I loaded this up today and started.

First impressions: great graphics, fairly intuitive gameplay, and a very weird game world, complete with creepy invisible monsters, babies in containers, and Norman Reedus.

Runs like silk on the new laptop.

My overall impression so far is, "Huh?" but I'm also hooked enough to keep going.

I haven't got very far, since for some reason my game's Save function has disappeared and I'll have to work out if it's operator error or something more annoying.

I'll keep you posted as I get farther into the game.

Yes, do keep us posted. And I hope the Save function issue clears up.

Hmmm... this sounds interesting.

The save issue was operator error, though the game certainly made it confusing, because after the first mission the save function moves to a piece of equipment.

This is a strange and empty world. It kind of reminds me of SOMA, with mostly empty but beautiful spaces where you sometimes have to creep around and even hold your breath to hide from the monsters that show up under certain circumstances. So there's lots of stealth involved.

On the story front, this is post-apocalyptic. You / Norman Reedus are a courier from one settlement to another. Turns out the President is dying and wants to see you. It's Lindsay Wagner! The acting is pretty decent, actually.

Anyway, my second mission has me completely trapped in a body incinerator and have to sneak past about 15 of the BTM's, I think they're called. The baby-in-a-jar I'm carrying shows me where they are. I have no weapons, no real armour, and no cool gadgetry. All I can do right now is sneak.

Scary. And strangely compelling.

Hagatha, my son played this and liked it a lot. Enjoy!

Very interested in your input on this game as you play through it Hagatha.

At first I was a little jealous that it was only being released on the Playstation, then heard a rumor that they were porting it to PC due to a lesser purchase response from the console owners. The reason given was that the game was more akin to a story driven action/adventure and the action part was somewhat lacking.

How are the controls? Have you engaged in any combat, or is it really just sneak or die?

The controls are fairly simple so far. The movement is the usual WASD, with Space used for jumping. Other controls are less intuitive, but you get prompts anyway.

The game is different from your average Action game. it IS Action in that you have missions to complete on foot (and perhaps later in a vehicle, I think) and you can choose routes, etc. and in that sense you have freedom to move around the landscape. In practical terms, though, it's pretty much linear so far -- you're given a mission or two, you go off and complete it, and return.

Exploring so far has given me some extra items that get me extra "Likes," whatever that means (I have no idea who is actually giving me the Likes, since I'm on Single Player. Is somebody watching me? ) but otherwise there are, so far, no ruins to explore or artifacts to find -- just a fairly empty, if pretty, landscape. I've also given Likes to somebody who left ladders for me, and again, is this an actual person and if so what are they doing in my game? It's weird.

However, I've just been given what I think is the Main Quest and we'll see what comes now. There may be multiple missions and places to go.

As for weapons, none so far, but as I say, it's early days.

This is a very strange game. The Earth is a beautiful but deadly blasted landscape, unnaturally green. I am carrying in a container a blue-eyed baby who is able to spot the BT monsters before I do and who likes to make cute faces through the glass. It's a sweet little thing and clearly I , Norman Reedus, am attached to it, but it's a bit disconcerting. I have to eat nasty-looking but crunchable caterpillars to stay alive sometimes. Most of the people I've met so far are holograms. And my sister, the President, is Lindsay Wagner. She's not real either, at least I don't think so.

Let me say, it's also weird being Norman Reedus. It is.

So far, I'm intrigued.

Just about to start hagatha so glad your first impressions are positive.
And who doesn't like being Norman Reedus (except perhaps Batman!!)

I love Norman Reedus, so I think I'm about to take the bait on this one! Recently read there will be a Daryl and Carol spinoff of The Walking Dead!

Yes, I heard that there will be a Daryl/Carol spinoff, too. I always thought the friendship between them was the most interesting plot line in TWD. TWD itself has become a bit of a shadow of its former self lately, I find. Time for a whole new storyline.

I like this game. It's different.

I just got attacked by some sort of Raider and fell over while running away, trashing my cargo, so I had to reload. Part of the challenge is to say upright while carrying a ton of stuff for delivery. Not sure if I have a weapon to fight back with, so I might just choose a different route and go the sneak route instead.


EDIT: I'm getting very frustrated with the menus. They seem to be awfully obtuse.

EDIT EDIT: Some things have now been made clear. I'm starting to get a feel for this. The menus are quite complicated and not very intuitive, so arm yourself with how-to videos.

..........

Right. So my impression so far are these: a fascinating game that is terribly marred by inexcusably poor menus, probably the result of the porting to PC.

There is no way to check on the keyboard mapping, as far as I can tell, so if you've forgotten a command you need, you're out of luck. Save, Exit, look on YouTube, make a pen-and-paper note.

I keep getting stuck in menus, too, where trying to exit the menu reverses the actions I just took instead of just completing them. This is particularly bad when taking on new orders or delivering things. The menus are cluttered and hard to work with. Too much flash and not enough clarity.

I've been spending a lot of time on YouTube looking for instructions.

This is not too say I'm abandoning the game, but the learning curve is frustratingly hard and it didn't need to be. I know that there are things to come, like weapons and vehicles and a good storyline, so I'm willing to continue with what is sometimes a slog.

Okay, I've finally got some firepower and was able to dispatch two of the BT's using grenades made from blood. Also, I discovered that you can knock out the Mules (this game's version of Raiders, I guess) just by punching them a few times, so that's a plus and does wonders for the mood if you're struggling with other aspects of the game.

I have a bike, so I'm able to travel faster and carry more cargo. This is where having some sort of controller would be a plus because I'm pretty lame on the bike using the WASD keys. It's very difficult to navigate rocky terrain. However, I think I'll be able to build roads at some point later in the game, so that will help.

Other people, whether they be real or imaginary (and it's still creepy that I don't know for sure) , are leaving all sorts of things around for me to pick and use. I've learned how to build a a few things, too, like post boxes and bridges. Delivering dropped cargo gets you points, so it's useful to do so.

I've manage to work out most of the controls and am starting to really get the hang of things, which means I can enjoy the game instead of constantly having to fumble through menus. The only thing that REALLY bugs me is that in order to save your game you have to use 4 keystrokes when surely one or two would do.

Glad you are getting the hang of it and enjoying it more. If I really like a game, I am willing to put up with some lousy controls and learn to live with it. It's good that you persisted with this. It sounds like it will be well worth it.

I just wish there was a quicksave option. If you're travelling by bike, you have to get off the bike, hit TAB, hit A, Hit System, Hit Save Game, and then select the save. Far, far too many keystrokes to get a save. It really hampers the flow of the game.

I'm putting this game on hold because I really feel that it's not possible to play it well without a controller of some kind. I don't even know what I'm looking for, but it would have to be some kind of joystick to enable travelling by vehicle. Using the A and D keys for aiming on rocky terrain is just not possible and it's ruining the game for me.

I understand how you feel. There are games I have given up on for the same reason. Maybe you will be able to play it sometime in the future.

Sounds like the port was done by contractors, rather than straight up game Dev's. Well, I might have a go at it if the price drops, just to get a look at the world. I've heard that Guillermo del Toro makes an appearance in the game, which is almost enough to get me to play, since he's one of my favorite film makers.

Trail, I was really starting to enjoy the game, but was hampered by simple mechanics. I had reached the point where I really wanted to play on. It took a while, but I can now see that this game is worth playing.

The story unfolds slowly, but you start to get glimpses of it after you've done a few delivery missions. Although the world seems barren at first, it's actually full of things to do. A lot of it is picking up lost shipments off the ground and delivering them for rewards (which are "likes" that translating into leveling up). As you level up you get rewards that include the ability to build bridges, post boxes, ladders and climbing ropes all over the terrain, which also nets you likes and makes traversing the world easier. Also, other "players" do the same, so as you progress the landscape becomes more populated with useful structures. Some of the structures are just for fun, some increase your stamina, some recharge your vehicle. I especially like the "no peeing" signs that "people" have placed in caves and other places where you might want to rest. Just a small, silly detail, but it adds colour. Oh, and yes, you can and must pee in this game.

I now have the ability to take out the BT enemies, too, which makes things easier.

Hopefully with the right kind of controller you will be able to really get into this game.

Okay, so I'm trying this one out again, and this time if I still find the controls too awkward, I have a controller that I need to learn how to use.

Once again I'm struck by just how off the wall and original this game is. Right off the bat you're thrown into this crazy destroyed Earth where a decomposing body can turn a city into a crater but for some people dead is not-dead, and a baby from the past suspended in liquid is your only guide through fields of there/not there enemies that can drown you in black goo if you don't escape their clutches. It's beautifully creepy.

Anyway, I'm determined to get through it this time.

Has anyone else played it? Flotsam, did you finish it?

Okay, once again I am utterly frustrated with this game.

It's a great idea, with great graphics and music and plotting and voice acting, but dear god, the menus! Honestly, you have to use about three or four or five keystrokes or mouse clicks to do anything, and the map is so crowded you can't work out what you have to do and where to go. It's frustratingly easy to undo what you want to do when using the menus, and the worst offense of all is that you have to use the F key to get on your bike AND to store things on your bike. So half the time you get on your bike when you want your bike storage, and half the time you end up taking things out of your bke storage and stacking them your back when you're trying to get on the bike. Try THAT when you're trying to fight off an enemy.

I'm giong to soldier on, but honestly, this is a prime example of a port to PC done very, very badly. I don;t understand why it got such raves. I mean the game itself is wonderful but the execution...

Oh, and I'm at EXACTLY the same point I was last time I quit. I was enjoying it immensely but all of a sudden it's just become non-stop inventory management made difficult due to poor menu design.

My son played this game and enjoyed it, but he said that it is definitely not a game for everyone and that the nonstop inventory management and all of the menus don't get any better as the game progresses. He also said that you don't need to do everything. I assume that you will know what that means in the context of this game (I haven't played it).

Yes, I know what he means by that.

I think I might reload an earlier save, since I took on a bunch of extra delivery missions that are making it difficult to see what goes where on the map. There is a way to fob them off on "someone else" and that's what I'll do.

Then I'll mop up the essential quests in the first area and move on to the next area.

The game is definitely enjoyable but getting mired down in the mechanics isn't fun. I can't help comparaing it to Days Gone, which is another port to PC. It was so simple and easy to master. Everything -- literally everything - was under one main menu wheel. It had just as many inventory item types and options, and a lot of the game was inventory-related, yet none of it seemed onerous. Selecting items on the fly in the midst of a huge battle was easy. I keep getting into trouble in Death Stranding because I can't find what I need quickly enough.

Anyway, I will soldier on for as long as I can. There seems to be a good game under all this mess.

Sounds good. Most of the time my son tries to do every side quest in a game, but in this game he says to tell you that he did not want to do many of them. He just followed the main game.

Thank him for me! I'm really OCD when it comes to doing literally everything in a game, but I can see that I need to relax that impulse this time around.

Now I have to get my almost-ruined bike to a repair garage through enemy(human) territory. They were always getting me, even on my bike, but I've learned to just run them over.