You don’t know how important deliveries are in Death Stranding until you know the sad story of Grandpa

The release of Hogwarts Legacy got me thinking about the way video games hold us accountable (or not) for our actions or inactions. Avalanche Software without Karma system, style To fall , Skyrim or Starfield, which made our time at magic school palpable.

Death Stranding is on a different spectrum in that you’re told that your job as a delivery driver is very important, but you never realize how important it is until it’s too late. And someone has to die for you to realize that there are people whose lives literally depend on you.

The Lord Mayor or The Old Man (Elder) is a preparationist NPC located on a mountain in the central region (second map) of Death Stranding . He lost faith in the expansion mission and came to depend on Fragile Express, although he severed ties with the latter after the bombing of Middle Knit City. Our mission is to reconnect it to the network through very important orders.

He tells us he has heart problems and needs medication and resources to stay alive. Most players assume that this need is covered once connected to the network, but this is not the case. Your life is in our hands, including our decision to deliver medications from time to time.

If we decide to leave him behind or if we forget to bring him packets of medicine, he will end up sending us an email before dying from lack of treatment: « Today’s dose will be the last. I have enough lived. Enough seen. I don’t really regret it. « Just gratitude to you and those like you. (…) See you soon, Sam. Don’t let these bastards crush you, okay? » If you come back after reading this, you will find the bunker sealed. This is something Kojima confirmed in 2019. My advice is to send robots with medicine regularly. At least I learned my lesson for Death Stranding 2.