ABSTRACT
This chapter explores Death Stranding’s depiction of what the story deems “Beaches.” These are waypoints between the living world and the final afterlife, and while they are all collectively called Beaches, and many take that form, others can manifest differently. The images of beaches and the ocean are prevalent, though, and coincide with the nightmarish discoveries Sam makes during his nightmares of a Beach littered with the corpses of dead whales and sea life. An oily, black substance coats the bodies and the beach, allowing the game to consider landscape from an ecocriticism and environmental standpoint.
