Death Stranding 2: Kojima Says He 'Would Start From Zero'
Stranded again.
byChris Priestman
Posted Dec. 2, 2019, 1:24 p.m.
Hideo Kojima says he would consider making a sequel to Death Stranding but it probably wouldn't continue on from the first game.
In an interview with Vulture, Hideo Kojima discussed the possibility of working with Norman Reedus again, and that if he did it could be a sequel to Death Stranding. That said, if he were to start such a project, Kojima says he "would start from zero."
What that presumably means is that a second game wouldn't continue any plot points on from the first game. Perhaps the two games would be connected by sharing the same universe or exploring similar themes instead.
Norman Reedus, of course, plays the part of main character Sam Bridges in Death Stranding. So it could be that he reprise that role in a sequel, but isn't the main character and instead simply interacts with the plot in some form.
Aside from a possible Death Stranding 2, the interview also reveals why Kojima added online components to the game. After watching Martin Scorsese's 1976 film Taxi Driver, Kojima realised that people all over the world felt the loneliness that he did as a kid - that feeling of wanting to alleviate loneliness led to the 'social strand' system.
"That's why I added this indirect online connection in the game - so that people will feel it's alright, it's okay," Kojima told Vulture. "You're relieved that you're not alone. You see other people's footprints and think it's not just me here."
Kojima also says that the terrifying ocean-based imagery in the game - seas of tar and giant squid monsters - stems from his fright when his late father pushed him out to the ocean on a boat when he was a kid.
On the topic of his parents, Kojima also reveals that he didn't tell his mother that he started his own studio and was making Death Stranding.
"I thought, I'll tell her once I've become a little successful," he said. "I didn't want her to worry." Unfortunately, Kojima's mother died during the game's development so he never got to tell her, which he regrets.
"The ghosts in the game - maybe my parents are one of them, seeing me in this world," he said to Vulture. "I wanted to have that kind of metaphor, that within you, you're connected to the people that passed away."
In our Death Stranding review, we said it has "a fascinating, fleshed-out world" but "it's all been saddled on a gameplay backbone that struggles to adequately support its weight over the full course of the journey."
Chris Priestman is a freelancer who writes news for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.
Release Date: Nov. 8, 2019
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Pc, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4
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