How a Pandemic Transformed Death Stranding | Video Essay

[@zachsilby4569]

This game saved my life. When I was cheated on and abandoned by my first strong love, this game released the week after, I decided to pick it up on impulse as a "Okay, fine, I'm gonna treat myself." I'm glad I did. When I was at my worst, wanting to cease from being a social being. I wanted to isolate and not be a person anymore. I didn't want to get hurt as badly as I already was. This game's main message of reconnection, alongside Sam's fear of connection, himself, how he didn't open up for many, hated touch, all of it, and seeing him grow, open up through the game, and grow connected to Lou and allowing himself to [be] again. It helped me believe I could grow and prosper, even if I didn't feel like it at the time I played it.

[@mattymcfabb]

I’m so glad to see this game getting this kind of recognition. It’s hard to define how meaningful death stranding was to me

[@markforcellino409]

The whole thing isn't tied together until the very last moment of the game. When the final final credits rolled i just sat back like WOW. This was one of my favorite games of the last gen. Cant wait to play it again

[@venomsn4kee]

This was my experience too. It’s such a profound emotional experience at the end, I’ve never played anything like it. 🩷

[@ApertureAce]

I don't care what people say, Death Stranding is a fantastic game. I can't wait for the sequel to come out

[@Deses]

I played this game back in mid 2020 when the first lockdowns started and it helped me to cope with the loneliness and being stuck home. People usually say that DS is a walking simulator, but when you can't walk outside, it's what everyone needed.

[@nyxmugen]

My perspective is that one of the main themes of this game was supposed about isolation and a narrative on how disconnected from we have become by spending way too much time online and being too reliant on the internet. Unintentionally, the post apocalyptic setting is a metaphor of how broken the outside world is and if the issues are not realized sooner only mailmen making physical deliveries would be outside. The pandemic catalyzed our world turning the one in Death Stranding a reality which made the game more profound than what Kojima ever had in mind.

[@Splitz_Fire]

I tried playing death stranding when epic games gave it out for free and didn’t get very far in but last week I bought the directors cut for my steamdeck and I’ve already finished it. One of the most profound games I’ve ever played and is definitely in my top 5. Amazing video

[@kikikrazed]

after watching this video essay, i am absolutely buying death stranding during the next steam sale. also, it was great to lend my voice to this! amazing work

[@SocraticCinema]

Thank you! Absolutely wait for a sale - it routinely goes upwards of 75% on either steam or epic games. I think i got it for like 20 bucks and it was massively worth it

[@Shubham-hk6yf]

Hey it was free on epic. Did you played?

[@SocraTetris]

I was delivering food during the pandemic, and I was only thanked 1 time after my state removed its restrictions. And your video made me remember how USPS was dismantled and defunded to block ballots. I really liked this video, and I like Death Stranding as a story about forming social connections. It just wasn't my experience of the time

[@patrickreid9442]

So glad I found this video. I bought Death Stranding at launch but couldn’t get into it. Picked it back up recently and had a completely different experience and appreciation for it. I even told a friend that it hits different post-pandemic. You did such a great job covering all the reasons why.

[@KaiAfterKai]

Hearing it described like this makes me realise I'd probably enjoy Death Stranding at least a fair bit. I'll have to check it out at some point. Great video mate, happy to play a small part in it 👍🏽

[@XxCorvette1xX]

It’s very hard to describe to people why I liked this game so much but it’s definitely the best game I’ve played since New Vegas, my other favorite game It was just so cool, so fun, so neat, so moving, I dunno

[@Obadiah_13]

What an incredible essay. It is still surreal that COVID helped me appreciate this game more.

[@matchahcat]

While playing DS I did find myself finding a lot of parallels to the COVID pandemic to the game. You explained how I felt towards the game and the pandemic perfectly. This was a fantastic video essay on one of my favorite games.

[@cmdrhomborger6214]

What a fantastic essay! Thank you! It’s been a while since I’ve heard something this profound.

[@real_vamp00]

Thank you for making this. This game is oddly comforting and lonely, and is almost a time capsule for times that once were. I love remembering it through videos like these.

[@dmitrykim3096]

Damn what a great essay

[@SocraticCinema]

Thank you!

[@AdamMcDermott]

You're writing is excellent. Really enjoyed the video.

[@maxteeth]

love the idea that art can pre-empt a historical moment in this way. in some ways it reminds me of the idea of multiple scientists all coming to the same or similar discoveries despite never meeting each other or knowing about the others' work. like calculus! death stranding and covid both arrived independently at the inevitable rise in human isolation

[@SocraticCinema]

yes!!! or like how all crustaceans inevitably evolve into crab-forms… carcinisation baby

[@DeadDanDan]

i picked up death stranding on sale working my first retail job during the pandemic i always loved kojima’s weirdness and particularities but on a whole new level this game resonated to me instantly i resonated with its uneasy open environment where yeah it’s gren and beautiful, reminiscent of icelands beautiful natural landscape, yet no one to interact with, which i could see in my own day to day experience, driving to work along the freeway one full of busy vehicles making their way along but now empty all connections i had just out of high school now we were thrust into a situation where our lives felt lightyears away from each other the visions of liminal spaces of schools stores absent any people it felt like i may have an aversion to human contact thank you for helping put some of these thoughts into form

[@PactFulfillment]

Great job refining the script for this video. First video and subbed.

[@SocraticCinema]

Thank you very much!

[@overtherenowaitthere]

I bought it during a sale and I thought this topic would be perfect for a video. Too bad I’m not good at those so I’m glad someone I’m subbed to finally did!

[@SocraticCinema]

I’m glad someone else felt the same thing! During the game’s opening hours there were just too many similarities for me to NOT think about it hahaha

[@Raymando]

Great job. You have a lot of potential, and you should focus on interesting scripts and ideas like these :) You made me wanna give this game a shot. PS: I'd personally advise 2 channels for video essays and podcasts respectively tbh.

[@SocraticCinema]

Thank you! I appreciate it :) More video essays will be coming absolutely, so stay tuned!

[@McSenkel]

I work at railway construction. For me the only different thing during pandemic was that for few months the shops were open (for non-elderly) at 9, not 7. Oh, and I got almost two months of sick leave, coz half of the men got covid, me included. After a weak I bought a new laptop that got delivered to our quarters. I got free Death Stranding with it.

[@alephnole7009]

i had waited for the pc version which was released well into the pandemic. and where i live the lockdowns and countermeasures where immense. my particular job had been completely shut down for the better half of a year. leaving me with nothing but time to play death stranding and contemplate it. Kojima himself was so effected by the similarities between his game and the events that happened soon after its release he's publicly apologized for his seeming ability to write the future. promising to re write the sequel even in hopes of a positive influence this time.

[@Axisjampa]

I played it in 2023, and the whole game (100 hours and more) I felt a deja vu with the pandemic and social distance and all that. What a great game. A masterpiece

[@Afterthoughts]

Yo, next-level visuals! :) great job with this one!

[@SocraticCinema]

Ayyy thank you Sam! I appreciate it :)

[@jayphinn7716]

Bravo very well done. Started playing death stranding a couple of weeeks ago after seeing the trailer for the second game. And I will say this game feels different playing it after a pandemic.

[@Marcozius]

Why this video doesnt have more views? Great content and analysis!!!

[@cazz9366]

Love this video man. I played Death Stranding very early in the pandemic and feel very similar.

[@HizzyHay]

Great work! Definitely made m want to get around to finally playing Death Stranding

[@SocraticCinema]

give it a try! it’s certainly not for everyone but i really enjoyed it (clearly)

[@prototypelq8574]

What an awesome essay. Great job!

[@Mc4est]

Death Stranding is my top 2 fav games of all time.. Im hype to the bones when its announced.. I feel like the game is made specifically for me.. I love openworld games not by its freedome or things to do but because of downtime and immersion.. I can't count how many times when I just walk around (not sprinting or jogging, just walking) in games sinking in everything, the world, the people, the environment... in Assassins Creed, I love walking along the NPCs in Boston, London, Paris, Greece etc.. And in the Continent in Witcher 3, Los Santos in GTA V or in Red Dead Redemtion 2, Night City on Cyberpunk.. Its the stuff I enjoy, just walking around, looking at high buildings, feeling how small you are, appreciating the world they made.. instead of doing parkour in top of them or speeding on the highway with cars or horse... I love long journey in-game, so Death Stranding is the match made in heaven game for me, Im even (kinda) disappointed cause I thought deliveries takes days (in game) budgeting your resources, instead it only took minutes... But I'm still happy how the game came out... and the story and music are just a master piece.

[@overtherenowaitthere]

Please let this blow up algorithm

[@ThisisRubbishlo]

Brilliant game, I spent a wedge of that game making roads and zip lines and must have played around 200 hours in this game, and Platinum trophy it too, best game out there, cathartic to zen like

[@spiritdancer36]

This was great, thank you.

[@TheBeird]

Yeah. I mean, I really liked it pre-pandemic, but fell in love when I played it a second time in January 2021

[@DrMod]

I find your words fascinating. As I was 9 in 2001 and so I didn't see Fellowship of the Ring as a 9/11 movie. It was disconnected for me. I just saw it was a fun movie that I got to see after my father made me read the book. Also with Death Stranding. I bought it on release day and beat it before COVID19 was even known and so I also totally never got the connection their either. I enjoyed it on its own merits and thought it was fantastic. I wonder how many other times I've missed historical context from timing.

[@Dazedzzz_]

This was great thank you

[@salvadorreyes2312]

If I could super like, I would

[@SocraticCinema]

Thank you!!! Means a lot!

[@aaallleeexx22]

lotr is not a 911 movie, but death stranding it is a pandemic videogame

[@elsimain]

Underrated work

[@dancasipit]

Currently playing it and I like it dunno why the gameplay loop is so addictive.

[@wwld9823]

during covid the waters of venice cleared and fish came back to the city after 150 years of pollution it made me realize "going back as before" was not a good thing

[@PolarPhantom]

Maybe it's because I'm English and was 9 at the time, but I don't associate Fellowship with 9/11. That's just me I suppose.

[@collapsiblechair9112]

Americans think the world revolves around them.

[@AGODsoldier]

Amazing Game. Critics are wrong

[@ChristyHD27]

It's by far the best game ever.

[@_WhiteMage]

4:33 You can run into NPC porters. They'll give likes if they use things you've setup or clear MULE camps in their way. You can even trade items with them!

[@claudiomontufar4180]

Amazing game

[@FlorianFullStop]

Not my best pun but PanDamnIt this was a good video

[@SocraticCinema]

Once I got it, I loved it haha

[@juniorBigBoss745]

Amo 🎉

[@Linkard]

This is an excellent video. And about the game, I want to move it, and I do. But the last part is probably some of the worst ending material Ive ever seen in a game. It had SO MUCH going for it. Yet, it decided to throw 2 hours of cutscenes, to just explain things to the player. It made you sit through the credits TWICE, which honestly, I find pretentious and insulting to this day. It explained EVERYTHING for over two hours, so that although some things still didnt make sense, a lot of the sense of wonder was lost for me. I wanted to 100% it, but I had to put it down. Also, the higher difficulties SUCK when it comes to combat. Bosses are uninteresting bullet sponges. I wish Konima didn't feel the need to simultaneously not explain things to the player, but also give you over 3 movies's worth of pure cutscene exposition. Death Stranding SHOULD have been my dream game.

[@Maj_Kasul]

👍✅🦶

[@TELEVISIBLE]

covid 19

[@UniQueLyEviL]

It really is insane what occurred mere months after a game with these themes released.

[@UniQueLyEviL]

💜💜💜💜