Breathing Life Back To Paradise
+25/07/2025
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+ This post has minor spoilers for Death Stranding 2.
++ The screenshot above looks pretty generic. Death Stranding 2 + is a very beautiful game and its vistas are what make it. But + not all of them are particularly breathtaking, and I'll + happily admit the above image is one of them. +
++ To me, though, it's very special. Because the spot in this + image is the very last road I needed to build to complete the + entire Australian highway. It's probably the greatest + achievement I've ever accomplished in a game. And it's + completely unremarked upon. +
++ Completing the road network doesn't earn you a new tool, or a + playstation trophy. Hell, unlike opening all the monorails, it + doesn't even warrant a Social Strand Service post. I didn't + know this, before I set out on the endeavour to complete the + network. But it didn't matter if there was a reward - it was + the right thing to do. +
++ Death Stranding 2 is a game all about + the right thing to do. It applies on the macro level, + of course; pummelling Higgs is + the right thing to do. But every order you take, every + action in the world, every ladder and anchor you place, is + the right thing to do. +
++ Kojima called Death Stranding the first game in a new genre, + the 'strand-type' game and while that might be grandiose, I + don't think he's strictly wrong. No other genre is as focused + on encouraging collaboration both inside and outside the + fourth wall, and it is undeniably successful. The whole game + is a joy of discovering a bit of cargo is positioned awkwardly + on a high ledge, then spotting a ladder from xXCriminalNukeXx + right next to it. Of course you're gonna hit the like button. +
++ And the roads are the zenith of that idea. Restoring a road + between two destinations is a huge, expensive, multi-step + effort. It requires everyone involved to be completely + invested in the game, to be making side-quest deliveries to + get access to more resources, to expand the network. But the + reward it offers is unlike anything else - that challenging, + rough terrain that you've battled over to get to the paver is + instantly nullified by a flat, powered road. +
++ Finishing a road connection is instantly rewarding, yes, but + the game makes concerted efforts to reward it long-term, too. + You'll fairly regularly be asked to retrace your steps, to + make a delivery to a prior bunker. Without roads this is + challenging - albeit less challenging than the first time + through since the network will have other player's structures + populated in - but with a road, it feels like you're being + congratulated. "You have made this world better for everyone + who inhabits it. Take a victory lap." +
++ I attached to the roads in the first game, and was rewarded + for it in a similar fashion - at the climax of DS, the chiral + network goes down, trashing all the structures you and others + have built. It's supposed to be one final test of what you've + learned. But if you built the roads, they remain and the + journey back to the start is trivial, that victory lap. +
++ So I did the same in the second game, and it returned the + favour multiple times. But none of these events are a + traditional reward - it's purely generated from your own + knowledge of how much it would have sucked to backtrack + without it. It encourages you to do the right thing. +
++ So I built out all the roads, continuing after the game ended, + when there was no chance of any backtracking missions. Because + building this infrastructure, for the people you meet, the + porters you have played alongside, and those who will come + after you, is the right thing to do. +
++ You're probably thinking that's a bit pretentious. It's just a + video game, after all, and most of the characters in Death + Stranding are just holograms. But all of that artifice somehow + falls away, because you're making this world better, and + doesn't that feel good? Doesn't + doing the right thing feel good? +
++ Of course it does. That's kind of the basis of most leftist + thinking, after all. The right thing to do may not be + the most optimal choice for you, personally - certainly + building every road was not optimal, the optimal choice would + be building roads just over the most tricky areas - but it + feels good to do it! It feels good to help others out! +
++ There's only two strand-type games in existence, but another + 2025 game actually comes... strangely close. It's a purely + single-player experience and it's called + Promise Mascot Agency, from the developers of + Paradise Killer. +
++ The high-level concept is batshit. You're a disgraced yakuza + (voiced by the same VA who portrays Kiryu!) who must transform + a mismanaged love hotel into a successful 'mascot agency,' + that rent out giant mascots to events. Except the mascots are + sentient, not costumes. And also it's secretly a game about + leaving a run-down, corrupt and forgotten town much better + than you found it. +
++ Every side quest is about restoring the town in some way. + Whether it's cleaning up shrines, smashing through trash bags, + or laying vengeful spirits to rest, everything you do makes + this town better. It's full of characters who you come to know + and understand as you do jobs for them. They lead full lives + in this little town, and want it to get better. And it rubs + off! You, the player, want to make this town better! You make + these connections, offering out the rope to help others climb. + It's magical. +
++ Kaizen Gameworks' previous title was the venerable + PARADISE KILLER, a murder mystery that you + actually have to solve. The case you're solving is the + murder of the leaders of a cult, and you're also a member of + that cult. Which you'd think wouldn't give much room for + maneuveur on making that world better, especially since to + craft Paradise, the island it takes place on, thousands of + human proles must be sacrificed. +
++ But even within that restrictive frame, you can make the world + a tiny bit better. Fix up vending machines. Venerate wrongly + accused subjects. Repair a marriage. Make out with a goat + woman. Admittedly, that last one is just good for me. +
++ And I think that speaks to how Kaizen just get it. The + world we live in is dark, darker by the day, but we as people + need to fight to make it better, in even the smallest of ways. + And Promise Mascot Agency and Paradise Killer understand that. +
++ As Death Stranding 2 goes on, you meet Tomorrow, a Mysterious + Kojima Woman who has the power to accelerate aging of things + she touches. When you first meet her, Fragile hands her an + apple, and it rots and crumbles in her hand. As you journey + across Australia she is taught many things about the world by + Rainy, another of your allies - another Mysterious Kojima + Woman who, whenever she steps outside, summons timefall rain, + which does much the same thing as Tomorrow's aging touch. +
++ Every so often, when you re-enter your base, Tomorrow will be + there, with an apple. Each time, it's less aged. She's + learning to ripen them. By the end of the game, she can ripen + them perfectly, giving Sam a little snack. As you play you + discover that Rainy's ability has a wonderful side-effect - + wherever she emerges, wherever the DHV Magellan surfaces from + the tar, her rain falls, and new plants grow. +
++ The crew are breathing life back into paradise, and we can do + it too. With small actions, we can make the world better. So + let's do it. +
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