Death Stranding Explained: What Smart Drugs Actually Are

Hideo Kojima’s penchant for creating incredibly strange video game worlds is on full display in his most recent title, Death Stranding. Strange it may be, but it is still incredibly well-conceived, even down to the finer details such as the items the player delivers throughout the game. Early on in Death Stranding’s story, including the very first delivery order, the player is often tasked with delivering an item called Smart Drugs. These Smart Drugs aren’t just a generic item placed in the game for the sake of giving the player something to carry, though. Even these Smart Drugs contribute to Death Stranding‘s narrative and ambiance.

When viewed in the menus, the Smart Drug deliverable is listed as “Smart Drug (Oxytocin).” Oxytocin is a hormone found in the nervous system of mammals. Functionally, Oxytocin is utilized in maternal contexts and contributes to pro-social behaviors. Oxytocin seems like a logical choice to be synthesized into a drug in the world of Death Stranding, which is ravaged by supernatural phenomena and gripped by forced isolation.

The choice to have Oxytocin be delivered in the very first mission when players are just learning to walk in Death Stranding is certainly not a convenient accident on Kojima’s part. The entirety of the game focuses on bringing people together, connecting the fragmented remains of a post-cataclysmic society. A drug designed to boost the production of a hormone which promotes social behaviors not only narratively makes sense as an item in-game, but also contributes greatly to the subtext regarding the importance of community throughout the entirety of Death Stranding’s story.

The Need for Oxytocin Smart Drugs in Death Stranding

Even while playing through the game, it is hard to imagine the psychological trauma associated with living in the world of Death Stranding. The United States of America have fallen apart within a matter of years because the worlds of the living and dead are overlapping, vast swathes of land are uninhabitable because of the presence of BTs, and sudden rainfall that accelerates the aging process makes it near impossible to traverse the outside world.

Death Stranding may be incredibly convoluted and confusing at times, but the vision of the first “stranding-type” game is relatively clear. The only means of survival for the scattered masses is to work together. Distributing Oxytocin, which according to the Encyclopedia Britannica promotes “social motivation, social recognition, trust, and pair-bonding,” not only helps people to work together in dangerous situations, but might help counteract the negative side effects of prolonged isolation. Many miles are trekked in course of Death Stranding but the likes accrued by the player are a reminder that they are never truly alone.

Death Stranding is definitely not a game everyone will find appealing, but it has an important message for those it does resonate with. Kojima uses Death Stranding to reiterate the premise that humanity thrives when working together, through even the most minute details like a Smart Drug delivered in the very beginning of the game.

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica

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