The originalDeath Stranding, a game centered around technology and the human need for connection, was ironically released just months before the real-life pandemic that had humans glued to their phones and televisions, with an insatiable need to connect through online platforms.
Not only didgaming sales skyrocketduring this time, but so did the technological advancements thatDeath StrandingcreatorHideo Kojimaconstantly criticizes and utilizes in the world of his games.
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Technology is improving to the point where it’s becoming easier now, says Kojima.
However, with the creation ofDeath Stranding 2, following the COVID-19 pandemic, Kojima could no longer pretend that a world-shaping event was pure fiction. He evenrewrote partsof the sequel to reflect this societal shift that his entire player base endured.
As he discusses in a recent interviewwith denfaminicogamer.jp, translated andspotted by automaton, it appears as though his topical commentaries don’t just end there.According to Kojima himself, the game highlights a significant shift he has observed in technology and AI over recent years.
The theme of the entireDeath Strandingseries centers on human connections and our reliance on advanced forms of technology to facilitate those connections.
However, this idea has become even more intriguing when considering the recent advancements in highly sophisticatedAI and algorithms, which can tailor ways to hook and manipulate every person, given their own unique wants and needs.
As he explains in the interview,“It’s not that I’m trying to say that technology is bad, but, as an example, the AI assistant in my phone tries to suggest me a lot of different things – personally, I kind of hate that.”
It seems as though, alongside these technological advancements, Kojima really just wants us to realize it’s often the way that we use this technology that dictates how much it changes our lives.
But that doesn’t mean that every way we use this technology is bad. As Kojima once again explains, “it is because of the Internet that we were able to survive the Covid pandemic,” and thus technology can also provide a form of communication that we now need to survive.
Kojima Explains The Power Of “Coincidence”
Possibly the biggest thing Kojima believes technology is ruining in the modern day, something he believes impacts the design ofDeath Stranding 2, is the way that it has eliminated the small things that made non-technology-infused life different.For instance, a key point Kojima highlights in the interview is the power of “coincidence.”
You wake up in the morning, you go to school, you go to work, and on your way, you enter a café you stumbled upon by chance. Or you meet someone new by chance.
This aspect of “chance,” the ability to do something unexpected for its own sake, often goes directly against the technology Kojima is highlighting in our own lives and throughout his games. Technology can connect us in advanced ways, but it also has the ability to limit our ability to wander into new experiences.
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After facing health challenges during COVID, Kojima decided the best way to preserve his legacy was by backing up all of his best ideas.
A simple mind experiment is toimagine how many movies, books, TV series, songs, and video games you may have missed out on because an advanced algorithm decided it wasn’t worth your time, and how many of your favorite things you found by simply stumbling upon them.
This also connects Kojima andDeath Stranding 2to thedeath of the third space,as how, post-COVID, community centers and small, incidental parts of our lives were largely eliminated, partially due to our new outlook and reliance on technology.
Essentially, advanced forms of connections and algorithms will guide you down a set path, often limiting your ability to wander off the beaten path, do something new, and learn something unexpected.
If you’ve played a bit ofDeath Strandingor its sequel, whichjust released on PS5, you can see the connection to all of these themes and ideas, and this innate desire for “coincidence” is something Kojima sums up brilliantly.
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Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
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Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is the upcoming sequel from Hideo Kojima for Death Stranding. As mysterious and inscrutable as the first game was leading up to launch, details are sparse on this bizarre open-world exploration game.
