Sometimes, when I play one of Hideo Kojima's creations, I feel like I’m playing the same game. From Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake to Snatcher, plenty of similarities remain from someone who likes to reflect on the past when he allows it, but lets the future define the story of his latest game.
That's no truer than Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, a game released on PS5 last month to critical acclaim, with its story being rewritten due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Kojima has said in interviews that the plot was directly influenced by the virus, as well as his own mortality during this time. You may think this was the only 'strand' of real life meeting the game, but another series from his library made me wonder if he drew from that, too.
Setting the scene
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach review: "This tarpunk delivery epic is more Metal Gear Solid than ever, for better and worse"
During the first UK lockdown in 2020, I began to play Death Stranding: Director’s Cut on PC, and much of it just didn’t click with me. I found it tedious, as if I were playing an old FMV game that was better suited to the Sega Mega CD from the mid-90s. So as a way of comfort, I caught a Twitch stream of someone playing the whole series for the first time, which then led me to replay some Metal Gear games.
Metal Gear Solid 4 – which remains Solid Snake's final mission – released in 2008, but it struck a chord with me in 2020, and again when I became a dad. Nostalgia and looking after the next generation in an ever-changing world can be the same – you'll look back to see how you can take on a task in the present. Sometimes, your offspring reminds you of your past self from long ago.
There's also the fact that Kojima gave each MGS title a theme. MGS1 was Gene, MGS2 was Meme, MGS3 was Scene, and MGS4 was Sense. Every word here conveys each game so succinctly that they could all describe Death Stranding 2, but also by facing the past with nostalgia.
Across MGS 4, you get the chance to press 'X' to visualize a memory that Snake remembers at that moment. Even when you get to play MGS 1 halfway through the game, every part of nostalgia hits, from the music to the overhead view, even to the music when it’s ‘Mission Failed’. Kojima wants to remind you that Snake is forced to reflect on his life because his subconscious is forcing him to, as he's nearing the end of his life.
This culminates in the final fight between Snake and Liquid Ocelot on top of Arsenal Gear. Three parts cover the past three MGS games via the life bar and music. Bathed in sunrise during the final moments, the last few punches are made, with Snake eventually winning the fight. A 90-minute scene follows, which essentially showcases the next generation, both with Sunny, daughter of a deceased character from MGS 2, and with Big Boss saying goodbye to Snake via CQC, the fighting method many players used in MGS 3, and soon, the Metal Gear Solid 3 remake.
Throughout Death Stranding 2, Higgs, played by Troy Baker, weaves his idea of what the world should be, as another Kojima trope of what some characters want things to be.
But there are also themes of music, friendship, and love. These three themes carry DS2, and when it gets to the final fight, you're again in a one-on-one fight bathed in a sunrise. And just to hammer it home some more, Higgs and Sam both quote, almost verbatim, lines from Metal Gear. From "Kept you waiting, huh?" to "It ain't over yet (it's not over yet)". The swansong of what Kojima is trying to convey is awash here, but there’s even more beneath the surface.
A final strand
"It's as if to say, the next generation is here, and always will be"
In Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, Baker also played Ocelot, who would be the number two to Big Boss by way of an advisor. You'd be struck by the friendship that both characters had developed by this point, as it was 20 years since they first met back in Snake Eater. When you combine this with the final fight in MGS 4, and then with Death Stranding 2's final battle, even more SOCOM ammo is added where Kojima is saying goodbye to Metal Gear once again as Higgs and Sam duke it out, complete with guitars, life bars, and a sunrise – almost all nods to the past.
When it gets to the second half of the fight, the music slows down, as do the hits between Sam and Higgs. With every strike, there’s a line spoken, very reminiscent of Snake and Liquid Ocelot on top of Arsenal Gear in MGS 4.
The last strand, much like the GW AI, falls apart, and Sam’s adopted daughter, Lou, breaks through it, followed by giving a thumbs up, and then finishes off Higgs. It's as if to say, the next generation is here, and always will be.
In 2023, Kojima reflected on Metal Gear Solid 4 to mark its 15th anniversary, and mentioned how the final battles were made with filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock in mind. The same clearly applies to Death Stranding 2.
Kojima said that he didn't get to show his parents the finished game. Perhaps, as DS2’s final shot implies a potential follow-up, it takes influence from Jedi Master Yoda in Return of the Jedi. There’s a passing of the baton from Sam to Lou, passing on what he’s learned to the next generation. You could say, it's passing on the genes, to take on the memes, to set the scene for the future, as a way to make sense for others who may be lost.
As Big Boss says, it's to keep things the way they are, not to change the world in someone else's image. Because, ultimately, when you switch off your PS5 after completing Death Stranding 2 and go see your loved one – like I did with my son – and they give you the biggest smile, you can’t help but think:
70 hours in, Death Stranding 2 is one of few open world games that justifies having such a huge map
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