Warning: Narrative spoilers for the first act of Death Stranding 2 are presented below.
Death Stranding 2, much like other Hideo Kojima games, stands out for its peculiarity, perhaps even surpassing them in strangeness. Instead of the cloning and nanomachines found in Metal Gear, this game features aging rainfall, interdimensional beaches, magical tar, and a multitude of other concepts that you might begin to grasp by the end. The narrative is tragic, occasionally humorous, then tragic again, delving into such mysterious sci-fi depths that you’ll likely need to consult the in-game encyclopedia to keep track of all the specific terminology.
One of the central plot elements – mercifully straightforward – is that the protagonist, Sam Porter Bridges, is a “repatriate,” meaning he can return to life after dying. Death Stranding 2 repeatedly transforms this blessing into a curse throughout its story.
The first instance of this occurs in the game’s opening hours, when Sam’s adopted child, Lou, seemingly dies. This tragedy drives him to repeatedly attempt suicide, all to no avail.
Personally, I appreciated this twist as a dramatic foundation for a new story, especially considering Sam’s deep attachment to Lou that developed throughout the first Death Stranding.
But do you know who definitely didn’t appreciate it? Akio Sakamoto’s wife.
Sakamoto, whom I interviewed alongside two other Kojima Productions developers for the PC launch of Death Stranding 2, serves as the studio’s technical director and chief technical officer. When I asked the trio about their most memorable moments working on the game, Sakamoto shared that his wife’s reaction to that shocking twist was even stronger than his own.
“My opinion was, ‘Oh my god, this is terrible,'” Sakamoto recounted. “After the PS5 release, my wife was also playing the game, and once she reached that point, she messaged me saying, ‘Kojima Productions are psychopaths.'”
Everyone in the room shared a good laugh over the anecdote, leading me to assume they took her reaction—and her clear emotional investment in Death Stranding’s characters—as a compliment. Although this story emerged at the very end of our interview, I followed up to ask what Mrs. Sakamoto thought of the rest of the game. I won’t spoil the ending, but she evidently completed it and also had an opinion on that.
“She said it was complicated,” Sakamoto replied.
Mrs. Sakamoto was not wrong. If you, too, have finished the game but struggled to comprehend it all, you will understand her sentiment.