Kojima Mercifully Untangles ‘Death Stranding’ Trailer Mystery Knot, No Game Overs

During the recent PlayStation Experience, a trailer for the mysterious PlayStation 4 exclusive “Death Stranding” was released. Far from making the game easier to understand, however, the clip ended up confusing viewers even more. Fortunately, some clarifications have been provided, courtesy of the game’s creator.

As a title being developed by industry legend Hideo Kojima, “Death Stranding” was always going to be both unusual and groundbreaking. With big names behind it that include Norman Reedus, Guillermo del Toro, and Mads Mikkelson, it’s one of the most highly anticipated games being developed. In a recent interview with IGN, Kojima provided actual details about the game that goes a long way towards untangling its mysteries.

For starters, it seems there isn’t an actual Game Over in the game. That is to say, the idea is to emulate arcade games wherein the character doesn’t actually die. In the trailer, this is shone in the scene where Sam, the character of Reedus was underwater after a massive explosion.

"Death will never pull you out of the game," Kojima said. "At that point, you're not dead or alive. It's the equivalent of that screen that says 'Continue?' and a counter ticking down towards zero."

The industry luminary also revealed that players can actually explore this purgatory-like environment in the first-person view. Apparently, this is one of Sam’s abilities, which also allows him to retrieve items with the disembodied form.

Once players are ready to return to the game, they will be transported back to their physical forms. However, and this is where things get really interesting, it would seem that the game actually remembers the player’s death. As a result, consequences of their defeat and the ensuing impact are felt throughout the game.

Near the end of the trailer, for example, Sam comes back to see a massive crater where the explosion happened. Kojima noted that depending on how many times the players die, there could be a lot of craters in their game session.

There’s also a feature called Timefall, which is also shown in the trailer via the rain that appears to manipulate time. Plants suddenly grow and shrivel up, and one of the characters trapped under a vehicle begins to age rapidly. Kojima notes that while all of the characters in the game are aware of this phenomenon, Sam has a unique quality with regards to it.

More details are apparently being planned for a future reveal by Kojima’s team, Destructoid reports. Development of the game also seems to be proceeding smoothly.