The arguably most popular gatcha game, Genshin Impact, pulls a lot from Breath of the Wild; which tbh isn't a bad thing & the same goes for Arknights EF & Wuthering Waves taking from Death Stranding here & there.

It just stands out more when you take from something like Death Stranding

started Death Stranding a month and a half ago and my mind is wracked with cursed knowledge. What do you mean there's not one, but TWO gatcha games which shamelessly pull from Death Stranding??

Zelda I get, it's a popular open world fantasy; but taking from a Kojima game is going to stick out

Cause I don't find dumb to be a good descriptor; if something works it works. There's a weird anime zen that works for something like KH, and I'm glad it exists as its goofy self.

It's funny how much Disney corporate is ashamed of it.

2 has the best combat, 1 nails the dark fantasy vibe, 3 has spectacle- the spin offs even have their own merits. 358/2 has a job sim like vibe crossed with a cult induction, chain capitalizes on surreal horror & melancholy... BBS/DDD has Leonard Nimoy

It's all absurd, but I'd hate to call it dumb

I got into the series rather late, having only played 3. That said, I was *obsessed* with the opening to 2, and it's been burned into my brain for over a decade.

I think what's interesting is that every entry has something the other games lack, and it's always got some new trick to play around with

Saw it comin'

On the gameplay, the most important aspect of a novel one might say, there's a lot I'd like to say and when/where it's engaging I'll just leave this clip from a reviewer (matthewmatosis) I respect who had a mixed but positive experience with Death Stranding when it released

I think my worst held belief about this game (knowing spoilers to some degree, I'm bad with those) is that if you were to strip the goofy names and trim about 20% of the script and released this 60 years ago you'd have a mixed but nonetheless cult classic sci-fi novel

which, tbf, already exists

I had ignored DS for 6 years; and only recently buckled and decided to try it. I'm not going to be "Kojima is god!", though unnervingly the universe seems to consistently bend in his direction, for better/worse.

He has a genuine cult of personality, seemingly included are his staff/cowriters

I'm still working my way through the game but I want to leave a few small notes. (only partial listen atm)

The novelization was by "Hitori Nojima". Coincidence, or conceited pseudonym? Actually neither, or both maybe; It's actually penned by cowriter Kenji Yano. He does this for every Kojima novel

Feel I am cheating a bit but it's an easy game to catch up on podcasts so spent hours coming up with a solution to auto lower the game's audio automatically when I play audio from my phone

But I respect the game not having an ingame audio player, especially since the last one had one to contrast to

Umineko finished in 2010 and Heavy Rain released that same year. Coincidence?

I mean, yes but

There's a lot of things you can snag Kojima for, but being behind on gender/sexuality isn't one of them. He has talked about the homoerotic elements in his games in his book frankly; and his company has a page dedicated to their pride activities/inclusion efforts

He's big on multiculturalism, too

I'm still playing (EP. 4) but still know broad spoilers. Death Stranding is, frankly to me warts n all, an incredibly salient satire of neoliberalism and manifest destiny- and it feels like that's never talked about?? Just, "oh connection" and "this is about capitalism" w/o any specifics

guys guys. It's not on The People's Platform yet. I beg of you! Release it 3, maybe 4 hours later than scheduled.

Just to hold onto that innocence a bit longer.