Haven't played the game myself (and probably won't until it comes out on PC, since I don't own a PS4) but Death Stranding made me remember something that's always served me well, in fandom and otherwise:

Don't get hung-up on what reviewers say.

Some of the very first reviews I saw for the game were trashing it backwards and forwards (with one reviewer going so far as to imply that game-developers should never be given the creative freedom that Hideo Kojima currently enjoys). And yet, every person in my circle of friends and acquaintances who has gotten to play the game so far, has been more or less raving about different aspects that appealed to them.

There's a very good reason I keep insisting so firmly on the notion of the fundamental subjectivity of art and why I have no patience for certain Big Geek Media types and their obsession with labeling art 'objectively X / Y' ('objectively good' for what they enjoy and what appeals to them, 'objectively bad' for what they don't enjoy and doesn't appeal to them). Meanwhile, I'm sitting there, quietly scoffing and going "there's absolutely nothing objective about you labeling this as 'good' because the tone and the aesthetics happened to be on-point for you." When I say that something is 'good', I judge it so from the point of view of my own subjective perception and personal tastes, rather than any sort of universal litmus test that would never actually be 'universal'. Even when I'm unhappy with something, I also acknowledge that my own individual expectations are in play (for example, I don't expect others to be as critical of She-Ra's storytelling as I am, if 'building believably military operations and a believable military hierarchy' isn't a priority in their own suspension of disbelief).

Which brings me back to reviews and reviewers. My rule of thumb has always been to use reviews as a loose guideline at best and, particularly where video-game reviews are concerned, to focus on those highlighting actual technical issues with a game. I say this because I would have missed out on many things that I dearly loved upon watching or playing, if I had let reviewers' opinions about tone or story or characters influence my own decisions.