Death Stranding: Deconstructing Gameplay & Finding Meaning (Spoilers)

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Published on July 25, 2020 11:56:30 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04XryQfeWpE

Game:

Death Stranding (2019)

Category:

Discussion

Duration: 42:45

1,111 views

78

After months of brainstorming, rewrites and two playthroughs, here’s a quick vid about Death Stranding.

Keep on keeping on! (and read the notes below):
-I realized after writing all this that I might sound like I don’t like the game. While there are things I certainly don’t like, I actually REALLY enjoy Death Stranding. After this video I imagine I have somewhere around 70ish hours and there are still things I want to do/settlers to connect. Also, I think one reason why it’s resonated with so many people (including me) is because of how different it is. It turns the AAA open world on its head and I think people enjoy experiencing something new.
-There are a lot of things I don’t talk about/cover.
I’ve really tried to nail down the things I wanted to say and focus on, both with regards to gameplay and story. If I tried to cover everything the game alludes to, the script would’ve been a disaster and waaaaaay longer. So some things I don’t dive into, as much as I would’ve loved to, include: MULEs became addicted because they lost their jobs. What does this say about working? Do we need to work to have a purpose? MULEs apparently do. And could that tie into the rest of DS’s talk on the ethics of automation. For Heartman/Deadman/Diehardman, what do their lives mean? What are the deeper themes behind their relationships with death and life? Deadman says he doesn’t have a soul because he was born from stem cells, which carries all kinds of implications.
-I also simplified some gameplay elements to make the video easier to understand and less wordy.
Some examples: When I say Sam’s stamina decreases faster when he’s carrying heavy cargo, it’s actually when he’s carrying heavy cargo relative to his maximum carrying capacity. There are other ways to dispose of corpses, incinerators are just the most obvious. Guns will also fire rounds infused with Sam’s blood, so if you’re out of ammo, you can use hermetic rounds (but this takes away from Sam’s life, so it’s not something you’d want to regularly turn to for combat).
-I use United States/America interchangeably in the script, but I understand they aren’t synonymous.
I did this to try and make the script less repetitive. I was conflicted about it, but considering the context, I thought it would be acceptable. Death Stranding references ‘America’ far more than saying the US or United States, and that might be an interesting critique, especially since it’s already working with a nebulous, ill-defined ‘America’ to begin with.
-I am not saying that every ethical/moral dilemma in our lives and history is equal.
As an example, I’m not saying that Manifest Destiny and crunch culture in video game development constitute the same degree of moral/ethical problems. Instead, I think Death Stranding wants us to confront these issues on a conceptual level; to confront how so much in our lives comes to be (whether it be a product or country) and the difficult, often uncomfortable, discussions that follow.
-Yes, the last line is inspired by Star Trek: The Next Generation.
I’m sorry, I just couldn’t help but work it in because the context fit so well (and the line still works even if you’ve never watched TNG so that’s a plus).

Links:
-“You’re Just Disposable”: New Accounts from Former Amazon Employees Raise Questions About Working Conditions
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/youre-just-disposable-new-accounts-from-former-amazon-employees-raise-questions-about-working-conditions/
-As Naughty Dog Crunches On The Last Of Us II, Developers Wonder How Much Longer This Approach Can Last
https://kotaku.com/as-naughty-dog-crunches-on-the-last-of-us-ii-developer-1842289962
Images:
-Whiterun (Skyrim)
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Whiterun_(Skyrim)
-Novigrad (Witcher 3)
https://witcher.fandom.com/wiki/Novigrad
-”American Progress”
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:American_Progress_(John_Gast_painting).jpg


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