Death Stranding - Standard VS Director's Cut

[JimmyRecard00]

Hello

BTW I'm also interested in your opinion on the game!

I'm interested in buying the Standard game now while it's on sale - and as it should be cheap to upgrade for US (I assume?) $10 soon.

But I'm finding it hard to really pin down the differences between Standard and the Director's cut?

For reference - I have a 3070 TI - so I want the best experience in general...

Please note I am mostly interested in things which actually add to gameplay, better graphics, extra solo campaign levels/playtime (that is actually decent), new game mechanics that don't make it too easy but more interesting etc.

Not going to pay extra just for trinkets and clothing and multiplayer maps that no one ever plays etc (unless they are popular/populated).


Thank you for your time

 

[Frag Maniac]

Most players didn't like Death Stranding, myself included. It's very difficult to navigate the terrain on the bike, the enemies are very samey, and the story is just weird. Sales wise it was a big failure, and easy to see why.

Some of my fave games of 2020 and 2021 are...

Doom Eternal
Ghostrunner
Days Gone
RE Village
Halo Infinite

I also just started playing God of War, and so far have a mixed opinion of it. The graphics and world are amazing, as are the battles, especially those against big enemies. The tendency of the game to have a lot of locked items you find though, along with them not being on the map, or being able to set waypoints, makes for tedious, repetitious backtracking.

 

[JimmyRecard00]

Most players didn't like Death Stranding, myself included. It's very difficult to navigate the terrain on the bike

Hi

Yeah I've heard lots of mixed reviews too - makes it hard to decide which way to go with this one?

Did you complete it? How long did it take?


Maybe I misunderstood this.. but I had read that you had to already have the base game activated in your game library BEFORE the Directors Cut comes out in order to get teh $10-15 upgrade option.

Is that true?


I heard someone say if you like Euro truck Sim you might like this - does that sound about right? You just travel most the time?


I'm keen to play most of those games too...

I'm curious about Days Gone as I'd put that in the same basket as this one - as in - I really don't know if they're worth getting or not?

Tell me what you think - and how much of it have you played?

What do you do most the time in it?


GOW looks interesting but I'll wait until it drops in price!


Cheers

 

[Frag Maniac]

I never bother with Director's Cuts, so can't answer that one.

I didn't play a whole lot of Death Stranding, and I never play SIMs type games. You DO have to travel a lot in Death Stranding though, and collect a lot of stuff. The more you bog yourself down with stuff you collect and carry, the harder the travel becomes. So it's either LOTS of trips carrying small amounts, or fewer trips carry lots of stuff, and the insane terrain certainly doesn't make it easy. It's basically a game with tons of boring tedium.

Days Gone is simply a great game. It's by far the most unique zombie game I've ever played, and I've played a lot of them. It has a great world that is fun and immersive to explore, but it also has a good story, both technically as far as the virus, and emotionally. It also scales well difficulty wise, offering a mild story driven experience on the lowest difficulty, up to pretty challenging if you play on the hardest mode and don't sleep to stay in the daytime. At night, the zombies are more aggressive and powerful. Just riding through a dark forest or tunnel at night when you can hear their screams as you whizz by is intimidating, as if you swerve too close to one, they can pounce at you and knock you off your bike. The zombies migrate to feeding zones at night, which are generally mass graves where infected people were buried, and at day they hibernate in caves.

There is also the threat of human factions, among which are Marauders, which are raiders whom will kill to take what they want, Rippers, whom are a cult that worship the Freaks (zombies), Anarchists, whom abide by no laws or code, NERO, the emergency response team studying the virus, and Deschutes County Militia, a militant group with crazy self righteous leader. You play as Deacon, a former Army man, then enforcer of the Mongrels Motorcycle Club. The dialog and voice acting are top notch, lots of good humor between Deek and his buddy Boozer.

I did my last play through on the hardest difficulty using the Massive Hordes mod, which makes zombie hordes bigger. I also didn't sleep, so sometimes I came upon massive hordes at night. You can use them to your advantage if you are stealthy though, like using a makeshift suppressor to fire a shot at someone in a hostile faction camp (which is an oil filter you can scavenge off abandoned vehicles). Then they'll fire an unsuppressed, blind shot, hoping to hit whomever shot them, and in doing so, bring the horde down on the camp. Suppressors wear out quickly though, and only so many cars have oil filters to scavenge.

Later on in the game you'll acquire much more powerful weapons when it's time to take on the hordes.

Time wise, I generally spend the most time on whatever was my fave game at the time. It went from Days Gone, to RE Village, and now I'm doing a complete video walkthrough of Halo Infinite. Not sure I'll do one of God of War though. That's not my typical type of game I excel at, and I generally only make walkthroughs of games I know well.

 

[PCG Jody]

The first thing to know is that "director's cut" is a name Sony insisted on, and isn't really accurate. It's a rerelease with new stuff rather than a restoration of cut content.

That new stuff includes technical things like ultrawide monitor support, as well as some pretty quirky additions like a hoverpack and a racing mode. There's also a new gun, some new tools. There are new missions, but they sound like they're just tutorials for and demonstrations of the added content. It all seems inessential to me.

I played the original version and loved it. There's definitely an element of Euro Truck Sim in that it's largely about traversal, about adding friction to the act of getting from A to B to make it interesting.

I loved that, but I was also engrossed by the story. If the word "weird" sounds more like a recommendation than a warning to you, I think you should play Death Stranding.

There are some quality-of-life elements it doesn't get enough praise for, which I didn't expect (I thought it would be a lazy console port). Little things like being able to pause cutscenes, which is a big plus for me.

 

[Brian Boru]

Did you complete it? How long did it take?

How long is Death Stranding? | HowLongToBeat

How long is Death Stranding? HowLongToBeat has the answer. Create a backlog, submit your game times and compete with your friends!

howlongtobeat.com

If the word "weird" sounds more like a recommendation than a warning to you

I tried that in my dating profile once, didn't get traction…

 

[WoodenSaucer]

How long is Death Stranding? | HowLongToBeat

How long is Death Stranding? HowLongToBeat has the answer. Create a backlog, submit your game times and compete with your friends!

howlongtobeat.com

I'm pretty slow, so I can usually add 50% or more to whatever the internet says is how long a game takes. Haha.

 

[McStabStab]

I absolutely LOVED Death Stranding. In my opinion the sale price is a steal for the game. My thought is to just play the standard edition and see if you like it. If you think the extras are interesting then the $10 upgrade is a no-brainer, but make sure you enjoy the game first.

I personally like games that offer a lot in the way of exploration, and this game does it beautifully.

*EDIT - I spent 50 hours playing the game, and probably around 5 of those hours were me just building extra connections for fun. So I'd say if you mainline the story it's about 40-45 hours.

 

[JimmyRecard00]

Hello

I have just started the Standard edition - but I am curious as to whether I should upgrade to the DIRECTOR'S CUT straight away (as I'm enjoying it a lot) - but I'm still so unsure of what exactly the difference would be as I've seen soo much conflicting info ?

Please only talk about the PC version and be sure your sources are too.

I could care less about cosmetics like gloves, clothes, silly dances etc....

I'd like to know once and for all what 'real' difference would it make, any better technical specs - eg higher fps, extra missions or places etc?

And if they have extra missions etc or whatever the differences are - are they any good - worth upgrading for?

My understanding is 60fps is the max for both?


Please tell me what you know for sure - and if you can - please link me to a definitive article showing the real difference for the PC versions (again - I don't care about cosmetics like clothing etc).


BTW - does anyone know what is the cheapest 'completely legit' site selling the Upgrade at the moment?

I have an epic version - I assume that means I can only upgrade buy buying it from them? If so - I may do that - or I might consider buying a whole new copy elsewhere?


Would it be easier to mod etc on Steam or elsewhere.... do they have anything like that now - or do you think they'll add it later?

BTW - I've been playing the standard version on EPIC - any idea if I could transfer my saves from EPIC to a Steam version?


Thank you for your help

 

[Frag Maniac]

Well, keep in mind them calling it Director's Cut in the first place likely means many of the enhancements are visual, but they DO promise higher frame rates, even on PC.

From the official website...

"In DIRECTOR’S CUT, take on the trials of Sam Bridges with advanced combat, more character actions and a competitive ranking system for special player challenges in this definitive DEATH STRANDING experience.

Experience an extended storyline through new missions in an expanded area. Make use of additional weapons and vehicles, take on new enemy types and explore new locations such as the Firing Range and Racetrack, featuring extra missions and minigames.

Stay connected with other players around the globe. Donate valuable resources to rebuild structures in your world and others’, and offer likes in support of player structures that appear in yours to reward them for their contributions."

The 4th paragraph only talks about frame rate, Photo Mode, Ultra Wide support, and skins, so I didn't include it. Personally, I think what's said in the 2nd and 3rd paragraph might make it worth it if you're really into the game. Perhaps reading a bit of chat about it on the Steam forum for the game might make it more clear on what exactly is added.

From what I've read, some people say it DOES at least contain some things that can make the experience more bearable gameplay wise, like floating cargo carriers, and more rest spots.

 

[Brian Boru]

Anything useful in your previous thread?

Death Stranding - Standard VS Director's Cut

Hello BTW I'm also interested in your opinion on the game! I'm interested in buying the Standard game now while it's on sale - and as it should be cheap to upgrade for US (I assume?) $10 soon. But I'm finding it hard to really pin down the differences between Standard and the Director's cut...

forums.pcgamer.com

@Zloth played the Director's Cut, so he may be able to help.

 

[Pifanjr]

The upgrade on Epic is €10 (might be different for you depending on location), but the Director's Cut is also in this month's Humble's Choice membership for $12, which also includes:

Aliens: Fireteam Elite
Rollerdrome
Life is Strange 2: Complete Season
The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante
Monster Prom 2: Monster Camp
Revita
Founders' Fortune

October 2024 Humble Choice

Get October 2024 Humble Choice and more when you subscribe for just $11.99 per month!

www.humblebundle.com

 

[Pifanjr]

As for whether you can transfer the save from Epic to Steam: from what I understand it should be possible, but you might have to do a workaround.

From https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Death_Stranding

Corrupted save data


The game does not allow players to share their save data, displaying a "corrupted data" error.

Modify the game executable to bypass the save data checks[45]

Open <path-to-game>\ds.exe or <path-to-game>\DeathStranding.exe in a hex editor (e.g. HxD). Search for 75 05 41 C6 46 3A 11 48 8D 8D as hex. Replace it with EB 05 41 C6 46 3A 11 48 8D 8D to bypass the checks. Save the changes. Launch Death Stranding and load the game. On the first launch, a "corrupted data" error may pop up: click "OK" and ignore it. This will only show once. When the new save data has been loaded and saved, the original executable can be restored.

I'd advise to make a backup of the executable before editing it, just to be sure.

 

[Zloth]

Switching from one store to another is probably going to break. While I wouldn't call the game an MMO, it is definitely logging into some sort of server farm somewhere. It never asks your identity, so I expect it uses your store credentials. There might be some way to pull it off if you play completely off-line, but you lose a lot doing that. Anyway, search the internet to see what you can see, but I would plan on playing it on Epic.

Director's Cut is worth it at $10. The training grounds lets you try out new weapons, which is hugely helpful. I don't know how standard version folks deal with the game sans floating carrier. The extra mission series is somewhat meh, but it's better than nothing and does give you some interesting info about Fragile. Removing the energy drink advertisements is a good thing. The racetrack might be fun for racing fans, but I didn't care for it all that much.

Aaaaaand now I have to go watch that video I recorded for Order 70....

 

[Pifanjr]

Switching from one store to another is probably going to break. While I wouldn't call the game an MMO, it is definitely logging into some sort of server farm somewhere. It never asks your identity, so I expect it uses your store credentials. There might be some way to pull it off if you play completely off-line, but you lose a lot doing that. Anyway, search the internet to see what you can see, but I would plan on playing it on Epic.

I've seen posts of people who successfully switched from Game Pass to Steam, so I think Epic to Steam should be possible as well. And with Game Pass you also see stuff that Xbox players have done and that stays in the game even after switching to Steam, it just shows the user as "Unknown". So I guess all of the online stuff gets stored locally in your save file as well, including your own account details.

 

[JimmyRecard00]

Anything useful in your previous thread?

Death Stranding - Standard VS Director's Cut

Hello BTW I'm also interested in your opinion on the game! I'm interested in buying the Standard game now while it's on sale - and as it should be cheap to upgrade for US (I assume?) $10 soon. But I'm finding it hard to really pin down the differences between Standard and the Director's cut...

forums.pcgamer.com

@Zloth played the Director's Cut, so he may be able to help.

Ahhh - I forgot about that.

I thought I had done that but I actually did check my thread and didn't see it... guess I didn't look far back enough!
Apologies!

BTW I've gone ahead and bought the Steam Director's Cut now - so that and the prior thread I forgot - if you want to delete or close this thread that's cool. However, someone might find it useful?


cheers

 

[JimmyRecard00]

The upgrade on Epic is €10 (might be different for you depending on location), but the Director's Cut is also in this month's Humble's Choice membership for $12, which also includes:

Aliens: Fireteam Elite
Rollerdrome
Life is Strange 2: Complete Season
The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante
Monster Prom 2: Monster Camp
Revita
Founders' Fortune

October 2024 Humble Choice

Get October 2024 Humble Choice and more when you subscribe for just $11.99 per month!

www.humblebundle.com

Thanks man - I didn't know about this - I went ahead an bought this and it's saved me a lot of money so cheers !

 

[JimmyRecard00]

As for whether you can transfer the save from Epic to Steam: from what I understand it should be possible, but you might have to do a workaround.

From https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Death_Stranding


I'd advise to make a backup of the executable before editing it, just to be sure.

Yeah it seems very messy and hit and miss....

see my thread here if anyone has any solid info that definitely works - or if they need to transfer too ?

Death Stranding - (Best/Complete Save Game Transfer Solution for Epic Standard to Steam Director's Cut) ?

I've asked 505 and so far they won't help at all, but I've tried again with a slightly different request - so wait and see but it's not looking good.

It's dumb - they were concerned enough to make sure people could transfer from completely different systems like console to PC, but don't care about PC to PC?

frustrating!


cheers

 

[JimmyRecard00]

Well, keep in mind them calling it Director's Cut in the first place likely means many of the enhancements are visual, but they DO promise higher frame rates, even on PC.

From the official website...

"In DIRECTOR’S CUT, take on the trials of Sam Bridges with advanced combat, more character actions and a competitive ranking system for special player challenges in this definitive DEATH STRANDING experience.

Experience an extended storyline through new missions in an expanded area. Make use of additional weapons and vehicles, take on new enemy types and explore new locations such as the Firing Range and Racetrack, featuring extra missions and minigames.

Stay connected with other players around the globe. Donate valuable resources to rebuild structures in your world and others’, and offer likes in support of player structures that appear in yours to reward them for their contributions."

The 4th paragraph only talks about frame rate, Photo Mode, Ultra Wide support, and skins, so I didn't include it. Personally, I think what's said in the 2nd and 3rd paragraph might make it worth it if you're really into the game. Perhaps reading a bit of chat about it on the Steam forum for the game might make it more clear on what exactly is added.

From what I've read, some people say it DOES at least contain some things that can make the experience more bearable gameplay wise, like floating cargo carriers, and more rest spots.

I didn't realise some of the graphical upgrades really were only for the Director's Cut - eg Xess update etc. I kind of got the impression although they kind of said that was the case - it seemed that both versions had the same pc specs/graphics settings etc?

cheers for the info

 

[JimmyRecard00]

BTW if anyone is interested - someone posted this - re the differences....

1 addition in episode 1:
Route planing tutorial

9 new main missions:
2 story orders available in episode 2 (No. 77/78)
1 story order available in episode 15 (No. 79)
3 vog-preserved resources orders (No. 80/81/82)
3 porter carrying rescue orders (No. 83/84/85)

40 new side missions:
Order No. 600-639

1 new location:
Ruined Factory area available in the eastern region

1 new facility:
Firing Range with 28 Drills

1 new highway:
Route 41 can now be built in mountainous areas

New racetrack:
Fragile Circuit (Complete order No. 35, then read yellow-letter email from Thomas Southerland, go to the south of the Timefall Farm and build it)

1 new additon to enemy camps:
Camps now feature Mounted Machine Guns from episode 5 onwards

New combat mechanics:
Upgraded melee system with three new moves (Body Slam, Drop Kick, Knee Strike)
Mounted Machine guns can be used by the player
BB gets "excited" for short periods when entertained enough. During this time, he can repel bullets and BTs are shown while walking

New mechanics:
One floating carrier can be taken with you on a Zip Line
Cargo, chiral crystals, cryptobiotes can be picked up while on Reverse Trike
Strands can be used to tie down cargo loaded on floaters, buddy bots and reverse trikes. Tying them down prevents the cargo from falling off even in a severe fall & prevents attacks that take away the cargo

New delivery equipment:
Support Skeleton (Order No. 77)
Cargo Catapult (Order No. 46)
Jump Ramp (Order No. 80)
Chiral Bridge (Order No. 81)
Buddy Bot (Order No. 83)

New backpack equipment :
Spare Ammo Pouch (Lv. 2) (Complete all 28 Firing Rage Drills with B-S Rank)
Stabilizer (Lv. 3) (5 Stars at Mountain Knot City)
Extra Battery (Lv. 4) (5 Stars at Distro North of Mountain Knot City)

3 new vehicles:
Roadster (S-Rank in any Roadster race)
Roadster Long Range (S-Rank in all four Roadster races)
Reversed Trike: Transporter (4 Stars at Lake Knot City)

1 new weapon:
Maser Gun (Order No. 77)

8 new songs:
Apocalyptica - “Path” (Complete Episode 1)
Apocalyptica - “Path Vol. 2” (Complete Episode 1)
Biting Elbows - "Alone" (Complete Episode 1)
Biting Elbows - "Control" (Order No. 83)
Biting Elbows - "Other Me" (Order No. 85)
Midge Ure - "Fragile" (Complete Episode 1)
Woodkid - "Goliath" (Order No. 78)
Woodkid - "Pale Yellow" (Order No. 77)

New additions to the private room:
2 DOOMs Nightmare cutscenes
Nightmare Battles (Revisit boss fights)

New online functions:
Friend Play (Friends can be added as strand contracts) (Bridge Link Lv. 10)
Ranked Boss battles with leaderboards
Ranked Drills with leaderboards
Ranked Orders with leaderboards
Ranked Races with leaderboards

New controller functions:
DualSense Haptic Feedback
DualSense Adaptive Trigger
DualSense Edge Support

New graphics:
Improved water effects

New technology:
NVIDIA Image Scaling
NVIDIA DLSS 2.3.7 (updated version)
AMD FSR 1.0
AMD FSR 2.0
Intel XeSS 1.1

Other:
Updates, improvements and additons to ui, compass mode, fast travel, tips, options etc.
Backpack Patches, BB Pod Colors/Customization, Buddy Bot Colors, new holograms, new interview data, ludens ducks in hot springs etc.

 

[Frag Maniac]

...it seemed that both versions had the same pc specs/graphics settings etc?

Well it's not surprising if they added visual enhancements, but also improved frame rate, that the two would offset one another, so no requirements/settings change seems logical to me.

 

[Brian Boru]

Apologies!
…
if you want to delete or close this thread that's cool.

No worries, few/none of us can remember threads that far back

I'll see if I can merge the threads, or else add a link to this to the old one.

ETA: merged.