Title: Death Stranding Director’s Cut.
Release Date: 2021.
Console (played on): PlayStation 5.
Console (Also available on): PC (Not the director’s cut).
Mode(s): Single-Player.
Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Drama.
Developer: Kojima Productions.
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment.
Director(s): Hideo Kojima.
Producer(s): Hideo Kojima, Kenichiro Imaizumi, James Vance & Ken Mendoza.
Designer(s): Hideo Kojima.
Composer(s): Ludvig Forssell.
Voice Actor(s): Norman Reedus, Mads Mikkelsen, Léa Seydoux, Troy Baker, Margaret Qualley, Tommie Earl Jenkins, Jessi Corti, and many more!
My Overall Rating:
Best known for establishing the stealth genre and giving the world the legendary Metal Gear franchise, video game creator Hideo Kojima remains a legend within the industry for his passion for his work. Striving to blur the fine line between video games and cinema, his creativity goes beyond the established standards to redefine our understanding of visual and narrative storytelling. Despite having grown under the wings of the video game company Konami, it is upon leaving them and founding Kojima Productions that he became monarch of his own creative freedom and delivered his first Strand game in 2019 known as Death Stranding only for a director’s cut of his work to be released exclusively on the PlayStation 5 on September 24th, 2021.
What is Death Stranding Director’s Cut (2021) about? Set in the United States devasted by a cataclysmic event that destroyed the landscape while setting loose terrifying creatures known as BT, Sam Porter Bridges is a freelance courier who delivers packages, from supplies to individuals, to isolated colonies across the country. Upon being tasked by the dying president of the United Cities of America (UCA) whose dying wishes is to rebuild the country, he sets off to establish a virtual wireless communications network through key relay sites across the country, giving the remaining people an opportunity to reconnect and build a better future. Throughout his journey, aided by various compatriots, he learns about the tragedy of the Death Stranding and the dangerous fate of humanity if he doesn’t uncover the truth.
In the same vein as the stealth genre-defining Metal Gear series, director Hideo Kojima delivers one of the most ambitious, unparalleled, and immersive gaming experiences that follow Sam Porter Bridges through a gorgeous, daunting, and apocalyptic world. While stealth can be utilized on occasions to evade enemies, both human and supernatural, the true adventure comes from its intricate hiking simulation that invites gamers to strategically utilize gear (anchors, ladders, and whatnot) to traverse rough natural terrain, from debris to mountains. Thankfully, the director’s cut also multiplies Sam’s access to vehicles, cutting your time on foot enormously. However, one of the greatest pleasures in this game lies not only in completing your delivery mission following a perilous expedition, allowing you to connect the fractured people and separated colonies within the country, one step at a time, but also in stopping at visually-astonishing sites in the country to gaze at the details put into this frightening yet exquisite universe.
Unfortunately, even with the soul-searching and patience-requiring journey, it is almost a mandatory prerequisite to embark on this adventure with a profound desire to discover a new world, ready to allow yourself to immerse yourself into a creator’s peculiar yet otherworldly vision, with an inquisitive mind regarding the underlying themes of connection and hope delivered through this story. In fact, Sam Porter Bridge’s journey represent that of an individual who initially lost faith and is given an opportunity to rebuild America by reminding everyone he encounters the bond that ties them to this world and to one another. Although captivating at heart, it is worth mentioning that director Hideo Kojima has a very strange and almost disconnected way to write the dialogue but this awkward style gives his games a unique style that you nonchalantly grow to appreciate.
To further the immersion, the music in this game is incredible. Beautifully timed, some scores are automatically triggered when entering certain beautiful sceneries, elevating the visual experience even more. On the contrary, the game also features some of the more quirky Japanese features that take you out of the immersion but gives you a good giggle, whether it’s regarding the fourth wall being broken by an odd character or the cinematic moments that reminds you of the eastern culture and their singular understanding and approach to human nature and sexuality. Then again, immersion cannot be questioned in its globability throughout the game as it remains one of the main objectives and this can also be noticed by the incredibly long and numerous cutscenes, especially towards the end, that allow the Hollywoodian cast to be fully utilized.
Death Stranding Director’s Cut (2021) is a bizarre, immersive, and ambitious exploration of humanity’s downfall and rise through connection, hope, and parenthood.
Death Stranding (2021) is out on the PlayStation 5 since September 24th 2021.
Have you played this game?
Will you? What do you think about it?
Share your thoughts with me!
Roars and Echoes 
Sounds like Kojima guy read David Brin’s “The Postman” and then turned it into a video game 🙂
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Too funny. There’s an article where the author himself speaks about the “similarities”.
https://david-brin.medium.com/we-need-to-reconnect-the-world-b751066df3ff
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Holy smokes.
Well, since it is Sony, and they’d squash Brin like a bug, I doubt he ever went forward.
Good to know it isn’t just me seeing the connection then.
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I love Death Stranding (although I haven’t played the Director’s Cut), mainly for that massive world and soundtrack. And it’s wonderfully weird story. ❤
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Oh my gooooood! I’m so happy to know that you’ve also played this and enjoyed it! Wasn’t it so bizarre yet soooo captivating? I cringed but still looked closely every time they ate the cryptobiotes! 😛
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It is hands down the strangest, most absorbing game I’ve ever played! And kudos for being able to watch them eating the cryptobiotes … made me squirm!!! 🤣
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Reading this and then watching the preview took me on a tangent of thoughts about how some of these games are now really interactive movies, which I find fascinating. And thinking ahead to the various advancements with AR and VR and the pushes to create “metaverses” I can only wonder at what these experiences might one day be. And I realize I’m not very interested in them anymore. These days I’d rather go outside and see the real world. But when I look back to younger days I would have been so excited about all this and wanted to not only experience but be a part of creating it. I’m not sure I have a point today, more just observations on technology, society and different stages of life. This looks like a fascinating game and I’m glad you enjoyed it. I absolutely love the visuals some of these folks can create, and as you said the soundtrack really helps immerse us in the experience.
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And that’s what I love about the video game industry. It constantly evolves. Sure, we already have AR and VR but for hardcore gamers, what’s currently available isn’t there yet but we’re inching closer to things we used to only imagine in fiction! I do understand how, with time and experience, we lean towards exploring the real world rather than these virtual ones but I’ve grown with these all my life and have watched it all evolve with me and I sort of believe that I’ll always make room for this hobby in my life just because of what it opens up to me, especially when I see it as another form of story-telling that gives me something that other mediums can’t hahaha I am glad to be able to share this with y’all just to share my experience with these and to emphasize what these stories have to offer! 😀 Thanks for reading, Todd!
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One day, when PS 5 are more readily available
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I hope you get the chance to try one out in the future. Meanwhile, I hope you’re enjoying your PS3 as much as you can! 🙂
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Yeah man, was playing some Resident evil last night. Propper console still in my eyes
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I think this game looks stunning, but I’m not sure if the plot alone is enough to convince me to play it.
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Yep. It’s quite weird and if the weirdness of the story doesn’t call you, it’s going to be a tough ride haha Thanks for reading.
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Okay, that child looks creepy. Way to small. Is it a gnome child?
Btw, have you played Infamous?
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Hahahahaah coming from someone who enjoys reading body horror Eastern culture literature, that’s funny. 😛 Then again, I agree. It took some time to warm up to that baby!
Yes, I have! Been a fan since the original two games on the PS3 and I’m patiently waiting for a surprise announcement for a new installment! I assumed your husband has been playing Second Son lately? 😀
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🤣
We’ve been gifted Second Son by our friends recently and wanted to get a trusted opinion 😁
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Sweet! Y’all are sure to have fun with it. I do prefer the first two games but Second Son was still a fun installment. I’d have given it an 8/10 for what it had to offer (it was, after all, one of the first games out on the PS4 too). Enjoy! 😀
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Thanks!
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This game was so strange, but really a work of art. I loved Mads Mikkelsen in it.
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Same! He has incredible charisma and works wonderfully in his role here. At first, you can’t help but wonder if he was underused but the last chapters made up for it big time!
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Norman Reedus… he’s such a legend
The trailer looks absolutely amazing. It captured my attention and held it the entire time. The baby is creepy, though.
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He has a unique charm straight from his role in The Walking Dead. And yes. Kojima really put a lot of effort into making that particular trailer. It’s a work of art in itself!
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