Death Stranding Director's Cut Reviews
Odd, compelling, and ultimately engrossing, Death Stranding: Director's Cut is a genre mash-up with more than a few ideas of its own. Not quite a work of genius, it's nonetheless something that once again demonstrates the madness and brilliance of Hideo Kojima. Five years on from its original release, it's only gained in relevance.
I would recommend it blindly, with its pros and cons, and I would even justify some of its “problems” with a psychology towards the player that really ends up getting rid of the infamous “Ludonarrative Dissonance”.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Death Stranding: Director’s Cut may not resonate with everyone who plays it. This is not a typical action game. It’s pensive for long stretches with bizarre instances of humor and sudden bouts of action. Death Stranding: Director’s Cut blends several genres into an epic surrealist sci-fi epic. Kojima’s message may be aggressively in-your-face, but at least it is a message worth having.
Death Stranding Director’s Cut refines Kojima’s unique vision of a post-apocalyptic America, adding new missions, traversal tools, and combat options that enhance the original gameplay. With a focus on reconnecting a fractured world, each journey in Sam Porter Bridges’ story feels purposeful. While its slow, contemplative pace isn’t for everyone, Death Stranding Director’s Cut offers a rich, immersive experience for those looking for something different.
The Xbox version of Death Stranding Director's Cut represents an excellent opportunity for all Microsoft gamers who had never been able to get their hands on Kojima's latest creation. To this day, Death Stranding remains a superlative game with unique gameplay. Despite this, we are still faced with a game that divides the gaming community without half measures: if you didn't like it initially, you won't this time either. On the whole, however, the porting to Xbox Series X/S has been optimised properly, as it was already done on PS5.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Death Stranding: Director's Cut is a unique game, the product of a volcanic mind capable of creating a fascinating, visually stunning world with unique gameplay mechanics. The downside, however, is missions that become repetitive and tedious in the long run, with an obsession with extremely long and tedious dialogue. A work dominated by genius and unruliness, a true auteur game that we recommend everyone try at least once.
Review in Italian | Read full review
When I was first asked what mark I’d give Death Stranding out of five, I said I would give it a question mark. It’s certainly not conventionally “fun”, at least not for the first several hours. It depends on how much the player is willing to embrace Kojima’s artistic vision and absorb themselves in it. Death Stranding simultaneously tedious and exciting, profound and inane, terrifying and laughable. Like the spectral beings that inhabit this post-apocalyptic America, it’s often shapeless and hard to comprehend. One thing is for sure though: it’s like no game you’ve ever played before. In a world full of pandering pablum and endlessly milked franchises, it’s extraordinary for a big-budget game to be so daringly different. Death Stranding: Director’s Cut doesn’t just re-invent the wheel, it re-invents the whole cart, and that’s why the definitive edition of Hideo Kojima’s opus is well worth playing.
Death Stranding: Director's Cut provides the best Strand experience without changing too much. This version offers new content and features making an overall good experience even better.
At its core, Death Stranding: Director's Cut is an inventory management game. The more you play, the more freedom you have to do things with that inventory. You can help others. You can hurt others. You can save citizens. You can kill them. You can grow your world. You can destroy it. Regardless of your decision, DSDC is a game unlike others in that your assumptions about core gameplay loops and storytelling are pushed aside in favor of exploring a disconnected future. For those who have yet to play DS, DSDC is clearly the iteration of DS that is worthy of your time given its iterations that are increasingly respectful of your time and patience while also giving you additional creative outlets to muck about. For those of you who were unable to get hooked into this game, then DSDC may not be the answer you seek in a cinematic experience. Give it a shot, though; I'd love to be proven wrong.
Let me be clear: if you didn’t like Death Stranding when it first came out, then this Director’s Cut will do basically nothing to fix any of the game’s issues for you. It is still obtuse at times, a bit too long, a bit too confusing for some. However, if you were a fan of the original launch, then there’s just enough new content here to justify the upgrade. It sure gave me the perfect excuse to start a fresh save and enjoy these brand new additions.
Death Stranding Director's Cut is a rare game that has no middle ground. It delivers a unique experience that encourages planning and patience but places high action on only rare situations. It falls under the umbrella that if you like this gameplay style, you're going to love Death Stranding, and if you don't, there's nothing for you here.
Death Stranding: Director’s Cut is better than Death Stranding. Beyond that, there’s not really a lot I can say about it. If you didn’t like Death Stranding, you’ll find this game a little bit more tolerable. If you did like Death Stranding, you’ll enjoy this upgraded version; Or you won’t. Seeing as the point of Death Stranding was to struggle, maybe a less frustrating version of the game isn’t what fans want.
Death Stranding Director's Cut is the extended version of the game, with new missions and an organic expansion of the story. Not to forget the new objects, locations and the considerable improvements in their combat, with new animations and combos. I assure you that, if you go beyond the first stage, where the game is much rougher with the player, you will no longer be able to stop. An outstanding graphic and artistic level that leaves no one indifferent, a spectacular and expanded soundtrack for the occasion, with a perfect song for every moment. Human characters with whom you will connect, for their stories and strength to overcome and, others, you will simply hate them. In part, thanks to the large cast of actors and voices.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
In our review of Death Stranding Director's Cut we put aside the big words because once again we needed to explain, explain and explain again its indecipherable gameplay, as well as the introduction of the new gadgets and tasks released with the Director's Cut. Whether you only discover it now, or you decide to upgrade from the previous version, Death Stranding remains an experience that, regardless of your personal taste, is valid, important and destined to remain lucid in the memories of those who will trust it, for a very long time. Almost as prophetic as the brilliant Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Sam Porter Bridges' journey westwards, despite some unnecessarily brainy and drawn-out sequences, remains profound and filled with messages and social themes too powerful to be ignored, which first pass through the gameplay, with the efforts required of the player, and then culminate in a genuinely moving final sequence. We will not begin, as practice would require, to justify at any cost the high rating that will surely be making someone turn up their nose, but if you are tired of the usual experiences, and want to experience on yourself something really new, try Death Stranding ... and trust that never as in this case, a gameplay on YouTube just will not be enough to make you understand what you're about to meet.
Review in Italian | Read full review
With a few of its existing rough edges smoothed out, Death Stranding Director's Cut manages to be a more approachable experience than its previous incarnation, and for those coming back to it, there's just enough new to warrant a second journey across America.
The Death Stranding Director's Cut on PC is well worth it for fans and for those who missed it first time around.
An absolutely enjoyable experience gameplay-wise, but a definitely skippable story; you're better off playing Death Stranding like a walking simulator and completing each area as you're introduced to it, rather than rushing to an unfulfilling story conclusion.
Death Stranding: Director's Cut on PC is the best release of the game to date.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The most polarizing AAA game of 2019 receives a fresh coat of paint, elevating it beyond its 8th generation confines.
Hideo Kojima has proven to us over and over again that he is a genius when it comes to making games. Death Stranding is not only a great masterpiece, it is a unique experience with an immersive story worthy of a movie. However, its gameplay left us on several occasions pondering it could be much more refined how repetitive the game can become because of it. For those who have never played Death Stranding, the Director's Cut edition is a must. If, on the other hand, you already purchased it for Playstation 4, consider returning to this world if you really liked the game and want more of the same.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review