Death Stranding How To Play Music While Walking

So apparently it's not possible to listen to spotify while playing Death Stranding. Why? What does that accomplish?

Thread starter AuthenticM
Start date Sep 25, 2021

You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.

the game prominently features a soundtrack with themes that tie in deeply to the game itself, I can see them not wanting to spoil the effect for those moments and maybe there was just no easy way to disable spotify for those specific times when the game wants you to hear a certain song.
I honestly don't even see this as a big deal but I'm sure I'll get slaughtered in replies for being an 'apologist' or whatever.

That is easily fixed, keep Spotify blocked, but for the love of god let me use the music player after beating the story.

I'd like to see them try that with the PC version

It fucking baffles me how in a game essentially about walking through beautiful scenery while low roar plays in the background, there isnt a cassette item. Its baffling.

I mean, it's a creative decision. There's a few amazing moments in the game that would be totally ruined if some other music was playing.

Kojima ruined those music moments in the game by having the songs cut out more often than not just by getting too close to your final destination. Only way those songs usually ever fully play out is if you immediately slow down to a halt.

That is easily fixed, keep Spotify blocked, but for the love of god let me use the music player after beating the story.

yah that would be fine. it's definitely an annoyance that you can't but I think people going DURRRRR KOJIMA AUTUER GONNA AUTUER are overblowing things a bit.

People listen to spotify while playing games...?

PS4 fan loudness made me start to use headphones and listen to spotify and now I got used to it, I feel bad for the videogame music I have missed.

I had my PS5 play a Spotify playlist as I cut down some trees in Minecraft. Was nice.

Kojima ruined those music moments in the game by having the songs cut out more often than not just by getting too close to your final destination. Only way those songs usually ever fully play out is if you immediately slow down to a halt.

That and some only play if you touch the exact spot the devs want but never show you where, hated that because the soundtrack was my favorite part of the game and eased traversal by giving me a motivation.

You WILL listen to Kojima's playlist and you WILL like it

lol

Plenty of games have soundtracks that you might love as much as Bloodborne's that you will never hear.

It's not like I'm going around indiscriminately avoiding soundtracks here or something.

You WILL listen to Kojima's playlist and you WILL like it
lol

I actually do really like this taste in music! I just would like a smidgen of control about when I listen!

prevents you from being entertained while walking for hours

You WILL listen to Kojima's playlist and you WILL like it
lol

What Playlist? Because the post game doesn't have music at all :')

Who cares if it ruins the 'big moments' or whatever in the story? If a player wants to play music then they should be able to play music. Going to the level of blocking things like spotify for the sake of your vision is explicitly telling players they're playing incorrectly.

Allowing restrictions like this at the system level is pretty ridiculous.

death stranding is run based too you run around the country delivering packages

Thanks for this, I chuckled

Given the licensed music is very prominently featured in the game, I can understand them not wanting to allow the system that runs the game to interfere with that. That's fine by me. It's easy enough and more flexible to just use another device to listen to your music if you don't want to listen to the game audio. Plus, Death Stranding has awesome music, anyway.

People listen to spotify while playing games...?

All the time.

Especially when grinding.

Who cares if it ruins the 'big moments' or whatever in the story? If a player wants to play music then they should be able to play music. Going to the level of blocking things like spotify for the sake of your vision is explicitly telling players they're playing incorrectly.

I mean what's wrong with that? The player shouldn't just be able to do whatever they want whenever they want lol. That's like… a huge part of game design. Creating a curated experience.

Given the licensed music is very prominently featured in the game, I can understand them not wanting to allow the system that runs the game to interfere with that. That's fine by me. It's easy enough and more flexible to just use another device to listen to your music if you don't want to listen to the game audio. Plus, Death Stranding has awesome music, anyway.

The problem is that "Awesome music" is completely inexistant in the post game, that portion of the game is awful because of that, the game has an useless music player FFS

why won't the theater let me use my phone in it

Not remotely analogous. Theaters don't let you use your phone because that disturbs the experience for others. Kojima being far enough up his own ass to disallow other music, while certainly a valid creative decision, has no bearing on anyone except the player. Frankly, Sony including that as an api option in the OS strikes me as marginally player hostile. Creatives absolutely have the right to design their works as they see fit, but not to the extent that they actively prevent me from engaging in them the way I choose to do so.

Do you also complain that Netflix lets you pause a movie to go to the restroom? after all, surely it wasn't the director's vision to have a five minute intermission at some random point 45 minutes in...

I didn't even know that people were listening to Spotify (or music) while playing. Why would you do that, especially with Death Stranding?

depends on the game for me... but i listen to some youtube video or podcast while playing long games where you hear the same music for a long time and without much dialogues... if i reach a cutscene or new music i just pause it

I mean what's wrong with that? The player shouldn't just be able to do whatever they want whenever they want lol. That's like… a huge part of game design. Creating a curated experience.

I don't necessarily disagree from the perspective of game design, but interfering with system level functions for the sake of that seems a bridge too far to me.

I feel like people are missing the point that DS:DC is a "DC" so some of the people playing have already beat it if you're trying to do the "It's to help the experience" angle.

Creator's Intention is great but I don't think it should ever be forced on the player at a system level.
Would be like games that go "Please listen with headphones for the best experience" actually ONLY outputting audio if you have headphones on.

--------

Someone said Nioh 2 disables Spotify and that one is even MORE baffling if true.

Yeah my question too! TIL people listen to other stuff while gaming.

Yes? This isn't hardly a new thing. Some games even have spotify integration, Dangerous Driving being one example and some game soundtracks especially if they used licensed music aren't always the best.

Like I have a custom playlist strictly for racing games. Sometimes the built-in soundtrack is good enough but there is always the option to change it up. Just going into the menu and muting the default soundtrack and leaving the sound effects and engine audio and it works.

Same for Tony Hawk 1+2, I can use the default soundtracks but add extra tracks from other THPS games or my own personal mix.

This isn't much different as the custom soundtrack options of old that was slowly phased out over the years. When music streaming services became a big thing it's just became less about dumping your CDs onto your console for custom in-game audio like you could on the original Xbox, and more about just creating a playlist with a bunch of songs and doing that way instead.

AuthenticM

Makes cold threads? I guess? Here's a tag.

Kojima's decision. He didn't want Spotify stuff to "ruin" his game. Auteur gonna auteur.

Reminds me of when Dark Souls would block you from using group chat on Xbox 360.

This is a thing with very few games, but it is a thing. It was a thing with Dragon Quest 11, lol .

Nioh 2 Remastered also blocks Spotify.

Gravity Rush Remastered blocked it too. Idk why

It seems to be a thing with Japanese games. I'm sensing big "we don't let you add milk or sugar to your coffee" energy here. Which I am not entirely against, to be clear.

I didn't even know that people were listening to Spotify (or music) while playing. Why would you do that, especially with Death Stranding?

Imagine not wanting to listen to the Death Stranding soundtrack.
Hell, I thought the soundtrack was better than the game lol.

This is it. It's a creative decision. There are a lot of beautiful moments in this game where music kicks in after a 30 minute trip or something, that'll be ruined if you're blasting your own music throughout the whole game.
Of course you could just listen to Spotify on another device if you really wanted to.

I have already beaten the game on PS4 two years ago. That's why I allow myself to listen to music or podcasts while playing now. I mean I already did so sometimes two years ago near the end of the game after I had already played it for dozens of hours.

You're gonna listen to Low Roar and you're gonna fuckin' like it.

LOL

why won't the theater let me use my phone in it

lol that is such a bad analogy, come on.

That is easily fixed, keep Spotify blocked, but for the love of god let me use the music player after beating the story.

It fucking baffles me how in a game essentially about walking through beautiful scenery while low roar plays in the background, there isnt a cassette item. Its baffling.

I feel like people are missing the point that DS:DC is a "DC" so some of the people playing have already beat it if you're trying to do the "It's to help the experience" angle.
Creator's Intention is great but I don't think it should ever be forced on the player at a system level.
Would be like games that go "Please listen with headphones for the best experience" actually ONLY outputting audio if you have headphones on.

Yeah this I agree with. After you have beaten the game and you are put back into the game world, the game should totally let you listen to other music.

People listen to spotify while playing games...?

Games exist with music that isn't the Paradise Killer soundtrack and I'm very much in denial about that fact.

I'm not playing with music but I hate this when they block Spotify. But I can understand for Death Stranding.

why won't the theater let me use my phone in it

????

People listen to spotify while playing games...?

Uh yeah. I would have stopped playing multiplayer games years ago if I wasn't able to listen to my own music or podcast.

And in games like Tony Hawk or Cyberpunk I curate my own playlist that fit my personal taste but also complement the aesthetic.

for a moment I thought you were talking about the PC version lol. I would have been very worried.

The problem is that "Awesome music" is completely inexistant in the post game, that portion of the game is awful because of that, the game has an useless music player FFS

So the issue here would be that the game would have to check that you're in post game and then allow for Spotify to work in that portion of the game. No way they were going to go through the testing required to satisfy those two states of the game when the developer and publisher of that game doesn't really care at all whether or not you can listen to your Spotify playlist while playing.

I understand that this is annoying, but considering you can listen to your music in numerous other ways outside of your PlayStation if you so choose makes this a very small hill to die on, so to speak. It's essentially a non-issue.

All the time.
Especially when grinding.

Exactly. It's a must for POE, Warframe, Diablo etc etc..

Yes? This isn't hardly a new thing.

I first started doing it back on PS1 days back when I realized I could pull the disc out of some games, throw a music cd in and it would play. OG Xbox obviously had some cool uses as well.

People listen to spotify while playing games...?

Death Stranding is a perfect podcast game (that's not a knock against it, it's a very relaxing experience). I just have stuff playing on my laptop in the background.

I mean what's wrong with that? The player shouldn't just be able to do whatever they want whenever they want lol. That's like… a huge part of game design. Creating a curated experience.

Do you think rebinding controls for example hurts the 'curated experience'? What about speedrunning? Or maybe we should just remove the ability for players to turn off the volume because that affects the experience.

Past a certain point as a game dev you gotta accept that players are not going to play in the exact way you envision and you should be supportive of that.

So the issue here would be that the game would have to check that you're in post game and then allow for Spotify to work in that portion of the game. No way they were going to go through the testing required to satisfy those two states of the game when the developer and publisher of that game doesn't really care at all whether or not you can listen to your Spotify playlist while playing.
I understand that this is annoying, but considering you can listen to your music in numerous other ways outside of your PlayStation if you so choose makes this a very small hill to die on, so to speak. It's essentially a non-issue.

No, there's a super simple fix, LET PEOPLE USE THE IN GAME MUSIC PLAYER!
Seriously, not only is it useless currently they can easily restrict it to post game.

I don't want ways to listen outside of the console, this is an immersive game and if Sam canonically gets music player in his inventory he should be able to use it.
That's my main issue here, not Spotify but the complete disregard for people in the post game.

Complaint: it will ruin the Director's vision.
Solution: Enable it outside those "special moments" so it keeps the vision intact.
Solution 2: New Game+ enables to use of custom soundtrack.

Anyone saying bc it would "ruin" something. To be honest, there a lot of 'downtime' just going on a out your deliveries. It could have been enabled.

Didn't know that - that's awesome

You're gonna listen to Low Roar and you're gonna fuckin' like it.

I already do when I play Lmao but I wanna do it every time I actually go on my journey not just when the game feels like dropping a song.

No, there's a super simple fix, LET PEOPLE USE THE IN GAME MUSIC PLAYER!
Seriously, not only is it useless currently they can easily restrict it to post game.
I don't want ways to listen outside of the console, this is an immersive game and if Sam canonically gets music player in his inventory he should be able to use it.
That's my main issue here, not Spotify but the complete disregard for people in the post game.

To be clear, I'm not arguing that they shouldn't let you use your Spotify playlist. I personally don't understand the desire to play post game Death Stranding in the first place, but regardless of why or when you want to use Spotify, sure, you should be able to use it.

I was really just trying to say that the developer didn't want you to use it, and if they didn't want you to use it and there's a way to stop you from using it, they aren't going to bother putting in any resources to let you use it in specific circumstances, no matter how much or little effort that would take. There's just no incentive for them to do it. And because you have other options for listening to music rather than on the system that's playing the game, it doesn't really seem like something that's worth getting too upset about. There's no way for Kojima to disable all your music playing devices while you play the game. No, it's not as convenient, but I'll be honest, it never even occurred to me that you could play your Spotify playlist on the PS while playing a game...

There's no way for Kojima to disable all your music playing devices while you play the game.

Which makes the fact that they disabled it at all a massive waste of time that only serves to annoy people.

There's no way for Kojima to disable all your music playing devices while you play the game.

You just know he would if he could though. And people would praise it as the act of a transcendent auteur.

Halo 3 gave players a warning when playing other audio, something like 'the game experience is crafted with audio in mind, please reconsider playing other audio!' but then you could just hit A to be like 'yes i know, let me 'ruin the experience' for myself' and it would let you play shit over the game.

Games not letting you do that is stupid and pretentious as fuck. It's a video game. If I want to listen to my playlist, it should let me.

People listen to spotify while playing games...?

All the time, it's great. Every sports or racing game with a terrible soundtrack can be instantly made better

Didn't know that - that's awesome

This ain't it fam.

Helix

Mayor of Clown Town

"I ve worked on this game and it's soundtrack for almost 5 years, carefully curating it's music and tailoring it to the world you are playing. So stop being a bitch and listen to what I have made you man-baby. Fucking Gamers, I swear to God!" - Hideo Kojima in response to Spotify background play being disabled on PlayStation

i listen to podcasts while playing slay the spire

I only listen to a complication of Kojima sound bites without translations from the last 10 years of interviews.

I'm fine with developers saying you're playing it wrong in cases like this tbh.

I read more of the thread after posting this earlier, and I agree on the basis that this is a rerelease and people should be allowed to play whatever they want over the top of a second playthrough (it's a chill game after all). But I do stand by my respect for enforcing how the art should be experienced, from a artistic intent perspective. If a director refused to put their film on streaming, or released it solely in IMAX, I'd respect that for the same reasons.

Artists of course can't fully control how their art is consumed, but controlling the conditions and space around the art beyond the game space itself is honestly fascinating and rare to see. Sure, I'm a fan of auteurism - guilty as charged.

#100

I read more of the thread after posting this earlier, and I agree on the basis that this is a rerelease and people should be allowed to play whatever they want over the top of a second playthrough (it's a chill game after all). But I do stand by my respect for enforcing how the art should be experienced, from a artistic intent perspective. If a director refused to put their film on streaming, or released it solely in IMAX, I'd respect that for the same reasons.
Artists of course can't fully control how their art is consumed, but controlling the conditions and space around the art beyond the game space itself is honestly fascinating and rare to see. Sure, I'm a fan of auteurism - guilty as charged.

It's definitely a case of perspective that's for sure. I can definitely understand the artistry angle, but I'm just not a fan of limiting someone's playability (Especially if it's not their first time playing the game).

While this might not fall into being an accessibility feature I think limitations like this can potentially set a bad precedent. Sort of how you were talking about Deathloop's FOV the other day. If the director came out and went "Well on console, the experience was tailor-made for that" where does the line get drawn?

There's likely no actual right answer as there are likely similar limitations in other games that I've applauded in the past that are a roadblock to others in some way. I suppose all those layers is just part of what makes gaming so complex compared to any other medium.