Death Stranding 2 is an action-adventure game from the incredible mind of Hideo Kojima, and the sequel to Death Stranding. It was entirely written, produced, designed, and directed by Kojima through his studios, and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Both games are largely considered to be walking simulators, but Death Stranding 2 has a lot more interactive elements to it and combat within the storyline.

Characters from the original game have reprised their roles, with some new additions to the story. Each character is portrayed by a well-known actor, including Norman Reedus, Troy Baker, Elle Fanning, and Guillermo del Toro. They all worked with a motion capture team to act out emotions, scenes, and intense moments for the story.

In my review, I’m going to discuss the story, the gameplay, and anything connected to the game/series. This is NOT a spoiler-free review!

Walk Across the Globe

Hideo Kojima is well-known for his complex and creative storylines that usually unfold towards the end of the story. As with the first game, a large amount of plot is revealed towards the end, but players gain better insight into the story throughout this one as Sam develops stronger bonds with his companions. But be warned: the beginning of this game is extremely sad, and you do not get resolution until the very end.

Set eleven months after the end of the first game, Sam is living with Lou on the US-Mexico border in peace, with Fragile occasionally bringing him supplies. She convinces him to help connect Mexico to the Chiral Network, and he agrees. However, while he is gone, Higgs attacks his home and kills Lou in the process, leaving Sam feeling hollow. Unable to die, Sam’s life has become pure misery, and Fragile eventually convinces him to join her team to reconnect Australia and find a purpose again.

Sam holds on to Lou’s BB pod the entire journey, and is convinced he can see her inside of it still. Throughout his journey, he meets several new companions and slowly becomes himself again. One of them, who they named Tomorrow, is revealed at the end to be Lou, who survived on the Beach and was protected by the man who Sam’s wife cheated on him with. He also held onto information for Sam from his wife before her death that explained everything that happened and what she did to try to protect Lou.

Higgs remains the villain in this story, and he is determined to bring about the Extinction Entity once again and wipe out humanity. He is tormenting Sam throughout, kidnaps Tomorrow, and causes BT chaos for everyone to wade through. The end fight and scenes are super weird, but also really fun, and those types of scenes are what give this game such a unique story.

The very end of the game features a post-credit scene where Lou, who has grown a bit, is now a porter and is preparing to go on her own journey.

To the Wilder

 Often referred to as a walking simulator, Death Stranding 2 has two main elements of gameplay: walking and fighting. The game is primarily set in Australia, but you do traverse through the United States and Mexico at the beginning.

Walk, Don’t Run

A big portion of this game is still traversing the landscape as a porter. Sam is expanding the Chiral Network in Mexico and Australia, but the weather is unforgiving, and the terrain varies greatly. While the rain proved to be a challenge in the first game, in this one it comes with the addition of flooding, making some rivers uncrossable during those times. There are also gate quakes, which are large earthquakes that shake you and the surrounding landscape. Trying to go up a mountain during one of these is nearly impossible. In certain parts of Australia, you may face a sandstorm, which I highly advise you avoid so your materials don’t get damaged.

Vehicles are still used in the game and are unlocked early. As you gather materials and expand the network, you’ll be able to build roads again to make long spans of travel easier. After a certain point, you can begin rebuilding the monorail system, which helps transport materials across the country and serves as a fun new way to travel. Depending on the point of the game you’re at, the DHV Magellan can travel through the tar and get you closer to your destination, but only if that area is connected to the Chiral Network.

Shoot, but Don’t Kill

There is a lot more combat in this game than there was in the first. Enemies are tougher, both human and robotic, and the end features some more intense fights with Higgs. You have to avoid killing so you don’t trigger a voidout, and you can utilize direct combat or stealth tactics when dealing with them. Robot enemies you can be more direct with, but they deal far more damage than a human, so it’s advised to use stealth with them. Once certain roads are built, you can easily avoid confrontation by zooming through enemy territory.

In the first game, you faced off with the occasional large BT. In this game, there are a lot more you have to deal with to help protect everyone. But a cool addition to this game is that you can capture them and use them later in fights. The first two or three will prove a challenge, but focus on catching them to make later battles much easier.

A Giant BB

While working on this game, Hideo Kojima shared that he reworked the story because people were liking it too much. Here’s his quote:

“We have a problem. I’m going to be very honest, we have been testing the game with players and the results are too good. They like it too much. That means something is wrong; we have to change something. If everyone likes it, it means it’s mainstream. It means it’s conventional. It means it’s already pre-digested for people to like it. And I don’t want that. I want people to end up liking things they didn’t like when they first encountered it, because that’s where you really end up loving something.”

Of course, the version that came out was still a huge success, and the story was full of such emotional depth that it left players feeling hollow after. The music was composed by Woodkid and Ludvig Forssell, who created a beautiful collection of music that enhanced the story.

Kojima has already shared that, while he has the story of Death Stranding 3 in his head, he wants someone else to produce it. So, it seems unlikely we will ever get a third game.

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All game content and information is based on my personal gaming experience. The images were taken by me. I fact-checked game details with the sources below.

Sources:

• Game Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Stranding_2:_On_the_Beach
• Kojima Productions: https://www.kojimaproductions.jp/en/death-stranding-2