How to get the secret Death Stranding Easter egg in Horizon Zero Dawn
The Horizon Zero Dawn engine will be used for Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding, and this odd little Easter egg is Guerrilla's tribute.
Horizon Zero Dawn has a number of hidden items that reference Death Stranding, the next game from Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima.
Kojima is using the same engine as Horizon Zero Dawn, Guerrilla Games' in-house Decima, for Death Stranding. This is the suite he once referred to as a "rocket".
Developer Guerrilla Games must have been returning this love when it hid references to Kojima's upcoming game around Horizon Zero Dawn. Collect them all for a small prize - as part of our Horizon Zero Dawn guide, we're delighted to point you in the right direction.
Warning: some small spoilers for Horizon Zero Dawn dungeon and mission names follow.
There are three Death Stranding items in Horizon Zero Dawn, which you can see in the video above from Arekkz. The rewards you get for collecting them are pretty rubbish, but isn't it the journey that counts?
You're looking for three items in total, highlighted in game with a purple glow; the Stranded Necklace, Stranded Shackles and Stranded Figure. These can then be traded with the Specialty Merchant in the south-west of Meridian for a package of minor loot, including the mysterious Warm Socks item Guerrilla refuses to explain to us or anyone else.
How to get the secret Death Stranding Easter egg in Horizon Zero Dawn
- The Stranded Figure is found in the All Mother complex, and can be picked up anytime after the critical main path quest The Proving. Directions are in the video above.
- The Stranded Necklace is found in The Grave-Hoard. This dungeon is in the north-east corner of the map, but you cannot enter until the critical path mission of the same name. It's easily found by hugging the left wall from the entrance to the room where you fight your first set of enemies in this dungeon.
- The Stranded Shackles are found in the Zero Dawn dungeon, which you can't access till critical path mission Deep Secrets of the World. The shackles are found in the south-western part of the map after the second major holo-image scene. See the video for more guidance.
All three of these items are marked in Horizon Zero Dawn's menu with the Ludens logo (Kojima's company mascot). Take these to the Speciality Merchant in Meridian and trade them in for some new items. And that's it!
If you're wondering what these items are referring to, you'll see the Stranded Necklace is a replication of the necklace worn by Norman Reedus in the first Death Stranding trailer, as are the Stranded Shackles, again from the first trailer.
The Stranded Figure you'll recognise as the baby from the second trailer that also starred hottest actor on the planet, Mads Mikkelsen.
Horizon Zero Dawn is out now on PS4 and seems to benefit greatly from the added power of the PS4 Pro.
Death Stranding doesn't have a release date at all so we're just going to have to pine for it until Kojima blesses us with more info.