We all have unique death, a unique way we take in our final breath. The concept of death, spirits, the soul even the afterlife is one in which we are still contemplating and researching. Death Stranding takes a unique approach to not only the concept of death but, looks at the psychological implications, the philosophical underpinnings, concepts on abortion, a broken society, and how making a simple choice can not only affect you but everyone around you as well.
A Different Beach, a Different Death: The afterlife is one of confusion, doubt and mysteries yet to be discovered. In Death Stranding each person’s journey to death/time waiting on death, is a place called the beach. The beach in a sense is a form of purgatory and while purgatory is a level of hell according to certain religions, the beach is different. The beach is a reflection, a doppelganger if you will. While it is both it is also neither as well. At the beginning of the game, it is suggested that that the beach is where the soul goes after death before the final stage, or leap to the afterlife. The concept of having a beach as a theme for the waiting room into the afterlife is a calming concept since so many are afraid of what happens after death, a waiting room makes it seem less ominous. Rather than a blank space, a page of nothingness that fills the silence with unanswered questions we have a beach. This signifies an eternity, when you look into the vast openness of the ocean you can see for forever, and that’s exactly what it is the next step into forever after.
The Burden of the Repatriate: Repatriation is to be able to return to life after death. When a person dies, their soul is sent to the Seam. Someone who a “repatriate" has the ability to guide their soul in the Seam by following a "strand" ultimately bringing themselves to life if succeeded. Imagine having the ability to bring yourself back to life, back to a state of being at any given moment. The main thing is, when you are on the beach and you die there, you can’t repatriate, you then just go to the afterlife. Repatriation is psychologically fascinating at its core since life is a one-shot deal, you live, you grow old, and you die. There is no second chance, so the fact that Death Stranding makes a common game mechanic into something psychological is very smart. Guiding one's soul back to the body also hints at the resurrection. When typically you don’t come back as the same person according to the beliefs of resurrection, it was, I believe Kojima's smart way of making a better flowing story so that things would connect more seamlessly.
On that same token imagine dying and coming back to life after each death, death then loses its meaning to an extent. Instead of having one death, as a repatriate you have many, showing you that life is the choice of the soul rather than the avatar which the soul inhabits. Going further into this concept in the game death it's used almost as an overarching theme of wash, rinse, repeat. You live, you survive you then die. Everything has a purpose in this game, even the things that are evil have a purpose. They bring life from their death. The chiral crystals that come from the BT’s that Sam kills are used to create roads, bridges, energy drinks, and different forms of gear that we use in the game. Death becomes life, life, in turn, becomes death. Both benefiting each other and coexisting to help the other.
We All Want To Be Older, Right?
Time falls is an interesting theory/concept that Kojima created. As the rain falls and hits your skin or any surfaces for that matter it ages you, or the surfaces it comes in contact with. When I first saw this in the trailer for the game released in 2019, I came up with a theory as to why Kojima decided to go with that concept. People in this age who are younger want to be older, and the older population want to be young again, the concept of time falls could be Kojima's way of analyzing how the youth see the progression of age, they want it so much, to the point of where you see girls get plastic surgery, breast augmentations, Botox, etc. Certain members of society whether it be female, or male are looking for immortality, Kojima is looking at that under a microscope and dissecting it. Now I'm not saying that this is the reason all people get plastic surgery, but it is a form of it some get it because of underlying mental health conditions and emotional abuse, some get it because they want to improve upon something that makes them self-conscious. In the game time falls is another worldly rainfall, If someone were to stay outside for more than five minutes they would die, again another showcase of how death is utilized as a theme in the game and how Kojima shows you, to an extent that an extreme of anything will kill you, maybe not right away but in time.
Abortion and Technology:
A Bridge Baby, also known as a BB, is an unborn fetus that has been taken from a still mother to be used as equipment by Bridges employees. The mother’s womb facilitates a connection between the land of the dead and a Bridge Baby, allowing Bridges the ability to detect BTs when physically connected. This concept of using an unborn fetus as a tool is both a political and a philosophical narrative. Babies that are in the mother’s womb are a link to the world of the dead and the world of the living. Since the baby is not yet born it will be easier to connect to the beach to do testing, and really discover what is waiting on the other side. From a political standpoint, abortion has always been a hot topic of discussion, pro-life against pro-choice. Do you choose for the mother, or do you give the mother the freedom to choose? In this game, the baby is used as a means of exploratory science if you will, to gain an access to something in which remains shrouded in mystery.
The use of a Bridge Baby in the game as far as Sam goes is one of reciprocation. Knowing that your BB can only be used for a year at the most, to knowing that there is a 70% chance of the baby not surviving, to the final part of the game where you are told you have to cremate your baby. The cremation is a metaphor for abortion. Spoiler (Sam cremates his wrist cuff, not the baby) the baby, whose name is Louise, survives and is a testament to a saved life that was going to be aborted. Kojima tackles the topic with elegance and makes us aware of the gravity of the situation at the same time.
Extinction Entities, We Never Had A Choice:
In the universe, there have been mass extinctions. the first, End Ordovician: The 1-2 Punch. "Ice sheets changed form, radically changing ocean currents and creating a harsh climate “About 86 percent of species and 57 percent of genera — the next-higher taxonomic division, which may be a better gauge of biodiversity loss — went extinct.” Discover magazine.
The second mass extinction, END-DEVONIAN: “The End-Devonian, for example, consisted of a series of pulses in climate change over 20 million-plus years that led to periodic and sudden drops in biodiversity, including the Hangenberg Crisis, which some researchers consider a separate mass extinction event. The changes, possibly the result of significant volcanic activity in Siberia, reduced oxygen levels in the oceans and caused other environmental shifts.” Discover magazine
The third mass extinction: “End-Permian Volcanic activity in Siberia is considered the main culprit for this mightiest of mass extinctions. Regionwide eruptions spewed toxic gas and acidified the oceans. The disruption may have even shredded the ozone layer, allowing in deadly ultraviolet radiation.” Discover magazine The fourth mass extinction: End Triassic: “Volcanoes were at it again, but this time we can’t blame Siberia. Instead, massive eruptions in a hot spot at the center of what would eventually be the Atlantic Ocean created another bout of climate calamity. And it played like an echo of the End-Permian.” Discover magazine
The fifth mass extinction: End-Cretaceous “the cause of the End-Cretaceous extinction remains hotly debated. No one disputes that a chunk of space rock slammed into the planet near Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula at the time. But researchers disagree on whether the asteroid strike caused or merely contributed to the die-off. Large-scale volcanic activity in India’s Deccan Traps was already underway before the impact, and a Science Advances study published in February suggests both the asteroid hit and Deccan Traps activity coincided with a general uptick in planetwide volcanism. Whatever the catalyst, it appears a spike in carbon dioxide and a drop in ocean oxygen levels were followed by rapid post-asteroid cooling. “ Discover magazine
The sixth extinction is what Kojima is playing out here, he presents the possibility of there being a sixth extinction, and the character Amelie is the cause behind it. She is the "ka" (soul) of the Extinction Entity recognized as the daughter of her other part of her "ha" (body), President Bridget Strand. This is where it gets confusing for some people and where they go “huh”? The president never had a daughter. The president is the extinction entity; her soul is what will bring the world to another death stranding. Amelie is Bridget, Bridget is Amelie. The soul and bodywork in tandem with each other, the “you” that makes you, your essence are linked. When you die those separate, and that wasn’t the case for Bridget, her ha, and ka still worked together, even though she was half dead.
A Broken America: so not only are we fighting BT’s in this game, and have a wonderful baby sidekick to help us out we have to reunify the united states of America. The entire game has the main plotline and many different sub plotlines. The main one is the reunification of America through the charial network. Kojima, a Japanese game developer chooses America to unify. This game was created during the time that Donald Trump was first elected president, so when he wants us in the game to unify America again he’s saying "hey I see you, I see what you’re going through"… some on the surface may see this game as a walking simulator, where you are a delivery man who has now become the chosen one to unify the country with a baby sidekick. I see it as the multifaceted universe that shows vulnerability, strength, kindness, hardships, weakness, determination, fragility, and above all a will of power to see the next moment through. Mama, holding on to her dead child, Heartman who is a repatriate trying to find his family on the beach every 20 minutes, dead man who is a living Frankenstein, die-hard man a soldier caught between his loyalty for his country or his commander, cliff the father that just wanted to be a father but got caught up in politics, Bridget the woman who thought she was doing right by her country and people when she was lying and manipulative, Fragile a woman manipulated by Higgs but ended up saving the lives of many, and Sam a repatriate who has aphenophosophoibia (the fear of being touched) and trust issues, which lead him to save Louise, the only being he ever really cared about.
Controls, Graphics, music OH MY:
This game is very special to me, for so many reasons other than the fact that it is a Kojima game. This is my first time playing a PS4 game, on a PC. I know, take a moment to let that sink in. when I saw the graphics, in unison with the controls I cried. I Was in the happiest state I have ever been in playing a game. The controls were like butter, so smooth and elegant. The graphics played out like a movie. The cut scenes alone when it got intense were at least two to three minutes long per segment. This game is a playable movie from start to finish. The music is a score on its own flows eloquently with the emotions in the game. BB’s theme had me in tears, froze me, like melodies had stopped my movements in time. Let's talk about the graphics and textures. The face modeling is on another level, and when I see how this game is done it raises the bar for me in regards to what studios can now accomplish. Its life-like, vibrant and reaches people. Kojima made its not only would the story captivate you but the graphics would as well, everything from Norman Reedus’s facial expressions to the BT’s
Where Does it Go from Here? Closing thoughts:
This is the new Silent Hill, for all intents purposes this is the game that Kojima wanted to make but never could at Konami. Silent Hills was a masterpiece in its own right which is why seven years later, it is still remembered as one of the most iconic game demos of the decade. I don’t wish for a new Silent Hill game or a remake of past Silent Hill games. I wish for Kojima to keep making games like this that speak to him and in turn, speak to us. As gamers we can be rather greedy at times and forget that things are sometimes better left alone, to rest in peace. The legacy of the Silent Hill isn’t going anywhere, as well as the characters that are in it. They are forever imprinted on the hearts of many. Kojima, as a developer changed and grew, and created what he wanted to. I think we can finally say Farewell to Silent Hill, like a chapter in a book. Changes happen, and with that change we are seeing more complex works come from Kojima. In order to create a better future, you can’t dwell on the past. If we can take away anything from this game and Kojima's message, it's that everyone has a different beach, your beach, your death is special because it is you, Your life should be just as special, just as unique.
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