Two More Death Stranding Easter Eggs Discovered In Horizon Zero Dawn

Both Horizon Zero Dawn and Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding are open-world games running on Guerrilla Games' Decima Engine, and both made big splashes at E3 2016, but otherwise, the robot-dinosaur adventure and whatever Death Stranding is don't have much in common. Still, that didn't stop Guerrilla from sneaking a few subtle nods to Kojima's upcoming action title into the PlayStation 4's latest big exclusive.

YouTube channel Arekkz Gaming says that three super-rare collectibles (including one that reviewers found last week) in Horizon Zero Dawn reference Death Stranding's surreal trailers, and could—possibly, maybe—offer a few hints as to fans can expect when Death Stranding finally arrives.

Horizon Zero Dawn players should keep an eye out for special purple (or "very rare") items with "Stranding" names, each of which is decorated with Kojima Productions' logo. The Stranding Necklace is a callback to the bulky metal jewelry that actor Norman Reedus wore in Death Stranding's first trailer. The Stranding Shackles are the handcuff-like devices that Reedus sports while lying on the floor, while the Standing Figure is the same doll that floats downstream in the most recent Death Stranding video.

While the Standing items are fun little nods to Kojima fans, they don't actually do much in Horizon Zero Dawn. As Arekkz describes, after players collect all three Stranding items, they can take them to Horizon's specialty merchant and exchange them for a handful of items, including a pair of socks. Are the socks an indication of something that's coming in Death Stranding? Let the speculation begin.

Horizon Zero Dawn came out yesterday, February 28, 2017, while Death Stranding is currently in production and has no release date. Both are PlayStation 4 exclusives.