Note:
This review contains spoilers for Death Stranding.
Although Death Stranding (DS1) originally launched to mixed reception, Hideo Kojima
considered creating a sequel to further establish the “Strand” genre. As it
turned out, development had started when Kojima had written the story prior to
2020, but the way the COVID-19 pandemic had impacted the world made him decide
on a rewrite. Since then, he rewrote parts of the story again in response to
positive reception from test audiences, fearing that he had created something
too mainstream. The final game launched in June 2025 on the PS5, this time to
more positive reception, with the name Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (DS2).
When DS1
came out, I felt like I was in a minority that liked the game in spite of its
flaws, but I could still recognize the issues that had turned so many away
during its initial release. As such, I liked that more people eventually came
around on the game following its PC port, then more excited when I learned
about the development of DS2. It should be no surprise, then, that I had
been playing the game whenever I could since launch day, pouring as much time
as I did before (about 50 hours) until I reached the credits. Where I found the
original a flawed, but solid step forward for Kojima Productions, DS2
manages to go above and beyond as an example of a sequel outshining the original
in almost every conceivable way.
