Death Stranding creator Hideo Kojima gave fans their first taste of the game via a playable underwater scene on PS4. However, it was unclear how the playable "demo" represented the actual game, but now we have an explanation directly from Kojima.

In a new interview, Kojima reveals exactly what that gameplay will involve and how it connects to the game's central theme of life and death.Kojima said that "I want people to realize that when they die in the game, that isn’t the end.” This means that Death Stranding will not include a traditional game over screen and players will instead be taken to this underwater level. "At that point, you’re not dead or alive. It’s the equivalent of that screen that says ‘Continue?’ and a counter ticking down towards zero," explained Kojima.

"Death will never pull you out of the game,” said Kojima, who also revealed that players will be able to explore this underwater section in first-person. Players will be exploring outside of (Norman Reedus' character) Sam's body thanks to his "unique" abilities, then they can re-enter his body and continue with the game.

Kojima also revealed that "So as you saw in the trailer, you saw the crater, and when you come back, it’s still there," unlike other games which may take players back to when the crater was made. This means that "depending on the player, you might have a lot of craters all over the place."

Fans have said that the new trailer for the game, which debuted at The Game Awards 2017, was incredibly confusing. So those looking forward to Death Stranding will be glad to have concrete information about at least one part of the game - they won't have to speculate about that underwater scene anymore.

Death Stranding fans will also be happy to see one example of how the game's strange concepts tie-in to its gameplay. Although Kojima insists that the game will make sense and that everything will tie together, not everyone will be convinced given how bizarre the game has seemed up until this point. But the trailer combined with Kojima's comments gives fans tangible proof that the game is doing things for a reason (in this case, at least).

There are far more things that Kojima will need to clear up about the game, including how those baby tanks factor into things. These will be answered in good time, though, so fans should watch this space.

Death Stranding is in development for PS4.

Source: IGN