In the mercurial fashion only Hideo Kojima can possibly manage, the director behind Death Stranding informs fans that they're already playing his new game.
There is no one else in the video game industry quite like Hideo Kojima. The director behind the fledgling Kojima Productions studio debuted his newest project, Death Stranding, during Sony's E3 2016 presentation, and it was exactly what fans had come to expect from the man behind Metal Gear Solid. The Death Stranding E3 2016 trailer was as bizarre as it was exciting, and it left most gamers with a great deal more questions than they had started with.
According to a recent series of tweets from Kojima Productions, however, that confusion might be exactly the point. Amidst fan discussion regarding the significance of the dog tags in Death Stranding and whether or not they might hint towards a black hole - yes, that's a real fan theory - the new studio took time to address some speculation about Death Stranding while creating even more:
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That's the first in a series of 9 tweets, and each of them is just as strange as the last. The most important takeaway from Kojima Productions' discussion of Death Stranding, however, is that the "'game' has already begun" - whatever that means. This kind of cryptic announcement is completely within expectation for a game being directed by Hideo Kojima, however, as even the meaning behind Death Stranding's name has been the source of days-long Internet debates in forums all over the world.
Still, some of the tweets made by Kojima Productions do shed some light on exactly what Death Stranding is trying to accomplish. Apparently, Kojima wants to use traditional action game mechanics to explore alternate meanings of death, tying it all to the theories that some of humanity's first and most important inventions were sticks and ropes.
If that's difficult to parse through, it's likely because Hideo Kojima essentially creates on another plane of human intelligence entirely, and ordinary humans aren't meant to understand until he wants them to. What gamers do know, though, is that Death Stranding is highly unlikely to be related to the ill-fated P.T. demo that became a viral sensation prior to Kojima's departure from Konami. Norman Reedus is likely only a connection because Kojima wanted to rekindle their professional partnership, rather than an Easter egg hinting at a plot that's much larger than would appear at first glance.
What do you think Kojima means when he says that "the game has already begun"? Is it just a way of creating a buzz around Death Stranding, or is there something fans could be doing now that could unveil more about the game? Let us know in the comments below.
Death Stranding will be a PS4 exclusive, and its release date has not been announced.