There's a lot going on in the world of Death Stranding. Considering it's a completely new IP with its own unique setting, Hideo Kojima and his colleagues at Kojima Productions did a standup job introducing players to this imaginative setting and concept.
By the end of the title, most of the plot threads are neatly wrapped up, so much so that it could be a standalone game with no sequels or DLC. In this modern age, however, expansions are almost guaranteed. Assuming Death Stranding follows this trend, here are ten unanswered questions we want to see resolved in future potential story content. For anyone who hasn't beaten it yet, we recommend looking at some spoiler-free lists.
10 BB's Parents
BBs don't just come out of nowhere. They were real embryos growing inside a womb before being turned into what they are. Their mother, now called a still-mother, lies somewhere in Capital Knot City, brain dead. A continuation of the plot should explore who Louise's parents were before she became a Bridge Baby. Her mother may be gone, but maybe she has a biological father somewhere. If this turns out to be true, he'd probably have some conflict with Sam.
9 Higgs' Fate
Higgs' status is left ambiguous by the end of the game. Fragile offers him the chance to either die or spend eternity on the Beach. Sam and Amelie hear a gunshot, though it doesn't confirm if he was at the receiving end of it. A DLC could potentially follow him after this decision, assuming he chose life. Does he find a way back to the world of the living, or does a journey on the Beach take him to places no one has yet seen in the game? When dealing with ideas like the afterlife, the possibilities are endless.
8 Amelie
Amelie saves humanity by cutting herself off from the world in order to prevent extinction. Maybe one shouldn't feel too bad about her sacrifice and self-imposed isolation because she triggered the first Death Stranding to begin with, but such a fate seems too cruel even for her indiscretions. If the story continues in some form, surely she'll play some part in it. Sam still feels for her strongly; maybe he'll try and find a way back to her.
7 The Rest Of The World
Death Stranding takes place in a fractured United States. Little is brought up about the rest of the world, but later documents and interviews reveal the continent's ignorance regarding the rest of the world. They simply don't know if the Death Stranding effected them in the same way. Chiral Clouds disrupted all wireless systems, making communication with other countries impossible.
With the UCA getting back on its feet and the Chiral Network online, they can start thinking about sending people over to investigate what happened to the world. Are they in a similar state or are they operating like nothing happened? Is it even possible to cross oceans anymore? If so, why haven't other continents come to North America?
6 Dealing With Mules
Mules are the first human enemy type Sam encounters and pretty much the only living threat until terrorists come into play later on. They are porters or the children of porters who went off the deep end and spend their days mindlessly grabbing packages from others out on the road. They horde them, rarely actually getting the parcels where they are intended to go. They are mysterious, though, and we know little about them. Do they have a hierarchy? How did they start? Most importantly, how will the UCA deal with them?
5 The UCA And Die-Hardman
It's a new dawn for America, and players want to see how Die-Hardman is dealing with the stresses of the presidency. The UCA wants to preserve the best values of the USA like individual freedoms, while eschewing ideas like imperialism. Will they succeed?
Will Die-Hardman's secrets leak out and ruin him? How would the other members of the UCA feel if they learned about what he did to Cliff? Die-Hardman isn't hiding behind a mask anymore, so he'll have to deal with all of these problems face forward.
4 Homo Demens
With Higgs out of the picture, what will remaining Homo Demens do? They are just as likely to put down their arms and join the UCA as they are to continue their malicious activities. A new leader could potentially fill Higgs' seat, or they'll descend into complete anarchy, becoming like the Mules but far more dangerous. If they do decide to stop fighting, will the UCA welcome them back with open arms, or inflict harsh punishment?
3 Heartman's Family
A post-game interview reveals Heartman's new life journey. He abandons the search for his deceased family and starts a relationship with a different woman. Maybe they are still out there, however. Perhaps they are waiting for him somewhere. Just like how Cliff couldn't rest until he made his connection with Sam, his Wife and Kid could need him in order to go on. Then again, it was Heartman who couldn't rest without them, and now has finally found peace. He still has to deal with living only twenty-one minutes at a time before dying for three.
2 More Clarification About The Death Stranding
By the end of the game we know who caused the Death Stranding, but we don't know why they did it or why they chose to do it at that time in human history. Even Amelie, the Extinction Entity, is at a loss for words when trying to explain why the Universe sent her. She has a hypothesis, but it is impossible to say if it is correct or even in the ballpark. Maybe the Death Stranding is just the Universe trying to correct its course after deeming life an accident, or maybe something different is behind the whole thing.
1 Is The Universe Still Out For Humanity?
Assuming the Death Stranding is the Universe's conscious attempt at wiping out humanity, is it still on the hunt after failing? Will another threat arise? Even if it does, is the scope of existence so grand compared to a human lifespan that this other threat wouldn't come for thousands of years? Another question arises as well. Is it the Universe doing these things and prompting Extinction Entities, or is there another being doing it on the Universe's behalf. When dealing with cosmic themes like this, concrete answers are likely to never surface.