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Death Stranding has been the most mysterious AAA PS4 exclusive game (now also coming to PC) since its development began back in early 2016. The game has since then received an unprecedented amount of hype, both positive and negative.
The people who are aware of Hideo Kojima's name in the industry jumped on the hype train a long time ago and the people who are not, decided to complain like a ten-year-old toddler who doesn't seem to comprehend the stuff that's kept in front of him/her.
Now, fast forward to November 2019, the games' review embargo has been lifted and just as many people expected, the game has dividedcritics and gamers all around the globe. Where some of the most of popular gaming media gave the game a fairly low score, some of them ended up giving it a perfect 10/10, calling it one of the greatest video games of not just this year but also of this generation.
To understand all of what's going on, we'll be classifying this article into three different parts, analyzing all the attributes as we venture forward. Without any further ado, let's just get on with it.
What does a video game mean right now?
As video games become more mainstream day by day, attracting a much wider audience that didn't grow up playing the classic Nintendo titles, a question that most of us ask ourselves is what it actually means to be a video game.
Going back to the late 20th century and early 21st century, video games were mostly classified as a substance for fun. This is very much true for games which Nintendo, Sega or Capcom made. Or even titles like Doom, whose mixture of rock music and incredible shoot-them-all theme portrayed that video games are a fine activity for passing time after a hectic day at work with a couple of beverages to chill out with.
But with time, video games have outdone themselves as a medium, becoming a more enhanced platform for storytelling and much more. Coincidentally, Hideo Kojima was one of the very first personalities to express video games as much more than being a fun activity, rather a medium for immersive Hollywood-style action movies in addition to the fun gameplay it offered as an interactivity,
As we moved forward, many more video game started focusing on telling incredible stories with complex characters which led to people indulging in these games not for the sake of fun but for having an immersive experience that could affect them at an emotional level.
Games like Grand Theft Auto IV, Mass Effect 2, The Last of Us, The Witcher 3:Wild Hunt are all great examples of how far we have come in this ever going industry.
Today, video games are the most flexible medium of art at the moment, since it offers both interactivity from the users and lets them sit back and enjoy intricately-crafted cinematic segments as well.
Creators all across the globe have recognized the unprecedented capability that video games are hiding inside them and are trying to realize its fullest potential every single day. Hence, games like What Remains of Edith Finch, Life is Strange, The Walking Dead or Detroit Become Human exist.
From a simple perspective, these can't really be classified as a "fun" game but they offer much more than that. Games like these invoke a new sense of emotion lingering inside that, maybe, helps us understand ourselves as well the people around us even better.
Not only these new generation of games have made gaming more accessible to the people who disregarded the original kind of 'video games' that were most notably known for violence and gory combat, but it also revolutionized this platform as a medium of art.
What exactly is Death Stranding trying to convey?
The beauty of any kind of art is that it tries to convey something different and if one doesn't look at that art from a specific perspective or a vision, they might not be able to grasp or understand or even realize its full potential.
Last year's Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of the finest examples of artistic expression in a video game. Even though the game is the highest-rated video game on Metacritic of this generation, many people complained that the game's not fun to play and a slow burn when it comes to its story.
The game's open-world is almost empty in contrast to the traditional open-world games in the market which are filled with numerous activities to indulge in, irrespective of whether it fits the game's context or not.
In short, the beauty of Red Dead Redemption 2 lies in its creator's bold singular vision for the game which they didn't want to tone down in accordance with the player's convenience. The people who understand this simple concept may end up enjoying Red Dead Redemption 2 a lot. Everything is there for a reason, the vast empty wilderness, the coffee making mechanic, the option to interact with every other NPC. Just think about it.
The same can be said about Death Stranding's world. Of all the cryptic enigmatic trailers we have seen, all we know for sure is that Death Stranding is a game about connections. It's about connecting the fractured America and it wants Sam (Norman Reedus' character) to do so by making delivers all across the game's lonely open world.
Making connections isn't simple. Not in the real world nor in the game's world and Hideo Kojima and his team are well aware of that. Hence Sam's journey is filled with vast empty lands, with only his thoughts and his BB as his company. Not to mention the traversal tools such as ladders and vehicles left behind by other people along the way.
This may seem as boring and frustrating to some players and doesn't seem like the perfect place to relax after a hectic day at work but neither does the game wants you to feel that way.
It wants to you to be lonely, it wants one to reflect upon their thoughts while they traverse the game world, It wants you to take care of your BB, All these small actions may sound absurd and not necessarily fun in any aspect but is important for one to trigger that specific sense of emotion that this piece of art is trying to portray.
In other words, Hideo Kojima and his team wants you to feel everything that you feel during playing this game. They want you to feel lonely, isolated, frustrated and many more such feelings. The people who have to some extent realized the gravity of this perspective, are the ones who ended up giving the game a perfect score.
And the ones who doesn't are the ones who call it a clumsy and a dreadful experience.
The ground reality
Death Stranding is a unique game. A game where the main character delivers cargo from one place to another because its necessary for the game's context. It is certainly not for everyone of course. But there are some games or movies out there that we need to experience just to feel something new and unique, whether its good or bad.
One's not saying that Death Stranding is the pinnacle of greatness, but it is something truly original from a legendary creator who is not afraid to take risks to express his vision proudly in its raw form. That itself makes Death Stranding special.
At this intermediate stage where video games are thriving all across the globe as an emerging medium of art and entertainment, titles such as Death Stranding are much needed to gravitate more and more people towards this ever-growing, ever involving industry.
Anyway, this was our perspective towards Death Stranding and the divisive reviews the game has been getting lately.What are your thoughts regarding this? Are you still excited for the game and will be picking it up at launch or maybe its not your cup of tea? Tell me in the comments down below.
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