Is Death Stranding A Horror Game?
Death Stranding is a lot of things: weird, mysterious, and beautiful, but it is definitely not a horror game. This may come as a surprise when considering creator Hideo Kojima's final project with Konami, the super-terrifying, incredibly horrific P.T., which was meant to be just a taste of what the fabled Silent Hills would be. Similar to P.T., Death Stranding will feature some of gross, slimy, creepy things and scary moments. But it is not, by definition, a horror game.
"I don't have a dark mindset in particular. Death Stranding is not a horror game." Kojima said in an interview with Glixel, "I just wanted to make something that looks very unique, something you haven't seen before, something with a more artistic slant to it. I'm not pursuing a dark aspect to the game." This purported avoidance of darkness seems to be contradicted by Death Stranding's announcement trailer, which was downright spine-chilling. Mads Mikkelsen is very, very good at playing creepy and Kojima placed him into a dark soup of skulls and broken baby dolls: what's not dark about that?
Death Stranding will include some humor, too
The frightening aspects of the game – those phantom handprints, the way people go crazy and stab themselves – will apparently be offset by a healthy dose of humor. Kojima said, "Humor is a very important aspect for games. You play a game for a very long time – Death Stranding is a big game, too – and you put stress on the player and you lead them through peaks and valleys. Humor is an important aspect to make sure the player can enjoy playing across these peaks and valleys."
We've gotten a taste of this humor in the announcement of Conan O'Brien's character in Death Stranding: the Wandering MC. Our master of ceremonies is something of a master of comedy, giving protagonist Sam an otter cap lovingly made by Conan's cosplay partner. The cap is silly, but genuinely helps Sam to swim rivers and lakes. You know, like an otter. There was also that brilliant bit of gameplay footage that hinted at Kojima's unique brand of humor: staring at Sam's crotch for too long will earn you a punch to the face. Kojima really does think of everything.