Review | Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

A short review

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is a 2025 action-adventure game written, produced, designed, and directed by Hideo Kojima, developed by Kojima Productions and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It has been in development for around 5 years or so, but mostly it feels like the extended arm of the first game. That is not a bad thing, but depending on what you're expecting and looking for, it can be a double-edged sword. The game was released for the PlayStation 5 on June 26, 2025.

I honestly don't know what to say to sell you this one, but I will do my best to explain what it is. From the technical standpoint, it delivers flawlessly, with nice rumble/haptic vibration effects, stable performance and graphical mode, but no PS5 Pro support (yet). There is not a single broken thing in this game that I've encountered, so if you're just looking for "more of the same" in the Death Stranding universe, what better candidate than this one? It's one of the best-looking and tehnically most impressive game up do date, it really is. But is that enough?

At first I've thought the scenes are from some movie. No, actually it's all from the game, and the game is probably the best-looking game ever made to date

Story and the characters

You remember Sam, right? The hollow protagonist that delivers, but stays quiet and simply does what they tell him to do? Nothing has changed; it's even worse—Sam listens to orders and immediately accepts what others want from him, and that is my first problem with the narrative. The first few story scenes are quite "heavy," but shown very poorly in terms of events and the impact they need to present. I was really confused about what happened, and the next thing I know I'm delivering in Mexico.

That almost never changes. Sam is on a mission to connect parts of Mexico and Australia, making this game a fresh experience in terms of its location. The story is better, but only when it comes to what Kojima wanted to tell us, and far worse in terms of pacing, cringe, and absurd situations that are combined with random twists. It's like he wants to show how absurd and unrelated the scenes can be, without real engagement that leads to emotions and player focus. I loved some parts a lot, but at the same time, the pacing of the game between the story bits was awful. I think Kojima is magnificent when it comes to creating breath-taking scenes, but his writting is poor. That combination feels off, so Kojima, please hire someone for the script and your storytelling will be everything it needs to be, considering how majestic some sceneries are.

So, do you want a game where you deliver packages 90% of the time and 10% you are wondering what the hell is happening, with some combat bits in between? Yes and no—there is no real answer here.

In terms of characters, I think they are all better this time, but because of the poor pacing and weird storytelling, they feel more like plot twists and less like real personas. I'm somewhere in the middle, although some end scenes were epic. The rest—I can't really say a lot of positives. I did not feel the base as a base, more like a filler in between.

It's a beautiful, vast world filled with earthquakes, sandstorms, BTs and such wonderful scenery around every corner. Too bad the world is empty

Game design, exploration

This is probably my biggest problem with the game. The gameplay loop is... exactly the same as it was. If you wanted a change, that will never happen. I think the first game showed us something new, different, a weird story, and so many questions were left open... Here, you already know everything, you just follow the events to see how it will evolve, and in between, you deliver. I loved the last few chapters (minus the cringe and absurd moments).

The deliveries between facilities are either good or bad—depending on what you want. It's mostly a road between point A and B, but I can't lie and just say that. It's about your inner calmness, enjoying the moment, the sunsets, the rain, and "feeling" the terrain while planning the route. It's a journey that is far more than delivering, but to be plain, it is exactly that. There are multiple enhancements (none of which really interested me) to help you out, so if you want more from that, you will get it in every part of the gameplay loop.

My problem was that you always do the "same" missions in between main missions, and main missions can also be the same as other missions. That creates weird, slow, and at times boring pacing, which after 40 hours tends to kill your motivation to enjoy if you need and want something else from this title. Plus, all facilities and the NPCs that run them are plain, bland, boring, and not worth exploring in terms of lore and what they have to say. The pizza guy is cool, but that's it. Kojima, I know this game is about connections, but it's about your connection, not ours.

The few missions where you need to traverse the whole map, again and again... What the hell?

The biggest flaw that this sequal has is the lack of necessity to evolve the facilities. Everything is too easy, you don't need stronger weapons, you can just use the big vehicle most of the game... Where is that survival instinct that kicks hard in the first game? The terrain is... Mostly easy to traverse... It's like nothing matters in this game, you can just progress the story and you will still have easy time doing so.

Emphasis on the combat is a good step up. Falling back to delivers for couple of hours in between the story is not. But, it might work for you

Combat

Combat is still mostly the same. It's upgraded in terms of how often you need to defeat enemies and bosses. I loved this part, although it feels a bit weird at times, and the game is simply too easy to give you a challenge. The last few chapters are a blast; I love what you have at that point (but I don't want to spoil it for you).

Even though there is more combat and stealth, it's still a small portion compared to delivering and all the side missions. The emphasis is still the same, and that can feel a bit boring at times, if not most of the time.

The good thing is, you get a lot of weapons. A lot of accessories. A lot of everything! You are your own crafter of combat, and that is great. The rewards from leveling up facilities are awesome, but due to the game being easy, they are not even slightly important. That goes for everything. I can't see myself leveling every facility to its max level; that would make me hate the game.

I hate stealth so I can't really enjoy that part, but for the most part, it's good, responsive, and takes a bit more caution than just rushing through enemy camps.

The boss fights are something else, let me tell you that.

Side Content

Side content is... boring? I don't really want to say that word, but most of the challenges I've completed were boring. Some later facility challenges (the last optional facility) had brilliant challenges; I wish more of them were like that. Some are unique, and these are good, but the rest are filler.

The most disappointing thing was the open world. Both regions are shallow and empty. Not in terms of packages and terrain details (these are top-notch in the industry), but in terms of collecting stuff and finding stuff. It's an empty world, filled with nothing other than railroads (new thing), roads, and gadgets all over the place. If you're playing online, players will contribute and build; if not, you need to do it. There are more than enough materials in facilities if you level them up, but I really wonder, why do that?

Maybe you like finding spots for hot springs and collecting animals and then driving them to shelters? It was fun at first, but I just quit later on.

The most absurd scenes are the ones where Sam sings and later in the story when a doll dances. Yep, Death Stranding

Conclusion

Honestly, I don't know what to say. Death Stranding 2 is better in every way than the first game, but if you want a change, there isn't one. It's more of exactly the same, with probably a simpler story but overly cringe, absurd, and constantly twisting your understanding, and with some of the worst pacing out there.

For others that need another Death Stranding, for sure this one will be almost perfect, if not perfect for you. I'm just sad that this time, I was in the first group.