Death Stranding | Full Game Walkthrough | No Commentary

Today we archive one of the most unique games that has ever been made. When I played this game for the first time when it came out I had mixed feelings about it. Though I loved the vibe, the characters, the enviroments and the initial gameplay loop, I did eventually found it a bit repetitive and outstaying its welcome. Ironically Death Stranding is a much better experience when played at a later date than at launch.
We play as Sam Porter Bridges who is tasked with linking several hubs in a desolate America. We do this by traversing the terrain by foot, bike or car and have to go from hub to hub with resources on our back. The traversing of the terrain itself is the most important and varied gameplay loop. You could take the quickest route and walk in a straight line to your desination, but there might be big mountains or cliffs in the way. You can overcome this by packing ladders or climbing ropes, but you have to make sure that you have enough of those for the journey ahead. Maybe a walk across the rivers or beaches is easier, but that means you have to take the long route. The decision is entirely up to the player and everyone's journey will be different.
The game can almost feel therapeutic as its just you, your cargo and the vast nature ahead of you. Every now and then some beautiful music starts playing to immerse yourself more and maybe let your thoughts drift to a certain place. I have heard stories about some people who had a rought time personally and this game kinda helped with that since it was litteraly a journey that they took by themselves.
Now the most unique part of the game is that along your journey you will come across differnet objects that have been left there by other players around the world. Though the game is not multiplayer, it does have this unique online functionality. You will come across ladders, ropes, bridges, shelters and more that were left there by other players. Sometimes they can help you out of a pinch when you have run out of supplies yourself, but stumble upon a bridge that was left by someone else.
What is also really cool is that as more players walk a certain area, paths start to emerge in many people's games. This way roads will automatically occur as people figure out the best or easiest routes. Eventually you can even build car roads to speed things up and building and finishing these is very satisfying.
But this is also the reason why my first experience with the game was a lesser one. Since the game was brand new, there were not a lot of ladders, bridges or roads built by others. It was just little old me in a desolate world. After replaying the game this year I was surprised to see how full the world was with all these objects that made my journey a bit easier.
I expect that the game will also be played again by many since the sequel will arrive in June and therefore it is now a better time than ever to go on the journey yourself.
I do have to say that the game does still get a bit repetitive since you are only delivering things over and over and over again with sometimes a boss fight here or there. There are some enemies that you will encounter, but these stay the same mostly throughout the game. Especially the invisible enemies are the exact same types towards the end of the game as they are at the start. There are also some segments where you will encounter the actor Mads Mikkelsen in various settings which is cool, but that also feels a bit repetitive as his voice lines are litteraly the exact same throughout all the encounters.
I hope that Death Stranding 2 will up the variety in gameplay quite a bit and I am curious if our next adventure will just be as unique.

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