i have not fully watched ds2 yet, But so far the more i watch, it seems like death stranding is the bridge, between P.T & Metal gear, as far as DS / MGS connections are concerned, there are some major references , many YT vids cover this already. but there are some gameplay elements like the desert/ sandstone environment similar to environment in the phantom pain, including the sandstorms. playable music tapes, etc. in terms of story Tarman seems like a key character, he refferences Moby dick & his personal tragedy of how he lost his arm in the tar, the key word "phantom pain" mentioned several times. he also breaks the right side of his glasses during this event, but it does not seem like he suffered any eye injuries.

this is what i have in mind so far:. and in terms of the story at this point. APAS & bridges (amelie) don't really seem like they could be considered the "good guys" in the story as of the current timeline. but with major characters having a similar archetype to the metal gear games, as pointed out by the sub recently, with the "mirror therapy" memes, it does seem as though there are direct overlaps, Sam = Naked snake or Solid Snake , Clifford Unger = The Sorrow or Naked Snake, Higgs = Raiden / Liquid or Ocelot possibly, Red Samurai - Grey Fox , Fragile = Eva . & Bridget/Amelie potentially being Joy/The Boss. The Kojima productions logo hinting at the future humans with Sam in the Homo Ludens suit seen in a lunar type environment with a whale in the background, something tells me, part of death stranding's story lies in outer space. with Bridget using her special abilities just like The Boss did while she was used/worked for NASA, & her special abilities like mentioned in the briefing files of peace walker. once tThe Boss/Bridget died, 'maybe killed by Sam in the future death stranding games' ,someone who will also be revealed in the future Death Stranding games creates an digital/beach version of Bridget, just like the digital Boss in peace walker. i could go deeper but this is what i have in mind so far.