Play this game 2–3 times a week -- and your back pain will be gone.

Oh Death Stranding. What can I possibly say about you that hasn't already been said?

When people say "this is a Kojima game," it doesn't sound like it can be a proper descriptor. But if you've experienced his repertoire of games, given their aesthetics and their storytelling quirks, you realize how sincere that statement is. This game is very much a "Kojima game." It's weird, sometimes nonsensical, sometimes outright ridiculous and stupid. But there is so much passion pumped into this game that it is always enthralling.

Let's focus on the mechanics first. This game is a trekking game. Not a walking sim, and not a package-delivery game, but a strange blend where the emphasis is on your movement through the terrain. It uses the geography of the world fantastically, basically as a puzzle to navigate. In an early quest, you have to travel to the next town. To do this, you have to ford 3 streams, cross enemy infested area, ford a forked river, and then arrive at your destination, all without dropping your cargo. This forces you into so many odd situations, balanced by the terrain and your load. Heavier loads mean travel is difficult, but you don't get to choose the load, so you have to navigate as best as you can given oddball circumstances. You have tools at your disposal, but the foundational task of traversing the landscape is always there. "Okay, I have 80kg of cargo, so I'll use the automated cargo carrier," you say, starting the journey, only to realize there's a ♥♥♥♥-ass mountain at the end of your journey, and it's up to you to use your wits, skill, and patience to climb that thing.

Let's put everything on the table in this review. The game describes a "MULE," one of the factions in the game, as "people who are addicted to the next delivery." I'm a MULE. That's me. Once this game got started, I could not put it down. I was obsessed with gathering packages and delivering them, even when it wasn't logical. If I found randomized loot, I picked it up; if I found dropped cargo by another player, I picked it up. I would max out my carrying capacity and limp back to town any time possible if it just meant delivering one more package. I fully understand that delivering packages may seem like a dull thing; many people will bounce off this game, because it's not exactly heart pumping. But the way I tell you that I was obsessed. The game becomes a massive logistical puzzle mixed with a hiking game, and it's very challenging and fun. The pizza delivery that forced me to use one hand was truly a chef's kiss moment.

The evolution of the game is also fantastic. I remember some of my earliest deliveries, going to obscure locations deep up a mountain and through a dangerous forest, or hiking up a nonsense cliffside. I would always say, "How the hell do I do that?" Then I got comfortable, realizing how easy it was after gaining more skill and experience, only to find an even MORE complicated challenge. Then I summited that climb, only to find ANOTHER complicated challenge. Every step on the journey kept testing me, and I loved it. Hiking up to Ludens felt impossible, until it wasn't; Elder was twice as difficult, until I did it regularly; there was no way anyone could get to the Spritualist, until I did it all the time. It was a very satisfying difficulty curve.

The game is also, as mentioned, surprisingly logistical. Once you unlock high-level infrastructure, the game really changes. I do think that ziplines and highways can often trivialize the fun hiking mechanics in a way that I don't like. But man, is there ever something amazing about taking 30 minutes of your time to set up an idealized and perfectly measured zipline network up and over a mountain, turning a 45 minute trip into 3 minutes. The level of satisfaction is off the charts. This game is the first time since high school I actually had to use real life geometry and pre-calculus skills, and I think that's cool as hell.

The story of this game, as well as the presentation, are quite stunning. It's hilarious to be in 2025 hearing people complain about AAA games, because I look to Death Stranding and just look in stunned amazement. THIS is what a AAA game should look like. Extreme high quality, gorgeous worldbuilding, fascinating sci-fi setting, exquisite character writing. The game struggles a bit with all the various "Kojima" quirks. This game is WEIRD AS HELL. But that's also sort of the charm. You really feel like you're experiencing the sort of deranged imagination of an auteur, from every funny, odd, and quizzical decision made in both the story and aesthetic presentation. This game can be very divisive for that, just like any oddball film director or uncompromising author. But that's the point, and I love this game for that uniqueness.

What are my thoughts about the GENRE though? The first STRAND GAME. It's... whatever. Honestly, if asynchronous multiplayer qualifies as a "Strand Game," then Dark Souls has been doing it for years. I do like the system they have here. It's fun that the game is uncompromisingly built around altruism. I remember one time I came to an obnoxious river. I had no real way to get across it safely. But a few meters away, some random player dropped a ladder. I took that ladder and used it to cross. Cute. But then I had another job, over the same river, except this time I came back prepared. I constructed a bridge, and could now cross any time I want. Suddenly, likes started pouring in. Other players loved that bridge. They all had trouble with that river.

Another example of the fun of the Strand system is when I accessed vehicles. Vehicles made travel SO CONVENIENT, especially when carrying giant loads long distances. However, my biggest issue was running low on battery on particularly long hauls. At one location, I set up a recharging station. I always found myself running out of battery there, and it was just the smart choice. Suddenly, I had thousands of likes on that generator. All those people also had vehicles in their own games, and all were running out of battery at the same spot. If I were them, I would have sighed with relief seeing that generator; instead, I put it there. I then kept doing that throughout my game. If I came to a location that frustrated me, I would build infrastructure. Even if it never appeared in anyone's game, if one person did see it, and desperately needed it too just like I did, I knew they would be happy. That's just FUN. It is literally a game mechanic designed around selfless altruism, helping people for no other reason than because the act of helping is useful. And so many bits of the game are designed around this, from taking other player's packages to their destination for them, or other players doing the same for you. Very cool.

The game has one fatal flaw... holy hell this game is long. I understand I went on to 100% the game, and I know that was a choice. But by the 60 hour mark, I felt like I had seen almost all the game had to show, only to realize the game had ANOTHER 60 hours left in it. Even if we just accept that maybe I played slow, and that was a personal problem for me... there was one evening where I sat down to say, "Let's finish the story of the game." My friend checked on me 2 hours in... 5 hours in... 7 hours in... I will still pushing through the finale. It kept going, and going, and going. It really felt like the team didn't know when to stop and call it a day. My biggest revelation was this was the mountain region. I felt like I had seen so much of the world, only to learn that I barely explored half the map. I did enjoy all my time, but it really felt like the game was dragging in its second half, and I feel like there would be value in slimming down some of the segments.

Another harsh reality is that lots of the actual activities of the game aren't related to the story. This provides a big disconnect. You're delivering all these packages, but delivering "brand new underwear" to the guy up the mountain i

I got this on sale at 15.99 during 2025 Winter Sale.

Let me just say the first couple hours is pretty slow due to setting up the story and what not which can through people off.

The game is a lot more than just "being a delivery man". It also has the stealthiness you come to expect from a Kojima game and yes you do get weapons in the game, the first 2-3 hours can make you think you'll never get one but trust me you finally get one in time, once the game picks up in just went into a ruins that had a quite a bit of enemies inside while doing a Main Mission.

Setting up little spots where you can charge your gear, build bridges, use ladders scale mountains, having your own Motorcycle so you can carry all your loot you found with relative ease.

I'm still playing but so far it's worth every penny, heck it's worth the 40 they would charge if not for the sale. That's just my opinion.