Death Stranding Review: 9 Ups & 3 Downs

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3. The Script Is Largely Terrible

Remember how loosely written and strangely "off" a ton of MGS V's cutscenes and script felt?

That sensation is back in abundance.

Sadly, Hideo Kojima has only become more self-indulgent and whimsical as he's gotten older, and whilst I'm still a humungous fan of his work and approach to art, Death Stranding's script is notably weak.

Loaded with the one takeaway message of togetherness he had when designing the project from the beginning, it results in two types of characters:

Either you're forever stressing the importance of "coming together" at every opportunity, or you've misanthropically given up on everyone, and don't wish for anything to change.

Norman Reedus' Sam Bridges is clearly supposed to wander from the latter to the former, but his arc feels forced, rather than through any particular line read or change in acting over time. So many altercations between him and other characters repeat this core message in a VERY on the nose way, and even when we find out more about the world and its key figures, there's a dreamlike quality to their dialogue and actions that can be distancing, considering the well-researched themes and information given elsewhere.

Death Stranding - and by extension, Kojima - largely wants to eat his cake and philosophise about it too. He wants a poignantly-delivered message on how online spaces have forced us apart; a rumination on togetherness and the importance of fellow humans... but he also wants you to deliver pizzas in the apocalypse, have a baby blow heart-shaped bubbles, or take out a militia with grenades made of poop.

Sure, that is entirely what "A Hideo Kojima Game" is, and while the vast majority is stellar, so much of the script lacks the throughline care and attention of his games prior to MGS V.