Never had issues with the game. Not in my newer rig, nor in my old computer. I played it with an i7 960 from 2008 and and i7 7700k, and used a GTX 970, a GTX 1080 and in the end an RTX 3090. Never had any issue with any of them. I didn't played it on launch day but started playing in the beginning of the following month, so there may have been patches and fixes launched meanwhile and they updated the game for a big while after release.
Either way, it's an unfair comparison that on release day things went smoother on PS4 than PC. It was a game developed for PS4 hardware exclusively and optimize to it. It being ported to PC with a good optimization is a feat. There are two or 3 variations of PS4 hardware and a universe of PC combinations. It's only natural that upon release day bugs, errors and need dog optimization surface on the PC. It's not a planned conspiracy.
Also, as I remember, Death Stranding 1.01 patch was around 5GB of bug fixing material. So saying that launch went smooth isn't exactly truthful.
You really don't have to do side missions in the game. The guy could just gallop through the main missions and ignore the rest. And unlike most RPGs, side missions are surprisingly high on production values on HZD. Nor you need to harvest much. Arrow and basic ammunition are more than abundant in the game. If he critiqued the need of inventory management because it'd fill so easily I'd get that and agree, but harvesting? Come on...