Yesterday, I was woken up to the news that Death Stranding was streaming on Twitch. That was all I was told. That was all I knew. This is par for the course though, when it comes to Kojima’s mysterious new game. Also par for the course is how intrigued I was, so I rushed over to my computer to see what I was missing. Turns out it wasn’t much.
What I (or really all of us) was presented with was a mostly silent video clip showing what seemed to be gameplay (FINALLY), covered in by an overlay of black hand prints, obscuring all or most of it. Classic Kojima. It was a cruel joke of a tease… and I loved it. I watched for a few minutes before walking away to start my day, feeling like I just wanted more.
And I had a busy day, too. So much so, that I didn’t know unlit today that, following this weirdly intriguing stream, the FULL, almost 9 minute trailer was revealed. I missed out and I was sad. But hey, it’s the internet in the modern day, it’s not like it was gone forever, I was just kinda bummed that I wasn’t there to see just what in the HELL this game is all about alongside the rest of the long-confused masses.
Here’s the trailer for those who also want to try to figure this thing out… Good luck!
So today, I watched it, and I am happy to report that that nothing has really changed! We still know next to nothing and, in true Kojima fashion, the trailer is cryptic, trippy and confusing in all the best ways. We finally saw gameplay, but we don’t really know what gameplay is like. We finally saw story, but we have ZERO clue what the story is or where it can go. We saw so much more of the wold the game is set in, but we know almost nothing about that either. The best we get are vague hints and possible theories. Hardly concrete.
All I know is that I know NOTHING, and I wouldn’t have it any other way! I only want to know more, and that’s a great feeling! Too often, we see game or movie trailers that show far too much, there’s really nothing left than to go through the motions and sit through the end result, for better or worse. It reminds me of the trailer for The Force Awakens, in that right up until the intro text crawl on opening night, I pretty much knew NOTHING about the movie.
There’s an art to that, I’m sure, and Kojima has certainly nailed it. In this day and age, where almost any information is so easy to obtain at a moment’s notice, and there is so much analysis and over-saturation when it comes to videogame or movie trailers and spoilers, that it just feels so refreshing to be so close to something and see so much of it, and still know next to nothing.
Long story short, I’m really looking forward to this game. Almost as much as I’m looking forward to figuring out what kind of game it even IS. I can’t wait to finally put a bow on this mystery, even though I can almost guarantee that, once the Death Stranding Credits roll, I’ll still be scratching my head. And there is nothing wrong with that. I’ve been thinking about this game for years already, and I look forward to thinking about and pondering over it for years to come!
