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

(+) Yeah! (+)

I ran into the mountains that way when I was in a snowstorm, looking for the geologist, so I knew where the BT stuff was. After that, it was just a matter of descending and following the L1 icon to the scientist. Doing that segment with a vehicle would've been hot garbage, though, so I'm glad I didn't bother.

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Uhhhhhh, did my entire network forget how to make sticky guns or was that never possible in the first place? At the paleontologist right now and the blueprint isn't in any archive. I've been just snagging them from shared cargo spaces the entire game, thinking they were just really common throwaway loot, but I've enjoyed 'em in BT areas and stuff. I don't want to visit the evo-devo biologist without my extend-o-grips. =|

EDIT: Never mind, I found it. Thought I was going crazy.

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Yeahhhhh, the evo-devo gave me a multi rocket launcher and something else, so that was nice. I knew that empty weapons wall wasn't for show. Haven't used any yet, but I keep finding 'em in lockers and stuff, so maybe I should unload DEADLY (non-lethal) FURY on these terrorists.

Speaking of which, the first time I did the terrorist camp near the paleontologist, I barely got any chemicals. This time, I got a crap ton, enough that I had to go back and get a vehicle and store it all. Easily had enough chems to max out two ziplines, so that bodes well for the future (in addition to the camp never "finishing" like other porter-adjacent places).

Heartman wants me to go west and make a distribution center or something near the tar belt. Gonna max out the evo-devo first before I bother, though. I also want to find the veteran porter who, I suspect, is hiding somewhere along the coast. I searched near the volcano but didn't find anything, so maybe I have to visit the beach a bit. There's some ruins in the distance...although that could be Edge Knot for all I know. (I also need to check the mountain near the novelist's son, which I forgot to do...)







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This topic has made me replay the game which is annoying as I have about 50 other games on my backlog lol.

What difficulty are you playing on? Im on hard mode. Enjoying it so far as having to think a lot more about planning my routes etc.

I always play on the default difficulty (probably normal) on my first playthrough, since it gives me a better reference point if I ever want to do a FAQ. I'm curious how hard mode would go, though -- lower durability on constructs, lower stamina, etc.?

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On Hard, the only thing that really changes is enemy difficulty. There's a Very Hard difficulty introduced in the PC version that has more of those types of changes.

Also, every remaining prepper is on the map you're currently in. After you make that distribution center, the next story mission will basically send you to the end game for like 10 hours. So if you want to do more stuff before the end game, that's the time to do it (I completed all the roads and 5 star'd all the preppers in that time, for instance).

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Yeah, I was planning on squaring away all the five-star stuff before I make the distro. I think it's in the BT valley past the photographer's mountain, but I'm not sure. Gonna try to find that veteran porter first, too, after I milk the terrorist camp for its chemicals. Got a good amount of my ziplines to LV3 yesterday, but there's always just so many to do. I minimized my overall network by branching from Heartman's lab to the geologist and evo-devo in separate "tendrils", then moving only towards targets near the ends. So, no cut-across strategies, but it lowers bandwidth consumption.

Not sure I have the energy to do a hard mode playthrough after this, but it sounds interesting, more or less.

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Only a few hours in on hard by so far feel the main differences is that time fall affects containers more and stamina seems to go down quicker but its been a while since o played so cant confirm the stamina side but feels that way at least.

Yeah, those changes are about what I'd expect from increased difficulty. Maybe bullet sponge enemies, too, but headshots are so OP, who knows if that's still in play.

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Btw the cut scenes are very long in the end game as well. Goes full Kojima.

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Yeah, I heard they can be two hours long or something. Not sure if that's hyperbolic, but I'm gonna get all the stuff I want to do first before taking the plunge. Still have to do wind farm stuff -- kinda curious if there was some great upgrade early on I didn't get. Haven't used a single fragile jump the entire game, haha. Might need to pull down my ziplines near the chiral artist/tarpit area to get through the BT area, but we'll see. (Either way, ziplines there will be temporary, so maybe I can make it work.)

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Shotgunnova posted...

Yeah, I heard they can be two hours long or something. Not sure if that's hyperbolic

It's not, IIRC. They're interesting if you're into the story, but if it's like midnight and you're thinking "I'll just beat this game real quick" you might want to rethink it lol.

Shotgunnova posted...

Haven't used a single fragile jump the entire game, haha.

I only did once to get a trophy. It's fun to use your infrastructure to get around tbh.

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Jabodie posted...

They're interesting if you're into the story, but if it's like midnight and you're thinking "I'll just beat this game real quick" you might want to rethink it lol.

lol I think I didn't finish the game till like 3am. Luckily it was a Saturday and I loved the ending, so I didn't really mind.

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I reckon there was like 4 hours left when I thought I was in the ending.

From when you finish at minor spoilers edge knot city theres probably 4 or 5 hours left still. Mostly cutscenes.

Wind Farm is so much easier this time around, haha.



Also realized that the Ludens Fan was an actual person in an actual house, not some random name for a deliveree. Didn't realize that when I first started playing...although seeing the same name repeatedly should've been a good tip-off. Maxed that bastard out (got that Nendoroid Ludens holo, which I'd wanted for a long time) and now just have the Farm and Port Knot left. They both have ziplines set up to avoid the BTs, though, so it shouldn't take too long.

Disappointed that most of the unlockables from these places are just vehicle colors and stuff. I was hoping there'd be something kickass in there.

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Shotgunnova posted...

Disappointed that most of the unlockables from these places are just vehicle colors and stuff. I was hoping there'd be something kickass in there.

Generally the distro centers give you colors while the peppers give you the fun stuff.

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FYI: you can change text size from the options under Language Settings. You can only do this from the main title screen before you start the game proper.

I think I changed the text size when I started. Wasn't going to, but it just wound up being way better, so I stuck with it.

BlazinBlue88 posted...

Generally the distro centers give you colors while the peppers give you the fun stuff.

The chick who gave the rocket launcher is on the nice list.
The dude who gave me a keychain is on the naughty list.


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Looked up where the veteran porter was, and wouldn't you know it? Dude's right on the mountain near the timefall farm. Like, you can look up at the mountain and see a little smokestack from his house. Probably would've searched there earlier in the game if I hadn't thought it was an impassable barrier (didn't know about Mountain Knot at the time).

This dude's star rating also won't advance, even after spending some time in my room and reading his e-mails. Maybe I need to screw around a bit until he has a change of heart. Not sure what item he'll contribute, but I already found a remote-detonation grenade launcher in a share locker, so maybe it's that.

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His might be contingent on a delivery to him rather than from him. He's the hardest person to 5 star iirc.

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It's possible. His last email didn't have anything interesting in it (other than mentioning something glowing), so maybe that unlocked a quest somewhere. Just not sure which location that would be -- I don't think the emails necessarily tell where to go.

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Tag. About to hit the home stretch. I was very satisfied with the end.

I'm gonna go to the tar belt when I'm finished five-starring the pizza guy and the veteran porter. Who knows when that'll be, though. ...Or, I'd say that, but the porter just messaged me! Apparently, Higgs was his old boss (!?) or something.

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exploring a bit more found the ludens fan but cant do anything and his door doesnt open.

Edification posted...

exploring a bit more found the ludens fan but cant do anything and his door doesnt open.

I believe you need to find a lost package that belongs to him.

Shotgunnova posted...

It's possible. His last email didn't have anything interesting in it (other than mentioning something glowing), so maybe that unlocked a quest somewhere. Just not sure which location that would be -- I don't think the emails necessarily tell where to go.

When people send you emails about something glowing, they're referring to the flash drive collectibles. They describe the area one of them is in.

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Jabodie posted...

I believe you need to find a lost package that belongs to him.

When people send you emails about something glowing, they're referring to the flash drive collectibles. They describe the area one of them is in.

oh I didnt know that brilliant

Just wanna say I think Im enjoying the game more the second time. I was too scared of the BTs and Mules last time which made me rush some areas or avoid them completely. Really enjoying trying new routes and exploring areas I didnt last time.

I thought they might be referring to those data drives -- it's really the only collectible in the game so far -- but hadn't really bothered to check. I've still got a ton left, though, so they must be pretty well hidden. Every so often I'll find a sign or an online ladder leading up to one, like on the freight container at Port Knot.

Edification posted...

exploring a bit more found the ludens fan but cant do anything and his door doesnt open.

The First Prepper I found didn't have his open initially at first either, but it was open the next time I came through. Not sure if I had to read an email from him or do a delivery or whatever, but it remained open afterwards.

Edification posted...

Just wanna say I think Im enjoying the game more the second time. I was too scared of the BTs and Mules last time which made me rush some areas or avoid them completely. Really enjoying trying new routes and exploring areas I didnt last time.

Yeah, I wouldn't be too annoyed by the BTs on a second playthrough, outside of them blocking easy routes in the first region. I actually went back to five-star some stuff and the area around the voidout I caused is now an unavoidable BT area -- it was passable on vehicle earlier in the game. I'm curious if voidout areas kinda spread a BT area further around them as time goes on.

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Five-starred the veteran porter now and still didn't get a remote-detonation launcher, so maybe that's the next plot reward or something. Gonna check out the abandoned ruins/city near the chemical terrorists' hideout, and if that doesn't pan out, might just do the next plot mission.

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Ahh, looks like to get across the great tar lake, I have to get caught until a BT is summoned, then use all the floating platforms it summons. Thought the stuff I delivered would make a bridge or something (that probably occurs later), but this is nice, too.




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Yeah, I had never gotten caught by a BT at that point in the game so I had no idea you hopped buildings or w/e. Had to look up how to progress because I didn't understand what the hints were trying to say.

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https://i.redd.it/qxp3o00bz9e31.jpg

jokes - probably about six hours left - this is when I thought I was near the end.

So far today, I've kicked Higgs ass twice, rescued Amelie, ran on a beach, lost Amelie, saw Amelie and Die-Hardman get kidnapped by Cliff, then drove all the way back to Lake Knot. Oh, but first I delivered the final pizza to Peter Englert (a.k.a. our boy Higgsy) who left me some custom weapons. In the fight with Higgs where he uses his gun, it was pretty fun picking up destroyed containers and chucking 'em at his face. I'm glad I remembered how to do that from the tar pit mission.







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Ah yes... it's Kojima time, baby.

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The only thing entertaining about DS was all the crazy MGS theories people threw out.

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Whew, pic dump over...for now. There's a supercell above Lake Knot and that's where it's time to kill Clifford? Or make friends with him? I hope I don't have to give up my boy Lou in the process. Should've brought some of those custom guns from Peter's house...

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Fuck man the last hurrah of the game is so fucking long. Just reading your posts and not even back to capital knot city yet lol.

WOW, that really was a long ending. Like, complete with credits, then a bunch more stuff, then EXTRA credits.






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