Death Stranding
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 14 of 78 video games by recommenders
Recommended for its original design, open world and memorable story, and for being unlike typical games. Critics find much of the time spent walking tedious, and the sequel repetitive.
Recommended for its original design, open world and memorable story, and for being unlike typical games. Critics find much of the time spent walking tedious, and the sequel repetitive.
24 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 16
- criticize it
- 8
- approval share
- 67%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 16 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Original, unusual design and ideas
“Some of the best games out there defy a lot of prior design knowledge or things most people don't like but still have a cult following”
Comment from 7 Nov 2025 in “Game design is simple” “there are more unusual games out there with reasonable budgets, like Death Stranding”
Comment from 28 Dec 2025 in “Rainbow Six Siege Hacked as Players Get Billions of Credits and Random Bans” “critical darling, and a hugely original put at doing something new”
Comment from 10 Sep 2026 in “PlayStation cancels Kojima's PHYSINT, Xbox steps in” - Comment from 10 Sep 2026 in “PlayStation cancels Kojima's PHYSINT, Xbox steps in”
Engaging traversal and open world
“Death Stranding has an incredible open world "sandbox", rivaling the ones of GTA”
Comment from 6 Jul 2026 in “Resetting Xbox” “made just moving through the game world engaging and challenging”
Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “Resetting Xbox” “the gameplay is what I really like”
Comment from 27 May 2026 in “The Melancholy of Slaying Monsters” Memorable, satisfying narrative and experience
“DS and DS2 are beautiful games with deep, meaty narratives that are satisfying and rewarding”
Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “Resetting Xbox” “Death Stranding and its sequel are among the best games I've ever played”
Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “Resetting Xbox” “one of my most memorable game experiences ever”
Comment from 29 May 2026 in “Please Use AI” Critically acclaimed Kojima game
“critical darling, and a hugely original put at doing something new”
Comment from 10 Sep 2026 in “PlayStation cancels Kojima's PHYSINT, Xbox steps in” “Clearly a critical success and an objectively good game however.”
Comment from 10 Sep 2026 in “PlayStation cancels Kojima's PHYSINT, Xbox steps in”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Sequel repetitive and less impressive
“less so in the second than the first one, sadly”
Comment from 27 May 2026 in “The Melancholy of Slaying Monsters” “Yes. And DS2 was somehow boring.”
Comment from 10 Sep 2026 in “PlayStation cancels Kojima's PHYSINT, Xbox steps in” “Why did it take six years to make more of the same game?”
Comment from 10 Sep 2026 in “PlayStation cancels Kojima's PHYSINT, Xbox steps in” Unremarkable, only just a game
“I saw nothing particularly interesting about Death Stranding.”
Comment from 10 Sep 2026 in “PlayStation cancels Kojima's PHYSINT, Xbox steps in” “Death Stranding is only a game by the narrowest of margins.”
Comment from 6 Jul 2026 in “Resetting Xbox” “everything after MGS-3 has been very meh IMO”
Comment from 10 Sep 2026 in “PlayStation cancels Kojima's PHYSINT, Xbox steps in” Too much time spent walking
“In DS1, I regretted building the roads because of how they mostly eliminated the need to walk around.”
Comment from 10 Jul 2026 in “Resetting Xbox” “couldn't reconcile my need for entertainment against knowing 80% of those hours were spent walking”
Comment from 10 Sep 2026 in “PlayStation cancels Kojima's PHYSINT, Xbox steps in”
Other video games people recommend
The four most recommended other video games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helldivers 2 | 50 | 34 | 60% | 10 | 1.9 yrs3 owners | — |
| GPU building game | 49 | 16 | 75% | 2 | — | — |
| Triple-A Minesweeper | 40 | 25 | 62% | 1 | — | — |
| Quake II | 33 | 8 | 80% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Death StrandingThis page | 16 | 8 | 67% | 6 | — | Approved |
What people said
25 of the 28 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“critical darling, and a hugely original put at doing something new”
“couldn't reconcile my need for entertainment against knowing 80% of those hours were spent walking”
“Clearly a critical success and an objectively good game however.”
“Why did it take six years to make more of the same game?”
“I saw nothing particularly interesting about Death Stranding.”
“That's $20M plus in the best case, which is still underwhelming.”
“Yes. And DS2 was somehow boring.”
“Death Stranding was groundbreaking in many ways.”
“everything after MGS-3 has been very meh IMO”
“In DS1, I regretted building the roads because of how they mostly eliminated the need to walk around.”
“DS and DS2 are beautiful games with deep, meaty narratives that are satisfying and rewarding”
“made just moving through the game world engaging and challenging”
“Death Stranding and its sequel are among the best games I've ever played”
“Death Stranding has an incredible open world "sandbox", rivaling the ones of GTA”
“Death Stranding is only a game by the narrowest of margins.”
“some older ones from pre 2020: Nier: Automata, Death Stranding”
“I hear that one is good, which I don't dispute given its Kojima origins.”
“one of my most memorable game experiences ever”
“less so in the second than the first one, sadly”
“the gameplay is what I really like”
“albeit in less elegant ways, owing to their expanded scope”
“so far I've got to worry about items degrading, inventory management and enemies”
“the games are not that subtle. Lore dump, sly smile, more game, repeat.”
“there are more unusual games out there with reasonable budgets, like Death Stranding”
“Some of the best games out there defy a lot of prior design knowledge or things most people don't like but still have a cult following”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.