487 words About: “Liking” Mushrooms Death Stranding

Death Stranding follows a porter (an in-game term for someone who delivers packages) named Sam Bridges.  The videogame is set in the United States after an apocalyptic event known as the Death Stranding where the barrier between life and death opened and now dead souls called BT’s wander the world accompanied by rain called “Timefall'' which, when it touches living organisms, progresses their age dramatically if they are not covered.  As if this weren’t bad enough, this new order of reality has changed death.  When a person passes away their bodies can trigger nuclear-like explosions.  There are no more planes in the sky, no more cars on the road, and the connections that bind people together are frayed. The main plot of the videogame is that Sam is working with the last structures of the United States government to rebuild the nation and form connection between cities and people for the betterment of the human race.  

I think the reason I play Death Stranding is because the game offers an online community and connection that’s different from any other videogame I’ve played. Death Stranding’s online features include being able to find other players’ gear, use other players’ bridges and mailboxes, deliver packages that other players may have lost or left behind.  There’s a perception while improving someone else's watchtower to a gold level that I’m working towards a larger whole.  

What this means for online play is that players will help each other by using their roads and footpaths, lending each other equipment, and leaving small digital messages to one another to lift their spirits or help through a difficult area. And players have the chance to “like” these signs and structures.

When digital mushrooms begin to appear, I begin to ask, should I “like” these?  What even are these?

Well, occasionally Sam has to pee.  A mushroom appears when someone has urinated on a spot.  The player has an option to “like” the mushroom other players have left behind when they pee.

It’s ridiculous, but like…so is life?

Death Stranding is a videogame about life and death, and how each informs the other.  It’s a videogame about the vulnerability of the body, and how it can break and decay.  And it’s also about the change that happens between these two states.

Human beings consume food and liquids and it changes within our bodies.

Put another way, Sam eats and drinks and his body contributes to changes in reality.

Death is not an end, it’s just the beginning of something else.  Urinating on mushrooms will grow cryptobiote colonies that help Sam maintain his blood levels.  And “liking” mushrooms will increase connections with other players, increasing chances to deliver more packages.  But more important, passing a mushroom is a chance to see someone else’s path.

Someone was here, doing the same job, playing the same game, contributing to all of this change. Why not give it a like?

Joshua “Jammer” Smith

1.1.2024

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***UPDATE***

I’ve uploaded a video on YouTube of myself reading this essay. You can listen to me read it by following the link below:

487 Words: "Liking" Mushrooms in Death Stranding (youtube.com)