Just in time for the sequel. I’m nothing if not timely.

I don’t get Death Stranding. Or so I would’ve told you after I first played this masterpiece a few years back. I didn’t get the appeal of trekking across bleak expanses of post-apocalytic wasteland. I didn’t get the incessant inventory management. I didn’t get the “fun” in moving boxes from A to B. You play games to escape the mundanity of reality and to have the chance to do activities you could never do in the real world. Like, you know, power-washing cars?

I get it now. This game requires a substantial time investment but I fully embrace the weird Metal Gear Solid-iness of the bizarre characters (like Deadman and Die-Hardman) and the constant need to expand the chiral network by making deliveries and connecting disparate installations and shelters. The deliveries can get a little mundane if you opt to shuttle cargo back and forth between the same installations, but it is possible in the later game to build a network of ziplines and roads that facilitate relatively rapid transit of cargo in good condition. As you connect places to the chiral network, you also get to access some structures other players have made which can be very useful.

As far as pacing and spacing out upgrades and equipment, Death Stranding is a masterful example. You can do an impressive amount, but this is drip fed throughout the game to avoid it being overwhelming. You start out basically unable to defend yourself, and end the game with an arsenal that would make Arnold Schwarzenegger proud. Assault rifles, shotguns, rocket launchers. All loaded with Sam’s blood, of course.

Sam Porter Bridges, portrayed by Norman Reedus, is our protagonist. Following an apocalyptic event, the fragmented settlements of what was once the United States of America rely on porters to deliver vital cargo across the desolate landscape. There are many hazards from the uneven, often mountainous terrain, to Timefall and Bridge Things (BTs). This game loves terminology, so get used to it. BBs, BTs, DOOMS, PCCs, and more.

BTs begin as terrifying entities which you carefully creep around, but their power is somewhat diminished when you acquire weapons that are effective against them. They’re still formidable and it’s impossible to avoid confrontations completely at key times. Even if you get caught by BTs, the battles are pretty imense and worth experiencing a few times. It can be frustrating if you are trying to transport some fragile cargo and you’re dragged away into the tar, but it does get easier with practice.

A central part of the story is the relationship between Sam and his Bridge Baby (BB) Lou. BBs are used to help humans interface with the Beach and see the location of BTs in an attempt to avoid them. Once a human dies it undergoes necrosis in the 48 hours following death, then becomes a new BT. For this reason, even people who have died naturally require an expedited cremation to prevent disaster. If a BT consumes a human, it results in a voidout which is akin to a small nuclear explosion. So in summary, BTs are bad news.

Are you still following? Neither am I.

The Beach is a kind of purgatory, a land between life and the world of the dead. It is common to all individuals, but personalised to each individual. In this post-apocalyptic scenario, people have learned to exploit this connection to create the chiral network which allows communication between individuals and rapid printing of items and structures. Chiral matter comes from the Beach and is used in the manufacture of items that exploit this connection. There is a lot to the rich lore in this game, and the best way to understand it is to play it. This is Hideo Kojima insanity at its finest. This setting allows him to unburden himself of any of the rules of our universe and create a whole new world that conforms to his own weird ideas. And I love it.

It’s hard to fully explain this game without playing it. The story is completely insane. Some of the game mechanics (soothing your BB) are bizarre and unlikely anything in a mainstream game. What seems like a mundane central premise turns out to be incredibly compelling. And most of all (probably why I’m drawn to it) the whole thing feels very Metal Gear flavoured. If you were like me and started to play but fizzled out early on, stick with it. It is a fantastic game and I’m looking forward to firing up the sequel.

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I’m patiently awaiting my copy of Ocarina of Time on the Nintendo 3DS. Most of my exposure to Zelda comes through the Switch so I am looking forward to rediscovering one of the all time classics (in what is considered one of the definitive versions).