'Death Stranding': Plot Details Reveal How the Game Got Its Mysterious Name

No one can say for sure what Death Stranding is about based on the latest E3 2018 trailer, which is exactly what you should expect from a game by auteur developer Hideo Kojima. However, a recent update to the PlayStation website gives us some more detail on the game’s story and what it’s mysterious name actually means.

We’ve known about Death Stranding for a while now. Kojima’s been releasing weird trailers for his new game since 2016, including an extremely bizarre clip that debuted at the 2017 [Game Awards].(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGZEab9P6kk). In that video we saw some scientists, living mud, floating people, and a baby giving a thumbs up from inside Norman Reedus’ character.

By comparison, the E3 2018 trailer was actually pretty tame. It introduced new characters and even featured some semi-understandable dialogue. However, it still left us with more questions that answers. What are these spectral creatures Norman Reedus is avoiding? Why is his ghost-detecting flashlight powered by a baby? Why are you making me watch him rip off his toenail oh God why? And many more.

Thankfully, this new description seems to provide us with an actual Death Stranding plot:

Besieged by death’s tide at every turn, Sam Bridges must brave a world utterly transformed by the Death Stranding. Carrying the stranded remnants of the future in his hands, Sam embarks on a journey to reunite the shattered world one step at a time. What is the mystery of the Death Stranding? What will Sam discover on the road ahead? A genre defining gameplay experience holds these answers and more.

Based on this description, it sounds like Death Stranding is the name of the phenomena that’s behind all the invisible monsters and phantoms Sam is trying so hard to avoid. Perhaps this is why he’s always carrying around a baby. After all, birth is the opposite of death.

Moreover, it seems to imply that true death is no longer possible in Sam’s world. Those apparitions and creatures appear to be ghosts chained to the mortal world instead of moving on. Death is literally stranded, and the people in the game are just as confused about that as we are. Sam’s job is to find out why.

Death Stranding has no release date, which means the tinfoil hats are in overdrive. Fans are picking apart every tweet, post, and picture from Kojima’s social media profiles to squeeze out any hints. One fan even spotted an Easter egg involving a necklace and one of the bands hired to score music for the game.

We’ll be keeping our eyes open for any new clues, but I have a feeling that we’ll still have more questions than answers even after we’re done playing Death Stranding.