I'm just kinda shocked about this reaction to Death Stranding inparticular. Having put 15 hours in now.... It's not that out there. As a game I mean, the story is pretty nuts, but the game isn't some crazy departure from traditional game design. The mechanics of the game are not nearly as tedious as they were being built up to be by reviews, durability is very leniant, traversal is pretty simple without feeling braindeas (like Breath of the Wild in a way), and the stealth encounters, which have been pretty frequent, are pretty fun. No mechanics that I have encountered are so insane as to change the world or so mundane as to label the game a pure walking simulator.

Almost all the discussion of this game, not just here, but in a lot of places online, seem to have way more to do with expectations and preconcieved notions about the creator than they do with the game itself.

I'm interested to see what thoughts on this game are in 6 months - a year. I feel like it's gonna be a less charged discussion.