Connecting My Q-Pid to Gaming
I finished my third (fourth?) playthrough of Death Stranding recently, and it still draws many complex emotions out of me. The sheer loneliness and cynicism present at the beginning, the quiet and serene moments that soundtrack your delivery routes, the panic and frenzy of BT encounters, the adrenaline rush of conquering a MULE camp. It's grown to be one of my favorite games and was the catalyst that sparked my larger interest in gaming during the pandemic. I wanted to jot down that journey here, and while it may not be dramatic, it's a game both monumental to me and the general gaming audience. The sequel should be out by the time of publishing this, let me bore you with my life story so I can quickly start playing the second game.
March of 2020 is when COVID became a tangible event, and during that lock-down my brother let me borrow his PS4 (which I just returned this year). For some perspective on my gaming experience at the time, the last time I was gaming was a translucent purple Game Boy Color, DDR games on my PS2, and a DS Lite an ex gifted me, and a 3DS with Smash Bros. I had upgraded to a shit gaming computer that couldn't handle Overwatch nor Minecraft, and then a Nintendo Switch whenever Splatoon 2 released. My lasting memories of gaming was the endless hours I poured over RollerCoaster Tycoon and Glover on the PC! Owning a PS4 at the time was like upgrading a Blackberry phone to an iPhone. I was aware of the trailers for Death Stranding before release. I was in awe at Kojima's mastery of art, gaming, and cinema. I wasn't yet aware of everything that would culminate to this game: the whole Metal Gear Solid series, the callbacks to Snatcher and Policenauts, the PT demo, the Komani split. I would learn all of it later, but for now I wanted this bizarre piece of media in my hands.
Out of naivety, I bought the big collector's edition, the one with the suitcase and the BB model, I picked it up at my local GameStop and got a Lyft home. I wanted to go big or go home. I popped that steelcase box open to play my dream game, and... it didn't click with me. I made it to the mission where I had to deliver the remains of the President to the incinerator, stopped playing, and didn't come back to it. The sparks weren't flying and I felt pretty embarrassed to have this bulky collector's box, yet I didn't return it. In retrospect, I wasn't used to playing high-budget games with huge maps and an overload of objectives. I have to thank the friends I made for easing me into a level of experience where playing Yakuza 0 didn't feel completely overwhelming.
I moved into a college-friendly apartment where I would consider it my fondest college and young-adult years. I was with openly queer roommates that loved playing Minecraft, MLB the Show, Pikmin, Celeste, Hades, Outer Wilds, Rock Band. Their love of gaming encouraged me to go back in time and get a PS2 and a Sega Saturn. They would get a Wii and Wii U. In turn, I would expose them to excursions like Incredible Crisis, Hylics 2, No Straight Roads, Cruis'n Blast, Panzer Dragoon, the Silver Case, Sly Cooper. I was becoming a lot more serious with this hobby, and it built enough courage to start playing bigger games like Doom 2016, Persona 5, Alan Wake, and Silent Hill. Death Stranding Director's Cut had released by this time with a discount for previous owners, so I decided it was time to start again. From September to October, I finished the game with a platinum trophy on Halloween.
What changed? Well it certainly helped that there was camaraderie whenever a game was played in the living room. A lot of banter and yelping for dingers on MLB the Show, mouths agape at critical plotpoints in Persona 5 Royal, chanting DK West's name on the rap chorus in No Straight Roads, decorating the living area to align with the current Splatfest. Building connection between my friends and the games we played was a major bond in that little apartment, and that bond of people translates well in Death Stranding. Sam Bridge's journey through the West changes how he interacts with people, like having a male bond with Deadman, or collecting chips for his coworkers, or flipping Heartman's hourglass for him, delivering pizza to a random shelter. These are gestures and actions that warm his heart to connect more, and that was just as important during the pandemic we were in at the time. I ventured into baking so my roomies had something to eat. My love of collecting vinyl rubbed off on my roomies, too. In turn, I've grown a love for baseball and was a more in tune to Filipino food and culture.
I'm eternally grateful to have such friends in my life. I currently don't live in California anymore and I've moved in with my partner in Minnesota. I keep in touch with ex-roomies still and I have even visited their new house numerous times since then. As of this writing this sentence, I have already been finished with doing my third playthrough on my Steam Deck. I will be playing Death Stranding 2: On the Beach by the time this is posted, so follow my socials if you want my thoughts on that. Keep on keeping on!