Whether or not you’re a fan of Kojima’s robust, apocalyptic package delivery chronicle you have to admit he has style. Early 2020 saw the release of Death Stranding, a game I bought a week into the COVID-19 lockdown and had a hard time getting into at first. It was a bit too relatable, but once I settled into its narrative I fell in love with the weird world, its surprisingly human characters, and a story that was violently crying out not so much against things, but about them. When they announced a sequel all I could think was “how?” How do you follow-up this expansive world, these ideas of connection and isolation and extinction?
You go on a walkabout. Can’t believe I didn’t think of that.
Sam and Lou are back, quickly moving the narrative from Mexico to Australia. You’re helped by an Ahab-esque tarship captain named Tarman (George Miller), your buddy Heartman (Nicolas Windig Refn), and none other than Fragile (Lea Seydoux) herself. The crew has been put together and contracted with the US government to bring Australia onto the Chiral Network (just think of it as the internet) to start rebuilding the world.
Sound a tad confusing? It can be, as this time around things are a bit less simple than “deliver packages, beat the good old fashioned boss fight, and save your Princess Beach.” In 2020 Kojima asked us to build connections by helping each other, giving as much as you take, and using the shackles that are social media to exchange “likes” (the game’s currency). Now, in 2025, he’s looking at us and wondering if we ever should have connected. Is our ability to talk across continents, to see glimpses of each other’s lives and exchange ideas, something that’s caused more harm than good?
Trading in the shackles for a ring, Sam heads out to give it a go. Australia is vast and you’ll cross all of it, but some familiar faces pop up and other voices are added to the cast to make the world feel all its own. It’s much more alive than the America you put back together for the UCA, full of new features and even sweet animals you can capture and take to a shelter to be save and cared for. Assignments have grown more complicated and planning your delivery route has grown ever-complicated in the time since we first stepped onto the beach. Kojima’s team has come up with a myriad of new ways to traverse and new gear to assist you. He’s brought along a few features from the previous game’s Director’s Cut, but with the amount of changes made to travel and game mechanics it’ll take a backseat to the joy in the “new.” Hell, just finding out my Odradek button was on the other side of the controller took me a minute to get used to.
Don’t look for the same type of narrative you saw in game one. Stakes feel much more personal and small despite the wild expansion of the world. Sure, you’re still fighting Beached Things (BTs) and marauders, but Sam’s whole world is attacked and he’s fighting to want to live at this point. With a devastating loss, a bad guy out for revenge, and a confusing dead man that drags you to his beach over and over again there’s plenty to tug at the heartstrings. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is a psychedelic experience that doesn’t require you to shut off your brain, but simply stop asking “how” and just go for it. Many will sit and wonder how to make logical sense of the chiral crystals in the atmosphere, the tar that has replaced most water, and guitars that shoot either lightning or fire when you shred on them, but this is about feeling and connection. Let go, you’ll grok it.
Saying much more would spoil the insane amount of surprises to come, but I want to talk about the music. Low Roar was such an important part of the first game, with the soothing vocals of Ryan Karazija carrying you through gorgeous mountains, forests, and landscapes as you approached new destinations. Karazija passed in October of 2022, a loss that won’t be forgotten. In his empathetic spirit, Kojima chose to honor the artist by requesting a couple of unreleased songs to add to this new adventure. He also partnered with singer Woodkid and returning composer Ludvig Forssell to create a different type of soundscape. It’s a contemplative score, one that can swing from quiet piano ballads to shredding hair metal to 80’s synth all in the span of ten minutes. Troy Baker arrives to lend his vocals to a few tracks and boy howdy, he may voice the villain but those buttery vocals are going to create a whole new subsection on Deviant Art.
There’s no way for me to say this is anything but a masterpiece. I loved the first one and felt confident that this would work, but the game I’ve spent 89 hours (and counting) in has already cemented itself in my life as one of the most exciting stories I’ve participated in this decade. I went from laughing to focusing to crying to cackling, sometimes through one scene. It’s a triumph that is well worth your time and money. I urge anyone who can to pick up these delightful games. Kojima has been blurring the lines between video games and film for some time, but this outing he’s really broken barriers. What comes next? I don’t know, but I’ll be waiting on the beach.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is a PS5 exclusive, available in the online store or on disc from the regular retailers.
WRITE DRUNK; EDIT DRUNK 