You Choose Whether Characters Live or Die in Death Stranding

Though we might not know everything that’s going on in Death Stranding, we’ve known for some time that the game is about connections. Indeed, the game’s core concept is in the name of its protagonist: Sam Bridger.

Now, in a recent revelation from Hideo Kojima, it seems like players will have to foster those connections lest NPCs die. 

Speaking about Death Stranding at the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, Kojima confirmed that players’ actions will affect the world of the game, specifically its characters. 

According to the presentation, a translation of which was posted to the Death Stranding subreddit by user Keqpup, various gameplay paths appear based on how players react to specific circumstances. Kojima said: 

We have a character who lives deep underground. He is sick and needs medicine, and Sam can deliver it. Since this happens at the beginning of the story, this is a must. After completing this quest, the player himself chooses the following actions: you can constantly go to the old man and carry medicine; can deliver other items; You can listen to his stories from the past.

But the player is constantly moving forward and moving away from the character. And I’m sure that there are gamers who forget about this old man. And then they will remember and return to it. Since they have not carried medicine to him all this time, he will die by this moment. Through such actions, a connection arises with the character.

We really hope that the significance of the connection between people — how it is formed, how it develops — will be revealed, and it will be interesting for you to play it.

Of course, this begs the question: will Death Stranding have multiple endings? While the answer to that is pure speculation at this point, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise considering the breadth of the game. 

What’s more, previous Hideo Kojima games have allowed players to influence characters throughout the story, such as Quiet in Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain and The End in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. 

However, it’s worth pointing out that Kojima has also said that he is not a fan of multiple endings. Speaking on The Game Makers (by way of GamingBolt) way back in 2017, Kojima said:

There’s the multi-ending story technique and that’s a technique I’m not very interested in. I hope to make video games where the player’s destiny is set, and it’s really a matter of how the player takes the initiative. Using their willpower, courage and wisdom, to move the story forward.

Regardless of what it means to let characters live or die in Death Stranding, we won’t have to wait much longer to find out. Death Stranding is set to release on the PlayStation 4 on November 8. 

Source: Reddit, GamingBolt