Doni Porteria

What makes a game great? A question that never really occurred to me even though I've been playing since I was young. Nowadays, game reviewers have set metrics in order to grade such parameters, we "measure" such games based on graphics, story, controls, music, you know the sort. But, I've seen myself do and feel this routine whenever I finish a game and see the credits roll - stare blankly at the screen, listen to the ending song, and just contemplate on the whole journey. I guess that's my answer for this question - the feeling of accomplishment. Death Stranding is a game that defies the genre and with the right formula manages to pull-off the impossible - make a mundane delivery side quest it’s core gameplay and be a Game of the Year top contender. Although the game revolves solely in making deliveries, you’ll find yourself forging new paths, building roads, fighting a mob of terrorists and fending off the so-called BTs just to make your life easier in a world experiencing the 6th mass extinction event. I just love how Kojima and his team made so much research with real-life data and crafting that into this game. The material they referenced is unique and well studied. You see, most games or movies would show the aftermath of such event, hence the term “post apocalyptic”. In Death Stranding, you’re in the midst of the crisis. This is one of the things that made me think “What if we’re actually near the 6th mass extinction?”, and what’s a game if it’s not thought-provoking right? The game has been more relevant now than it was before. The game was released in November 2019 where the majority of us do not know what will befall our world. It proved to be true where the first few months on the pandemic were mostly done online, deliveries included. But, there’s more to that. Death Stranding is so much more and it works in hindsight and it’s the player’s job to figure it out. I’d like to think that making deliveries is simply making connections or as the game would want me to phrase “building bridges”. In this pandemic no one can ever be truly alone, and it's our job to forge connections, now more than ever.