Death Stranding Director’s Cut Has Some Great Quality of Life Improvements

Written by Brandon Hofer on September 27, 2021

News: This new Director’s Cut gives you new content to enjoy while also improving upon some of the existing content from the 2019 game.

Death Stranding: Director’s Cut was recently released on the PlayStation 5 bringing a number of improvements over the base game that was originally released on the PlayStation 4 back in 2019. Back when the original version first came out we posted our review which you can check here. As such this isn’t really a review for the Director’s Cut but more of a way to point out some of the new content and ideas that have been added since I last went through this game approximately two years ago.

When I started my playthrough on the Director’s Cut it wasn’t long before I noticed that the routing system has gone through an upgrade. There are now recommendations on a number of different routes that you can take to your destination. My first big assignment was delivering a body to an incinerator before it could go nuclear and turn the surrounding area into a crater. When I was ready to go I brought up the map and saw that suggested three different routes that I could, each with a difficulty rating. I really appreciated this as it allowed me to tailor my experience to how I wanted it to be at that moment. Did I want to go the easiest route or give myself more of a challenge during my journey? Once I decided what the best option for me was I placed route markers to help keep me on the correct route as I headed towards my destination. The world of Death Stranding is a very open world and it will be easy to get lost if you aren’t paying attention. Planning your route ahead of time and placing markers is not a requirement by any means. If you just want to set out and explore and see where you end up you can do that. You might pay the price at times though if you see yourself at the edge of a cliff with no way down or you got yourself surrounded by a group of BTs and you need to try and backtrack where you have come from, wasting a good amount of time in the process. If you want to plan your own route and ignore the advised routes, you can do that as well. Later on in the game you’ll have to plan our your own routes without a lot of guidance anyway so it is good to get used to how it works.

As I was going through the world, completing missions, and advancing the story, I noticed that there are some new facilities and missions as well. One in particular, “Request No. 77: Utilize the maser gun to retrieve the package found at the factory site” is one I didn’t recognize. This mission gives a little more context into the mystery of the Ruined Factory and gives me a weapon I didn’t have in the base game, the Maser Gun. Once I had it I could practice with it at the Firing Range, another new addition. This new weapon gave me some different options for eliminating enemies such as a continuous shock that will stun them or a headshot that would result in incapacitating an enemy quickly and efficiently. As for the Firing Range itself, it is a facility that offers different simulations so that you can become proficient with the weapons that you find and/or craft. There are ranks and scores too so you can compete with your friends to see who can do the best at the Firing Range.

As you progress in the game and start getting orders that have larger and heavier equipment you are going to need to use a “skeleton” to help you out. This is something you hear that can help with the increased load of your deliveries. There are some different ones that are good for specific occasions but the “support skeleton” is a new one in the Director’s Cut. This new skeleton seems to be right in the middle between a “Power Skeleton” and a “Speed Skeleton”. Being that this is kind of a hybrid skeleton you should be able to get some decent use out of it but there will be times when it might not be the right fit for a particular mission so you need to keep an eye on that. There is also a nice little distraction that they put into the Director’s Cut with a new racetrack. Of course, when you first find it you see that it needs to be repaired and brought back to life but once you can do that, you can then enjoy racing on it. With the addition of the racetrack comes a new car as well. I came across the “Roadster” which is designed specifically for racing. This car isn’t suitable for most delivery runs due to the uneven terrain and other obstacles you face but it can be amazing on a race track.

As I was continuing to progress through the game I noticed other additions such as a Buddy Bot that should make deliveries a little easier for you. There is also a new catapult that you can build that will help you get cargo across long distances in a quick manner. There are also some new customization options such as dictating how often you get the animation to alert you to a BTs presence, different colors you can use on some items, and much more.

As you can see the Death Stranding: Director’s Cut is a refined version of what we received a couple of years back. There is new content that should be a welcome addition to veteran players who already made the journey once. Whether or not that warrants buying the game a second time is up to you but I have really enjoyed these quality of life updates. In fact, it even addressed some of the concerns I had when I originally reviewed Death Stranding. If you have any interest in this game at all, be sure to give the Director’s Cut a chance. The game isn’t for everybody but you might find yourself having a really good time with it.