Primarily, Kojima revealed that the third teaser for
Death Stranding released at the Games Awards 2017 is chronologically the first one. This explains why the character played by Norman Reedus (
The Walking Dead) doesn't have a scar on his stomach in the recent trailer.
The main theme of Kojima Production's project is life and death. Dying in the game won't be the end of the hero's journey, but an opportunity to come back to the world of the living. “
Games started over 40 years ago with arcades. When the player dies, it’s game over. You continue, and time goes back to before you die. You can die as many times as you want, but you always go back to a little bit before you die. That was a mechanic made specifically for putting in coins, and it hasn’t changed since then," Kojima said.
Death Stranding tries to revolutionize that gameplay mechanism, as all the decisions and their consequences won't evaporate after the characters' death. They will stay in the game with an impact on the future choices. "
So as you saw in the trailer, you saw the crater, and when you come back, it’s still there. Most games would’ve taken you back to before the crater was made. So depending on the player, you might have a lot of craters all over the place -- depends on each player".
The mysterious rain has the power to interfere with the timeline, allowing plants to grow instantly, but also destroys the human body in seconds. According to Koijma, Norman's character is "
unique" and knows that the rain can "kill" him. Neonates are very important to the plot and gameplay, just like the mechanical arms we've seen in the latest trailer.
The director ensured the players that the game makes sense and everything will come together. He's also honored when people compare his crazinesses to Stanley Kubirck's and David Lynch's. We'll see if everything truly makes sense in a rather distend future, only on Playstation 4.