It’s no secret that I love Hideo Kojima games. Given his status as the GOAT within the gaming community, I am hardly qualified to give him advice from any sort of level of expertise whatsoever. However, another one of my idols always preaches to generate ideas and to liberally give them away, and I just can’t help myself but to release my special sauce into the world. Besides, given how receptive to feedback Kojima is known to be and his dedication to realism, I feel that he would appreciate these sincere suggestions, even if he doesn’t end up using them. These ideas would also be relatively easy to implement, and at best would only require another hour or so of Norman Reedus’ time to record a few lines of feedback dialog for the player. Truthfully, this article won’t make a whole lot of sense to those who haven’t played Death Stranding, so I recommend playing it first before continuing with this article.
Death Stranding 2 should have a meter (or some other visual or gameplay mechanic) for Sam Porter-Bridges’ caloric needs. Being a porter in the uneven terrain and mountainous regions depicted in the first game is surely a physically demanding job and humans can burn up to 6000 calories per day in these extreme environments. However, there was no mention of food anywhere in the game. This was an unusual departure from realism because in Metal Gear Solid 3, Snake needed to apply first aid to himself whenever he was shot, stabbed, burned or otherwise wounded in battle. Given Kojima’s inclusion of Monster energy drink into the first game and the urination mechanic, it’s a bit strange that food wasn’t included; in any case, there is definitely a precedent set for it.
Moreover, this would add another wrinkle for the player to consider, as Sam would need to carry his food with him on longer missions (again, realism), and that food’s weight would need to be considered. The player would have to also consider what actions Sam would be capable of relative to his energy level; scaling a cliff face with 110 kilos strapped to your back when you’re well fed is one thing, doing so while on the brink of hypoglycemia is another thing entirely. When he is lower on calories, Sam could move slower and, through increased latency between player input and Sam’s actions, show slower cognition as the brain consumes quite a bit of calories. No longer could the player simply just trudge onward endlessly with the mere assumption that Sam would be capable of doing whatever the player was asking. A constantly starved Sam would be capable of carrying less weight, would need to rest more and would be far less effective in combat against thieves or BT’s. The latter is severely important because a starving-to-death Sam would not be able to regenerate his blood stores as quickly.
Going beyond the mere inclusion of food into the game, Kojima can venture into the various nutritional concepts as well. Different foods could be used for different purposes. For example, Sam would want to consume more protein while in his private room in order to recover his tired muscles. The player might want to make Sam eat more unsaturated fats before embarking on another heavy trek (which is common among endurance athletes). Quick carb sources could be used in emergencies to stave off impending hypoglycemia while he’s out on a package run. Since the original game graded players on speed and efficiency, eating right could be the difference between an S-rank and a mere A-rank. Who knows, Kojima could use this game mechanic to plow home a message about healthy eating; it certainly wouldn’t be his first time using a game mechanic to lecture his fans *cough cough tranquilizer gun cough cough*.
Food consumption also factors into something that the first game merely just took for granted; Sam’s physique. Sam was pretty buff in the first game, and this is understandable to a certain extent. However, it is common to lose weight during these strenuous prolonged situations unless a metric crap-ton of food is consumed to maintain muscle mass. Should a player neglect to keep up with Sam’s caloric needs, Kojima could start to show a visibly frailer Sam (and less combat effective/load-bearing Sam) as a result of this. Given that this is a game mechanic that has existed since Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas way back in 2004, this should be feasible (after all, is Kojima not the GOAT?).
A body heat gauge would be a welcome addition to the sequel as well. Calories are a measure of heat, so eating more food would be an ideal way to keep Sam warm on mountain-top missions (the original Final Fantasy 7 had a minigame around this same mechanic, so it is definitely possible). However, there were some volcanic and geyser-area package runs in the original game, hence the player would need to watch Sam’s core temperature to prevent heat stroke as well. Sam would need to drink adequate fluids to ensure his internal temperature doesn’t over-heat. Speaking of…
A hydration meter would add a touch of realism to the game as well. Water is heavy, and hence would need to be either carried with him in remote parts of the game’s terrain (thus cutting into Sam’s payload and would be another calculation for the player to consider), or it would need to be consumed locally from a fresh water source. Should the player choose option B, they will need to make sure that Sam has a water purification kit with him prior to drinking the water. The fresh water sources are likely to be contaminated with timefall, farm runoff, Sam’s urine (if the player isn’t careful about where to release Sam’s bladder), and other possible pollutants. This would add yet another wrinkle to consider in the game; the player’s impact on the environment (yet another opportunity for Kojima to finger-wag his player base!). Should the player drink contaminated water, Sam could burst into a vomiting rage (a gameplay mechanic Kojima used in Metal Gear Solid 4) and become ill; requiring either medicine or the player to deal with a significantly frailer and slower Sam until he gets proper treatment via his private room. The latter of those two options puts a heavy emphasis on preventing Sam’s illness in the first place.
To borrow yet another idea from Metal Gear Solid 3, Kojima can reinstitute the first aid mechanic into the next Death Stranding entry. It’s not unusual for a player to get discovered by the MULEs, and if that were to happen, violence is surely guaranteed. Sam getting shot or cut will cause him to lose blood. Blood loss can have a gradual effect; first it starts with reduced speed and stamina, followed by lightheadedness (shown by visual effects on-screen and increased latency from the controller) and then finally by blacking out. Blood loss also makes fighting BT’s in the area much more difficult as well. Hence, Sam should carry a first aid kit with him, and the player will have to factor in the weight of the kit when configuring Sam’s payload.
“But Dan, this is a lot for the player to manage. Having too many things for the player to keep tabs on, especially realistic things, will ruin the experience” is a rebuttal that I’ll likely get. If we were talking about nearly any other game developer, I’d agree with you. However, we are talking about The GOAT Hideo Motherfucking Kojima; if anyone could pull this off, it’s him. After all, he made a similar first aid mechanic work in Metal Gear Solid 3 and many (including Konami) consider that game to be his masterpiece. Long-time Kojima fans know what to expect by now; Kojima doesn’t make turn your brain off games.
Jeet Kune Do, Mr. Kojima…
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