4.5/5 ★ – ren_'s review of Death Stranding 2: On The Beach.

9/10 - 140 hours - platinum done - WARNING story spoilers below!!! What a journey this was! Death Stranding 2 improves almost everything from the first game, which I enjoyed, but it sacrifices a few things that really mattered and stood out in the original, especially in tone. Let me start by saying that this game is genuinely fun. I had the time of my life. I already loved the gameplay loop of the first game, and this one improves it and makes it much more free and enjoyable. You have a lot of choice in how you travel. The gameplay feels better overall and is similar to MGSV, which is my favorite Metal Gear. It still has flaws, but it is a big improvement. All 140 hours felt fun to me. One annoying thing, at least for me, was that you have to wait around 7 hours of in-game time to refresh orders, which made getting the platinum trophy frustrating at times. Even with that, it was still fun to platinum. At the same time, some of the improvements come with trade-offs. The darker, more isolating tone of the first game is mostly gone. The first game made you feel alone and vulnerable, and that atmosphere was a big part of its identity. In the sequel, the wider range of vehicles and tools makes travel easier and faster, which is great for fun and flow, but it also removes a lot of the tension and struggle that defined the original, so it might not feel the same. The game is not very hard, which can be good because the first game was sometimes tedious, but it also means that the sense of challenge and harshness is softer here, and on normal difficulty i didn't struggle once. The score and soundtrack were absolutely legendary. I still listen to the tracks in my daily life. Woodkid and Ludvig did an incredible job. Some cutscenes were completely carried by the beautiful score, which shows how strong it really is. As for visuals, I honestly think this is the best-looking game on the PS5 so far. It feels truly next-gen in every way. The world, the landscapes, the character models, and the details are all mesmerizing. The Decima engine is fantastic and really highlights how lackluster UE5 can be, because I had 0 bugs my entire playthrough. The story had many beautiful moments, and the cutscenes had strong direction and visuals, but I have always felt that Kojima’s games sometimes struggle with dialogue. This one does too. Some scenes have great lines, but a lot of the dialogue is either average or simply not good. Sometimes it does not fit the moment or does not portray the emotions well. I thought the ending was weaker than DS1’s ending. There are some great moments at the end, but one scene really soured it for me and honestly irritated me. Fragile’s death was sad, but it either should not have happened or should have been handled better. Throwing in a sudden twist with the excuse of “I forgot I died” was stupid. I love Kojima, but that was rough. Everything else in the ending worked for me. This time around, the story is more consistently strong throughout the game, but overall it ends worse than the first one. (That scene with Unger at the end, the final shot of Lou and Sam, DS1's ending was one of the greatest ever to me) The story is the only real issue I have with the game, but I still think it is good. The performances, visuals, and scene direction carry a lot of it. I just wish there was more plot depth and stronger character work. Some cutscenes felt wasted on almost nothing. A great game! Kojima i kneel.