“it's just Death Stranding but better"
PlayStation 5 Timed Exclusive
HOW I PLAYED: I played Death Stranding 2: On The Beach on my PS5 base model. I played on my 1440p 32" LG display, and I set the game to "Performance" mode which runs at 1080p 60fps.
STORY — 18/20
INTRO -4
Death Stranding 2 picks up a few years after the events of the first game. Sam and Lou are kicking it at the top of a mountain in Mexico where they now live. Your first "mission" is to take Lou back to your camp and this is where the game introduces you to the basic controls. While you learn the controls you also get to immerse yourself in the INSANE fidelity of Death Stranding 2... more on that later.
You have a mix of cutscenes and story events that quickly bring you back into the gameplay of Death Stranding and you meet up with someone familiar who puts you on a path to exploring the newly discovered path to Australia. In the first game you worked to connect all of the United States together via the chiral network, not it is time to extend that coverage to new continents. And so... Sam's next journey begins!
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You have a mix of cutscenes and story events that quickly bring you back into the gameplay of Death Stranding and you meet up with someone familiar who puts you on a path to exploring the newly discovered path to Australia. In the first game you worked to connect all of the United States together via the chiral network, not it is time to extend that coverage to new continents. And so... Sam's next journey begins!
CUTSCENES -5
What do you expect? The cutscenes are UNBELIEVABLE in Death Stranding 2, the lifelike fidelity Kojima Productions is able to pull out of the Decima engine is mindblowing. These cutscenes are cinema quality and it genuinly felt like I was watching a blockbuster movie. I found myself looking forward to when the next cutscene would be and what bat shit crazy story elements or lore Kojima was going to drip feed me next. I felt like most of the actors in this game did amazing jobs with their characters.
Norman Reedus as Sam is... Norman Reedus...
If you have watched any movie or TV show he has been in the last 10 years... you get the jist of his performance. BUT TO BE FAIR! I think Kojima wrote the part of Sam specifically for Norman so this is a pass...
Léa Seydoux as Fragile is still my favorite (for obvious reasons). I really felt like she carried a lot of the scenes in DS2.
Hideo Kojima has always created very unique and stylish characters who have backstories you just want to learn more about. And the new additions to DS2 are no different! Rainy, Tomorrow, Dollman, Neil are all spectacular new characters that bring a lot to the games story.
Norman Reedus as Sam is... Norman Reedus...
If you have watched any movie or TV show he has been in the last 10 years... you get the jist of his performance. BUT TO BE FAIR! I think Kojima wrote the part of Sam specifically for Norman so this is a pass...
Léa Seydoux as Fragile is still my favorite (for obvious reasons). I really felt like she carried a lot of the scenes in DS2.
Hideo Kojima has always created very unique and stylish characters who have backstories you just want to learn more about. And the new additions to DS2 are no different! Rainy, Tomorrow, Dollman, Neil are all spectacular new characters that bring a lot to the games story.
WORLD BUILDING -5
I feel like the world building in DS2 is getting such a high score because of all the groundwork that Death Stranding laid out before it. We needed that foundation to build on and actually get into the nitty gritty of Kojima's new world he has created.
The worldbuilding of DS2 is told in the same ways as the first game, through a lot of NPC dialogue and with very detailed (LONG) cutscenes. You do get some bits of information from logs and side missions. But the world is very much told to you as the player.
Most of it won't make sense, but I loved all the main story beats and emotions that were being conveyed.
The worldbuilding of DS2 is told in the same ways as the first game, through a lot of NPC dialogue and with very detailed (LONG) cutscenes. You do get some bits of information from logs and side missions. But the world is very much told to you as the player.
Most of it won't make sense, but I loved all the main story beats and emotions that were being conveyed.
OVERALL STORY -4
Ok I feel confliced here... because at my core I felt like the story of Death Stranding 2 did nothing really new that the first game's story didn't already accomplish. Before you get all keyboard warrior on me, what I mean by that is that YES the events in the story are different from the first game (obviously) but the emotional beats were not. Death Stranding from my interpretation was all about loss and connection between people and how important that connection is. Death Stranding 2 builds on that theme and although the story is a little more refined, I feel like that is only because of the groundwork the first game had to lay out.
Hideo Kojima talked about the development of Death Stranding 2 and how it mainly took place over the period of the 2020 pandemic. And to me that makes a lot of sense, at that time he had basically just wrapped on the first Death Stranding game and now he found himself (like a lot of people) being put in isolation and wondering if the world was ever going to go back to the way it was. And I feel like during this time, he missed all connections and friendships he had made with the cast of the first game, so he wanted an excuse to get everyone back together again. This is all speculation but that is how the story felt to me as the player. I didn't feel like I was being told a new groundbreaking story, but I was just being told the same story ... slightly refined.
It was still great! But kind of like the comparison of God Of War 2018 vs Ragnarok. Nothing beats that first immersion into the world.
Hideo Kojima talked about the development of Death Stranding 2 and how it mainly took place over the period of the 2020 pandemic. And to me that makes a lot of sense, at that time he had basically just wrapped on the first Death Stranding game and now he found himself (like a lot of people) being put in isolation and wondering if the world was ever going to go back to the way it was. And I feel like during this time, he missed all connections and friendships he had made with the cast of the first game, so he wanted an excuse to get everyone back together again. This is all speculation but that is how the story felt to me as the player. I didn't feel like I was being told a new groundbreaking story, but I was just being told the same story ... slightly refined.
It was still great! But kind of like the comparison of God Of War 2018 vs Ragnarok. Nothing beats that first immersion into the world.
GRAPHICS — 15/15
CHARACTER MODELS -5
At a glance I was thinking to myself "This looks moderately better than the first game" which already looked incredible for it's time. But the pure MAGIC Kojima Productions pulled out of the Decima Engine for DS2 needs to be studied. All of the characters look almost lifelike, I mentioned earlier that it felt like I was just watching IRL content with these actors and it DOES! When you compare character models from the first game to DS2 you see how much additional detail there is in their skin and face lines. The textures just look true to form... all of the main characters and NPC's look surreal.
BUT
90% of the NPC's that are just in the random bunkers and stations that you make deliveries too all have a noticeable lack of attention to detail as the main cast do. That is expected, but I just wanted to note it.
BUT
90% of the NPC's that are just in the random bunkers and stations that you make deliveries too all have a noticeable lack of attention to detail as the main cast do. That is expected, but I just wanted to note it.
ENVIRONMENTS -5
The first Death Stranding was vivid and really felt like real environments in the pacific northwest. But as you go through that game a lot of the biomes felt samey. A lot of greenery with rocky mountains. So DS2 choosing Mexico and Australia as it's settings really brought up the diversity in environments and they all look breath taking.
From desert mountains to jungle terrain to sandy beaches, there is just soo much variety in the environments. When you treck across the country it was pure delight to take in the scenery and bask in the power of the Decima Engine.
From desert mountains to jungle terrain to sandy beaches, there is just soo much variety in the environments. When you treck across the country it was pure delight to take in the scenery and bask in the power of the Decima Engine.
SPECIAL FX -5
All of the SFX looked incredible, the fire and lightning effects and just all of the weather systems in the game really show the peak of what this console generation is capable of. It leaves you wondering, why are all these other games struggling so hard that look worse? Or even look like previous generation console games?
To also find out that DS2 has 0 Ray Tracing in the game is also a massive feat in this day and age. I feel like in game lighting is an art and it's becoming a lost one as many studios just rely on ray tracing to lumen to just auto calculate all of the lighting for them. But at what cost? For sometimes amazing visuals with the massive downside of performance and functionality?
Kojima Productions shows yet again, that art direction triumphs over all and does not need all of the most cutting edge tech to pull off techniques that have already been mastered with older tried and true methods.
Kojima has ALWAYS had style... and it really shows here in Death Stranding 2.
To also find out that DS2 has 0 Ray Tracing in the game is also a massive feat in this day and age. I feel like in game lighting is an art and it's becoming a lost one as many studios just rely on ray tracing to lumen to just auto calculate all of the lighting for them. But at what cost? For sometimes amazing visuals with the massive downside of performance and functionality?
Kojima Productions shows yet again, that art direction triumphs over all and does not need all of the most cutting edge tech to pull off techniques that have already been mastered with older tried and true methods.
Kojima has ALWAYS had style... and it really shows here in Death Stranding 2.
AUDIO — 12/15
AMBIENCE -5
Music is everything when you want to tell an emotional story. And the OST and general ambience in DS2 is next fucking level. You can't help but evoke emotion when you play this game and get swelled by it's masterful OST. The main tracks are all composed by the artist Woodkid wheras in the previous game the main artist was Low Roar (Still available in this game). I definitely felt that the atmosphere and mood of Woodkids tracks perfectly matched that of DS2 and it makes sense since Woodkid was actually a part of development in DS2.
I loved that Kojima Productions took feedback given from the first game and implemented a Playlist feature in DS2. One of the things that bothered me in the first game is you have these AMAZING first experiences walking outside with curated Low Roar tracks. But when you go back it's just dead air and ambient sound. Well in DS2 there are the same curated moments but afterwards you can collect your favorite tracks as you hear them and put them on a playlist that plays while you are out doing your thing in the open world. A+ !
BOSS MUSIC -2
Kind of dissapointing, it is just general ambient intensity music. I think it is the same track used in the first game. I wish they did more with some of the boss tracks in DS2...
Pure shame...
Pure shame...
SOUND DESIGN -5
The voice acting is top quality, the sound mixing and soundspace is out of this world. And just how everything mixes together in perfect harmony... you can tell that Hideo Kojima puts care into all of this projects. There are many behind the scenes pictures of Kojima playing through the game himself which I 100% believe! He even edits all the trailers for Death Stranding! So you know this is going to be done right.
PERFORMANCE — 9/10
FRAME RATE -4
Again I am super impressed that DS2 runs at a perfect 60fps on base PS5 and they didn't limit that to just the PS5 Pro or anything. I do wish they inserted a "Balanced" mode that was just an unlocked Graphics mode for people who would want that. But I am happy with the 2 graphics modes on the console version. But I am also desperately waiting for this game to release on PC where I can REALLY push the games limits!
STABILITY -5
A true testament to when your Game's director ACTUALLY plays through your entire game from start to finish. Death Stranding 2 had virtually no bugs that I encountered in my playthrough. And DS2 is frequently updated, everytime I boot the game up I feel like there are new updates that refine the game in someway or enhance the experience by tightening up issues some people may have encountered.
To release a game in almost flawless condition... should be applauded.
To release a game in almost flawless condition... should be applauded.
GAMEPLAY — 19/40
CONTROLS -4
The controls feel better than the cumbersome first game. I switched back to Death Stranding Directors cut after rolling credits on DS2 and WOW the convolution is REAL in that game. To accept a mission feels like 150 prompts where it is much more simplified in DS2. So kudos to Kojima Productions for listening to fans and making the game more refined and easy to manage control wise. I found things like accepting new missions much easier and managing my cargo to be much more efficient than I did playing the original.
MECHANICS -3
Apart from everything just being much more refined there are some additional new mechanics in DS2 over the original. You get a very cool use out of one of your NPC companions and I think Kojima definitely took inspiration from God Of War 2018 and how that game used one of it's NPC's... There is even a nod to that when introducing the character.
I also liked how much they build on the zipline feature in the game vs the first, and how there is now a cargo train you can setup in certain areas of Death Stranding 2's world.
I also liked how much they build on the zipline feature in the game vs the first, and how there is now a cargo train you can setup in certain areas of Death Stranding 2's world.
PACING -2
I apologize but I gotta be real here... the pacing SUCKS in these games. I literally feel the chores of having to do deliveries for bs items just to be able to advance to the next story section and be introduced to the next mainline NPC in the game.
I was literally getting fatigued during my playthrough but I KNEW I had to put in the mindless work or I would suffer for it in the endgame.
There were many points where I just wanted the next cutscene to happen because I was tired of making random deliveries, I understand that the game is all about connection. But the gameplay loop was very tedious and it is EXACTLY like it was in the first game.
There is this Twitter user who is mostly into the console fanboy type of posts who posted a clip of Death Stranding 2 and made it seem like this game is way more action focused than the first game.
But this post is MASSIVELY deceiving, as I pointed out on X. Because the gameplay they posted is actually just the VR training area you can go to at almost anytime and practice using the different weapons in the game.
DS2 IS NOT this... it is NOT Metal Gear Solid in the DS world... it is very much like the first game. YES there are areas where there are bandits who you CAN engage in combat with, but most times it is never worth it and much easier to just avoid them. You can go through the camp and just Big Dick all of them if you WANT... but even still this is a small fraction of the actual gameplay of Death Stranding 2... so don't let anyone fool you into believing it's more than that.
I was literally getting fatigued during my playthrough but I KNEW I had to put in the mindless work or I would suffer for it in the endgame.
There were many points where I just wanted the next cutscene to happen because I was tired of making random deliveries, I understand that the game is all about connection. But the gameplay loop was very tedious and it is EXACTLY like it was in the first game.
There is this Twitter user who is mostly into the console fanboy type of posts who posted a clip of Death Stranding 2 and made it seem like this game is way more action focused than the first game.
But this post is MASSIVELY deceiving, as I pointed out on X. Because the gameplay they posted is actually just the VR training area you can go to at almost anytime and practice using the different weapons in the game.
DS2 IS NOT this... it is NOT Metal Gear Solid in the DS world... it is very much like the first game. YES there are areas where there are bandits who you CAN engage in combat with, but most times it is never worth it and much easier to just avoid them. You can go through the camp and just Big Dick all of them if you WANT... but even still this is a small fraction of the actual gameplay of Death Stranding 2... so don't let anyone fool you into believing it's more than that.
UI/UE -3
Again the UI/UE is similar to the first game but more refined. It is a big improvement overall but compared to other games it can still feel clunky. There are a lot of functions that are fitted into the confines of a PS5 DualSense controller and you definitely feel it when navigating the systems and menu's in DS2.
BOSS QUALITY -2
The "Bosses" in DS2 are literally the same Boss BT's you encountered in the first game.. and I know a lot of you will use the argument "well it's the same world... why would they be different?", which I have always felt is a copout and just mad coping. There is a new Mech BT type boss that you *SPOILER* have multiple encounters with. But I was very underwhelmed with the bosses in DS2 and thought they could have been more creative.
I also want to make a point that the MAIN antagonist in this game was a massive let down for me and just kinda felt cheap. They are a GREAT character but I was ready for something new and I just felt let down.
Kinda like Consort Radhan let down... or Emporer Palpatine let down in Star Wars The Last Jedi.
I also want to make a point that the MAIN antagonist in this game was a massive let down for me and just kinda felt cheap. They are a GREAT character but I was ready for something new and I just felt let down.
Kinda like Consort Radhan let down... or Emporer Palpatine let down in Star Wars The Last Jedi.
ENEMY VARIETY -2
Bandits or BT's ... just like the first game...
lame.
lame.
GAMEPLAY VARIETY -2
Your choices are, make deliveries to all the random NPC's in the game. OR go out and farm materials so you can pave roads and create ziplines to make the first activity easier to do...
You can also hand out in different hot springs or stay in the games hub and take pictures of all your co stars in the game...
You can also hand out in different hot springs or stay in the games hub and take pictures of all your co stars in the game...
Wait... 5/5
10/5
100000000/5
this is amazing
REPLAYABILITY -1
These games are incredible and emotional story delivery devices but as a game, I never want to play them ever again. The only thing that might make me want to play through DS2 again from a fresh save file is when the game releases on PC... just to see what I can do to push this games already impressive visual fidelity.
Other than that
I will never play this game again.
BONUS — 0/3
I am shocked! For a Sony partnered title, there are no accessibility options that are worthy of note. There are the bare basic closed captions... but that is basically it.
OVERALL — 73/100
Death Stranding 2: On The Beach Suffers the same fate as The Legend Of Zelda Tears Of The Kingdom or God Of War Ragnarok... it's just Death Stranding but better. I had the same frustrations as I did with the original game and more and more I find myself asking "Why wasn't this just made into an 8 episode HBO series?" I feel like the term "gameplay" is used very loosely when it comes to Death Stranding 2 and although it is very creative and very unique and very Hideo Kojima... I am just finding myself dissapointed with the gameplay but massively impressed with the cutscenes and visuals and storytelling.
If you liked the original than you will LOVE Death Stranding 2, but if you didn't... then don't go into this expecting a different type of game. Because it isn't.
If you liked the original than you will LOVE Death Stranding 2, but if you didn't... then don't go into this expecting a different type of game. Because it isn't.
PROS
✅ Stunning Visuals
✅ Amazing performance on base consoles
✅ Great cast of characters
✅ Incredibly emotional and impact-full OST
CONS
❌ Tedious gameplay
❌ Lots of fetch quests
❌ Lack of Diverse enemies
❌ Rehashed bosses
TLDR: 73/100 (GOOD) Death Stranding 2 delivers jaw-dropping visuals, lifelike cutscenes, and an incredible OST that perfectly fits its emotional storytelling. The expanded environments of Mexico and Australia are stunning, and gameplay improvements like vehicles and playlists make exploration smoother and more engaging. However, the story often retreads the same emotional beats as the first game, boss encounters feel underwhelming, and repetitive delivery missions can drag the pacing. A stylish, unique, and memorable experience, but not without flaws.
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