History VideoGame / DeathStranding

** Sam frequently makes gestures directly at the camera when alone in his private room--when the player looks at the figures on the shelf behind him, he gets up and seems to grab the camera while pointing at the shelf. If made to drink more than two beers, he shakes the third one up and sprays it all over the camera before taking one sip and throwing it out.

** Insomuch as Sam is more of an antihero than a villain, but if he starts killing people (which in the Death Stranding universe is an even bigger no-no than normal) he will not only get chewed out by Die-Hardman but his BB will show its disapproval by getting stressed out, to the point of suffering autotoxemia if Sam continues [[KillEmAll killing people in quick succession]]. It helps that throughout the game, BB helps Sam grow as a person, so extra points there.

At The Game Awards 2022, a {{Sequel}} tentatively called ''Death Stranding 2'' was announced in production with Creator/NormanReedus, Creator/LeaSeydoux and Creator/TroyBaker returning to the cast alongside newcomers Creator/ElleFanning and Shioli Kutsuna.

At The Game Awards 2022, a {{Sequel}} called ''Death Stranding 2'' was announced in production with Creator/NormanReedus, Creator/LeaSeydoux and Creator/TroyBaker returning to the cast alongside newcomers Creator/ElleFanning and Shioli Kutsuna.

* AlienLunch: Cryptobiotes are floating, grape-sized tardigrades that have evolved quickly in the world of the Death Stranding. They look weird and taste gross, but eating them quickly replenishes 25 milliliters of blood per bug.
** They also help deal with the Timefall rain. [[spoiler:Fragile continuously eats these throughout the story, and afterwards it's revealed that she does this to keep herself alive after being exposed to Timefall by Higgs.]]

* UncannyValley: Although the motion capture work on this game [[SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome is stunning]], the sudden shift in Sam's grief-stricken facial expression ''directly to neutral'' in the first trailer comes across as ''extremely'' unsettling. The effect is likely deliberate, given the surreal and haunting nature of the trailer and the game as a whole.

BizarroApocalypse: The titular event is a prime example -- ''something'' disrupted the natural process of life and death, causing the Beached Things, {{Undead Abomination}}s that can [[FantasticNuke cause a nuclear-level explosion when they come into contact with corpses]], to infest the world and push society to the brink of collapse. [[spoiler:It's eventually revealed that the cause of the Death Stranding was [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow experiments into the workings of "The Other Side"]] conducted on the orders of President Strand]].

* BodyHorror: ''In spades''. While not to thhe visually dramatic degree of, say, a Creator/DavidCronenberg film, the Death Stranding event has caused the natural order of things to go topsy-turvy, to the point that there's pretty much no natural body process that has stayed the same since:

* BottomlessBladder: Zig-zagged. Sam has a endurance meter that goes down with time, faster if you're carrying a lot of heavy cargo. You can only replenish it by sleeping in a private room, which means you will be forced to sleep sooner or later. He doesn't have to eat or drink, but drinking from his flask replenishes his stamina and eating cryptobiotes restores his blood level, so eating and drinking is helpful, but not necessary. It's a similar thing with showering: you can do this if you so desire (or want more EX 0 grenades), but it's optional. Funnily enough, Sam also has a bladder meter that fills when you drink from your flask or the canned monster in private rooms, but you're never actually forced to pee it out. You can beat the whole game with a filled bladder.

Creator/MadsMikkelsen and Creator/TroyBaker star as the game's main antagonists, Cliff and Higgs. Creator/LeaSeydoux, Lindsay Wagner, Tommie Earl Jenkins, and Creator/MargaretQualley also star, with "special appearances" by Creator/GuillermoDelToro and Creator/NicolasWindingRefn.[[note]]Both del Toro and Refn lend their likenesses to characters who are voiced and motion captured by different actors[[/note]] Emily O'Brien, Jesse Corti and Darren Jacobs provide voice work.

* BodyHorror: The Game Awards 2016 trailer has an M36 tank destroyer covered and ''filled'' with ''whale organs'' and ''human bones''. The 2017 one involves body being swallowed up by black slime, humanoids rising from the slime, and a baby inside Sam's throat giving the camera a thumbs up.

* SceneryGorn: That being said, there are several ruined and abandoned settlements, structures and wreckage strewn around the map, and the scenery during BT fights is a surreal mish-mash of floating ruined buildings and wreckage that sink and rise out of the ground.

** A [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] example: at the southern end of the Central region, there's a giant waterfall. If a player is unfortunate enough to get swept over the edge of this waterfall, they get [[HaveANiceDeath treated]] to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UHN75TKDA8&t=1150 a cutscene from a now-panicking Sam's point of view]] as he falls over the edge, although the resulting death doesn't have a special game over screen -- Sam just repatriates as usual.

* WhatTheHellHero: If you kill an NPC but visit a private room before cremating them, the facility's staff will dispose of it for you and Die-Hardman will verbally rip you a new one for your negligence.

* DoubleJump: Strangely enough, Sam can double jump after jumping a first time, allowing him to cross some obstacles more easily. It also amuses Lou who will give some likes whenever Sam double jump.

* BombDisposal: Downplayed. [[spoiler: Higgs tricks the player into delivering a minature nuke into South Knot City. Sam and Fragile realise what they're delivering before the bomb goes off, and they decide to get rid of it by throwing it into a tar lake. Sam has to be very careful while transporting it there, but it's still kept in the same padded, metal cargo container everything else is.]]

* BossCorridor: Downplayed and zigzagged with Edge Knot City, the westernmost destination in the game. It's definitely ''not'' an actual corridor, but the topography its ruins form make it function as such, leaving only one fairly linear path for Sam to traverse -- a stark contrast from the rest of the game. It's also not strictly "dead space" as per the trope's description, since [=BTs=] still infest the place [[spoiler:(specifically, a jellyfish-like ActionBomb with lethargic movement)]], but they're mostly [[{{Mooks}} small fry]]. [[spoiler:Rather appropriately, Higgs is waiting at the end of the "corridor" with Amelie and her extinction-level BT in tow.]]

* TheCameo: Several celebrities lend their likenesses (but not their voices) to [=NPCs=] in sidequests. Confirmed so far are a Ludens fan played by TV host Geoff Keighley, comedian Creator/ConanOBrien (who uniquely also actually voices his cameo), director Creator/EdgarWright, horror mangaka Creator/JunjiIto, fashion designer Errolson Hugh, and a musician played by singer/songwriter Daichi Miura .
* CastFromHitPoints: Sam can draw from his own bloodstream to recharge his [=anti-BT=] weapons. It reduces his health bar but Sam may have no choice because the supply of weapons is not always enough to deal with large [=BTs=]. Thankfully, these weapons draw from any blood bags you have on you before before they dip into your own blood.

* AdultFear: It's bad enough that Sam has to face against terrorists and horrifying [=BTs=], but to do so at the same time while carrying ''a baby?!'' It's enough to horrify any parent.
** More to the point, [[spoiler:being faced with the prospect of your child being taken away from you]].

** PC Version 1.05 has one with ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'' which has Cyberpunk-themed cosmetics, a Yaiba Kusanagi reverse trike replica, as well as odradek upgrages that allow you to hack MULE sensor poles, stun enemies' odradek scanners and short circuit enemy vehicles. All of these are provided as rewards for completing recovery missions for none other than Jackie Welles, under the alias of "J".

** To celebrate the PC launch of the game, VideoGame/HalfLife cosmetics were added to the game, including Gordon Freeman's glasses, a headcrab hat, gravity gloves and a Half Life-themed paint for the trucks.
** PC Version 1.05 has one with ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'' which has Cyberpunk-themed cosmetics, as well as allowing you to hack MULE poles, stun enemies' odradek scanners and short circuit enemy vehicles.

* VideoGameDelegationPenalty: Sam can eventually unlock drones that will perform deliveries for him, but these are way less efficient that he can be: the drones will take more time to complete deliveries and the cargo will invariably get damaged, earning him fewer likes.