exposition but its (relatively) rare

shaveAbullock · 15-07-2020 1:34pm

Let's face it, Kojima is living in an echo chamber where nobody would dare say no to his ideas no matter how bonkers they are.
As nasty a company as Konami are at least they probably gave him a reality check ever once in a while.
I watched the press video release for the PC verion and he just waffeled on about some movie and soundtrack he was currently enjoying.

Retr0gamer · 15-07-2020 1:50pm

He has a very enthusiastic taste for god awful Hollywood dreck.

His best games were when he wasn't flying high and surrounded by yes men. I think he is an amazing game designer but needs to park his writing ambitions. I can only imagine the amazing game he would produce if he just hired Amy Hennig or similar.

Markitron · 15-07-2020 1:53pm

shaveAbullock wrote: »

Let's face it, Kojima is living in an echo chamber where nobody would dare say no to his ideas no matter how bonkers they are.
As nasty a company as Konami are at least they probably gave him a reality check ever once in a while.
I watched the press video release for the PC verion and he just waffeled on about some movie and soundtrack he was currently enjoying.

Yea his games are self-indulgent and barely make any sense, but they at the very least are unique, which is rare in big-budget games.

Like I can't see Ubisoft making a game where you have a foetus in a jar plugged into you so you could see half dead monsters.

_CreeD_ · 15-07-2020 1:58pm

shaveAbullock wrote: »

It plays a bit odd with mouse, it's not a game designed for doing 180 or 360 spins. I'm going to plug in a controller

I think this is one of the few where analog controller will actually work better than MKB (and I generally hate controllers), the balance system will feel more natural I think.

I'm looking forward to replaying this with better fidelity and FPS but will probably wait until it's on sale, have a few others in the backlog. Still, sooooo tempting.

noodler · 15-07-2020 2:04pm

Shiminay wrote: »

I haven't pre-ordered a game in the longest time, but I picked this up last week ahead of today's launch cause I've seen enough of it on the PS4 whilst a friend was playing to think it's gonna be a far more enjoyable experience with a proper platform. Does anyone know what time it becomes playable?

The game looked and played well on ps4, I really don't think performance is going to affect your enjoyment of it tbh

Markitron · 15-07-2020 2:06pm

noodler wrote: »

The game looked and played well on ps4, I really don't think performance is going to affect your enjoyment of it tbh

Yea unless you are strictly 60 FPS only (which is fair I suppose), the game looked perfectly good on PS4, particularly the Pro.

noodler · 15-07-2020 2:06pm

Zero-Cool wrote: »

Oh the story is super nonsense and only really kicks in around chap 5 or 6. I think by chap 7, I was all in with the story and just played main missions to see how it would play out. Chapter 3 opens up new gameplay mechanics making traversing easier and faster, lots of fun putting the world back together but if you feel it's dragging, just move on with main missions.

You know what, I'll actually say the story is quite decent but the premise is bonkers.

It should have been a shorter game and I'm ati unsure about deliveries as a standalone game mechanic.

Retr0gamer · 15-07-2020 2:10pm

Markitron wrote: »

Yea unless you are strictly 60 FPS only (which is fair I suppose), the game looked perfectly good on PS4, particularly the Pro.

60 FPS makes every game play soooo much better.

But at least Death Stranding was a near rock solid 30 FPS throughout on PS4. Kojima studios pulling off some voodoo magic there. 30 FPS isn't so bad as long as it's consistent.

Markitron · 15-07-2020 2:16pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

60 FPS makes every game play soooo much better.

But at least Death Stranding was a near rock solid 30 FPS throughout on PS4. Kojima studios pulling off some voodoo magic there. 30 FPS isn't so bad as long as it's consistent.

Yea I am the same, always prefer 60 FPS but I am fine with 30 as long as it is rock solid.

One of the best things about the current generation of consoles is that most games stuck to their 30 fps target much more closely than the generation before.

shaveAbullock · 15-07-2020 2:21pm

Markitron wrote: »

Yea unless you are strictly 60 FPS only (which is fair I suppose), the game looked perfectly good on PS4, particularly the Pro.

60 is a bit on the low side, death stranding is really nice at 90/100 fps
The game is not overly demanding so great for people with high refresh monitors.

johnny_ultimate · 15-07-2020 2:52pm

I always appreciate 60 FPS plus frame rates and love my 144hz PC gaming, but yeah the PS4 version always was surprisingly smooth for me within its limitations. Same with TLOU2, actually. I’ll take performance over resolution most of the time, but if 30FPS is smooth and consistent I’ll put up with and often barely notice it. It’s only when you get into tearing, frame-pacing and janky FPS issues that I really struggle these days. It’s why I’ll almost always go for third party or 3D indie games on PC wherever possible - by and large first person releases tend to have that extra polish put in to ensure things are smooth.

Markitron · 15-07-2020 2:56pm

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

I always appreciate 60 FPS plus frame rates and love my 144hz PC gaming, but yeah the PS4 version always was surprisingly smooth for me within its limitations. Same with TLOU2, actually. I’ll take performance over resolution most of the time, but if 30FPS is smooth and consistent I’ll put up with and often barely notice it. It’s only when you get into tearing, frame-pacing and janky FPS issues that I really struggle these days. It’s why I’ll almost always go for third party or 3D indie games on PC wherever possible - by and large first person releases tend to have that extra polish put in to ensure things are smooth.

I'm somewhat flexible on framerate and frame-pacing, but if I see one screen tear I am quitting the game and uninstalling it there and then. Cannot put up with it.

shaveAbullock · 15-07-2020 3:05pm

30 fps is the correct decision for the PS4 currently, it's old hardware and is still doing well visually all things considered.
They make promises about 60 fps console gaming every generation but despite the very capable specification of the PS5 I think we are looking at another generation of mostly 30 fps.

_CreeD_ · 15-07-2020 5:05pm

Aye. Both consoles are coming in around 2080ti tflops, it's not the whole picture but even on those as a base guide 4k@60hz is dependant on the game. Some are fine others can start to drop (I average around 50-55 fps in The Division 2 for example with it maxed at 4K). Horizontal advances like DLSS (or similar) may help overcome that we'll have to see. But the current projected raw horsepower does not guarantee 4k@60Hz. I think for most Console games it's not as big a deal, they are designed around lower FPS and the controller so mitigate the gameplay impact of the performance level internally. For FPS, no, the loss of response and the mechanisms used to mitigate it just aren't worth it imho. So it'll be nice if they standardise the Performance vs. Visual choices many already have for the PS4/Pro at the moment, with a standard 60Hz or more config with the click of a button.

Azza · 15-07-2020 7:51pm

Just starting playing the first hour.

My first impressions are "what?"

My second impressions are also "what?"

duploelabs · 15-07-2020 7:55pm

Azza wrote: »

Just starting playing the first hour.

My first impressions are "what?"

My second impressions are also "what?"

As I said earlier in this thread, the story line and learning curve are about as linear as a Boreen in Kerry, however when it clicks it clicks

15-07-2020 10:59pm

Whatever people might think of the story as that can be subjective I thought the in game currency being

likes and thumbs ups

was pretty clever.

Canis Lupus · 16-07-2020 6:19am

So initial thoughts are technically it runs well 1440p maxed settings dlss quality on a 2070 ryxen5 3600x floats around 100fps. Dlss is impressive at the moment as I've found it very blurry in past games like bf5. This is flawless but so far apart from a bleak landscape there's not really much going on on screen when you're playing.

Story wise it's a load of bollox as I expected but whatever. Cutdcenes are heavy enough to annoy me but not massively so far.

Gameplay, the small bit I've experienced in an hour seems pretty chill and easy to get along with. Controls on k+m seem fine.

Big shout out to the glaring monster product placement. Post apocalyptic world but we'll be sure to keep these cans prominently in shot during a cut scene.

Canis Lupus · 16-07-2020 7:34am

Question, might have been answered elsewhere but am I potentially missing out on plot points by taking shortcuts gifted by other players? For example I'm bring 'something' to an incinerator and the map shows what I imagine the right way but some dude called Igor has nicely left me some ropes and ladders which got me over some impassable terrain to shortcut me on my way but am I potentially missing out by not going the way the game intended me to?

Zero-Cool · 16-07-2020 8:19am

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Question, might have been answered elsewhere but am I potentially missing out on plot points by taking shortcuts gifted by other players? For example I'm bring 'something' to an incinerator and the map shows what I imagine the right way but some dude called Igor has nicely left me some ropes and ladders which got me over some impassable terrain to shortcut me on my way but am I potentially missing out by not going the way the game intended me to?

Nope, that's like an intro into the world of helping each other. That's the guy you meet at the start, if you don't use it, you are just looking at a more difficult trek up that hill. Once chap 3 gets going, you'll see similar items scattered around by real players in their own game world that ye kind of share. TIP: Use any item you can find! You'll be doing enough trekking around the map throughout the game and the game wants you to use these items and in return, drop items for other players.

duploelabs · 16-07-2020 8:40am

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Question, might have been answered elsewhere but am I potentially missing out on plot points by taking shortcuts gifted by other players? For example I'm bring 'something' to an incinerator and the map shows what I imagine the right way but some dude called Igor has nicely left me some ropes and ladders which got me over some impassable terrain to shortcut me on my way but am I potentially missing out by not going the way the game intended me to?

When you use a utensil that another player has left, you automatically leave one like or can add more, these likes then advances the progression of the player who left the ladder or rope or whatever

Penn · 16-07-2020 8:47am

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Question, might have been answered elsewhere but am I potentially missing out on plot points by taking shortcuts gifted by other players? For example I'm bring 'something' to an incinerator and the map shows what I imagine the right way but some dude called Igor has nicely left me some ropes and ladders which got me over some impassable terrain to shortcut me on my way but am I potentially missing out by not going the way the game intended me to?

As you progress a bit further in the game, you won't see or be able to use things left by other players until you've connected that area to the network (done via main missions), so you'll almost always have to go the general way the game wants you to go and use all your own equipment/tools. Once that area is connected to the network though you're free to use anything left by other players. Even then, generally where things are left by other players like ropes/ladders etc, that is the way you're supposed to be going anyway, they've just left their items behind to help others.

Canis Lupus · 16-07-2020 8:58am

Blergh game has crashed twice in a row now with a 'violation error' straight after the incinerator

it seems getting too close to a BT does it

. Maybe it's the games way of telling me I'm going the wrong way :rolleyes:

Azza · 16-07-2020 10:36am

Canis Lupus wrote: »

So initial thoughts are technically it runs well 1440p maxed settings dlss quality on a 2070 ryxen5 3600x floats around 100fps. Dlss is impressive at the moment as I've found it very blurry in past games like bf5. This is flawless but so far apart from a bleak landscape there's not really much going on on screen when you're playing.

Story wise it's a load of bollox as I expected but whatever. Cutdcenes are heavy enough to annoy me but not massively so far.

Gameplay, the small bit I've experienced in an hour seems pretty chill and easy to get along with. Controls on k+m seem fine.

Big shout out to the glaring monster product placement. Post apocalyptic world but we'll be sure to keep these cans prominently in shot during a cut scene.

I have a similar set up with a 3700x and 5700XT and and am running at 1440p. Frame rate was very high, typically in the 110-130FPS and sometimes even hitting my max refresh rate of 165FPS. But I noticed screen pauses as the frame rate would drop 30-40 frames in one go. Got me thinking Freesync wasn't working and V-Sync was on instead. Switched off V-Sync and capped the FPS at 144 with the in game limiter and played around with the settings in the graphics control panel. Seems to have improved somewhat but I'm thinking the drops are so large and so sudden the judder can't even be hidden by Freesync and if I want to get rid of them I'll need to cap the FPS to 60.

Still other than that its looking good overall with no crashes. Graphics wyse the game looks good. Colours are somewhat muted, but at least the PC version didn't skip on using HDR. Aliasing is a moderate issue, I don't have access to DLSS but I hear its implementation is great in this, better image quality with reconstruction than native resolution.

Markitron · 16-07-2020 11:07am

PC version looks very nice, and the Pro version was no slouch. Could be a nice preview of the PS5 version.

Retr0gamer · 16-07-2020 11:16am

Markitron wrote: »

PC version looks very nice, and the Pro version was no slouch. Could be a nice preview of the PS5 version.

There's not a whole lot different t be honest. It's all the same assets and post processing just at a higher resolution and framerate.

I'm surprised how nicely the game runs on modest hardware. Just goes to show how weak the PS4 hardware is in comparison to the PC and how underutilised the PC is when there's games as good looking as this, TLOU2 and GoW on PS4 hardware. It's also a credit to Sony's engineers that their engines run so well even when transplanted to another system. Digital Foundries analysis showed that the game was maxing out all the cores at about 90% of a PC CPU, that's some insane parallelization and optimisation. Would not be surprised if the rest of Sony's first party internal engines are this well coded.

Would not rule out the game getting raytracing update at some point and then rolling that out to the PS5.

Azza · 16-07-2020 11:19am

Digital Foundry over on Eurogamer did a tech breakdown of the PC version.

Graphically very little changed, just improved LOD's and anisotropic filtering. the main difference is frame rate and the ability to render a native 4K as opposed to the PS4 Pro's checkerboard rendering (assuming you have a high end PC).

Still its a very nice looking game.

Azza · 16-07-2020 11:20am

Are you playing in Ultrawide Retro?

Retr0gamer · 16-07-2020 11:37am

Azza wrote: »

Are you playing in Ultrawide Retro?

Nope, my 1070 is just about getting 60 FPS on 1440p. If I go to ultrawide I'd have to drop to 30 FPS (my monitor will only do ultra wide at 3440 x 1440) and prefer the better framerate.

It's a shame as I'd say this game would look stunning in ultra wide.

_CreeD_ · 16-07-2020 12:19pm

Just remember folks, real gamers build roads (let the addiction begin)

duploelabs · 16-07-2020 12:22pm

_CreeD_ wrote: »

Just remember folks, real gamers build roads (let the addiction begin)

Keep on keeping on

Canis Lupus · 21-07-2020 3:42am

The menus and all the screens and confirmations you have to go through every time you interact with a terminal or cargo be it recycling or fabricating etc or picking up/dropping a mission is absolutely wearing.

B.A._Baracus · 21-07-2020 10:31am

Canis Lupus wrote: »

The menus and all the screens and confirmations you have to go through every time you interact with a terminal or cargo be it recycling or fabricating etc or picking up/dropping a mission is absolutely wearing.

Tis' a bit much.
I have always skipped them. Just keep jamming the button. Don't think I ever truly looked at them not even once :pac:

Canis Lupus · 21-07-2020 11:09am

B.A._Baracus wrote: »

Tis' a bit much.
I have always skipped them. Just keep jamming the button. Don't think I ever truly looked at them not even once :pac:

I skip as well but it's non stop. There's so much unimportant stuff you've to skip constantly and then you'll get a cut scene. I've just gotten to lake knot city and whilst I exaggerate I feel like the game had been about 65% cutscenes and pointless stuff I've to skip Vs actually playing. I'm losing patience with it.

shaveAbullock · 21-07-2020 6:43pm

Canis Lupus wrote: »

I skip as well but it's non stop. There's so much unimportant stuff you've to skip constantly and then you'll get a cut scene. I've just gotten to lake knot city and whilst I exaggerate I feel like the game had been about 65% cutscenes and pointless stuff I've to skip Vs actually playing. I'm losing patience with it.

What's with constantly having to hold a button down for a few seconds to do something. I was actually really enjoying chapter 1 and 2, people say it really opens up in chapter 3. Sure I have roads and vehicles now but it's the same menus and cut scenes over and over.

Canis Lupus · 22-07-2020 12:26am

And combat is simplistic... Simple parry mechanic and you can overcome an entire camp with a rope or the big scary BTs just throw a grenade but you can't do that from a bike no sir so ride, wait for the BT detected animation to f*ck off, get off bike animation, throw grenade, watch the event longer getting on bike animation, ride 10 metres and then repeat until you're out of the area or the path is wide enough to just ride around and ignore them.

Death Stranding

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