Regarding "To the Wilder" mode.

[Metric Guard]

Interestingly, the description for this new difficulty level says "there is no turning back once you embark upon this punishing journey". Does this really mean the difficulty can't be changed upon selecting "To the Wilder"? If so, I wonder if there's any reason for this restriction beyond "we don't want you to chicken out".

Nonetheless, I'm glad that this was added. Kojima said in an interview back in December[xtrend.nikkei.com] that he consciously made DS2 easier than its predecessor. This was pretty disappointing to hear as someone who thinks the first game's biggest flaw is that even its highest difficulty level isn't as challenging as I feel it should be. In that same interview, Kojima did acknowledge that fans of the first Death Stranding weren't thrilled by the sequel being easier, so there was hope that this problem would be addressed.

Ideally, "To the Wilder" mode will make the game tougher than the first game, but even if that's not the case, it's great that KJP is attempting to address the issue at all, and that my first experience with DS2 will be with this new difficulty mode.

[ImHelping]

Did you miss the "Kojima thought people were having too much fun in the playtest, and knew he had to change that" stuff back in development? Granted I can't track down a quote source for that right now.

Just set your expectations to "Will need more cans of repair spray and other 'stop to use a menu' instead of smarter travel" unless non BT combat becomes "Call of duty enemies vs your MMO dozens of headshots for one guy guns" scaled.

But for a bit of optimism, hopefully you will appreciate every middle of nowhere shelter you find online now. Those actually matter on higher difficulty weather settings to fix a ride that is 80% melted on a basic trip instead of 30% without detours.

[qverty56]

Originally posted by ImHelping:

Did you miss the "Kojima thought people were having too much fun in the playtest, and knew he had to change that" stuff back in development? Granted I can't track down a quote source for that right now.

It was about story

[Nova_Megami2113]

As long as that one prick you have to help isnt made harder I will be happy.

[Mountain Man]

I assume it's meant for the gaming masochists who enjoy Elden Ring.

[Nova_Megami2113]

We will probably find out in the next day or so now...

[Chonkems]

Originally posted by ImHelping:

Did you miss the "Kojima thought people were having too much fun in the playtest, and knew he had to change that" stuff back in development? Granted I can't track down a quote source for that right now.

Just set your expectations to "Will need more cans of repair spray and other 'stop to use a menu' instead of smarter travel" unless non BT combat becomes "Call of duty enemies vs your MMO dozens of headshots for one guy guns" scaled.

But for a bit of optimism, hopefully you will appreciate every middle of nowhere shelter you find online now. Those actually matter on higher difficulty weather settings to fix a ride that is 80% melted on a basic trip instead of 30% without detours.

I'd imagine non-BT combat is probably the same as DS1 on Very Hard just with expanded moveset of 2 obviously. So, Non-lethal takes more shots to the head, Lethal takes one or two.

[Derpaholic]

"your porter skills to the extreme in merciless environments filled with deadly enemies"
"completing orders will require every ounce of ingenuity you can muster."
"Once you select it, there's no turning back"

by Lazy_Ad8126 on reddit

-this is all I could find regarding it.

[Nova_Megami2113]

Yeah, thats literally the description in game. It doesnt tell you what it actually does. We will probably find out more in the next day.

[ImHelping]

Originally posted by 鬱Nova:

Yeah, thats literally the description in game. It doesnt tell you what it actually does. We will probably find out more in the next day.

While it probably WON'T be the case? Gaming patterns have taught me to still expect "Where is the ironman mode? You hate realistic lore friendly gameplay if you don't want a checkbox to hand hold you through deleting your save/screwing you if the save bugs out!" in yet another franchise where the protagonist respawning is significant lore.

[Kakihara]

Surely a true hard mode would be one where other peoples structures are turned off. No help whatsoever?

[Nova_Megami2113]

Originally posted by Kakihara:

Surely a true hard mode would be one where other peoples structures are turned off. No help whatsoever?

I mean you can make that choice for yourself in game. You have the option to play completely offline.

[ImHelping]

Originally posted by Kakihara:

Surely a true hard mode would be one where other peoples structures are turned off. No help whatsoever?

Originally posted by 鬱Nova:

Originally posted by Kakihara:

Surely a true hard mode would be one where other peoples structures are turned off. No help whatsoever?

I mean you can make that choice for yourself in game. You have the option to play completely offline.

Half the premise is people know in IN UNIVERSE "backtracking sucks. Thank god you are here to hook up the magic wifi that makes backtracking suck less", but that never stopped people from screaming online stickers and ziplines "mean I never made it on my own!" when, you know, those are disabled until you make it on your own.

I say this as a freak who did launch DS1 grinding the wind farm before leaving the first map (which is still worse even on replays with ziplines than the rest of the game's supposedly hard deliveries. 60 seconds of wind farm zipline during windstorms nearly destroys your cargo protection more than a long mountain blizzard hike!), building highway off the grid without online materials as much as possible, skipping ziplines until the last 1/10th of the map.

You are missing out on "the experience" by ignoring online stuff entirely.

[Nova_Megami2113]

Originally posted by ImHelping:

Originally posted by Kakihara:

Surely a true hard mode would be one where other peoples structures are turned off. No help whatsoever?

Originally posted by 鬱Nova:

I mean you can make that choice for yourself in game. You have the option to play completely offline.

Half the premise is people know in IN UNIVERSE "backtracking sucks. Thank god you are here to hook up the magic wifi that makes backtracking suck less", but that never stopped people from screaming online stickers and ziplines "mean I never made it on my own!" when, you know, those are disabled until you make it on your own.

I say this as a freak who did launch DS1 grinding the wind farm before leaving the first map (which is still worse even on replays with ziplines than the rest of the game's supposedly hard deliveries. 60 seconds of wind farm zipline during windstorms nearly destroys your cargo protection more than a long mountain blizzard hike!), building highway off the grid without online materials as much as possible, skipping ziplines until the last 1/10th of the map.

You are missing out on "the experience" by ignoring online stuff entirely.

See with Death Stranding my first playthrough was offline. My next 4 playthroughs over different consoles and pc was online. Death Stranding 2 both playthroughs I only played with "Only Some" for online mode as I couldn't stand the constant online requests from people everywhere.

[Kakihara]

Originally posted by ImHelping:

I say this as a freak who did launch DS1 grinding the wind farm before leaving the first map (which is still worse even on replays with ziplines than the rest of the game's supposedly hard deliveries. 60 seconds of wind farm zipline during windstorms nearly destroys your cargo protection more than a long mountain blizzard hike!), building highway off the grid without online materials as much as possible, skipping ziplines until the last 1/10th of the map.

I five starred the wind farm at the beginning as well.

I'm just about to finish the five star grind on my first playthrough, I only have the Veteran Porter, Peter Englert and The First Prepper left to five star but I've burnt myself out.

Hopefully tomorrow I can find some willpower and finish them before Death Stranding 2 releases!

The best parts of the game looking back were probably the parts where I had hardly any equipment/structures to help me and I had to wing it.

I think I'm burnt out now because the snowy mountains are annoying to traverse unless you have a bike. I'm basically ziplining back and forward now looking for Veteran Porter cargo to pick up, it's super tedious.

Can I find First Prepper cargo on the ground now I got him to join the grid at one star? Or does he take ages to get to five stars as well?

[Nova_Megami2113]

I feel that. I can't leave areas until 5 starred. So I spent ages in the first area for DS1 and 2. Then I try to 5 star everything I can before making story progress. Probably why I have now about 913 hours in DS2 (over 2 playthroughs) having ocd helps? I think?