Hideo Kojima details how the pandemic completely changed Death Stranding 2
A new beginning
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Hideo Kojima has finally detailed howDeath Stranding 2’s story was completely rewritten due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Death Stranding 2is one of thebiggest upcoming gameswhich builds upon the original release in new and exciting ways. The title was first announced by Kojima at the end of last year, with a new interview finally explaining the impact the pandemic had on theDeath Stranding: Director’s Cutsequel.
Speaking to the Japanese outletNatalie, Kojima has outlined exactly what changed with the sequel’s story in the wake of COVID-19. In the interview, theMetal Gear SolidandSnatchercreator explained that the plot forDeath Stranding 2was written before the pandemic, which surged in Asia in late 2019 before going global in early 2020.
Translated into English, Japanese pop star Nocchi asks Hideo Kojima if the story ofDeath Stranding 2was based on the pandemic. He responds with: “That’s not true. But I had to rewrite everything because of Corona. InDeath Stranding, it was just to connect, but with the corona crisis, pseudo-connections such as remotes have come to be emphasized”. He continued with: “On the other hand, I felt that such pseudo-connections alone would not lead to fulfilling human lives. After all, humans need to go out into the outside world and move”.
Kojima details that his original intention of rebuilding the world, the central plot of the firstDeath Strandinggame had evolved when seeing the isolation and division brought by the pandemic. “And in the midst of being unable to return to the original world, I reconsidered the concept of “connection”, and in DS2, the meaning of “strand” has changed. At the end of the teaser, there is a message “Should We Have Connected?” He states.
It appears as though now the sequel will deep dive into the consequences of being connected in a post-pandemic world, further looking into how our world has changed and then amplifying these events into the fictitious post-America ofDeath Stranding 2.
No release date has been given for the title, but we wouldn’t expect to see it come toPS5,Xbox Series X, and PC for several years yet as it is still in the early stages of development. If Kojima does manage to land the game, we’ll be looking to see if it’s one of thebest PS5 gamesorbest Xbox Series X games.
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While you wait for Death Stranding 2, we recommend checking out some of thebest RPGsand thebest open world gamesavailable now. You can play them with some of thebest Xbox controllersandbest PS5 controllers, too.
Aleksha McLoughlin is an experienced hardware writer. She was previously the Hardware Editor for TechRadar Gaming until September 2023. During this time, she looked after buying guides and wrote hardware reviews, news, and features. She has also contributed hardware content to the likes of PC Gamer, Trusted Reviews, Dexerto, Expert Reviews, and Android Central. When she isn’t working, you’ll often find her in mosh pits at metal gigs and festivals or listening to whatever new black and death metal has debuted that week.
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