Longing, Ruin, and Connection in Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding

Amy M. Green is Associate Professor of English at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA. Her research focus is on game studies, specifically the intersection of narrative and video games. She approaches video games as important cultural artifacts reflecting stories that are both universal and indicative of the historical context out of which they emerge. She is the author of four books related to game studies, Storytelling in Video Games: The Art of the Digital Narrative; Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Trauma, and History in Metal Gear Solid V; A Cure for Toxic Masculinity: Male Bonding and Friendship in Final Fantasy XV; and Kingsglaive’s Exploration of World War II, Cultural Trauma, and the Plight of Refugees: An Animated Film as Complex Narrative, as well as numerous articles.

Introduction: A World of Sundered Connections, Longing, and Ruin; 1. Package Delivery in the Aftermath of Apocalypse: Land as Memorial, Land as Death; 2. Relics, Artifacts, and Songs as Points of Connection; 3. Beaches as Waypoints, Dead Whales as Warnings of Dissolution; 4. Bridge Babies, the Womb, and the Connections between the Living World and the Afterlife; 5. Fragile, Clifford, and Mama: Trauma, Bodies, and Landscape; 6. Death Stranding’s Resolution: Sam, Lou, and a Final Connection; Conclusion