From the latest gameplays I am getting more and more familiar feeling. And in the latest one with players private room it hit me: the game may be heavily influenced by the so-called ́empathy box ́
They are most well known from novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” by Philip K. Dick which inspired the movie “Blade Runner”. Only inspired, if you saw only the film, the book is actually about something totally different. The main themes are religion and empathy and how that makes us humans. One of the key items is this empathy box.
́ ́The main Earth religion is Mercerism, in which Empathy Boxes link simultaneous users into a collective consciousness based on the suffering of Wilbur Mercer, a man who takes an endless walk up a mountain while stones are thrown at him, the pain of which the users share.”
Basically it looks like a virtual reality device with handles that make you share experience of all other people in one avatar.
“Ray continued to grip the handles. On the screen, Wilbur Mercer walked slowly over the barren, jagged surface of a desolate hillside, his face lifted, an expression of serenity - or vacuity - on his thin, middle-aged features... To Joan, he explained, ́This is the empathy box, my dear... when you take hold of these handles you're no longer watching Wilbur Mercer. You're actually participating in his apotheosis. Why, you're feeling what he feels.´”
And finally:
“´An empathy box,´he said, stammering in his excitement, ́is the most personal possession you have. It's an extension of your body; it's the way you touch other humans, it's the way you stop being alone.´”
It works pretty well to distinguish the difference between human and android in the novel, because artificial people don't understands empathy so this is solely human experience. The urge to share the feels, apotheosis and catharsis. At the end of the novel (maybe a slight spoiler) there is revealed, that mercerism is fake, shoot in film studio and the Wilbur Mercer is just an actor. All of this religion is orchestrated by the government, because it is the best way to control the people. But it doesn't matter in the end because the religion and sharing empathy and experiences were for the people more important than that it was fake. Religion is a key element of humanity.
There are so many aspects of this story that sounds similar to Death Stranding. The man walking the mountains. There is even mentioned unspoken evil that throne stones at Wilbur (BTs?). But what got me thinking is that how Sam is celebrated as a hero, everybody knows him. The first gameplay with the voices encouraging him (will we be able to share not only signs but also voices?). The last gameplay showing Sam in the private room acting like the camera is the player. That he is aware of being controlled. I already noticed some theories of us, players, being another recognized character of the game, sharing the control of Sam. DS might be the empathy box and only playing is will bound us together in sharing the pain and apotheosis of Sam Porter Bridges (aka actor Norman Reedus). Much deeper feeling even though we know it is all fake. But emotions will be real.
Can this all be an inspiration in general, for gameplay, or also the story-wise? Does Kojima dream?
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