Current Events > ITT: I play Death Stranding (ongoing spoilers)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Enjoy walking simulator!
https://imgur.com/gallery/mCbyi9d

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If I take this boat in the port city, I can come back to these original locations, right? If I'm saying goodbye to this region forever (or just a long time), I might try to deliver some stuff to this stupid wind farm to five-star it.

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Yeah you'll be able to come back to the first location. (I don't think immediately, but not too far after doing some stuff in the new area.)

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Fantastic game, one of the best of the recent years imo. Luckily Die Hardman has a really pleasant voice so I never got annoyed listening to him. Enjoy immersing yourself in one of the most interesting games created.

Die-Hardman is pretty great, yeah. He looks like a villain (and maybe still might be one later; he said something suspicious in the hospital visit, though I forget what) but just has a neighborly feel.

Error1355 posted...

Yeah you'll be able to come back to the first location. (I don't think immediately, but not too far after doing some stuff in the new area.)

I'mma just continue the plot then. Screwing around on the wind farm, and trying to shove vehicles where vehicles aren't supposed to go, just ain't my bag.

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BTW, is it worth bringing my trike through the pass to Port Knot? Or should I leave it behind? Not sure if there's any good terrain to see down there, since people kept talking about a boat.

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Welp, crossed the lake with Fragile. So long trike, hello exoskeleton! Not that the trade-off seems that great at times, since I've been building some kickass roads (three so far), but it's been pretty useful for hauling the 803423 tons of metal and ceramics to build 'em. Also digging how this area -- at least so far -- is devoid of BT areas. Just being able to run around with a huge load, and not having to worry about being ambushed somewhere, is a nice feeling.

Seems Higgs is Fragile's ex-business partner who nuked a city or something. You just can't find good help these days.

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Took out a camp with the ol' Bola and it kicks a lot of ass. And it has fourteen shots! Talk about efficient. Haven't used it on any BTs yet, but that's gotta be a real embarrassment for them.



Hijacked a truck from a major MULE camp and half the space is dedicated to legroom or something. Pretty annoying when you need 5000+ ceramics, etc. to build some of these roads. At least the baddies don't respawn very quickly.



Apparently the MULE trucks don't have solar batteries... ... ... ... ... ...I really shouldn't have tempted fate here. Had to run all the way back to camp, get the PCC I offloaded, then run all the way back to make a generator. Probably the only time in the game I didn't have a PCC with me. =|

Also, MULE trucks can't be stored/repaired at the distro elevator? What? You can teleport massive amounts of material and build roads with hologram technology, but repairing an old-timey vehicle is the tipping point? They better make me my own brand soon, and not one of those lame-ass cargo-light trikes that I just unlocked.



Saw a random NPC porter out, too, which was another first. I think he tried to give me some gear, but I didn't need any (other than that PCC, which he didn't have).

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I accidentally knocked out a couple friendly porters by driving into to them one time... whoops

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Do you lose likes for it? I ran over a lot of MULEs on my trike in the first region, but haven't tried squishing any with the 4x4 offroader yet. It doesn't seem very...sporting, haha.

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I did lose likes lol

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Hmm, I've been building roads but one of 'em near this old gas station won't upgrade. Must be plot-related or something. Now that I have a kickass bola gun with twenty-four shots, adventuring is a lot easier. (Things were annoying early on 'cause I thought BTs were only the big squid things, not the ghosts.)

Jabodie posted...

I did lose likes lol

Ahh, that's what I thought. It seems porters come out to play when I take down MULE camps and go away when their hijinx start again.

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This crazy old man on the mountain wanted TWENTY boxes of sleeping pills? Dude's trying to run a frontier pharmacy up there.

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Shotgunnova posted...

This crazy old man on the mountain wanted TWENTY boxes of sleeping pills? Dude's trying to run a frontier pharmacy up there.

is that the snowy region? I fucking hated that area and loved it at the same time.

i heard it's best to not do side missions until a certain point in the game

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This area's pretty easy to do side missions since there's few BT run-ins, so I don't mind. It helps that I have a kickass highway build just about everywhere.

Edification posted...

is that the snowy region? I fucking hated that area and loved it at the same time.

No, he some hermit south of Lake Knot who gives a knockout gas decoy crate or something. Been ignoring him since he's so out of the way, but I guess it's not so bad -- the route can be done entirely on foot and ignores most MULE pursuit squads.

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I've been slogging through this game for the past couple months I'm near the end now to I'll probably finish it next week.

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Shotgunnova posted...

This area's pretty easy to do side missions since there's few BT run-ins, so I don't mind. It helps that I have a kickass highway build just about everywhere.

No, he some hermit south of Lake Knot who gives a knockout gas decoy crate or something. Been ignoring him since he's so out of the way, but I guess it's not so bad -- the route can be done entirely on foot and ignores most MULE pursuit squads.

It's weird. I feel like I know the map like the back of my hand but I can never remember the name of the different bases or who is located where.

Most people have generic names, so it's normal to forget names and stuff.




Conquering nature with my kickass roads feels good. The landscape out on the coastline is hot garbage and wears out vehicles quick. Can't be too upset though -- gnarled terrain makes sense in the wake of nukes and crater events. I'm three road segments away from the southern city where Mama's lab is, but it's gonna take about 10000 ceramic and metal to reach it. =(

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As soon as I took this mission and some random nobody came up with an unmarked package, I thought about Fragile's back story and how she got tricked into delivering a suitcase nuke into a safe zone. And, sure enough, that's exactly what's being tried again. I get friggin' flagged on a loudspeaker when my shoes are in poor condition but this fraud can take a nuke right into a distro center? He better be Higgs or a right-hand man or something, 'cause it's kinda dumb otherwise.

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Building the roads was really satisfying.

Yeah, I just had to ditch the nuke in a tar pit (???) and it completely dampened the explosion. It would've taken way longer than 3:00 if I hadn't spent days building roads.

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Man, that fourth chapter -- where you're put in a surreal WW1 trench and have to fight off Mads Mikkelsen (???) and flaming skeleton troopers -- was a trip. Definitely ended up dying a few times due to all the criss-crossing corridors and blindspots. Was kinda hoping he'd be formally introduced to Sam in some way, but it was over in a flash. Shame.

Also did that quest where the kawaii girl wanted to meet the junk dealer and carried her around through BT territory.




Oh, and I found Conebone at the cosplayer's house. Totally forgot he was in the game! Not sure why they made all the conversations with clients one-sided -- it's a lot of missed opportunities for good dialogue (not unlike parts of MGSV).





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Also, Mama gave birth to a little BT connected by a ghostly umbilical cord. I mostly took a screenshot of the convo because of Daryl's "NANI????" face, though.



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Btw the best way to fight Mads in that chapter is to use the strand and kick him while he's down. It is both hilarious and effective.

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I rarely use the Strand when I have a Bola Gun. Should try out some of the other tactics, though...someday.





Friendship with auto-paver has ended.
Zipline is my new BFF.

Spent about eight hours last night setting up a ridiculous zipline network that connects the mountaintop weather station to that lame-ass farm in the boonies. Mama had three ziplines set up for show, so I connected it to those, too, letting one get all the way from the mountain to South Knot in no time flat. Even got the pylons to LV2 so everyone can see those HZD tallnecks every time they scoot around. Shame the new resource (chemicals) pylons need is so damn scarce.

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Glad you got on the zip line game. So good.

I almost didn't bother since I figured ziplines were a one-way trip. Now my mind is thinking of ways to improve travel in the first region, like bypassing that wind farm BT forest and stuff. The only downside I've seen is that when you disembark, you can sometimes encounter a big drop, if the zipline was placed high up. (Exiting when facing a certain way can help, but everyone takes a few tumbles, I'm sure.)

Actually thinking about scrapping my plot-mandated safehouse to make more ziplines, haha.

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It's hard to decide which I enjoyed more, finishing the road network, or building my own zipline network.

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I think I have most of the roads done by now -- just a few near the incinerator left. Didn't bother with those yet 'cause there's so much timefall there, and there's nothing to do so far into the sticks, it'll just degrade pointlessly. Got a quest available to find the mountain town, so we'll see if there's any other construction work to do.

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I love Kojima's subtle symbolism, making it hard to tell who the good guys are. He really works that grey area.



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Have you got to the mountain knot city yet and how did you enjoy the snowy areas?

Haven't gotten to the city itself yet, but I've seen a few of the waystations/distros out there. Currently building some roads out in terrorist territory (non-lethal AR warfare for life!), but it's been slow going. The auto-paver that wants 7000+ ceramics can go piss up a rope.

I took out a camp near the foot of the city (presumably), so maybe now's a good time to deliver an antimatter bomb or something. Not sure what that has to do with solving the tar flood crisis, but whatevs.

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My journey to Mountain Knot went like this:

Sam: Here's that antimatter bomb you asked for.
Lockne: Thanks. Now fuck off.
Sam: Okily dokily.

Now I have no story mission to do, at least in an overt manner. Maybe that dude who wants a third pizza gets things started.




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out of all the missions, the bomb one was the worst!

like it wasnt bad enough dealing with the shadow thingies and climbing rocks already... lol

Shotgunnova posted...

Zipline is my new BFF.

Oh yeah, now you're at the good stuff.

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Shotgunnova posted...

Now my mind is thinking of ways to improve travel in the first region, like bypassing that wind farm BT forest and stuff.

I had some really 'this doesn't look like it should work' method of bypassing the Wind Farm forest, and man it felt so good when I managed to get it to work. lol

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Love the game so much. 60 hours and I haven't beaten it (I really gotta pick it up again). Enjoy!

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Sam: Why...are you getting into a bodybag...
Mama: I like them
Sam: I have a range rover outside...
Mama: I LIKE THEM

Of course, Higgs then shows up, summons a giant dog monster, disappears my car, and throws my cargo everywhere, so I'm just gonna reload to deliver that paving material. Sucks to have to drive all the way north, then all the way south again, but oh well.

Also, the novelist's son I found takes cargo but won't give me a star rating above one star for some reason, even after delivering a crapload of his mail. Must need to advance the plot or something. =|







ZevLoveDOOM posted...

out of all the missions, the bomb one was the worst!

like it wasnt bad enough dealing with the shadow thingies and climbing rocks already... lol

I went the wrong way and drove up through the mountains, then went around the long (wrong) way and dropped into town to deliver the bomb. It took some vibration damage, but there weren't any BTs to tango with, so that was nice. It looks like a highway goes near there, though, so there's probably a safe path I just can't see. (It seems like wherever the highway goes, even before it's created, BTs kinda ignore that spot.)

Error1355 posted...

I had some really 'this doesn't look like it should work' method of bypassing the Wind Farm forest, and man it felt so good when I managed to get it to work. lol

Yeah, the trees are liable to mess things up. When I next go out there and can build some LV2 ziplines (350-meter range), I'm gonna try to make it work.

Kaldrenthebold posted...

Love the game so much. 60 hours and I haven't beaten it (I really gotta pick it up again). Enjoy!

I've put in at least that much so far, although to be fair, it's mostly doing road construction.

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Yeah I think I got the roads all the way to Mountain Knot city done. Makes the longer deliveries so much more manageable since you can just load up a car and go.

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Tag so I can read through later

I've been very curious about this whole "strand-type" genre lately haha

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This topic is making me want to boot up my save and see what ziplines are still even up. It's been nearly a year since I played.

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Anti matter bomb was probably the worst mission for me but felt good when I finally did it. Some of the deliveries in the snow got a bit annoying as most were the same journey with slight changes but again felt good to finish them and move on. I think it was about now I stopped getting worried about the BTs and learnt how to deal with them.

Edit: just realised you might not be where I think you are yet. Will keep quiet but looking forward to how you enjoy the next couple of chapters.

Edification posted...

Anti matter bomb was probably the worst mission for me but felt good when I finally did it. Some of the deliveries in the snow got a bit annoying as most were the same journey with slight changes but again felt good to finish them and move on. I think it was about now I stopped getting worried about the BTs and learnt how to deal with them.

I actually absolutely love the mountain deliveries. It really causes you to utilize everything you can to get through it safely. Correct pathing, off the cuff thinking when adversity arises (damn snow storms), stamina being sapped rapidly. It's like the boss mode of the basics of the game.

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I need so many chiral crystals to build a friggin' one-eighth mile road segment, I've just been baiting BTs and shoving 'nades in their faces. That one Higgs summoned near Mama's lab is one I've been killing a bit, and they only give about 600 crystals -- way less than the squid.

Error1355 posted...

This topic is making me want to boot up my save and see what ziplines are still even up. It's been nearly a year since I played.

They really are a joy.

InYourWalls1 posted...

Tag so I can read through later
I've been very curious about this whole "strand-type" genre lately haha

No idea what Kojima's "strands" are, but I'm guessing it has something to do with the things people build, drop, throw away, etc. "bleeding" into other players' campaigns and letting them help out.

Kaldrenthebold posted...

Yeah I think I got the roads all the way to Mountain Knot city done. Makes the longer deliveries so much more manageable since you can just load up a car and go.

Making a road up there is a porter's dream. I've seen some randoms contributing materials from time to time, but still, having 7000+ in some categories ain't heartening.

Edification posted...

Anti matter bomb was probably the worst mission for me but felt good when I finally did it. Some of the deliveries in the snow got a bit annoying as most were the same journey with slight changes but again felt good to finish them and move on. I think it was about now I stopped getting worried about the BTs and learnt how to deal with them.

Edit: just realised you might not be where I think you are yet. Will keep quiet but looking forward to how you enjoy the next couple of chapters.

I already did the antimatter bomb stuff and have to reunite Mama and Lockne still. Haven't done anything in the snow yet, but I'm guessing at least one client lives up there somewhere (only found the photographer and novelist so far).

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Kaldrenthebold posted...

I actually absolutely love the mountain deliveries. It really causes you to utilize everything you can to get through it safely. Correct pathing, off the cuff thinking when adversity arises (damn snow storms), stamina being sapped rapidly. It's like the boss mode of the basics of the game.

yeah you are right. I deffo think some of the most memorable deliveries involved the snow and looking forward to see op go through Hartman chapter which I think has another anti matter bomb and the tar extraction mission iirc.

Shotgunnova posted...

already did the antimatter bomb stuff and have to reunite Mama and Lockne still. Haven't done anything in the snow yet, but I'm guessing at least one client lives up there somewhere (only found the photographer and novelist so far).

think the next chapter or two are my favourite in terms of traversing the world. Jealous. Enjoy.

I've noticed I'm only about two-thirds of the way across 'Murica, so the next stuff must be more snow-ridden, hmm? Hopefully not everywhere -- the Rockies would make sense, but maybe not the Pacific coast.

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Shotgunnova posted...

I've noticed I'm only about two-thirds of the way across 'Murica, so the next stuff must be more snow-ridden, hmm? Hopefully not everywhere -- the Rockies would make sense, but maybe not the Pacific coast.

Biggest issue with the game is that second map is "the rest of 'Murica" lol. I expected at least another one but nope. Not spoiling nothing but the west side of the map has some unique challenges in itself. The game does a magnificent job of introducing newer mechanics constantly throughout.

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Went all the way up the snowy peak and found a mountaineer's house, but ended up getting too far away from my loot, so I just reset. Can't wait to put in an easier zipline system -- already scouted some locations! The thing I love about ziplines is that they're so easy to upgrade. Granted, if you face the wrong way and disembark, you can fall down cliffs...but let's not think about that.

Kaldrenthebold posted...

Biggest issue with the game is that second map is "the rest of 'Murica" lol. I expected at least another one but nope. Not spoiling nothing but the west side of the map has some unique challenges in itself. The game does a magnificent job of introducing newer mechanics constantly throughout.

Yeah, I didn't really get the criticism about Die-Hardman radioing in to tell about things. That's just a symptom of having new things to talk about, and the game has kept itself fresh by introducing new tools and routes. Dunno how much more there'll be to introduce from here on out, but we'll see.

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