History VideoGame / DeathStranding

''Death Stranding'' is a game developed by Creator/KojimaProductions and published by [[Creator/SonyComputerEntertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment]] for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 and Creator/FiveZeroFiveGames for [[UsefulNotes/MicrosoftWindows the PC]]. It is the first game Creator/HideoKojima developed after leaving Creator/{{Konami}} in 2015 and the first fully non-''VideoGame/{{Metal Gear}}'' game he's directed since 1994's ''VisualNovel/{{Policenauts}}''.[[note]]Excluding ''[[VideoGame/SilentHills P.T.]]''[[/note]] The game was released for the [=PS4=] on November 8, 2019, with a PC release following on July 14, 2020.

The "[[UpdatedReRelease Director's Cut]]" of the game for the UsefulNotes/{{PS5}} was announced during the 2021 Summer Game Fest, and was released on September 24, 2021, with a PC version released on March 30, 2022 and an [[UsefulNotes/IOSGames iOS port]] coming in 2023.

* ArtificialOutdoorsDisplay: The firing range added to the ''Director's Cut''. It's functionally similar to the VR missions from the ''Franchise/MetalGear'' series, but with realistic environment mockups that can assemble and disassemble as needed and a projected outdoor view.

* 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.

''Death Stranding'' is a game developed by Creator/KojimaProductions and published by [[Creator/SonyComputerEntertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment]] for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 and Creator/FiveZeroFiveGames for the PC. It is the first game Creator/HideoKojima has developed since leaving Creator/{{Konami}} in 2015 and the first fully non-''VideoGame/{{Metal Gear}}'' game he's directed since 1994's ''VisualNovel/{{Policenauts}}''.[[note]]Excluding ''[[VideoGame/SilentHills P.T.]]''[[/note]] The game was released for the [=PS4=] on November 8, 2019 with a PC release on July 14th, 2020.

* AcronymAndAbbreviationOverload: There are ''many'' terms referred to primarily ''or only'' by abbreviation, including BT[[labelnote:*]]Beached Things[[/labelnote]], BB[[labelnote:*]]Bridge Baby[[/labelnote]], MULE, PPC[[labelnote:*]]Portable Chiral Constructor[[/labelnote]], DOOMS, [[spoiler:and EE[[labelnote:*]]Extinction Entity[[/labelnote]]]]. Not helped by many of those abbreviations rhyming with each other.

The "[[UpdatedReRelease Director's Cut]]" of the game for the UsefulNotes/{{PS5}} was announced during the 2021 Summer Game Fest, and was released on September 24, 2021, with a PC version released on March 30, 2022.

* MeaningfulName: Virtually everyone, whether named after the locations in which they live, their role in the story, or some oblique reference that comes into play later.
* MemeticHandGesture: The thumbs-up seems to be one among BRIDGES. The Bridge Baby gives one whenever Sam repatriates, the Odradek sensor can give one as congrats for killing or escaping a Catcher BT, and Heartman gives them to reward Sam with likes during your visit to his office. Similarly the finger-to-the-lips "shush" signal is often used by characters with strong ties to the Beach, particularly Fragile, Higgs, and Cliff.

* CouchGag: Of a sort. The third trailer onwards has a shot of the Bridge Baby inside of Sam's throat, with the B.B. looking at the camera and [[MemeticHandGesture giving it the thumbs-up]] before said camera is pulled out. Further trailers vary on this shot, including the camera going down the B.B.'s throat, and the B.B. being replaced with the second trailer's CreepyDoll (see below).

* GenreBusting: ''Death Stranding'' takes inspiration from a menagerie of genres for its gameplay and story; it's a little bit of everything but also none of them, resulting in a unique experience that's tricky to neatly summarize.

* FullyClothedNudity: Fragile is stated to have been forced to [[spoiler:run through the Timefall]] naked, even though she's shown wearing a tank top and panties.

* CallARabbitASmeerp: The discovery of a measurably real afterlife led to the creation of [[FantasticScience new, "scientific" terms for concepts once relegated to religion and spirituality]], most notably "ka" and "ha" (referring to the soul and physical body, respectively).

* CallARabbitASmeerp: The discovery of the afterlife led to the creation of [[FantasticScience scientific-sounding terms for concepts once relegated to religion and spirituality]].

* OnceMoreWithClarity: Near the end of the game, most of the fragmented BB flashbacks are put together into a coherent cutscene. [[spoiler:This does not provide any new information, but rather serves as the emotional climax of that particular story ''strand'' by showing the player something they now understand the full context of.]]

* TheOner: The first 3 minutes of the TGA 2016 trailer are done in a single, unbroken camera movement, similar to the cutscenes from ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVGroundZeroes Ground Zeroes]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain The Phantom Pain]]''.
** More-so for The Game Awards 2017 trailer, where the first 6 minutes are done as one continuous long take.
* OneSteveLimit: Amelie's government name seems to be Samantha, and Amelie is only her nickname. There's another Samantha, the [[spoiler: woman who Hertman starts a relationship with at the of the game]].

* PlayfulPursuit: The game has a...pretty bizarre one where Sam Porter Bridges happily chases after his sister Amelie on her Beach after he had seemingly defeated the game's BigBad.

* PrecautionaryCorpseDisposal: Monsters called BT[=s=] roam the Earth. Any corpse left in the open will be inevitably eaten by them, causing an AntiMatter explosion. It's heavily implied that the initial wave of deaths/explosions more or less wiped out most populated areas. The only solution is to incinerate the corpses as soon as possible (with nobody present but the courier team who brought them to the crematorium). This also serves as [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration a gameplay mechanic]]; should [[PlayerCharacter Sam Bridges]] die under certain circumstances, the explosion leaves a permanent crater in the game world.

* RapidAging: Caused by [[WeirdWeather Timefall]]. In the intro, the driver who gets stuck under the broken-down car ages significantly over the span of a few minutes, with his hair greying and ultimately balding as he becomes more and more wrinkled. This is the effect on anyone who doesn't have the proper protections from Timefall (e.g. the Porter suits' [[CollapsibleHelmet automated rainhoods]]), and even that equipment can get damaged beyond usability. Fragile was forced to run almost naked through a Timefall, aging everything but the face that was covered by a mask.

** Sam's relationship with BB/[[spoiler:Lou]] comes across like an unwanted pregnancy for a single parent, with Sam being saddled with a delicate fetus that he has to carry around and handle very carefully, frequently stopping his work to nurse or placate the thing when it gets upset and demands attention. Over time, the relationship grows more loving, until [[spoiler:the end, where Sam pretty much gives birth to Lou.]]

** [[spoiler:You get the blueprints to produce your first lethal weapons mere seconds before you get sucked into Cliff's beach for a boss fight.]]

** When you first arrive at your quarters in Edge Knot City, the alarm will go off because "chiral density is increasing", or in other words, a powerful BT is approaching. Except it won't attack until you leave the base, which means you could spend hours checking your mail, showering, and drinking beer with no ambush. [[spoiler:This may have to do with Higgs waiting just to troll Sam.]]

* TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse: Or, at least, America is. American civilization is used synonymously with human civilization, both in regard to its fall and in regard to its reconnection. It’s true that air travel is impossible now and global communication no longer exists, but no other country is so much as mentioned by name, even to confirm their destruction — even Mexico or Canada, which directly border the US.

** Cliff's boss fight[[spoiler:, as befitting of a character first introduced as "The Combat Veteran", takes place at the end of his World War I-themed Beach and plays much like the average ThirdPersonShooter, with both sides of the conflict armed with lethal assault rifles and grenades and using them liberally]]. This also marks the point in the game where encounters with [=MULEs=] play out in a similar manner.
** Higgs’ boss fight [[spoiler: ends in a fighting game-like brawl between Sam and Higgs with a sideway screen and button prompts to beat up Higgs, much like the final fight of VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots]].

** During an altercation with Higgs, [[spoiler:BB [[TakingTheBullet blocks a couple of bullets aimed at Sam]] using the Odradek. Higgs responds by firing a couple of rounds right into BB's pod. Luckily, she comes out alright.]]

** Another moment occurs with Sam [[spoiler:at the Beach credits sequence]] where a whole month outside had passed. How long had passed in Sam's subjective perception of time on the Beach?

The "[[UpdatedReRelease Director's Cut]]" of the game for the UsefulNotes/{{PS5}} was announced during the 2021 Summer Game Fest, and was released on the 24th of September 2021, with a PC version released on March 30th, 2022.

The game has an official novelisation, written by Hitori Nojima (one of the game's co-writers, Kenji Yano's, pen name), that was released in two parts on February 23rd 2021, with the English translation done by Carley Radford. It's a re-telling of the game's story that focuses mostly on the characters' psychology and expands their backstories.

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. [[https://deadline.com/2022/12/death-stranding-film-from-barbarian-producer-alex-lebovici-in-works-1235200209/ A film adaptation]] is also in the works with Kojima acting as executive producer.

The game stars Creator/NormanReedus[[note]]Who was also set to star in the ill-fated ''VideoGame/SilentHills'' project[[/note]] as Sam Porter Bridges, a courier in a [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic]] [[FallenStatesOfAmerica United States]] following "the [[TitleDrop Death Stranding]]", a cataclysmic event that [[GhostInvasion altered the rules of life and death]]. Cynical and jaded from years of criss-crossing the dangerous wilderness of the east coast, Sam is contacted by his estranged mother, Bridget Strand, the President of [[DisasterDemocracy the United Cities of America]].

* 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 equipped on you before before they dip into your own blood.

** Sam Bridges himself. He effectively acts as a bridge for the remnants of civilization by making deliveries and bringing America onto the chiral network, which is further emphasized by [[spoiler:Cliff calling him mankind's "bridge to the future" in his dying moments.]]

** The first time we meet Higgs, he tells Sam that [[spoiler:Amelie is the Extinction Entity]], which blatantly gives away the ending, but at that point in the game, the first-time player will either not understand what Higgs is talking about, or will assume he's lying.

** When [[spoiler:Higgs gives you the nuke package]], the item description strongly advises you to talk to Fragile, who will tell you how to get rid of it and will set a time limit on the mission. [[https://youtu.be/cPsg7NoZeno However]], you can skip talking to Fragile and get rid of it through the same method, but you won't be given a timer. The only other difference is that Die-Hardman's dialogue after you complete this mission will be slightly longer.

* ContextSensitiveButton: The L2 and R2 buttons are linked to left and right hand actions but when Sam’s balance is in danger, the player can push said buttons to shift his weight in the desired direction to avoid tripping.