At PSX 2017, Hideo Kojima shared some new details about Death Stranding’s lore and mechanics hinted by the latest trailer. It's great information that goes a long way in making sense of Death Stranding. You might begin by discussing the mechanics of the game, talking about how the concept of death and video games hasn't really changed much in the past 40 years. He talked about how one of the themes of this game is life and death and how when people die in Death Stranding. It's not the end, specifically citing the moment during the trailer in which after a giant explosion engulfed Sam.
He died and is in Purgatory as depicted in the underwater world. According to IGN, this is where Sam and the player go every time they die, but don't make the mistake of calling this “Game Over” when you die in Death Stranding. You're transported to this Purgatory where you're free to explore in first-person. Sam is at that point where you're neither dead or alive. It's the equivalent of that screen that says continue and the counter is ticking down toward zero. So basically the essence of his being detaches from the vessel of his body during which he can roll around like a ghost now. The interesting part is that players will be able to recover items among other things.
It's similar to other games where if you drop some things and you have to go back to the place where you died in the world to recover them except in Death Stranding, you do so in Purgatory while your soul or your essence is detached from your body. What sets Death Stranding apart is when you're ready to return to the world of the living and get back into your body. Unlike most games which set you back to a point before you died, Death Stranding continues your journey while aknowledging the fact that you have died and could possibly have a great impact on the story. This concept kind of reminds me a little of when Big Boss almost drowned in MGS 3 and was forced to face every person he had killed in the game at that point, followed by an awakening in the real world. This concept seems a lot more meaningful in Death Stranding though. What are your thoughts on this new game mechanic in Death Stranding?