Death Stranding Trailer Introduces Mama & Her Invisible Baby

It’s been a good week for anyone with even a passing interest in Death Stranding. Kojimites the world over have been given the chance to see the game in action, all thanks to the biggest gaming expo in Europe. First there was the uncut gameplay footage, but now there’s another video. It’s a cinematic, and it introduces the character called Mama. It’s like the Heartman vignette we saw a few weeks back.

As you’d expect, it’s a strange one. Margaret Qualley is called Mama, because she’s a mother. But she’s not a regular mother – her child is an invisible baby that can crawl up walls and across the ceiling. They’re joined by an invisible umbilical cord. The trailer implies it’s the same kind of weird techno-baby that Postman Reedus has, only hardly perceivable and not hanging about in a jar. The baby triggers Postman Reedus’ built-in alarm, and he seems wary of it at first.

At first the invisibaby is agitated, but Mama calms it by holding it against her breast. Even though nobody asks, she explains her body is producing milk even though the baby doesn’t drink it. Does this mean she gave birth to the invisibaby? Since Postman Reedus’ baby is also connected to him via a faux-umbilical cord, does this mean he gave birth to his jarbaby? Do Postman Reedus’ breasts also lactate?

So many questions, and not an answer in sight. Thankfully, the game is a bit more than two months away from release, so we’ll get to play it soon enough. Kojima might like playing coy during the PR campaign, but you’ve known him for a long time now – authorial reticence isn’t even in his vocabulary. All will be revealed in due time, because the author can’t help it, really.