Death Stranding

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About

Death Stranding is a video game by Japanese game designer Hideo Kojima. Following the announcement at Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2016 conference, the game was widely discussed for being the first production by Kojima since his controversial departure from the Japanese entertainment company Konami. The game was released as a timed exclusive released on the PlayStation 4 on November 8th, 2019, followed by a delayed release on PC systems.

History

Pre-Release

On June 13th, 2016, Japanese game designer Hideo Kojima announced upcoming video game Death Stranding during the Sony conference at E3 (shown below, left), along with a reveal trailer in which the protagonist (played by Norman Reedus) wakes up naked on a beach next to an infant, whom he tries to cradle in his arms before it turns invisible and crawls away from him (shown below, right). Within 72 hours, the YouTube upload of the trailer received upwards of 1.5 million views and 3,000 comments.

That evening, Kojima tweeted^[1] two posters from the game, which garnered upwards of 25,300 likes and 19,000 retweets in three days. Meanwhile, several threads about the game reached the front page of the /r/metalgearsolid,^[3] /r/gaming^[4] and /r/PS4^[5] subreddits.

Also on June 13th, Tumblr user universequartz^[6] posted an edited version of the illustration "You Are Safe Now My Child" illustration mocking Kojima's E3 presentation (shown below, left). Over the next several days, the post garnered more than 23,100 notes. On June 14th, Redditor Jade_Curtiss posted a high resolution image of the Death Stranding protagonist taken from Kojima's website, where equations can be seen etched on to the outside of flashdrives hanging around his neck (shown below, center). Within 48 hours, the post gathered upwards of 2,400 votes (89% upvoted) and 260 comments on /r/gaming.^[2] On June 15th, Redditor lerigan uploaded a three-pane comic in which the titled on the Death Stranding poster changes into the phrase "Fuck You Konami" after a pair of eyeglasses are cleaned (shown below, right). In less than 24 hours, the post accumulated over 2,000 votes (89% upvoted) and 120 comments on /r/gaming.^[7]

December 2017 Trailer

On December 7th, 2017 at The Game Awards, Kojima and Reedus introduced a second, eight-minute trailer for Death Stranding (shown below). In the trailer, Reedus' character is on a mission when his crew appears to be besieged by aliens. Reedus then awakens underwater and the camera zooms in to inside him, where a baby gives the camera a thumbs-up gesture.

Following the release of the trailer, Reedus joked that he was as baffled as everyone else.^[8] Meanwhile, online, Twitter users joked about the quick glance of the baby. Twitter user @redpandagamer^[9] tweeted that the baby was a contender for Best New Character, gaining over 730 retweets (shown below, left). User @TheHayleyBaby^[10] made a Record Scratch Freeze Frame joke about the moment, gaining over 360 retweets and 1,300 likes (shown below, right). The jokes were covered by Twitter Moments^[11] shortly after the trailer was released.

E3 2018 Trailer

On June 11th, 2018 Sony revealed another trailer for Death Stranding at E3 2018 which was again light on details but did show some gameplay footage (shown below).

The trailer revealed that Norman Reedus' character was named Sam Bridges. It also introduced a female character played by Lea Seydoux. Online, fans joked about the trailer's lack of details and their continued enthusiasm for the game. For example, Tumblr user bookerdewittless posted a text post parodying their cluelessness while watching the trailer, gaining over 11,000 notes (shown below, left). User pentaghastly used an It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia scene as an exploitable to express their confusion and excitement about the game, gaining over 4,700 notes (shown below, right).

Release Date Reveal Trailer

On May 29th, 2019, game designer Hideo Kojima posted a series of tweets introducing characters of the game, as well as provided his explanation of the game's premise (shown below).^[17]^[18]^[19]^[20]

On the same day, the gameplay trailer for Death Stranding was released, with a November 8th, 2019 release date announced.^[12] Within 24 hours, the trailer accumulated over 4.3 million views. (shown below)

In the following hours, multiple memes and jokes referencing scenes from the trailer were posted online on Twitter, Reddit and other online platforms. In some examples, users joked that Hideo Kojima had a strong affection for actor Mads Mikkelsen who portrayed character Cliff in the game, referencing his earlier tweet.^[20]

The trailer release was covered by several major gaming and mainstream media outlets, including BBC,^[13] Polygon,^[14] Daily Dot^[15] and Mashable.^[16]

Kojima's "Strand Game" Tweets

On May 30th, 2019, Kojima tweeted "clarifying" the genre of the game, saying it is not a "stealth" game but rather a "brand new action game with the concept of connection (strand). I call it Social Strand System, or simply Strand Game."^[21] On June 4th, he reiterated the point, tweeting "As I'm getting similar questions so I shall re-post. DS is not a stealth game. Could move subjectively but not a FPS shooting game either. By incorporating with the concept of connection(strand), it's totally brand new genre called action game/strand game(social strand system)."^[22]

Twitter users responded enthusiastically to Kojima's tweets, though they were clearly confused as to what "Strand game" meant. User @Elevations_ tweeted a picture of a person holding a sign saying they didn't understand but was happy Kojima was passionate, gaining over 220 retweets and 1,700 likes (shown below, left). User @pantsuitEmpori2 jokingly tweeted that Death Stranding was their favorite "Strand" game (shown below, right). Kojima's tweets were covered by AV Club,^[23] who reported from looking through promotional materials that the game will likely be an action game with an emphasis on online co-op.

Release

On November 8th, Death Stranding was released for the PlayStation 4 console.^[24] On the day of the release, the game peaked with 291,000 simultaneous Twitch viewers.^[25]

Reception

As of November 11th, 2019, the PS4 version of the game maintained a 83 critic score (84 reviews) and 7.0 user score (6,900 reviews) on Metacritic.^[26]

Kallie Plagge of GameSpot^[27] wrote:

Death Stranding is a hard game to absorb. There are many intertwining threads to its plot, and silly names, corny moments, and heavy exposition belie an otherwise very simple message. That comes through much more clearly in the game's more mundane moments, when you find a desperately-needed ladder left behind by another player or receive a letter from an NPC thanking you for your efforts. It's positive without ignoring pain; in fact, it argues in both its story and its gameplay that adversity itself is what makes things worth doing and life worth living. It's a game that requires patience, compassion, and love, and it's also one we really need right now.

Tristan Ogilvie of IGN^[28] wrote:

There is a fascinating, fleshed-out world of supernatural science fiction to enjoy across its sprawling and spectacular map, so it’s a real shame that it’s all been saddled on a gameplay backbone that struggles to adequately support its weight over the full course of the journey.

Following the release, the game became a popular subject of memes, mostly due to its gameplay which involved walking across large space of land on foot and completing deliveries. In many posts, the game was referred to as a walking simulator, with "walking simulator" also becoming the most popular tag for the game on Steam. ^[29]^[30]^[31]

Walking Simulator / Courier Simulator

Following the release of the game, multiple users on Reddit, Twitter and other online platforms posted memes which poked fun at Death Stranding gameplay. For example, a meme posted by twitter user @Panthaa on November 7th, 2019, in which the game was given high scores by various delivery companies, received over 1,100 retweets and 4,500 likes in five days (shown below, top left).^[32] A November 9th, 2019, Pizza Time meme by Twitter user @lishainik received over 7,500 retweets and 26,100 likes in three days (shown below, top center).^[33]