In the history of video game sequels, there will be very few, I think, that touch the level of improvements and enhancements in the way Death Stranding 2: On the Beach manages. When the original launched in 2019, the game was a Hideo Kojima walk simulator with action that didn't feel great and served as an introduction to a very unique and original world. Post-apocalyptic games are everywhere, but none of them were quite like Death Stranding.
This sequel takes so much of what the original game had accomplished by way of storytelling and found a way to enhance it in several ways. Kojima fans never fully know what they'll be getting themselves into; that proved to be the case in Metal Gear Solidand its four sequels, and even more here in this still strange, new world. While Death Stranding may take place on planet Earth, it's unlike the one we live on in almost every way. Creatures called Beach Things, BTs, haunt the world and make every step one potentially closer to death.
However, Death Stranding 2 doesn't just live in otherworldly horrors designed only for video games; it claims even the ones we would hold closest to our hearts. By the end of Episode One, Lou, the BB you protected and carried through the entirety of the first game, dies. After years of being hidden away from the things that could harm them both, Sam and Lou had survived. However, in one brief moment when Sam gets pulled away to start duty anew, his adopted daughter, the sole reason he continued living, dies. It is here that Death Stranding 2 begins. For a lot of gamers, Joel Miller's murder was spoiled for us before The Last of Us Part 2 ever even saw the light of day; it is impressive that Lou's death never leaked while trailers may have sign-posted it so many times. Before the game releases, a person can tell themself, "they wouldn't just spoil that," or, "they wouldn't do that." When it happened, and being in the world of Death Stranding, it was so easy to revert to denial. As a parent, it was the only thing I could cling to.
I think, come the end, Sam does find a happy ending. The journey along the way, though, is filled with layers of plot twists, deception, manipulation, and evil. Unlike Metal Gear Solid, which often relied on double or triple crosses, Death Stranding 2 builds so much on top of itself that it'd be so obvious for it to crumble. It sticks the landing, though. While some twists might have been in front of the player the entire time, the emotional weight of them is not lost, nor do they fall flat.
While many characters return from the previous game, they have all taken a more hands-on role. Characters who don't return are still made to share a significant external role in what's actively happening as a way to remind you that this team truly does seem as tight as a found family as possible. New characters bear significance, too. Those who have played Death Stranding remember Cliff Unger scenes or fights and how pivotal they were to the game's plot and the development of its leading character, Sam Porter Bridges. Sam experiences similar flashbacks from a new character, Neil Vana, and learns over time the significance Neil has on Sam's journey. Neil serves as part new character, and part reminder of a character Hideo Kojima had made in the past; looking at you, Solid Snake. The introduction of Tomorrow bears so much weight over the story, and so much time is taken to watch her character grow and unravel the mystery that she is. Dollman and Rainy serve as welcome additions, along with Tarman. Dollman may have the most screentime, literally traveling with Sam, but is often outmatched by his new teammates.
While many players come to Hideo Kojima games for the plot, overall game design remains unmatched and without parallel. With Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, many gamers thought that Kojima and Konami's unceremonious cutting of ties would have been the end of Hideo Kojima's games as players now knew them. Metal Gear Solid V may have been a strange package of two games, or a weird departure from the hour-long cutscene-filled games its predecessors were, but there is no denying that the game design and feeling of playing it were amazing. Everything from the sneaking to the shooting felt like it had finally been perfected. When Death Strandingcame out, it felt nothing like anything that had come before it. In Death Stranding, even the walking part of the "walking-simulator" genre was unique. Terrain was the enemy and needed to be overcome. Of course, the game found many ways to succeed in traversal, but many of them felt disjointed or were an extra piece of baggage to carry on an already overstuffed journey. The vehicles never fully felt great, and combat felt so hefty and, often enough, the opposite of the point the game was trying to make.
So many complaints were corrected with Death Stranding 2. Combat felt better, driving felt better, and the act of traversal was not as weighty. Yes, tripping over a rock is still possible. However, the game offers up roads and vehicles much sooner, making even the challenge of walking overridden by two or four wheels.
Combat feels like it was a singular point of improvement. Guns feel better. While much of it is the same camp clearing or sneaking of the first game, these encounters feel closer to where Kojima's studio would have left off with Metal Gear Solid V.A lot of Death Stranding 2's point of development is dropping the rope and taking the stick and the success of developing the stick to be a viable solution makes the implementation of improvements so satisfying.
My singular complaint with this game lies in the BT encounters. These encounters slow so much down and one wrong step could ruin everything. These encounters and their almost-survival horror made the feeling of "powerless" significant, if only because every step on an eggshell had the potential to bring movement to a halt and cause an uptick in panic. Most of the time, the encounters never felt fair.
Another notable improvement is the visuals. Death Stranding was a visually striking game, as its world lived in tar and had an otherworldly feel to a planet most familiar. To see Sam or Sam’s vehicles and cargo weather with each storm by way of rust and grime or just seeing the accumulation of blood or tar following an enemey encounter is impressive tech in its own right. However, the near photo-realistic characters make the cutscenes feel grounded in a way that one would experience watching any live-action movie at the cinema. Really, most video games don’t look like this. While most of the time was spent in Performance mode, it was a better experience than most Performance modes available.
While this review may have been started weeks ago now, there is nothing that has ruined any feelings for this game. This is a 10/10, or 5/5, or A+ rating, no matter what scale it is. To have a world that has continued to have a driving factor, like trophies, to make the experience all the more whole is okay. Killing bigger BTs or delivering to five stars continued to be a good time. The hope for a Platinum trophy may only be ruined by getting five stars for every prepper may only be ruined by time required. As a dad, too much time. Aside from that, this game is a mental Platinum game.
