Over three years after it originally launched, Death Stranding players are only just finding out that it's possible to lose an ear in a boss fight.
Well, that's not their ear, to be fair. It turns out that during the climactic boss fight with Higgs, if you keep blocking the boss's attacks and basically refuse to fight back, Higgs will literally bite a chunk out of Sam Porter Bridges' ear. That leaves Sam with a mangled ear for the rest of Death Stranding.
If you keep blocking Higgs' punches, you'll lose part of your ear permanently #DeathStranding pic.twitter.com/utAHgkSDOBJuly 23, 2023
Not only do you need to block endlessly to trigger this attack, but you need to keep away from counterattacking while Higgs has Sam in his grasp. It's basically a scene that would realistically never come about, because who's going to just put the controller down and walk away from Death Stranding during the fight?
- Hideo Kojima says he'll "apologize beforehand" for Death Stranding 2 moments with Troy Baker's Higgs which are "so ridiculous" that "you'll probably throw the controller"
- A Monster Hunter Wilds bug doomed one player to fight the 5-minute punching bag tutorial boss for a freakin' hour: "I’ve had to sharpen my weapon at least 15 times now"
It's all a bit bananas, and completely Kojima Productions. Nothing says 'A Hideo Kojima Game' quite like a feature that'll be overlooked by 99.9% of the entire player base, only to be discovered by pure chance years after launch. Oh, and if you're worried about the authenticity of the post, just know that Kojima himself retweeted the discovery earlier today (and there's screenshot evidence on Twitter).
Death Stranding veterans are losing their minds at the discovery, including yours truly. I've never seen anything like this in Death Stranding over the course of three distinct playthroughs, and neither have the vast amount of devotees to the 2019 action game, going from the responses on Twitter.
We can't help but wonder if there's any other events linked to this instance. Does anyone remark on Sam's ear during the rest of the Death Stranding? Is there a way to fix the ear after Higgs has had a tasty morsel? Some questions we might never know the answer to.
With Death Stranding 2 still deep in production, actor Elle Fanning's friends keep telling her its one of the best things she's ever done.
