Death Stranding is a game that seems to be designed to confuse players. With cryptic trailers that have to be stitched together to be understood and with characters attached to dead babies via an umbilical cord, there's very little that makes sense about Hideo Kojima's next game.
The game is one big bundle of questions, but some questions stick out more than others. Hopefully Death Stranding and Kojima will answer some of these once the game is released on PS4 in November.
5 What Are BTs?
Officially, BT stands for Beached Thing. We've seen these spectral creatures in several Death Stranding trailers, as they try to pull Sam and his allies through to the other side. Fans have also seen characters covering their mouths so that BTs don't detect them, and it's been confirmed that by eating Sam, BTs will cause a voidout which is a huge explosion that leaves behind a crater.
However, what still hasn't been answered is just what a BT is. It's unclear how these figures managed to end up connected to two sides of life and why they keep trying to eat people. Are they trying to gain a human lifeform so that they can rejoin the living, or is it for a much darker reason than that? It also hasn't been confirmed why a character like Mama's baby doesn't try to attack Sam but other BTs do.
4 How Are Babies Chosen to Help Sam?
In the new Death Stranding trailer that stars Guillermo del Toro's character, Deadman, the character explains that Bridge Babies are taken from the wombs of braindead women called Still Mothers who provide a connection between the world of the living and the world of the dead. These BB pods can also be updated with environmental data that makes the baby think that it's still in a Still Mother's womb.
The trailer also shows the BB being able to open its eyes and make sounds which suggests that it would survive out of the womb, however, Deadman says that BBs can be returned to the womb. There are also things that Deadman and those working with Bridges don't know about BBs, so are these babies human? Are they just human babies ripped from their mother's wombs and if so how are they chosen to provide that connection for Sam and other operatives like him?
3 Why is the Baby Inside of Sam?
The Death Stranding protagonist is able to form a connection with the BBs, which allows him to connect to the side of the dead too. In trailers, though, such as a trailer where Sam dies, a baby appears inside of the character.
This prompts so many questions, like, is there really a BB inside of Sam and is that why he's able to come back to life after a voidout? Was Sam a BB himself which is why he's able to navigate the connection between the worlds of the living and the dead?
2 Who is Sam's Real Enemy?
Death Stranding trailers have showed a few antagonistic forces. The main enemy that fans have seen are the BTs, but trailers have also shown characters such as Higgs, the character with the golden mask, send creatures to attack Sam. Higgs is part of Homo Demens, a separatist group that is in conflict with Sam's expedition of connected all of the cities of America as part of the United Cities of America.
There's also the character of Cliff, played by Kojima's good friend Mads Mikkelsen who looks like a bad guy but isn't a villain, says Mikkelsen. It's unclear who Sam's real enemy is, why Homo Demens are so against the United Cities mission, and what the character of Cliff does.
1 Can the Game Be Beaten Just by Peeing?
One of the most talked about scenes from the new Death Stranding trailers from Gamescom 2019 was when Sam is seen peeing. The character will be able to relieve himself, but, Kojima has confirmed, the game will not show actor Norman Reedus' privates.
What we'd like to know is if peeing deals any damage and if Death Stranding can be beaten just by peeing. We wouldn't put it past Kojima as he's said that the game is anti-war and has suggested that players shouldn't try to brute force their way through just by using violence. Taking a leak to beat a game would allow for a non-violent playthrough, so it may be a possibility.
Death Stranding will be released on November 8, 2019 exclusively for PS4.