Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

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.

Death Stranding Director's Cut

Back in 2019, the newly formed independent version of Kojima Productions released Death Stranding, the first game directed by Hideo Kojima after his 2015 split from Konami. Since the game was also the first where Kojima was fully unleashed, for better or worse, reception from critics and players proved divisive (ironic considering the core theme of connections). While I completely understood its flaws in my review of the game, I still liked it enough that I got excited at the announcement of Death Stranding Director’s Cut, a PS5 release that added new content and general gameplay improvements. On top of that, it had an affordable digital upgrade for existing PS4 disc owners where they could get all of the new content and the Digital Deluxe Edition content for only $10, along with the patched-in ability to pre-emptively transfer your entire save file. Needless to say, I played this version of the game Day 1 and while it felt better suited for those just starting their journey to rebuild America, it still added enough to keep existing fans who transferred their save engaged.

Death Stranding - Tomorrow Is In Your Hands

Following a very public falling out with Konami in 2015, game developer Hideo Kojima reformed Kojima Productions as an independent studio with a strong relationship with Sony Computer Entertainment. In 2016, Kojima announced his first independent game, Death Stranding, which he pitched as a new genre called a “Strand Game”. Development of the game concluded three years later in 2019 and it released November of that same year. I immediately pre-ordered Death Stranding both as a fan of Kojima’s work and as someone who wanted to make sense of all the sparse information about the game. Over 50 hours later, since launch day, I found the unique gameplay experience to be worth the wait, but there are some flaws about the game that are simply hard to ignore.