Late last year, Kojima Productions officially revealed Death Stranding 2. As most fans likely expected, the early looks didn't reveal a lot and raised more questions than answers. The biggest battle to understand the narrative of Death Stranding 2, however, might come in a place that is both unexpected and obvious.

It wasn't entirely clear what was going on in the teaser trailer for Death Stranding 2. It has been speculated that part of the teaser takes place in the past, while the rest takes place after the events of the first game. Theories of time travel have even come up. It is very likely, ultimately, that in order for gamers to understand what is going on in the second game, players will first have to fully comprehend what occurred in the first.

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The Confusing Lore of Hideo Kojima Games

Hideo Kojima has earned himself a reputation as one of the gaming industry's auteurs. Whereas many other game writers and lead developer names tend to get lost in the credits, Kojima makes sure to put his personal stamp on every project he works on. Hideo Kojima's games are sometimes said to predict the future and are often bizarre and quirky in ways that contradict the otherwise serious narratives and storylines, making them difficult to follow at times.

While the plots of the Metal Gear Solid games are easy enough to follow, fully comprehending their stories requires players to dig a little deeper. For one to fully understand what is going on in say Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, gamers need to understand the events of all the previous Metal Gear Solid games which were released between 1998-2016.

The first three Metal Gear Solid games are currently set to be re-released later this year in a new collection, but in order to fully comprehend what is going on in those games, players must have gone through the original Metal Gear games for the MSX. It's a very lore-heavy franchise and is very easy for one to get lost if a single game isn't played from start to finish. With all that in mind, it's hard to imagine that Death Stranding will be any different.

The Dense and Unusual Narrative of Death Stranding

When the first teaser for Death Stranding was released, it was clear that it was going to be a strange video game. The final product proved to be a bit controversial among gamers and critics in the gameplay factor, but the narrative was every bit as bizarre as expected. While the main plot was relatively straight forward, the world-building elements included ghosts, babies in stasis tanks, some force trying to cause a mass extinction event, and so much more.

While some have praised the story of Death Stranding as being one of the best of the 8th console generation, it can be a little difficult to fully comprehend. A lot of information is given to players piecemeal and sometimes breaks the "show don't tell" rule. Some otherwise very critical pieces of information about the world are done through easily missed phone calls and recordings which makes getting the full picture somewhat difficult. Even if one has the full picture, it's very easy for stuff to fly over the head as many of the concepts in the game can be rather abstract. Therefore, it is likely that gamers will have to understand Death Stranding's rather dense lore in order to understand its sequel.

As it stands, virtually nothing is known about the upcoming game. It's likely a given that the game will likely build upon the franchise's already bizarre world. The trailers and images that have been revealed only raise more questions than answers, and there is about as much clarity on Death Stranding 2 as there was on its predecessor. Chances are, however, that in order to understand this world, understanding the first game will be half the battle.

Death Stranding 2 is currently in development.

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