After Hideo Kojima presented the first trailer for Death Stranding, fans spent countless hours trying to decipher the enigmatic story presented in that video.
Fans discovered even more mystery when they carefully studied a promotional image featuring a CGI image of actor Norman Reedus: in the image, the character wears dog tags (or flash drives, depending on who you ask) that have mathematical equations on them.
That led to even more theories about the game, with most revolving around sci-fi concepts such as black holes, wormholes and alternate universes.
So, what is Death Stranding actually about? Kojima recently spoke with Game Informer about the theme of the game, although, as expected, he remained mysterious about the game's overall plot.
The main inspiration behind Death Stranding is a short novel called Rope by Kobo Abe. In that story, mankind's first tool is the stick "to keep away bad and unpleasant things as a weapon." After that, man invented rope, which could "tie things close to you together."
"Games nowadays are based mainly on sticks," Kojima said. "You communicate and interact based on sticks punching or shooting or being used as weapons. Through cooperative and multiplayer you connect with other players through sticks. Now, in this game, you will be able to use sticks, but I also want people to use ropes to connect somehow. In the teaser, you can see crabs, whales, dolphins, handcuffs, and a baby with an umbilical cord. Those are connections. Connection is the theme of the whole game. The word 'stranding' is a theme of the game. The name Death Stranding plays off key themes in the game."
Kojima's words are not a statement that really explains much about the game, but it definitely adds fuel to the fire for more fan theories.
Kojima also explained about how he and Reedus remained in touch after P.T. and decided to work together again by shooting the trailer for Death Stranding in March.
Kojima fans itching to play the game, though, are in for a long wait. Development hasn't officially started yet, and Kojima's team is still trying to decide on what engine to use.
"Because it's a new game, we want to do many tests first," he said. "As far as the imagery and the concept of what the world will look like, it's already settled. In between all of this, I'm trying to make the story and the characters and how it all comes together. We should settle on the engine soon, and at that point we'll move from tests to full development."
