I thought Kojima filmed Death Stranding 2's opening sequence in my Arizona backyard, and now that people are confusing pictures of a real-life desert for screenshots, I know I haven't lost my marbles

My first time playing Death Stranding 2, I'm no longer ashamed to admit I thought it might've been a live-action shot of a deserted region close to my real-life home of Phoenix, Arizona.

I'm not afraid to admit that because people online are confusing images of a real-life desert in Mexico for Death Stranding 2 screenshots. (For the uninitiated, I live in the same Sonoran desert that stretches throughout northwestern Mexico and southwestern United States.)

Redditor PangTemujin shared a series of real-life pictures they took exploring the majestic canyons of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park near the Mexico border in southern California, and says they're "convinced Kojima" used the locale as inspiration for Death Stranding 2. And indeed, the shots look very similar to the opening area where you deliver your first package in the game.

So similar, in fact, that several commenters admitted they mistook the shots for Death Stranding 2 screenshots.

Sam’s house is down there somewhere from r/DeathStranding

"This game is so wild that as I quick scrolled through, I thought these were screenshots. Like 'yeah cool same intro I watched and people have posted a million times, whatever'

"And then it hit me," replied Arachnid1 in the post's top reply with 254 upvotes at the time of writing.

"Which is which," said a Twitter user reacting to the same images.

"Safe to say Kojima Productions managed to achieve photo realism with DS2," said the Twitter user who shared the images.

As someone who does a lot of hiking in similar-looking vistas in Arizona, I completely relate with PangTemujin thinking instinctively, "that's my neighborhood!" when playing the first part of Death Stranding 2. Even the monsoon that strikes the area shortly after is extremely familiar to anyone who's spent a lot of time in the region.

Of course, the rest of Death Stranding 2's map isn't nearly as reminiscent of the arid Sonoran desert as you explore a more tropical region of the map clearly inspired by the more central parts of Mexico and then travel over to Australia, but those first couple of hours are a surreal treat for desert dwellers.

70 hours in, Death Stranding 2 is one of few open world games that justifies having such a huge map