Hideo Kojima’s Erratic and Messy Masterpiece

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is like a symphony — a gorgeous classical concerto where an electric guitar occasionally cuts in to shred an off-putting, yet surprisingly sick riff. As a whole, it’s weird and uneven, but there’s something undeniably compelling about how those disparate parts fit together.

If there’s one thing Death Stranding 2 (out June 26) isn’t lacking, it’s ambition. This is one of creator Hideo Kojima’s (Metal Gear Solid) biggest and boldest games yet — unrelentingly building on the vision and style of its predecessor. In turn, Death Stranding 2 is a game about a lot of things — the way we perceive death and grief, how routine shapes our lives, a scathing indictment of American imperialism, a post-Covid reflection on isolation, and a warning about the dangers of AI and technology reliance. Sure, that’s a lot to digest, but Kojima manages to somehow string together each discordant note into something unlike anything else in gaming (or any medium for that matter).

Death Stranding 2 is beautiful and messy all at once; a story that’s as befuddling as it is enthralling, and a gameplay experience that’s equally inventive and mind-numbingly routine at times. Those who didn’t like the first Death Stranding (2019) definitely won’t be converted here, but everyone else is in for one hell of a ride. It’s a game of dichotomies, never content to be just one thing at any given time, and is one of the best of the year — if not the generation. 

A familiar future setting

Death Stranding 2 takes place roughly 11 months after the first game, and while there’s a lengthy intro video to take newcomers through the preceding story, it’s highly recommended to have played through at least a majority of the first game. 

The story is set in a far future where a cataclysmic event (known as the Death Stranding) has wiped out much of humanity, leaving the survivors scattered and solitary. Paranormal creatures called beached things (BTs) infest the world, and whenever they consume a dead human, it causes what’s called a Voidout — a massive atomic-level explosion. This has made post-apocalyptic delivery men called Porters, like protagonist Sam Bridges (played by Norman Reedus), essential as they can traverse the dangerous world to deliver goods, medicine, and the like. 

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Taking place 11 months after the events of the original game, Sam and his daughter Lou have fled to Mexico to try to live a life of solitude and flee the commanding grip of the United Colonies of America (UCA). In the first Death Stranding, Sam reconnected the UCA through a sort of metaphysical internet called The Chiral Network. Now, as he tries to live his happy life in Mexico, Sam’s life is hit with tragedy, and the UCA, once again, wants his help to spread the Chiral Network to Mexico and Australia — reuniting more of the world.

As it turns out, reuniting America has left the rest of the world more unstable than ever (it shouldn’t be lost on anyone that the theme of returning America to “greatness” has had dire consequences for everywhere else). 

Gameplay upgrades and frustrations

Before going into more specifics on story and theme, it’s important to note the gameplay formula and structure of Death Stranding 2 — as that jarring experience is so integrally tied to how players will experience the narrative. Truthfully, shifting back and forth between jarring tonal shifts feels true to what it’s actually like to play it.

Death Stranding 2 is, at its core, a delivery simulator. As Sam reconnects Mexico and Australia, he has to make deliveries to different facilities and connect them to the network. Players start out making these deliveries on foot — inspired by the real-life traditional Japanese porters known as Bokka. But you progressively unlock more options for travel and delivery: vehicles, zip lines, catapults, monorails, teleporters, and more. Mexico serves as essentially a tutorial area to introduce the basics, before moving to Australia for the rest of the game, creating a massive streamlined delivery network. Of course, the other catch is the game’s Strand system, which lets you see and use the items and objects of other players in your world, and vice versa. 

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What’s remarkable about Death Stranding 2, on a gameplay level, is that it hasn’t really deviated from the vision of the first game — rather enhancing and refining it. The original Death Stranding’s slow, methodical delivery experience wasn’t for everyone, and it made the game better. But it’s easy to see how that style of game is off-putting for some players; it’s a slow burn in every regard. 

While Death Stranding 2 does introduce some drastic new action elements, it’s still that plodding delivery simulator at its heart, and it’s honestly charming to see a sequel that refuses to make concessions to be more approachable. That’s not to say, however, that Death Stranding 2 isn’t better than the first game — it is, in pretty much every conceivable way.

By and large, the sequel feels like the full realization of what Kojima Productions wanted to do with its delivery system. There’s a layer of simulation to the entire game that’s remarkably compelling, giving players  vastly more dynamic options for how to travel the world and complete orders. You can unearth mines to harvest resources and build a massive monorail network that allows for seamless  travel across the continent — but that’s a huge time investment. Or you can simply hop on your trusty trike and travel Australia mile by mile. Fast travel has also been made drastically easier with the help of Transponders that teleport Sam, as well as his ship the DHV Magellan — which serves as a home base. 

Those simulation elements also rear their head in environmental hazards. A portal known as a Plate Gate has appeared on both continents, causing earthquakes and shockwaves that can easily knock Sam over, or his vehicle off a cliff if players aren’t careful. Meandering through the snowy mountains, you might also find yourself confronted by a sudden avalanche, fleeing for life from the thundering wall of snow. 

The world itself also feels more vibrant and alive. Different variations of BTs stalk the wilderness, requiring adaptability to overcome. Mercenaries, bandits, and a new breed of enemy called Ghost Mechs also dot the landscape, necessitating weaponry to deal with. There are more opportunities for combat, and in turn, the shooting and weapons feel like they’ve been given more thoughtful implementation and tightened controls. There are also some gratuitously fun additions to combat, like a grenade that lets you capture big BTs like Pokémon to be summoned  in battle, triggering a delightful 1970s Godzilla-like soundtrack. Death Stranding 2 likes to have fun with its weird and wonderful weapons. 

Simultaneously, the game affords far more ways to customize the player’s experiences. Completing deliveries will rank up the various facilities you’ve connected, granting more bandwidth to build objects in the world and unlock new weapons or items, as well as points for the new APAS Enhancements system. This is essentially a perk tree for fine-tuning aspects of the game, like making canteens easier to fill in rivers or improving a gun’s firing rate. It’s an intuitive system that allows for a lot of mix and match customization, and a more tangible sense of reward for grinding out every location’s levels. 

All that being said, the controls can still feel frustratingly obstinate at times, and get in the way of the overall experience. Swapping weapons isn’t as intuitive as it should be in a shooter, requiring players to open menus to sift through, then drop the guns when they’re empty. There’s a new dodge, but it can only be executed while aiming with a gun. Little frustrations like that are still present, and that’s largely because the game is still primarily focused on the walking simulator, delivery experience. 

However, the one aspect of Death Stranding 2 that does feel like a drastic leap forward are the bosses. These are some of the best boss battles in any modern video game — pitting you against fantastical creatures or gritty engagements that flip the rules of the game on its head. One has Sam fighting in an underwater world, with moon-like gravity, where you can make giant leaps. Another has you fighting through a crumbling Inception-like monorail system, where enemy soldiers leap between the floor and ceiling. There are so many big set-piece battles that are genuinely jaw-dropping, and the last four hours of the game contain some of the most fever dream-induced moments ever found in a video game, in the best way possible. 

But that’s what makes Death Stranding 2 so fascinating, how these big action movie moments are propped up against the majority of the game, which is largely about a meditative delivery gig. That juxtaposition feels even more important and intentional than in the first game, tying into the game’s theme of routine, and how humans can normalize even the most oppressive of circumstances by simply sticking to the norm. 

Heavy themes and a harrowing story

Death Stranding 2’s more refined gameplay experience stands in contrast to a story that’s extremely gutsy, topical, and sometimes nauseatingly self-referential. Kojima is often referencing his past work in Death Stranding 2, and it does tread a fine line between pleasant and pompous. 

It’s genuinely difficult to go into more specifics of the story as there are some major, shocking twists early on that inform the rest of Sam’s journey. This is, by far, the darkest story that Kojima has ever created — not shying away from themes of suicide, depression, grief, and more. Leading up to the release of Death Stranding 2, Kojima was quite open about how the Covid-19 pandemic influenced his interpretation of the first game’s themes, and that’s abundantly clear to see here. 

There’s a strong message of connection and the importance of traveling to meeting people in person. There’s also a much larger emphasis on violence in this sequel, on how average people perceive it and use it, and how governments harness violence to get what they want. This manifests through both the narrative, combat, and environmental storytelling.

Most of the cast from the first game plays a major role in Death Stranding 2, including the deliciously evil Higgs (Troy Baker), who morphs into a drastically better villain this time around. But there’s also a new cast of characters introduced into the mix, all of whom have a vital role to play and a story to uncover. Rainy (Shioli Kutsuna)  is a mysterious girl who causes Timefall Rain whenever she steps outside, which has made society shun her — despite the healing secret she hides. Dollman (the likeness of Fatih Akin; voiced by Jonathan Roumie) is a particular highlight as Sam’s new sidekick — a man with a tragic past whose soul now resides in a creepy little ventriloquist mannequin. 

Remarkably, not a single major character is forgotten by Death Stranding 2’s story; everyone feels like a vital piece in the tapestry of the narrative. And it’s through their stories that we see most of the game’s themes evoked — how their lives have been defined by America’s obsession with gaining power, and how death defines the way they live. Sam’s character arc, in particular, is remarkably moving in Death Stranding 2; it’s a harrowing story of family, love, and sacrifice that goes to some genuinely unexpected places. 

The fact that the story works at all despite its bizarre tonal shifts and erratic pacing is a testament to how strong the game’s themes and characterization truly are. Big action pieces are bookended by hours of monotony. Thoughtfully human moments are filtered through surrealist imagery and ventriloquist dolls. But it’s that befuddling mixture that gives the game so much of its personality. 

A rare, bold swing

Death Stranding 2, even more than the first game, feels like something people will be talking about for the next decade to come. We’ll be digging into its themes and messages for years, and there will undoubtedly be no shortage of debate on how brilliant, or terrible, it all is. But that’s exactly why this game feels so important right now — in an ocean of sameness and trends to chase, it’s undeniably its own thing. Death Stranding 2 isn’t a sequel that course corrects; it doubles down and takes even bolder leaps in the opposite direction. And in an industry that’s so obsessed with safe franchises, it feels refreshing to see something so large-scale that’s so ballsy. 

The caveat to that, of course, is that no one but Hideo Kojima would be given the time and money to make something like this — Death Stranding 2 is like a bizarre Frankenstein monster built as a monument to the game industry idolization of its “auteurs.” It’s a game molded by the unending ambition of its creators, with little guard rails put up in the process. At times abrasive, unnerving, and wholly uncompromising, Death Stranding 2 is as emotionally exhausting as it is obtuse. But that’s an undeniable piece of what makes the game so compelling, how it builds its themes to be utilized by the player’s interpretations. This story and experience might mean something completely different to every player. 

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As the industry struggles with layoffs, cancellations, and a lack of innovation — it feels so rare to see games like Death Stranding 2. Something that’s big, beautiful, ambitious, chaotic, and messy all at once. This isn’t a game for everyone, but for those willing to take the plunge, it’s a generation-defining gaming experience.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is out June 26 on PlayStation 5.