Death stranding plot could be most mysterious of the year 2019 games if not all time. The mysteries that surround this game let people speculate their own Death Stranding Plot Theories. All the trailers that we have seen so far are creating hype for the game. We know that the plot of the game is an important factor in the setting and overall feel of the game. I am going to analyze all the trailers, videos and gameplays that we have so far. Most of my suspensions have come true with the new gameplay footage from Tokyo Game Show 2019. Now let’s jump into Death stranding plot theories and see where it leads us.
Death Stranding Plot Theory about the Setting
For some reason, America in the game is known as UCA which means United Cities of America. We can see in many trailers how they use the word cities instead of the state. Sam is supposed to connect America by establishing a connection with them. More connections unlock more locations which make the setting of the game quite interesting. I think that somewhere along the history states became relics of the past or this is an alternate world where states don’t exist. We can only be certain about it when they release the game until then we can only make speculations.
The name of the game is a reference to the phenomenon called Cetacean stranding. According to this phenomenon, some cetacean species wash along the shore. There is not a complete explanation regarding the reasons for this phenomenon. The same can be said about Death Stranding because no one has explained its reasons too. The only thing that we know is that Death Stranding is some sort of apocalyptic phenomenon. The uncertainty of the game makes it exceptional and intriguing. The new gameplay explains that the game is all about being stranded along and finding connections.
According to the gameplay, the map of the game is quite large and players need to make their way to reach the destination. The exploration of the game offers so much intriguing stuff. Sam is a delivery man so he spends most of the time of road making this game full of adventure and awestruck moments.
Death Stranding Plot Depends on the Abilities of Sam
There are some facts that we know about the plot of this game. These facts can be taken for granted based on the gameplay, trailers and character description of the game. Up until the TGS 2019 gameplay videos, some of these plot facts were just suspicion now we can call them facts. If you closely watch trailers you can guess all of these facts. Let’s just start from the scratch through analyzation of trailers.
So far we know that Sam (Norman Reedus) is the main protagonist with some special powers. These abilities will play a major role in Death Stranding Plot making Sam different than other people. Names of these special powers are Doom Sense and Extinction Factor. We can see in one of the trailers how Doom Sense is affecting the gameplay and plot. Doom sense allows its user to sense BT (Beach Things) but it does not explain how. Sam still needs Bridge Baby to see them.
Another special power is Extension Factor which is related to Doom Sense in some way. Here comes my theory to explain Extension Factor. I think it is a factor that brings you closer to beach things. Do you remember Demon Value form Meta Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain? That hidden mechanics would change the appearance of Snake by covering him in blood. I think Extinction Factor could work in the same way by making Sam closer to beach things. I am placing my guess on the tone of Fragile (Léa Seydoux) when she asks him if he can see them. Hideo Kojima also said that every kill in the game carries consequences. Maybe the amount of Extinction Factor depends on the type and number of enemy Sam kills.
Death Stranding Plot Relies on Setting
There are many environmental factors at play when it comes to the plot, setting, and gameplay experience of Death Stranding. I will focus only on environmental factors impacts the plot of the game. All the trailers we have seen so far suggest that there is a relation between the environment and plot of the game. All characters have some sort of relation with the setting of the game. Homodemons and Cliff are closely related to the setting. They have some sort of connection with the Beach, giving them their special ability.
Void outs are an important part of Death Stranding Plot. I think they affect the plot of the game to some extent. I am claiming because Hideo Kojima hinted it in one of his comments. He said that you can’t die but the consequences leading to your death will stay in the world. I can think of only two possible outcomes for this comment. Trigging void out could result in some sort of penalty or it can affect your playthrough experience.
Timefall is another important factor in the world of this game. It can lead to some disturbing events and it also has some sort of connection with BTs. I don’t know for sure how it will affect the plot of the game but I do know that we will frequently see it in the cut scene. Seeing such a factor in cut scenes can lead to huge changes in the Plot of Death Stranding. One of the trailers has already shown that it can age a person drastically. So far we have seen it frequently in videos, leading me to a conclusion that Timefall can be determining factor for the plot of this game.
Q-PID and Cuff can Play Great Role in the Plot of Death Stranding
This Death Stranding plot revelation is based on the recent trailer of the game. As seen in many videos some of the characters have a cuff on their wrist. The cuff could also be the indicator of your health as seen in one of the videos when void outs were introduced. In that video, one of Sam’s friend stabs himself to death instead of creating a void out. During the stabbing, we can see the color of wrist changing from blue to green to yellow, to red which serves as life meter.
Now let’s focus on the role of the cuff in the plot of Death Stranding. In the trailer we can see that Sam is on lockdown, He says to Amelie (Emily O’Brien) and Die-Hardman (Tommie Earl Jenkins) “And what’d you put on me, huh? You’re no better than the demons. Just another kind of cult” These dialogues indicate that Sam is not on good terms with Bridges. It seems like Bridges put cuffs on their employees or an undesirable person. Whatever the case is, Sam does not want to work for them.
Q-PID is a type of device that works with Bridges facilities everywhere Sam goes. The devices seem to play an important part in the Death Stranding Plot. Die-Hardman explains to Sam “This contains all the necessary security and operations protocol to integrate a terminal into the chiral web. Take the Q-PID west, Sam, and reconnect the people of our great nation” The dialogues indicate that Sam needs to use Q-PID to connect all terminals. This connection would establish communication between different cities which could lead to re-establishing America. Sam is on the mission to re-establish order so he needs to connect different communities. Now we have some idea about his mission.
Sam has an Emotional Connection to the Baby
I know that Sam has some sort of emotional connection to the baby. I am making this claim based on the videos and gameplays that we have seen so far. Two videos focus on this idea and we can also see this in the recent gameplay footage. The way Sam treats the baby indicates their connection. I think that Sam thinks of the baby as his child, not a bridge baby.
I noticed this connection when Sam is holding the baby with clear emotions on the face in one of the trailer. Bridge Baby is important to same and it is just not an instrument for him to see beach things. In that trailer, I notice this that there might be some importance of baby to the story. Maybe Sam will take the wrong decision to save baby but who knows. I do know that baby play an important part in Death Stranding story as well as the story of Sam.
The trailer of Deadman (Guillermo del Toro) shows us his connection to baby. In that trailer, Deadman explains how babies can see beach things. The baby pod works as a still mother womb. Still Mother is the one who gives birth to babies. Before the babies are even born they are taken from the womb of a still mother and put in the pod. The still mother is located in the capital city and the baby still thinks that it’s the womb. Data of pod needs constant updating through synchronization with still mother womb to keep this deception. Deadman also mentions that no baby has survived beyond one year which upsets Sam. This whole scene makes me believe that the emotional connection between Sam and Baby will play a great part in the Death Stranding plot.
The Briefing Trailer Also Gets to Know Back Story of Amelie and her Relation with Late president
During the first gameplay trailer, we saw a woman lying on the bed. Sam calls her madam president whose name is Bridget (Lindsay Wagner) I have explained everything about that trailer in the previous article. Now here comes the interesting information Amelie and Bridget are daughter and mother. Both of them are played by different actresses but they share similar facial features. Bridget has an important role in the Death Stranding plot because she was the one who initiated unification.
Briefing trailer also shed light on the character of Amelie. According to the trailer, Amelie does not age which explains the situation of her abduction. It makes clear that Amelie and Bridget is not the same person which was the previous notion. She explains that her body is still at Beach which is the reason that she cannot age. We know that Beach is the realm where all the beach things reside. In a sense, Amelie is already dead but when she says that she has been captured by homo demons it makes me wonder whether or not she has a traditional body.
Homo demons are Not the Only Antagonists
All trailers show us that homo demons are the main enemies that Sam will encounter. There is no confrontation of Cliff (Mads Mikkelsen) with Sam but this possibility should not be ruled out. Homo demons have an army of superhumans that are fighting for a cause. They want to to keep their city free from external influence but we don’t know about the motivation of Cliff. He might be a scientist and homo demons might not be bad people. The story is just so complicated that it makes guessing difficult.
All the Trailers Proves one Thing “Time travel exists in the world of Death Stranding”
Anyone that has watched the initial gameplay footage can say with certainty that time travel is part of this world. During that gameplay, all of us saw the glimpse of World War 1. In that trailer, we can see Sam in combat. His enemies are the soldiers of Cliff that we have seen in different trailers. We only know that time travel exists but we don’t know its extent. Timefall phenomenon is part of Death Stranding Plot and we can see its effects in many trailers. The time travel in the gameplay trailer could have a relation with Timefall.
In the gameplay trailer, Sam travels to World War 1 which is past. We have also seen how Timefall fast forwards time and deteriorate the body of a person. If there is a relation between Timefall and time travel then we can assume traveling to the future is also possible. This might seem a bizarre assumption but it does make sense to some extent. This could be a wrong Death Stranding plot theory because we don’t know most of the thing about this game.
Time travel is somehow related to Beach. In two of the trailers, we can see black tar-like stuff substance emanating from everything. In the gameplay trailer, the enemies releasing back substance instead of blood. The same black substance can be seen falling from the eyes of human that has some sort of connection with beach. Maybe it is all just a vision and consciousness of Sam can travel through time even though he is different than homo demons and Cliff.
Cryptobite has a Key Role in Death Stranding Plot
Cryptobites play an important part in the plot of Death Stranding. As we have seen in the recent trailer and recent gameplay. In the Tokyo Game Show when Hideo Kojima gives us the tour to Sam’s room and explained the purpose of cryptobites. According to Kojima, these insects can help in more generation of blood in Sam’s body. Blood is an important part of the game because Sam’s blood is special. Sam can weaponize his blood and makes bombs form it. We can see the details of this machine in the new gameplay.
There is a contradiction when it comes to the use of cryptobites of Death Stranding. In one of the trailer Fragile (Léa Seydoux) explains “A Cryptobite a day keeps the Timefall away” If we concentrate on this explanation then the answer is simple. Cryptobites can provide immunity against Timefall for certain period because they originate from Other Side (Beach).
Now we have two different explanations regarding cryptobites. One says that it helps Sam in creating more blood while others say that it makes a person immune to Timefall. It can be either of these facts or maybe it goes both ways. My bet is both ways because cryptobites has a relation with the Beach and Sam’s blood is special. When you combine these two factors then it is the only logical explanation. There might be other abilities of cryptobites but so far we only know about these two.
Death Stranding Multiple Dimensions are Important Part of the Plot
Multiple Dimensions play an important role in Death Stranding because it affects every aspect of a player. The game presents a different experience for every player. If two players want to reach the same destination then their path of reaching there could be totally different. Multiple dimensions work as multiplayer as it lets all the online player interact with each other indirectly. I will explain all this in my next article regarding the gameplay of Death Stranding.
Different players can not impact the plot of each other but they can change the way a player experience the plot of this game. The lack of direct confrontation with other players just makes this game a unique specimen. I have a Death Stranding plot theory regarding multiple dimensions. Maybe the fact that all Sams share the same world could be related to the special ability of Sam. The time travel could also be part of this multi-dimensional world.
Beach is defiantly a separate dimension that we can compare to purgatory. It serves as a dimension between life and death. All the supernatural things that we have seen in the gameplay and trailers have some connection with Beach. There could be other dimensions that we don’t about just yet. I can’t say anything about it with absolute certainty at this point.
Death Stranding Plot Final Verdict
The game is an intriguing specimen that raises lots of questions but answers none. Hideo Kojima said that he is trying to make a new genre. If you ask me, I think that it is a new genre that we can’t explain yet. He did it with Metal Gear Solid when it was released. It was called an action game because the stealth genre didn’t exist at that time. Sam has some choices in the story but it is still a linear one that much we are sure. It is a genre that we have never seen before. Multiplayer of this game is a unique take multiplayer mode. There are still so many mysteries surrounding Death Stranding. However, some of the plot details that we have provided are facts while others are just speculations.
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