Death Stranding Review: 9 Ups & 3 Downs

7. Some Incredibly Well-Researched Thoughts On Life & Death

There's a distinction to be made between the scriptwriting and phrasing itself, and just how much time, research and effort Hideo Kojima has put into the text of this game.

Because at the heart of Death Stranding - without going into spoilers - is a rumination on life, death and purpose.

Characters like Higgs have aesthetics reminiscent of Ancient Egyptian architecture. There are explanations into what's going on that revolve around Egyptian principles of the afterlife and mirror images of our living selves.

Even the fact that Sam can weaponise his fecal matter, urine and blood (I know) feels like Kojima acknowledging the ancient art of "Humorism", where early medicinal techniques centred on our collective excretions for diagnoses and cures.

Ultimately, Death Stranding shoots for a general message of togetherness, community and uniting as one in the face of things like online hatred and political divide, but there's a ton in here about what "living" even is in the first place.