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[decisions]

Here is a compilation of the new Death Stranding footage shown at Gamescom 2019:





The highly anticipated new IP from Hideo Kojima - his first since his messy departure from his critically-acclaimed brainchild series, Metal Gear Solid - Death Stranding is a game a lot of people are watching very closely.

However, there are two things I simply want to bring to attention:

1. Kojima likes to play games with his audience, often employing non-traditional and misleading marketing to do so.
2. Over time, the public showcases of Death Stranding have given people a weird, ambiguous feeling about what the game actually is.

The persistence of these two facts (now we are about 3 and a half months away from the game and the sentiment that there's something off about the game has only grown), has led me to develop the conspiracy theory that Death Stranding is a fake game and what will be released on Nov. 8th will be something significantly different than what we have seen, especially in the gameplay department.

To elaborate more, I expect that the all of the announced cast members, assets, and engine are real and will be used in Kojima's next project, but the game will not end up being called Death Stranding and the gameplay will be significantly different from the slow, methodical exploration we have seen thus far. The name sounds fake and that logo still has the weird subliminal thing going on with it that nothing came from.

Does anyone share this conspiracy theory?

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

It is a pro-life cinematic game where two homosexual men fight for the right to raise a baby.

 

[DeepEnigma]

I don’t think it’s a fake game, I think the messaging is misdirection but not false, just a small slice to invoke the sense of alone, loneliness and confusion.

Clear ’s theories might be the right track.

 

[ColonialRaptor]

I agree to some extent however it will still have the name and logo death stranding as it currently is.

I also believe that what we’ve seen so far will be like a 4 or 5 hour intro part and then it will change considerably in one way at that point. Can’t be sure though but after that gameplay demo I’m seeing this as more likely I mean that was a joke and if it wasn’t then the game is not for me, but I honestly think it’s meant to inspire a feeling of disappointment so that when we see what the actual gameplay is like we get even more excited and whatever the opposite of disappointed is.

 

[mango drank]

So this is the new version of team real vs team CG? (Team real vs team fake)

Team real. Team CG were a national embarrassment.

 

[Grand Theft Scratchy]

Gameplay will be significantly different? Like this?

Yeah, it's marketed with lots of cutscenes (emphasis on the story) and traversal, probably because you'll be spending most of the game reuniting stranded human settlements but to say it isn't real sounds a lot like denial to me.

Don't forget we will see more gameplay at the Tokyo Game Show.

 

[portruffle]

You're going DEEP, bruh.

 

[A.Romero]

Not likely.

We can't forget publicly traded companies such as Sony have to report shareholders (current and potential) about their operations so they can make informed decisions regarding stock. There is a limit about how much marketing can play with a concept to draw attention. It's not the same as the tanker scene/Raiden because we are not talking about a well stablished IP like MGS was.

I do think we have seen very little about the game and the rest of it could be surprising but not a different product altogether.

 

[New Yorks Finest]

It is a pro-life cinematic game where two homosexual men fight for the right to raise a baby.

Are you joking or are you being serious right now? Main plot of the single player??!!

 

[Chiggs]

I sure as hell hope the whole thing has been an intentional swerve, because what has been shown has been truly awful.

 

[baphomet]

You realize that something like that wouldn't be legal now that games are sold years before release.

 

[Hendrick's]

I just think it's going to be as obtuse and nonsensical as it looks. Whether or not it will be fun to play is the main question that remains.

 

[Chiggs]

You realize that something like that wouldn't be legal now that games are sold years before release.

It would be completely legal, provided the right legal disclaimers were put in place.

 

[Fake]

My game? Why?

 

[Dice]

The baby symbolizes a meme you created.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

Are you joking or are you being serious right now? Main plot of the single player??!!

Why must you question KojimaXReedus?

 

[baphomet]

It would be completely legal, provided the right legal disclaimers were put in place.

Not at all.

Disclaimer or not, you cannot sell something completely different than what is advertised.

 

[BLAUcopter]

No chance it's fake.

Think of the outrage from all the pre order sales if it turns out to be a totally different game.

 

[Chiggs]

Not at all.

Disclaimer or not, you cannot sell something completely different than what is advertised.

I’m sorry, but all that is being advertised is a game. And it can be changed. Of course, someone could sue Kojima and Sony by claiming there wasn’t enough walking and pseudo-philosophizing in Death Stranding, but it’s likely that would get tossed, provided that a game was delivered.

 

[Vampire On Titus]

Kojima simply knows better than to waste gameplay footage on filthy gaijin. He's saving the good stuff for TGS.

 

[Mondai]

This game will make or break Kojima, thought I see it many being disappointed with this game when it comes out (immense hyped games always disappoint).

 

[Vawn]

All I want to know is, can I pee on the baby?

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

I think it's real, that's the scary part.

Kojima unfettered. I'm not sure the world is ready.

 

[decisions]

I just think to myself, "if someone who people generally perceived as smart or intellectual wanted to troll everyone by coming up with the most nonsensical, intentionally ambiguous and goalless story and characters ever, and also the most pretentious, pseudo immersive "gameplay" to go along with it, isn't Death Stranding exactly what that looks like?"

Kojima's like, yeah I just have this game and I've shown three years of trailers for it but no one has any idea what the premise of the plot even is. It's a game about walking, and pissing, and you have a baby attached to you who you care for in gameplay segments where you sit down and rotate the camera and do nothing! It's very revolutionary. Sometimes you meet people and there are demons and stuff who are there but not really there...Oh yeah I just put these weird strands on the game logo because you know, it's Death "Stranding", I didn't actually mean anything, sometimes I just do things that have no hidden meaning at all in my games! Nothing at all. Hahaha.

Do people really believe this? I don't. You heard it here first, Death Stranding is not Death Stranding. Goddamnit that name just sounds like anagram.

And what. are. those. strands. This guy just did this shit with Phantom Pain in a way more cryptic manner and people think there's nothing here? I don't believe it. I bet Kojima is somewhat disappointed that we haven't figured it out yet tbh.

 

[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

This thread should be removed. HERESY!

 

[theHFIC]

i don’t think our brains have evolved far enough to comprehend what kojima is about to bless us with.

the release of death stranding is going to usher in an evolutionary step in humankind as a whole as new brain patterns and neuron combinations are figured out thanks to death strandings innovative strand gameplay and norman reedus heavy cinematics.

 

[Animagic]

Here is a compilation of the new Death Stranding footage shown at Gamescom 2019:





The highly anticipated new IP from Hideo Kojima - his first since his messy departure from his critically-acclaimed brainchild series, Metal Gear Solid - Death Stranding is a game a lot of people are watching very closely.

However, there are two things I simply want to bring to attention:

1. Kojima likes to play games with his audience, often employing non-traditional and misleading marketing to do so.
2. Over time, the public showcases of Death Stranding have given people a weird, ambiguous feeling about what the game actually is.

The persistence of these two facts (now we are about 3 and a half months away from the game and the sentiment that there's something off about the game has only grown), has led me to develop the conspiracy theory that Death Stranding is a fake game and what will be released on Nov. 8th will be something significantly different than what we have seen, especially in the gameplay department.

To elaborate more, I expect that the all of the announced cast members, assets, and engine are real and will be used in Kojima's next project, but the game will not end up being called Death Stranding and the gameplay will be significantly different from the slow, methodical exploration we have seen thus far. The name sounds fake and that logo still has the weird subliminal thing going on with it that nothing came from.

Does anyone share this conspiracy theory?

That would be the most Kojima thing ever.

Hope it’s true cause what I’ve seen so far looks dumb and pointless

 

[DeepEnigma]

I just think to myself, "if someone who people generally perceived as smart or intellectual wanted to troll everyone by coming up with the most nonsensical, intentionally ambiguous and goalless story and characters ever, and also the most pretentious, pseudo immersive "gameplay" to go along with it, isn't Death Stranding exactly what that looks like?"

Kojima's like, yeah I just have this game and I've shown three years of trailers for it but no one has any idea what the premise of the plot even is. It's a game about walking, and pissing, and you have a baby attached to you who you care for in gameplay segments where you sit down and rotate the camera and do nothing! It's very revolutionary. Sometimes you meet people and there are demons and stuff who are there but not really there...Oh yeah I just put these weird strands on the game logo because you know, it's Death "Stranding", I didn't actually mean anything, sometimes I just do things that have no hidden meaning at all in my games! Nothing at all. Hahaha.

Do people really believe this? I don't. You heard it here first, Death Stranding is not Death Stranding. Goddamnit that name just sounds like anagram.

And what. are. those. strands. This guy just did this shit with Phantom Pain in a way more cryptic manner and people think there's nothing here? I don't believe it. I bet Kojima is somewhat disappointed that we haven't figured it out yet tbh.

Anagram Solver - Find all possible words

Use this Anagram Solver to see a list of all possible words made from your input letters or word.

www.thewordfinder.com

Good luck.

 

[Keihart]

Are there twists in the plot and maybe some easter eggs and other type of secrets ? Porbably, this team has been doing it since MGS 1 or 2, so that wouldn't be a suprise.
The marketed game doesn't make sense? that's rubbish, i think that some people don't want to accept it or are just embracing a meme at this point. Some of what seem to be the core mechanics of the game have been already been revealed, and there is a good grasp of the tone of it's story and world. What else should they show? everything?
Edit: i also have to mention how awesome is the HUD, can't be more metal gear-ish than that, even the sounds. And Yoji Shinkawa's designs are as iconic as ever.

 

[Grand Theft Scratchy]

And what. are. those. strands. This guy just did this shit with Phantom Pain in a way more cryptic manner and people think there's nothing here? I don't believe it. I bet Kojima is somewhat disappointed that we haven't figured it out yet tbh.

"Eat standing".

 

[DeepEnigma]

"Eat standing".

“Earth Sanding.”

(Make this a meme)

 

[decisions]

"Eat standing".

Or, if the middle three threads are really just one each, EAT STING. Maybe the next trailer will have Norman Reedus eating the stinger of a wasp to enter another dimension with the secret alien monsters to defeat them and save the world of this totally real video game.

 

[DeepEnigma]

"Eat standing".

The Dad Transing

 

[jshackles]

I'd love it if OP's crazy premise turned out to be true

 

[bumleforce]

All these celebrities aint cheap. I feel like this game may have ok gameplay a weird story that will probably make no sense but everyone will give a pass to for haveing normon redus and other celebs plus kojima

 

[YukiOnna]

Remember Moby Dick Studios

 

[Life]

*sigh* 3 more months of more bullshit theories about the game.

 

[Hinedorf]

No.


Because Money.

 

[Cattlyst]

All the strange cut scenes initially intrigued me, but when the actual gameplay footage was released and it looked like a generic third person shooter I checked out. For this reason, I'm hoping there's something to what OP is saying. Otherwise it's a hard pass from me.

 

[Murr]

Kojima be like: you all thought it would be a strand game, but in reality it is a 3rd person cover shooter. Tollolol.

 

[EDMIX]

It is a pro-life cinematic game where two homosexual men fight for the right to raise a baby.

As funny as that sounds, sir.....I'd be so proud of the medium the day such a game can release and just be a normal release vs 100 articles claiming pandering.

If that was a movie, show or book we'd all just live our lives like normal. One day that will be gaming, but we are just not there yet.

Grand Theft Scratchy Agreed. I'm not watching anything for it at TGS as I'm starting a media black out, yo boy wants to be SURPRISED!

 

[EDMIX]

We all know he likes to troll and wants to have a huge surprise but often by the time the game is formally announced, he doesn't go on to continue that.

When MGSV was thought to be a completely different game, when it was revealed to be MGSV, we had years of marketing for it.

When MGS2 was shown to believe that Snake would be the main character for majority of the title, we still saw Raiden in lots of trailers

When MGS3 was first shown he trolled folks making it look like Raiden would be the main character, then AGAIN trolling folks to make it see as if SOLID SNAKE would the main character, but then formally it was clearly announced that it would be Big Boss and the rest of the marketing reflected that. This could be some MASSIVE stuff if it indeed isn't called Death Stranding and really a Metal Gear Title (some willllllllllllld theory exist on that and its pretty funny and some great points have been made, like the main bad guy could really be The Sorrow) , but historically Kojima hasn't spent THIS LONG or this close to release doing anything like that.

If anyone wants to know why Kojima does this, look at the original teaser trailer for Terminator 2 and remember....the T800 in the first film WAS THE BAD GUY, now look at the trailer. This ploy of making the T800 look like they are still the bad guy by making the shots only show him running or walking fast and not with John is done to have the realization that he is the good guy a even bigger deal.


Kojima LOVED what was done and that effected him deeply, he felt why on earth don't we have that level of marketing in gaming? So he started to do that and it makes sense.

 

[Ban Puncher]

 

[RPS37]

Gameplay will be significantly different? Like this?

Yeah, it's marketed with lots of cutscenes (emphasis on the story) and traversal, probably because you'll be spending most of the game reuniting stranded human settlements but to say it isn't real sounds a lot like denial to me.

Don't forget we will see more gameplay at the Tokyo Game Show.

Woah you do shoot things in this game. Where’d this footage come from?

 

[GHG]

After what he pulled with MGS2 and the whole Phantom Pain/Moby Dick studios/face transplant Doctor "coincidence" stuff I wouldn't be surprised.

This is well worth a watch for anyone interested in Kojima's previous work and how he goes about manipulation to get messages across:



Even if there's nothing more to any of this it will still be a unique trip based on what we've seen anyway.

 

[GHG]

Woah you do shoot things in this game. Where’d this footage come from?

It's fake gameplay mockups made by Kojima's diehard cult followers.

We all know the previous Death Stranding trailers haven't shown any gameplay and it's just one big empty walking simulator.

 

[DelireMan7]

I agree to an extent.
The marketing focused on WTF story and weird gameplay element.

I think the game will not be as "weird" as it looks (especially in the gameplay department). There will be plenty of "standard gameplay" (like others has shown : shooting for example).
Or maybe this is just a hope from me. Because I was really hyped for the game when we only had story trailers (I mean the story looks so good). Now each new gameplay footage discourage me more to play it.

 

[Fushitsusha]

Nonsense.

 

[Helios]

This thread should be removed. HERESY!

Give us the insider scoop, bro. Is OP's theory real?

 

[MilkyJoe]

Are you telling me a 6 minute gameplay video consisting of a man walking in an empty world, interrupted by a talking hologram for a bit, followed by more walking in an empty world, looks like a fake game?