Death Stranding released back in November 2019 and was developed by Kojima Productions. Directed by Hideo Kojima–a well-known name in the gaming world–a lot of hype surrounded the game prior to its release. People were excited, considering the fact that Kojima’s name was on the game. However, Death Stranding flopped a bit and received mixed reviews from players and critics.
Although people loved the visuals and the story, many felt that the gameplay was bland and that Death Stranding failed to live up to expectations.
1. Death Stranding Gameplay is Pretty Boring
You’ve probably heard jokes online calling Death Stranding a “walking simulator,” which is partly true. A lot, or at least a grand majority of the game, is spent delivering packages across the map. A lot of walking is basically involved in the delivery of these packages. This is also most of the beginning of the game, which makes for a difficult first-impression.
Slow Pacing
Another major issue with Death Stranding was its slow pacing. Coupled with its slow gameplay, the pacing of the story was quite stretched. This made many players feel that the game’s story was too slow and too tedious to go through.
Much of the story was delivered through cutscenes, which were long and movie-like in nature. This was liked by some, but for others, it felt like there was a lack of exciting gameplay.
Additionally, the story is quite complex and difficult to deliver in a video game format while still remaining exciting.
Many felt like its slow pace was also very clunky and made playing through large sequences of deliveries difficult and exactly very fun.
2. Accessibility Issues
Another major reason why Death Stranding was hard to catch on was due to its lack of accessibility. Although Death Stranding featured some unique and interesting gameplay, it was not explained very well.
Many people felt like it was just too difficult to learn for the average player. The multiplayer system in Death Stranding was also criticized for being poorly implemented and not providing a satisfying or engaging experience.
3. An Interesting but Empty World
Death Stranding was certainly going for the immersion factor, but it failed to make the world very exciting and engaging. For the most part, the world is pretty much empty nature. It’s a beautiful map, but there isn’t much to complement it. It’s slow-paced gameplay didn’t really do its map any favors either.
4. The Story Was…Okay?
Death Stranding had a very interesting premise about death, grief, and the state of humanity. It is for sure a very ambitious story that has a lot of thematic elements to it. I personally thought it was very interesting and engaging.
Still, it did have some issues with its execution. The story could be often hard to follow. The characters were also mildly developed, causing many players to feel a lack of emotional connection. It’s very important to foster some sort of emotional connection between players and characters, but many felt like that was missing with Death Stranding.
5. Pricey, Pricey
Death Stranding is a mostly single-player game. There is a level of online stuff to it, but you’re not playing with other people at all. So, for a single-player game, most people expect the price to be reasonable. However, Death Stranding was pretty high in price, and that likely caused a commercial issue for it when it released.
It’s worth noting though that Death Stranding was commercially a success when it first launched, but its sales figures did not do very well after the fact. It did help that Death Stranding was ported to PCs, but it still wasn’t enough to keep the game very relevant or high-up there in sales charts.
Additionally, Death Stranding’s story is difficult to replay. Replayability value is a big deal with it comes to video games, and without it, it’s definitely a tough sell for some players.
Although Death Stranding was made by Hideo Kojima and it did have a lot of hype set prior to its release, it’s still largely a bit of a flop when compared to other video games out there.
Death Stranding would have probably benefited more being a movie than a game, to be honest.
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Zainah Yousef
Zainah Yousef is the author of The Fallen Age Saga and specializes in gaming, social media advice, and reviews. She's been writing all her life and she probably won't stop anytime soon.
