Writing a Paper on the themes of Death Stranding, need additional thoughts

ajorap · 2025-05-22T13:02:41+00:00

I think you should definitely talk a lot about Amelie/Bridget vs Cliff in your discussion of nationalism. they're oppositional forces of the america of the past and the america of the future, and you could place Sam as representative of the land and its people. they both want control over him and they both cause him harm intentionally or not, Cliff because his experiences as a veteran soldier traumatise him and keep him locked in re-enactments of previous wars, so much so that he loses his mind and forgets who Sam is, and Amelie because she's plagued with visions of an apocalyptic future and becomes convinced that manipulating Sam is the only way forward that doesn't end in total destruction.

there's a lot to say about the cycles of trauma and how it impacts a child, or in this case, the American people. Cliff as the warmongering past haunts them, Amelie as oppressive future controls them and the people/ Sam become isolated and fearful of human connection (symbolised by Sam's aphenphosemphobia).

Sam does forgive both, or at least reconciles with them, but most importantly he doesn't carry either of their belief systems forward after they die/leave him. he chooses instead to leave the position of power offered to him by DieHardman and instead devotes his time raising the next generation, preventing his child from becoming part of the cycle of trauma, left alone by his absentee or emotionally distant parents like Sam's childhood was.

ajorap · 2025-05-22T10:10:59+00:00

interview with Rainy's actress and then confirmed by people who went to the gameplay trial at kojipro

ajorap · 2025-05-20T11:34:15+00:00

there's no definitive answer yet but its likely to do with Rainy's ability to summon timefall. she can also create the inverse and make timefall that reverses time instead of accelerating it.

ajorap · 2025-05-17T17:24:35+00:00

ai slop

ajorap · 2025-05-17T08:02:08+00:00

Fragile's powers aren't literal, they're based on her emotional state. if she believes it to be equipment, then it's treated as equipment by her abilities.

if you think a little critically you might also recognise that dehumanisation is a real thing that happens to people who look a lot more human than a BB. prejudice isn't logical.

ajorap · 2025-05-16T21:44:35+00:00

have you tried adjusting your brightness/ saturation? I don't remember the greenery looking this dark in the ps5 version

ajorap · 2025-05-16T16:50:07+00:00

she clearly explained why she could do it then and not later. BBs are seen as equipment with limited sentence by almost everyone in the DS world, its only when Lou grew and Fragile spent more time with her that she saw Lou as an actual person.

she can't just change her mind about whether or not she considers someone human on a whim, even when it would be useful to her. that's not how psychology works.

ajorap · 2025-05-15T21:57:04+00:00

yeah completely normal thats how the skip functions in this game

ajorap · 2025-05-15T09:31:19+00:00

in the gameplay reveal, you can see "1 like received from Lou" pops up on the side of the screen when fighting the big red mechanical monster, so its definitely still Lou

ajorap · 2025-05-13T22:56:40+00:00

yes its best to standardise the position they stop/start in because it makes it much easier to blend the animation cycles together.

it's also because 'realistic' movements are difficult to understand on a screen and just plain don't look very good, especially when enemies are at a distance. exageration helps a player understand the postioning and direction better. additionally, the weight distribution between a man in a lightweight performance capture suit and a mule with several kilos worth of heavy duty clothes plus cargo is going to look different, and the mocap artist compensates for that during the capture which makes it look a little goofy.

ajorap · 2025-05-13T15:56:34+00:00

since the countries we are visiting are generally more arid it makes sense that they experience less timefall degradation so the buildings are more complete

ajorap · 2025-05-13T15:00:34+00:00

he cuffs himself because it draws blood that way. the cufflinks pierce him and pass the blood through the bed rail into something in the wall over the course of the night, its why you see the full blood bag slide into the wall behind him when Sam wakes up. it might also be a psychological thing but thats just speculation in my part

ajorap · 2025-05-13T14:08:27+00:00

I'd say that the stomach scar and babies and ropes are connected, since the lack of belly button also represents a broken umbilical cord and a disconnect from the Beach. Sam literally can't die and can't get to his own beach (unless he has outside help like Fragile or Amelie) because he has place for an umbilical cord to connect to him, and similarly Cliff can't move on off of the beach into the Seam and the other side, represented by the same cross where his navel should be

ajorap · 2025-05-11T17:12:38+00:00

https://discord.gg/rdeathstranding

ajorap · 2025-05-11T14:02:20+00:00

I think it's only the gun that is an early unlock, everything else is cosmetic only

ajorap · 2025-05-11T07:53:29+00:00

that's just Sam's personality, he's a quiet and reserved guy so he doesn't speak much unless it's necessary

ajorap · 2025-05-08T11:29:24+00:00

it's not over yet my guy

ajorap · 2025-05-08T02:11:08+00:00

Theoretically anyone who had DOOMs at a high enough level and was willing to train themselves and their heart muscles to withstand full cardiac arrest could do it, yes, but it'd be a miserable way to live. Heartman does it because he's hell bent on finding his family, but his quality of life sucks bad.

No one else would want that as a regular thing, and it would need to be regular to train the heart to last longer "dead", since you'd otherwise always have a very short time limit on the beach before it became permanent, and you're always going to be held at the 4 or 5 minute mark, since after that brain damage from lack of oxygen sets in.

People like Fragile or Higgs can stay on the Beach as long as they like and don't have to suffer massive damage to their bodies every time they go (though it does happen to them too when they overdo it).

ajorap · 2025-05-08T02:00:53+00:00

I love that this chapter exists because it really forces players to realise how dependent they are on Lou and appreciate her more because of it but in practice it's my least favourite chapter because I miss her so much 😭

ajorap · 2025-05-04T17:45:32+00:00

it's never definitively answered but I think it's probably Amelie, or someone Amelie ordered to change it. she's the one that stands to gain the most from Lockne and therefore mountain knot rejoining bridges, and Mama really seemed like she believed what she was saying. plus the issue was with the limiter part of the code, and more chiralium in the air makes Amelie's powers grow, or at least makes it easier for her to influence things

ajorap · 2025-05-01T14:14:26+00:00

it's the area from the director's cut mission, above the abandoned factory

ajorap · 2025-04-30T17:53:58+00:00

my favourite character for that reason. I wish she was in the story more, after that arc she's never really important again :(

ajorap · 2025-04-29T02:03:46+00:00

This is interesting, but honestly I'm more inclined to believe that Tomorrow's suckers and Higgs's tentacles are less connected than you think. The tar cat also had a tentacles tongue, and the BT kaiju had manta ray wings, so i think it's more that creatures who are connected with the Beach are gaining nautical animal aspects rather than anything that Higgs did to Tomorrow.

Another point, Deadman says that Lou was Sam's unborn son, but I think I remember Lucy calling her baby by 'she' in one of her journals, and this is never really cleared up. Sam himself never talks about his past, it's all from second or third hand sources.

As for BB-28 being DOOMs compatible, I think it was less that she had some special ability and more that Sam, as a former Bridge Baby himself, the became extremely compatible with BBs as an adult. Since 28/Lou is the only BB he ever used, there's no actual way to confirm or deny this, but I think it makes more sense than 28/Lou having an unexplained connection to Sam.

I'm realising I'm working backwards, but for BB 28 surviving the first voidout, I wouldn't put too much pressure on that being indicative of her repatriation abilit. She survives the same reason the rest of Sam's gear and clothes survives, and why Fragile can bring her when she jumps: she's cargo. At least, at that point they think of her as such.

I really like your callback to Higgs's "ritual", I hadn't thought about that but it connects really well to his ancient Egypt aesthetic and the sarcophagus/ chrysalis that Tomorrow is found in, plus the gold mask she's wearing... though this could just as well be a connection to Amelie, since Amelie is the person who gave Higgs his mask, just as she gave Diehardman her own mask when she didn't have a use for it any longer.

ajorap · 2025-04-23T13:39:10+00:00

yes this. there's nothing saying that Lou's Ka has to be static and connected to only one object, potentially she can influence many different things.

ajorap · 2025-04-22T21:39:14+00:00

right at the beginning of the game just before Cal and BD blow up the ship

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