Over two years afterDeath Strandingfirst debuted, it remains an incredibly interesting game. Hideo Kojima crafted a truly unique title through the Strand system, with standoutcharacters like Cliff Ungerand Higgs Monaghan elevating the story. While the gameplay is hit-or-miss for some players, certain aspects of the game are objectively strong, such as its soundtrack.
Not only is the original music forDeath Strandingbeautiful, as tracks like BB’s theme are instantly recognizable, but the licensed songs work just as well. The quiet, thought-provoking music of Low Roar suits Kojima Productions’ post-apocalyptic world, and the songs are used to evoke specific feelings at the perfect moments during the main story. However, players should have the option to create similar moments after the story is complete, pulling out a music player as they take off on a long delivery.
RELATED:Death Stranding: Director’s Cut Confirms PC Release Date
Why Death Stranding Needs a Music Player
Death Stranding’s lack of a music player is a glaring omission for a few reasons, with one being Kojima’s fondness for these devices in his past projects. InMetal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, an iPod was featured, with the device used to play beloved tracks from the franchise. Thiscontinued inMetal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, with a cassette player added that allowed gamers to listen to some iconic 80s songs. They could also upload their music, which was a nice touch. Given how well these features were received, it’s odd that a portable music player was omitted fromDeath Stranding.
Outside of external apps like Spotify, the only way to listen to music inDeath Strandingis to return to one of the game’s Safe Houses. While the music player is one of many great things aboutDeath Stranding’s Safe Houses, as it is nice to chill out and take a breather while listening to some good music, it makes little sense to keep this option exclusive to the Safe Houses. With players only hearing some songs once in the main story, and not hearing others at all, the tracks deserve to be heard more often.
Perhaps the only argument against a music player is that it would make the moments where music is used inDeath Stranding’s narrativeless impactful. This is absolutely a fair point, as the sections that do use music are carefully selected to make gamers feel certain emotions at certain times. However, the easy solution to this would be to make a music player a post-game unlock, as this way it would not get in the way of quiet moments or distract from specific music choices. After players have completed the story, they could be given a music player to use as they carry out their post-game deliveries.
This would be hugely beneficial forDeath Stranding’s endgame since it becomes extremely quiet once players have wrapped up the story. For those that plan to get higher ranks on tougher deliveries or those who want the covetedPlatinum trophyforDeath Stranding, they will be spending a lot of time wrapping things up after the story is done. With music heard constantly throughout the fourteen chapters, players would surely like to hear more of the soundtrack after the credits have rolled.
Considering that one of the Preppers is named The Musician, he could be the perfect character to provide this item. While he already gives players a harmonica, they could get the music player if they visit him again after the game. Considering how much memorablecontentDeath Stranding: Director’s Cutadded, it is odd that an on-the-go music player was not introduced. If aDeath Strandingsequel ever happens, or if the original game gets more updates, a portable music player should serve as an endgame reward.
Death Strandingis available now on PC, PS4, and PS5.
MORE:Death Stranding and the Power of Silence
