Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, PS5 Review

Death Stranding 1 is one of my all-time favourite games. When it came out in 2019, I was blown away by its originality, beauty, and complexity. Unsurprisingly, Hideo Kojima was blazing a trail, and I was all on board for the trip. Now, Death Stranding 2: On The Beach (DS2) is here and while perhaps it won’t be as impactful as DS1, it is still a masterclass in game design.

As mentioned, I’m a Death Standing 1 fan-boy. I put hundreds of hours into it, delivered more packages than I care to count, and even Platinumed it on PS5! So, with some surprise and trepidation it pains me to say, Death Stranding 2 hasn’t endeared itself to me, as much as the first game did. But that’s not to say it isn’t amazing.

DS2 picks up about a year after DS1s conclusion. Sam and “BB” Lou are living their best life hidden away from the powers that be, and all is good. This soon changes when Fragile asks for a quick favour, and as a result Sams world is torn apart. So, he must start putting himself back together, deliver packages and connect more of the world, this time in Mexico and Australia.

I won’t go into any more of the story than that, except to say…well, this is a Kojima game and the story is brilliant. There is no shortage of crazy shit, crazy names and crazy ideas, that only Kojima could get away with putting in a AAA big budget game. It is intriguing, funny, cringy and painfully sad all at the same time. Dude is a genius!

The underlying game mechanics of the DS2 are as DS1 was. Sam takes on orders, delivers them across mountain and dale, and reconnects remote locations to “the network”. All the while trying to make sense of the power-players moving behind the scenes. This time though, Sam has more than just voices on the radio to help. He has the crew of Fragiles, DHV Magellan to back him up. A ship that can navigate the subterranean “Tar Currents” inside the earth’s crust.

The addition of the DHV Magellan does two things. It gives Sam a home, with a fascinating crew he gets to know and have interesting story beats with. Unlike DS1, where story and conversations were almost all done via video messages.  And second and most importantly, an actual base of operations. The ship is a central storage hub and a fast travel system which will bring along vehicles, resources, and gear wherever Sam chooses to travel too. Something that was badly missing from DS1.

This adding of systems, to smooth out the experience of DS1 has been excellent in places. However these changes as a whole, have had a net-negative effect in my mind. Fast travel improvements, storage systems etc… are welcome. But things like more lethality in weapons, improved vehicle performance and the massive increase to the shared world structures, has made the game all a bit too approachable. Not to mention the real enemy in the original Death Stranding, the terrain and environment, have been made to far, far too easy in DS2.

This is my only issue with the game, its just too easy. 

To be clear, I am no masochistic gamer. I don’t play Dark Souls, I don’t smash my head against a challenge to prove my gamer-cred. But, I do like a tactical, methodical experience, that rewards planning. DS1 had this in spades, DS2 does not.

Here is an example. I needed to deliver 200kgs of equipment to a distant location. I reviewed the map, checked the weather and prepped my gear. Based on the map, I was going to use a vehicle for the first half, but due to what looked like on the map as tough terrain, I would need to offload and go on foot for the last half. I would use my packed ladders to get over impassable cliffs, use a PCC to make a rain shelter as the forecast was not good for some of the trip. Then use some grenades for an area flagged as infested with BTs.

I loaded up my vehicle, made my final checks to stay under my “on-foot weight limit” and set off. My vehicle hummed along. But when I went to transition to on-foot. I found I could drive up a gap in the cliffs not shown on the map. I then ignored the rain as I was still in my vehicle, then boosted past the B.Ts, drove across a river and arrived at the deliver outpost in less than 5 minutes….What an anit-climax! So, no planning needed in the end. Put boxes in vehicle…drove to delivery location….done. (sigh)

I want to say this example is a one off, but it happens all the time! In a pure gameplay sense….there is no adventure to be had anymore. Setting off on a 100km delivery in D1 was a stressful prospect. But in D2 I have come to learn that it is a sinch.

The other pet-peeve is the literal detritus EVERYWHERE from the shared world strand system. This is where other players worlds, in particular their signs and structures, bleed into your game world. This was in DS1, and it was balanced about right as not to be distracting. If anything there was just enough “stuff” to be helpful. But in DS2 the map is covered in crap. Every river has two bridges, every long drive has 4 recharge pylons, every enemy base has a storage postbox nearby. Signs and everywhere! And it goes on and on. 

I ended up going into the menu and turning off all the shared world options. So the option is there, granted. But this goes against the whole underlying intent of Kojimas “connected strands” system. A great idea still, but the balance has been lost. I played on the “Brutal” difficulty, and brutal it is not. As mentioned, I turned off other player content, just to find some modicum of challenge. Even then, I never got close to what I wanted, the DS1 challenge. In fact, at the 20hr mark I hadn’t died once. Not even close, not even in the boss fights.

The less hostile world and terrain design, combined with the fact that Sam is now built for combat. Makes DS2 more familiar to many I suspect. Its more of a thrird person shooter/action game than the “Post-man Pat” simulator DS1 was labelled as in 2019. But I loved the plan and deliver of DS1. Now, the weapons that arrive from grateful parcel recipients are obtained at such a clip, that within a few hours I had more guns and grenades than I new what to do with. Hence, the prospect of a mission in facing down a Bandit Camp or clearing an area of B.Ts was mere childs play. What once was a stressful prospect, that needed guile and planning….is now literally a walk in the park with a gun.

Which is so sad for me as a DS1 fan. I still remember a mission in DS1, going deep into B.T territory behind “The Craftsman” base. I was freaked out by how vulnerable Sam was. Avoiding B.Ts, holding his breath and they move past, and doing everything I could to beinvisible to the terrifying spectres. But in a similar mission in DS2….I just blew them into oblivion with one of the many guns or grenades in my arsenal!

I was blowen away by DS2s beauty.

The games opening sequence with Sam walking down a rocky spur, will sit with me as one of those all time “wow” gamer moments. The graphical detail and performance in both gameplay and cutscenes is the best I have seen on PS5. Kojimas team are the masters of the Decima Engine. Same with the audio design, The music swells at just the right moments, the voice acting is on point. Everything is so tight. So well made. It’s almost like DS1 was the proof of concept and DS2 is the proper outing of the fully fledged title.

Personally however DS1 is still my favourite. DS2 has had too much sand paper run over the “sharp edges” of DS1s systems. Sure, it is now more approachable. But the changes have made the gameplay loop too simple and Death Stranding has lost some of its magic. I suspect I’m in the minority though. And maybe thats ok, as based on the online narrative it seems many, many more gamers are now dipping into Kojimas crazy world and having a great time. I’m having a great time too, but perhaps, just not the time I selfishly wanted.

Death Stranding 2 is an outstanding game. There is so much esquisite game design on offer here and the changes made since DS1 will ceratinly broaden its audeince! Without a doubt it will be in the mix for Game of the Year discussions at the end of 2025.