Death Strandingwas a huge cult hit back in 2019, and since it’s a Hideo Kojima game, the story and world can be incredibly confusing. There are a lot of key story details and interesting lore facts aboutDeath Stranding’sworld you may have missed, whether you played it six years ago when it first came out, played it but never finished it, or simply never touchedDeath Strandingin the first place.
Warning: The following article includes spoilers for the original Death Stranding.The question of whether or not you need toplay the firstDeath Strandingbefore its sequelis an important one. The original is certainly worth playing, but it’s fine to jump straight intoDeath Stranding 2: On the Beach;there’s just somevital story information you need to know beforehand. Only story and world details will be included here, so gameplay tidbits liketrucks being incredibly overpoweredwon’t be addressed.
10Why Sam Doesn’t Like To Be Touched
Sam’s Big Character Arc
A notable aspect ofDeath Stranding’sprotagonist, Sam Porter Bridges, is thathe doesn’t like to be touched. This is shown off very early on during the first meeting with Fragile and Sam’s fateful encounter with the US President, but the game doesn’t immediately explain the full background behind Sam’s fear of skin-to-skin contact.
Sam does, in fact, have a fear of being touched called aphenphosmphobia, which is heightened due to the death of his wife. However, after saving the world from total extinction in the end, he finally lessens that fear, as shown during his final meeting with Deadman right before going on one last delivery with Lou. Sam’s character evolves in this manner, showing that, despite his fear,he touches and connectsDeath Stranding’sworld throughout his journey.
9Death Stranding’s Real-World Music
A Feast For Your Ears, As Well As Your Eyes
WhileDeath Stranding’sgraphics still look incredible to this day, its music is equally stellar.Death Strandingutilizes real-world bands for its soundtrack, and unlike Hideo Kojima’sMetal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, which featured popular and recognizable 80s songs,DStakes a more niche, underground approach. You may not have heard of most of the bands here, but they’re great, and manyDSplayers likely checked out their music due to this game.
Low Roar sadly disbanded in 2022, but there’s already recorded music in place that will be used throughoutDeath Stranding 2.
Most of the soundtrack comes from an amazing Icelandic band called Low Roar, who even have an in-game collectible. These bands are in-universe, as well.The Asylums For The Feelingtrack by the Silent Poets is also phenomenal, and I always loved this one collectible location near the Timefall Farm where it plays. I always grab it when I’m backtracking at the end of the game, andit just gives me a huge motivational feeling.
8Death Stranding’s Real-World Collectibles
A Fascinating And Odd Inclusion
Collectible Memory Chips that uncover interesting details about Earth’s past are scattered throughout the world ofDeath Stranding. A lot of these are real-world products, films, soundtracks, and more.The originalGodzillafilm has its own collectible, which is fitting considering Kojima’s fondness for the king of the monsters, as seen in theMetal Gear Solid VR Missionsand a Codec mention inMGS3. However, there are also some oddball inclusions.
The originalFright Nighthas a collectible, which seemingly has no connection toDSat all, even though it’s a great horror movie. There’s also a collectible for theGod of War 2018soundtrack. This one, in particular, is very striking because Sony Interactive Entertainment used to own theDeath StrandingIP. However, Kojima Productions now owns it completely, leading toDeath Strandingbeing available on Xboxdespite previously being a PlayStation exclusive.SeeingGod of Waron Xbox is truly something else, even if it’s just a collectible.
7PlayStation Consoles In-Universe
PlayStation Is Once Again On Xbox
One of the more obscure Preppers inDeath Strandingis the Collector, found north of South Knot City.A gaming enthusiast, he’ll often request gaming-related items,including PlayStation consoles, with both the PS1 and PSP appearing. These items are unchanged in the Xbox version, and they serve as some of the most obvious reminders that Sony Interactive Entertainment played a big part in helping the development ofDeath Strandingand used to own the IP.
Elements like theGod of War 2018collectible soundtrack and PlayStation consoles in-universe might not have been included if Sony knewDeath Strandingwould go multiplatform in the future.It makes me wonder if Sony will scale back PlayStation references inDeath Stranding 2, knowing it’ll likely come to Xbox later.
6The Numerous Cameo Appearances
DS1 Has Many Familiar Faces
One very interesting design choice inDeath Strandingis the inclusion of notable real-world people as the likenesses for the NPC characters, with some you probably didn’t even notice.The Film Director, for example, has the likeness of an actual film director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts. He directedKong: Skull Islandand was planning to direct the film adaptation ofMetal Gear Solid, but this has yet to materialize. Geoff Keighley, host of The Game Awards and Summer Game Fest, also appears as the Ludens Fan.
Sam Lake, creative director at Remedy Entertainment, responsible for titles likeMax Payne,Alan Wake, andControl, appears as the Veteran Porter.The best cameo has to be Conan O’Brien as the Wandering MC, as he not only provides the character’s likeness but also his voice. Sadly, most of the cameos are voiced by established voice actors rather than the actual person, which, frankly, would have been more charming.Death Stranding 2, unfortunately, carries overone of the worst aspects ofDS1, with even more likeness-only cameos.
5Nightmare Sequences
Some Really Freaky Scenes
While most of the cutscenes inDeath Strandingwill appear in everyone’s playthrough, certain ones are rare to come by. Sometimes, when waking up after resting, you’ll notice something’s off. These are when Nightmares occur, which are some of the most effective and memorable moments of the game if you’re lucky enough to trigger them.You aren’t likely to trigger them all in a single playthrough — I’ve 100% completed the game twice, taking 130 hours of playtime, and I still didn’t see all the Nightmares.
TheP.T.Easter egg Nightmare is especially freaky and a great Kojima call back, the Kojima cameo is incredibly memorable, andthe mirror Nightmarewith Higgs really makes you question the character’s motives. Since you won’t see all of them on one playthrough, it’s well worth checking out the ones you missed on YouTube, as they’re incredible.
4Whale Boss Fight
An Absolute Spectacle
Judging from theDeath Stranding 2trailers,the sequel ramps up the boss fights quite a bit, and they were already wild inDeath Stranding 1. One of the greatest boss fights was the Whale BT just before heading to Capital Knot City to face off with Amelie. It’s essentially the final boss of the game, as the Amelie encounter is just cutscenes and walking around.
TheWhale BT is absolutely massive and looks jaw-dropping. It’s also a nice callback to a similar reddish whale figure near the beginning ofMetal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. It’ll be interesting to see howDeath Stranding 2tops a fight like this, especially with the power of the PlayStation 5.
3Crossovers With Other Franchises
The Cake Is A Lie, Except When It’s Your Birthday
It can be easy to forget the numerous crossovers withinDeath Stranding, asmost of them weren’t present when the game was initially released in 2019. However, in 2025,Death Strandinghas a ton of crossovers with other franchises. The two biggest ones are Valve’sHalf-LifeandPortalseries, as well asCyberpunk 2077. Both have a set of missions that’ll unlockHalf-Life/PortalorCyberpunk 2077-related goodies, like cosmetic options or even items, such as the incredibly useful Gravity Gloves fromHalf-Life: Alyx.
These missions are actually pretty fun and oddly confirm thatHalf-LifeandPortalare in the same universe, something that isn’t too unfamiliar in the realm of Hideo Kojima games. The oddest crossover, though, is the numerous unlockableHorizon Zero Dawnholograms. Once again,theHorizon Zero Dawnholograms are still present in the Xbox version, despite Sony owning the property.
A Misunderstanding About Death Stranding 1
After 100% completingDeath Strandingtwice, I thought Higgs (the character that appeared to be the antagonist until two-thirds of the way into the game) aligned with the main characters at the end. This is because, after Higgs’s boss fight, there arenumerous additional pizza delivery missions that he requests. After completing the last mission, Higgs’s home opens up, and it appears that after doing all these missions for Higgs, he’s on the good side, right?
At the end of the day, however, that’s not the case. Completing these pizza delivery missions doesn’t align Sam with Higgs, and this isevident in theDeath Stranding 2trailers, whereHiggs appears to be once again an antagonist. After playingDeath Stranding 1, that definitely confused me, but there was another story element that must be cleared up beforeDeath Stranding 2.
1The Mystery Of Lou And Sam
They’re Not The Same
The box art forDeath Stranding 2: On the Beachshows Sam kissing Lou, a key figure inDeath Stranding 1. Lou is the BB Sam carries with him throughout most of the game and isthe iconic baby seen in the promotional materials. The visions you see while connecting to Lou aren’t those of Lou but of Sam. After seeing the ending ofDeath Stranding 1, I got it all wrong.
It’s pretty clear-cut in the ending that Sam is the individual at play in those visions, not Lou, but I thought that Lou was a reincarnation of Sam and the two are one and the same, which was an inaccurate assumption. Lou’s actual backstory is consistent with what Deadman tells Sam earlier in the game, and the ending is more about learning Sam’s true backstory and taking Lou as his own child. That’s what it’s all about inDeath Stranding 1, and it’ll be interesting to see what becomes of the baby whenDeath Stranding 2arrives.
