Did Hideo Kojima predict the future, again? Well, there’s a meme making the rounds that suggests so, and it makes a compelling argument. In 2019, Hideo Kojima released Death Stranding on PS4. On top of being thought-provoking and revolutionary, it was very strange. The game is set in the near future, in a post-apocalyptic world where people live in self isolation and practice social distancing. What are they hiding from? An invisible threat. And what’s keeping things from falling apart even more? A delivery man delivering much-needed supplies and packages to all of those hunkered down from the outside world. Sound familiar? It’s kinda the world we live in right now thanks to the coronavirus.
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This may seem like a stretch — and to an extent it is — but it’s a realization that has had many people talking about Death Stranding again. Normally I would write all of this off and simply enjoy the memes, but I can’t help but wonder if there’s actually something to this. It seems far-fetched, but then I remember that Kojima more or less predicted the information age, fake news, echo chambers, and more in MGS 2.
Again, it’s a stretch, but it does have me thinking about Death Stranding and its messages again. It’s timely, whether by coincidence or not.
hold up a sec
right now:
– society is divided along political lines
– sudden onset of a nigh-inescapable illness
– paranoia setting in rapidly
– everyone relying on delivery services to avoid going outARE YOU KIDDING ME KOJIMA@Kojima_Hideo pic.twitter.com/P0CoRl4j8W
โ Nitroidโ (@Nitroid) March 6, 2020
Kojima in 2019: this game is set in a near future where people live in self isolation hiding from an invisible threat, as a delivery man you play a key role in keeping society alive
โ Hal is in the air tonite (@halphelt) March 19, 2020
Everyone: haha ok kojima
In light of recent quarantine efforts and social distancing, Death Stranding takes on a new light for me and seems more prescient than ever in its themes and symbolism. I can also better understand why some only speak through a holographic communicator & want to avoid contact. pic.twitter.com/GKC8cp37Tw
โ Peter Tieryas (@TieryasXu) March 14, 2020
ok how did Kojima manage to predict contemporary events again??
he did it with MGS2, although that took a while to manifest. Now Death Stranding is the game that was on point.
how the fuck he keep doing that. I’m convinced he’s a clairvoyant.
โ Punchy (@Succinct_Punchy) March 17, 2020
It was great when Kojima predicted the internet age but did he really need to also predict we would be living isolated lives relying on delivery workers to survive
โ lil Uber eats (@InanimateSystem) March 18, 2020
Much like how Metal Gear 2 predicted memes and the spread of misinformation, Death Stranding predicted things too pic.twitter.com/ePl7MedvKw
โ Social โDistancingโ Snake (@hyenasandgin) March 13, 2020
5 months ago: What a bullshit Death Stranding plot, you just play a delivery boy in a world where everyone is locked up in the house and can’t go outside what is this bullshit??
Today: pic.twitter.com/dMBHA1FF4s
โ Mimi Moon (@MimiMoonCosplay) March 13, 2020
death stranding real??????? pic.twitter.com/hDyydZF8AG
โ big tiddy country troll gf (@NINAC0RTEX) March 12, 2020
Death Stranding is available for PS4, and for now, only the PS4. However, it’s slated to come to PC this year.
“The nucleus of Death Stranding is its slow burning story that brews classic sci-fi with old weird fiction on top of foundational ideas and perspectives redolent of writers and visionaries like Kobo Abe and Franz Kafka,” reads a snippet from our review of the game. “Similar to Metal Gear Solid, the story of Death Stranding is a complicated multi-layered narrative that will make you feel lost, but never loses you, and pays back your patience with mind-shattering revelations and remarkable interweaving of personal, intimate moments with an exploration of life’s biggest questions. And the vehicle to all of this is Kojima’s signature style of storytelling, which evokes his past work, but also evolves it.”