Highlights
- Death Stranding 2 introduces a strange new companion for Sam, a tiny ventriloquist dummy with mysterious abilities.
- The fate of Lou, the Bridge Baby from the first game, is unclear and raises questions about her connection to Higgs and her ability to control robots.
- A new character played by George Miller is highlighted in the trailer, but his role and his connection to Fragile remain unknown, along with the significance of the BT cat that follows him.
Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding was already a very surreal game full of bizarre imagery and strange occurrences. Even the whole setup of the game, the actual Death Stranding apocalypse, could get a bit confusing at times. Some parts of it started to make sense as the game progressed, but even then it could still get pretty weird. Now Death Stranding 2 has been confirmed, and two trailers have been released showing some information about the game, providing a little insight. It appears this new installment might be ready to out-weird its predecessor.
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A few characters from the first game have been confirmed to be returning, though even they have some curious design changes, like Fragile’s shoulder gloves and Higgs’ sudden shift towards Joker cosplay. But they also revealed some very strange additions to the game. Across both trailers, though especially in the second, some very bizarre developments leave the viewer with a lot of questions.
1 What’s Up With The Puppet?
Sam Has A New Companion
Death Stranding 2‘s trailer had some odd characters, but one of the most peculiar is Sam’s new traveling companion. This character looks like a tiny ventriloquist dummy who speaks with a Yiddish accent and moves like he is animated in stop-motion. From what fans can tell, he is a companion of Fragile who volunteers to go with Sam on his adventures. At first glance, it looks like he might be intended for comic relief, but they also indicate that there’s a bit more going on.
Fragile appears to have known him for some time and encourages Sam to take him, saying he has “knowledge and experience” that might be useful. There’s also his strange interaction with Higgs, during which his eyes turn red, his lower jaw seems to disconnect in a way that should be physically impossible, and he hisses. Who is this guy? Why is he hanging from Sam’s belt? What “knowledge and experience” does he have that is so valuable? Obviously, there are important details the trailer is leaving out.
2 What Happened To Lou?
One Of The Central Plotlines Of The First Game Gets A Bit Confusing
The general concept of Bridge Babies is strange enough, but both trailers seem to hint at something weird happening with the one Sam carried throughout the previous game. The teaser appears to show Lou dying while Fragile attempts to evacuate her during a major catastrophe. In the extended gameplay trailer, fans learn that it may or may not be Higgs’ doing, but he apparently knows something Sam does not.
Even more confusingly, Higgs is then betrayed by one of his robots overlaid with the sound of Lou’s giggling, and viewers also see what appears to be Sam holding a very alive Lou. So what exactly happened? Is Lou dead or not? Did she somehow manage to transfer herself into a robot or at least develop an ability to hijack them? What does Higgs know? Only time will tell…
3 Who’s The Guy With The Glasses?
The Trailer Has Been Highlighting A New Character
In an interesting casting decision, Death Stranding 2 has a new character played by Mad Max director George Miller. This would make him the second film director to have a role in the series (after Guillermo Del Toro), but fans have no idea who he’s playing. The guy’s outfit, which includes a peaked cap and a trenchcoat, suggests he might hold some position of authority. He also appears to be an ally of Fragile’s, possibly a member of her crew.
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There is also the weird detail of what appears to be a BT cat that follows him around. Is it tied to him in some way, like Mama was to her baby in the first game? Whoever he is, he seems to have a major role because he pops up a lot during the trailer, though curiously he is never heard speaking.
4 Who Is The Patient & Why Is She Encased In Tar?
Something Weird Is Going On Here
The second trailer opens with an autopsy conducted by Fragile and George Miller’s currently unnamed character. The subject appears to be encased in solid tar, hard enough that a buzzsaw is required to break it open. Upon being opened, viewers see that is a woman with some strange traits. Her arms are covered with circles that look like octopus suckers, and when poked, they spray black goo. Even more peculiarly, she is somehow still alive.
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Towards the end of the trailer, fans also see the patient floating while unconscious, indicating she may have some strange powers. This whole setup begs a lot of questions. For one thing, where did she come from, and what’s up with the tar coffin? How is she still alive? What abilities does she have? Is she somehow from the beach?
5 Who Is This Character?
Elle Fanning Has An Important Role, But Nobody Seems To Know What It Is
Towards the end of the second trailer, viewers get a glimpse of a new character but no information on who she is or what sort of role she might have. It is known that this new character is played by Elle Fanning, but beyond that it’s hard to gauge what her part of the story is. She appears to be eavesdropping on a meeting. The editing makes it look like she’s listening in on a conversation about amino acids that happens while Sam, Fragile, and George Miller’s character restrain the tar patient, but on further inspection, this is actually not the case.
The room she spies on contains a hologram of Earth surrounded by a group of unidentified figures, which doesn’t line up with the medical bay where the patient is levitating, and the conversation is clearly laid overtop rather than actually happening in the diagesis. Whether this was intentionally misleading or a mistake on the editor’s part is hard to say, but it still leaves a lot of questions. Who is she? What is she overhearing? Who is she listening in on?
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5
