I sat to to finish it, I knew I was close, haven't yet but I'm assuredly very close and it's to late to continue but that was the most intense gaming session I've had in the entirety of my life for the good and the bad of it. Not the best 6 hours but the most intense.

I don't know why the whole game couldn't be like that even if it was a shorter experience because of it and I can't understand why they leaned so heavily into MGS5 but didn't add the objectives in and the sub objectives instead of mainly delivering or a variation of delivering for the majority of the game. They could have really had a masterpiece here, I think it falls short of that, it's easily a 10 on my system, I don't even have to calculate or weigh it to know that but it's seems like a technicality win, it doesn't feel right to say this is a 10. Time will be needed to digest. 

Troy Baker also putting Hollywood actors to shame. A master of his craft and proves that VA artists could never be replaced by big stars.

I get that, but considering the main arc of the series ended with Guns of the Patriots, that was 17 years ago. Kojima could only go weirder and more absurd to top the arc of MGS lol. So going from that to DS1 and then DS2, you have to assume he would only try to top the weirdness of his other games. 

Yeah but the thing is the central plot here is actually tame, it's fairly simple, the weirdness comes in interruptions. Kind of hard to explain what I'm talking about, imagine being in the middle of watching the Sapranos and Tony just suddenly bursts into a song and dance number for no reason. 

I beat it this morning, I was indeed close, took an hour to wrap it up. I'll just post what I did in the other thread.

Done @ 60 hours. I have no idea how to settle the rating on this, it makes all my criteria for a 10 buy giv8ng ut a 10 seems wrong. It's not a masterpiece, they touched on the greatness of MGS5 and even referenced metal gear lightly and sometimes directly but they refused to implement the gameplay loop of that game or give you reason to do so yourself. The story feels needless. There are few boss fights, better ones but fewer. The music doesn't hit quite often. It has such cringey parts.

However when it's cool it is so fucking cool and when the delivering package loop becomes micromanaging and planing efficency it is bonkers fun. My main critiques are things they didn't do but had a clear chance to. I can't score it right now as I'd be taking into account the first game and things they didn't do rather than what's here but I know if I had only stuck to the main path and done only what was nessessity, I'd be hovering between an 8 ot a 9 however since I did much side content and spent a good chunk of time playing the game as a delivery and recourse managemnt simu I'd take both into account and it's a 10 no doubt. I have to let to those aspects digest in mind a little more to see if that 10 holds but they really did miss an opportunity to make this a masterpiece with just some light reworking anf having the main story be more along the lines of MGSV's gameplay loop and weave that throughout leave the deliveries to the side missions. Adding the objectives and subobkectives from MGS5.

It also feels like Kojima made the game, knew it was to safe and then retroactively inserted points that are weird for the sake of it and Idk how to feel on that, it's certainly..something. strange how something can be so good and so terrible at the same time.

And finally, looking at the trophy list now, there is cutscene content hidden behind maximising all connections, I just don't know if I want to do it cause the map is too big for ziplines and that'll mean setting up safe houses for vehicles at strategic locations and then ziplining only in certain areas where the terrain is a danger... I think this might be better than DS1 instead of sitting so much time doing nothing hanging off a zipline but I'm not sure yet. It certainly has me intrigued to see how I can get the most efficency with such little bandwidth for these structures and fit other peoples work into my own, it had me me hooked very early, much earlier than DS1 and since much of the standard orders aren't straight deliveries it should mix things up but perhaps loose the zen sim vibes of DS1. This could end up at just plain grind. 

@SvennoJ Don't expect to be ziplinng the continent in DS2, hey. While it's possible with bandwidth and upgrading them gor more distance it makes so logistical sense apart from about 25% of the map where there are 6 or 7 facilities and a few off the beaten path. This is actually really good though, you still need to build roads and some ziplines.

Expect to be building safe houses so you can swap out to vehicles, then ziplining around where needed and then choosing routes either back to your vehicle (maybe you stock a truck full) or to another safe house, to fabricate or pick up a new vehicle. The map is designed in such a way that it will take planning infrastructure around all available options, aswell as the weight of stuff and you still need to use ladders and climbing gear here even in end game for some stuff and cause of the way standard orders are now, there's a lot less straight deliveries. I wasn't keen on this and sadly they've kinda ruined the zen simulator feeling of the game but the mixing and matching of traversal keeps things varied though and you stack way more in your mind for doing and planning multiple routes.

This is why I'm waiting until I can play with full attention.

I already adopted that play style with DS1, planning out multiple deliveries, storing stuff halfway in safe houses, switching between modes of transport and going for the biggest combined deliveries. But you need longer gaming sessions for that to keep it all organized in your mind.

Like this, half an hour delivery (it's already sped up)



Does DS2 also have items that can only carried by hand? (not zip line compatible)
And do you still run faster on the roads? :)

Ah, nice one. You'll love this so but there is a lot of recovery missions where you'll not be using much infradtructure but basic tools and combat orders where you'll need tools and weapons, roads still give you speed and no battery wastage and I haven't came across on cargo yet that's not zipline compatible. 

The games a 10, hardest game I've ever had to rate, it feels like it's getting a 10 by some form of technicality by the way I score games when my gut feeling is a 9. I spent the majority of today thinking about how to get this game down to that gut feeling 9 and I just can't get the negatives weighed up enough to tip the scales. Definetly the best simulator game there is and that's exactly what this is, not strand type but a simulator game with AAA production, action shooter with stealth mechanics and a story tacked on. 

DS1 was an easy 10 but it had freshness and intrigue and lore dumps that matters and treks were more difficult so unlocking things felt really important and then the zen simulator experience that goes along with maxing everything out. This game looses some of that to a degree to follow a more streamlined approach and my biggest critique of the game is they tried to keep one foot in each pond when the obvious thing was to expand the action towards MGSV but for some reason stayed with the delivery system on the main path and nerfed it all. While it's a 10, it's not a masterpiece 10 and a very weak one but I just can't deny that it is quality of such a high degree, gets you feeling shit (even if it is cringe at times) and the game loop is still fantastic, fun and while less so still quite zen and even m9re strategic this time around despite it seeming easier with so much of other players structures placed in. If I lower to a 9 it w9uld only be f9r what they didn't do, the nessesity of the game (the point is the fun) and story (it's still great and some of the coolest scenes in all of gaming and film) and the fact that they do anything over the too mechanically which they could have focused on and none of those are strong enough points to lower a point, the only point that does come close is the selected songs to play in place of Low Roars strong songs does not often hit but even then the OST is great and there is some really good new music with some of DS1s best tracks returning.

The game is fantastic fun, near flawless on most fronts and it's still quite unique if it doesn't feel that way cause of DS1. Some aspects are absolutely next level like the scale of terrain on the map, the detail. The graphics, The VA etc.

The games quality very much depends on how you play it, I'd say B lining this game would bring it down to an 8 tops and I could see many people being bored to an early grave doing the main missions to progress the story and action moments but if you are over zealous, find fun in satisfying repition or micro managing and spend time doing side stuff in between story missions this game is utterly brilliant much like the first just for ever so slightly differing reasons. It's just a pity they were so close to creating a masterpiece and just choose (definetly chose) to not implanting the few small things that could make the game Kojimas PROs best. A real fucking pity.

TL;TR The game is brilliant and near flawless but looses some of the Soul the first had. Kojima also hurt my experience too by putting so much in the trailers, waaaaay to much. It's actually criminal that he robbed the die hard (Die Hardman) fans of most of the cool shit and allowing for a situation where you know what's going to happen next and leaving little intrigue.

Damn, this game is going to take an age to Platinum, 6 hours is an awfully long time to wait for orders to reenter the system.