Death Stranding 2: On the Beach |OT| Ain't That A Beach

Clear said:
You have a long way to go, don't worry.

Take your time and don't exhaust yourself. There's a lot of stuff in the back half of the game, and if you want to do everything I can easily see it going way beyond 100hrs.
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Sweet thanks, I thought as much but reading earlier that from 9 it goes fast got me worried ha, I don't want it to end
 
Just finished it tonight.

The ending was heartwarming, the visuals were stark and gorgeous, the music was fantastic, and I didn't see any of the twists coming, but I was disappointed overall.

Too much bloat, the number of chapters should've been cut in half. The tonal shifts were also too much, like the musical number which felt like it existed solely to pander to the TikTok crowd, and derivative of the handful of other games that also had musical bits (Yakuza, Alan Wake) the past few years.

The story also felt derivative of the first game. All the plot beats were the same, but it felt more drawn out, and less original. Basically a $70 DLC.

Overall I'd give it a 7/10.
 
TerribleAtThisGame said:
The formula is still OCD Satisfaction Simulator for me. Half the time I can't tell if I'm loving it or if, once again, I've gone full MULE.
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The dopamine hit of likes, Kojima knows how our stupid Ludens brains work

Death Stranding Heart GIF
 
Bruv, I've just about had it with this games loop.

"Sorry sam, the ship can't work right now, so ride 6 miles to the north end of the world to pick up the next order"
"Sam, the ship is still not working, so drive this order all the way back to where you came from".

Getting a game to be 30, 40 hours like this is the shitty way of padidng extra length.
 
That's Neil's story arc wrapped up 💯💯💯

I'm now around 470,000 likes, all that hard work is helping the world connect, good times. Inching closer to the end while spending hours doing deliveries in between, the gameplay loop is hypnotic and endlessly satisfying, even more so than DS1, currently around 80 hours clocked. Fuck, I don't want this journey to end lol.
 
Beat it last night incredible game. I liked the first game but it almost feels like a beta now. Thought about going for the plat but it seems like it's to much work. I setup a ton of roads and monorails and I can essentially drive everywhere now very easily. I was a bit over 40 hours got over 50% trophies but I think I'm done now.
 
Kenneth Haight said:
The dopamine hit of likes, Kojima knows how our stupid Ludens brains work

Death Stranding Heart GIF
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Yesterday, my girlfriend was watching this cutscene with Heartman and she asked me why is there a heart coming from his hand lol

I didn't know what to say man, Kojima and his craziness, only he knows what the fuck he means with all this shit
 
Gonzito said:
Yesterday, my girlfriend was watching this cutscene with Heartman and she asked me why is there a heart coming from his hand lol

I didn't know what to say man, Kojima and his craziness, only he knows what the fuck he means with all this shit
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This is something that bothers me a bit, if it was any other dev, or someone new that did these things it would be considered kitsch and cringy as hell, but being Kojima, he gets a pass.

I watched the story on YT, and for me it's exactly like the 1st one, underneath all the BS there is an amazing, imaginative, heartwarming story.
A story can be amazing and have all sorts of weirdness without constantly breaking the 4th wall or crossing the line, at least for me.
 
Alex11 said:
This is something that bothers me a bit, if it was any other dev, or someone new that did these things it would be considered kitsch and cringy as hell, but being Kojima, he gets a pass.
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It's still kitsch and cringy. He gets a pass from people who like (t)his stuff and he doesn't get a pass from people who don't. There are so many people who criticize him for almost everything he does. He polarises, this stuff is just one reason.
I like it even though I think it's kitsch. I like the game even though I think it's boring sometimes. I wrote about boredom in videogames in another post. There are things that society deemed bad for a reason which inherently aren't.
Take David Lynch, very polarising... There are people who hate his stuff and find it boring... I like it all even though sometimes it's just flat out boring or bullshit. Eraserhead was one of the weirdest things I ever watched. Kojima can't touch it even though he is the master of weirdness, it's just another style. His fourth wall breaking is entertaining to me.
 
Gonzito said:
Yesterday, my girlfriend was watching this cutscene with Heartman and she asked me why is there a heart coming from his hand lol

I didn't know what to say man, Kojima and his craziness, only he knows what the fuck he means with all this shit
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Do you use any video conferencing tools for work? Just seems like a take off on what they do. There is nothing deep about it.
 
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Luipadre said:
Lets just say after you reach epidode 9, you dont want to stop, so buckle up for a 5-6 hour of uninterrupted incredible journey
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I am in chapter 8 so I guess I will finish it soon. I am on holidays for 3 weeks and I dont want to finish the game because I dont know what will I play next lol. First world problems

Is the ending open for a sequel?
 
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Kojima is really lucky to have such an amazing team behind him. These guys and girls are mad fucking talented. Game took about 63 hours to finish, i had 0 bugs, game looked amazing, it was super polished and i dont think the game ever dropped from 60 fps. The cutscene quality was out of this world too. Like better than the shit movies these days.
 
One of the things I'm missing in 50 hours of game is the typical long Kojima cutscenes. These 3 to 5 minute ones in the Magellan don't really do it for me.
I'm one of those who loves the half hour or hour long cutscenes of the past games.
Even in DS1 they were much more involved right from the beginning. Here there is not much happening up to chapter 7 it feels like.
Wouldn't have guessed that he kept the 'only talking to Chiralgrams' of the first one in either.
 
How do I trigger the mini boss fights against the BT's? Only had it once but don't know what happened or it was scripted. When the sucker in the tar gets me 3 times I'll end up under water and repatriate with a huge crater.

Edit;

Never mind
 
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adamsapple said:
Bruv, I've just about had it with this games loop.

"Sorry sam, the ship can't work right now, so ride 6 miles to the north end of the world to pick up the next order"
"Sam, the ship is still not working, so drive this order all the way back to where you came from".

Getting a game to be 30, 40 hours like this is the shitty way of padidng extra length.
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I used the ship once. It was pretty useless tbh, as you get a lower score. Nah, build roads and zip-lines if you don't like the hike imo.
 
Someone has to tell Kojima that it's "show, don't tell" not "show and tell". Also he needs to focus. The story feels all over the place. Mish-mash of crazy ideas. The open world thing messes with the pacing too much. The ending sequence (the last ~3 hours) was the least bad, just uninterrupted crazy.
Gameplay is a huge improvement over DS1. Vehicles are still bad, but more usable imo, which I like. Pretty much the whole map is accessible with the truck. Except the bloody mountains...

Edit: okay, the last 3 hours was interrupted by open world nonsense, but it connected back to back fun. I didn't mind it that much.
 
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Finished.

35~ Hours.


DEATH-STRANDING-2-ON-THE-BEACH-20250707212624.png





rubik's dude said:
Just finished it tonight.

The ending was heartwarming, the visuals were stark and gorgeous, the music was fantastic, and I didn't see any of the twists coming, but I was disappointed overall.

Too much bloat, the number of chapters should've been cut in half. The tonal shifts were also too much, like the musical number which felt like it existed solely to pander to the TikTok crowd, and derivative of the handful of other games that also had musical bits (Yakuza, Alan Wake) the past few years.

The story also felt derivative of the first game. All the plot beats were the same, but it felt more drawn out, and less original. Basically a $70 DLC.

Overall I'd give it a 7/10.
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I'll echo most of this, pretty close to my opinions aside from a few things.

The Tomorrow being a grown up Lou twist was something I recall posting way back when before the game was even formally announced and Kojima was doing the ARG's with the ladies faces. Also, you don't kill one important character and then introduce another one shortly after without folks not expecting a direct connection between the two.

I really think the whole Neil subplot could have been completely axed from the game for better pacing, it adds absolutely nothing other than mimicking something similar to the Cliff segments of the first game.

And holy shit Kojima, we get it, you did MGS. Way too many 'call backs' and shit. He even thew a "Kept you waiting, huh" in there.

The game play loop in the final quarter of the game really bummed me out with the one-after-another deliveries to the far ends of the map and then back again. It's padding for the sake of padding.

This game being 89 at opencritic is baffling, this is a high 70's or low 80's at most owing to its very high production values over anything else. The main appeal to keep playing this through, for me, was to see the narrative conclusion, the game play loop did not keep me engaged at all. It's virtually the exact same thing as the first game ended up being for me.
 
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adamsapple said:
I really think the whole Neil subplot could have been completely axed from the game for better pacing, it adds absolutely nothing other than mimicking something similar to the Cliff segments of the first game.

And holy shit Kojima, we get it, you did MGS. Way too many 'call backs' and shit. He even thew a "Kept you waiting, huh" in there.

The game play loop in the final quarter of the game really bummed me out with the one-after-another deliveries to the far ends of the map and then back again. It's padding for the sake of padding.

This game being 89 at opencritic is baffling, this is a high 70's or low 80's at most owing to its very high production values over anything else. The main appeal to keep playing this through, for me, was to see the narrative conclusion, the game play loop did not keep me engaged at all. It's virtually the exact same thing as the first game ended up being for me.
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Agree with a lot of this as well, especially the part about finishing the game just to see the conclusion rather than because I enjoyed the gameplay loop. I mentally checked out after the third or fourth time they asked me to walk across the entirety of the map, I just wanted the game to be done.
 
I'm digging it more than the first one so far. The only thing that I miss from that one is the sense of eerie-ness from not knowing any of the story. DS2 doesn't hit as hard in that department mostly cuz they just dump you back in the world and say "do all the shit you did last time, again!" I feel like I don't care about anything that's going on.

I have this weird desire for this game to be way more linear than it is. Almost like I wish it were broken up into levels rather than chapters. I don't want to walk all over a fucking map for 40 hours, especially when there isn't anything interesting in between destinations. I appreciate the jungles and shit but it still feels kind of empty in an unsatisfying way.
 
Memati187 said:
Do you guys rush through your game? I'm still at chapter 9 with over 120h and 330 porter lvl. I can't ve the only one who enjoys to build roads and rails and do other stuff.
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Glad you're finding it compelling but around act 8 it started to piss me off and couldn't wait for it to end. Its fun for 40-50 hours, the music, vibe, chilling, pretty visuals but for me thats the limit.
Act 9 - fighting again
the giant octopus mech
Come on, the same boss from earlier? Thats lazy.

So yeah, for me the gameplay was fun for 50 h which I think is enough , I got my money's worth, can't wait to see the ending and then sell the game because I know I am not touching this again.
 
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I completed both the first game and this one not doing many side activities and just focusing on the story. Done it this way just so I don't get burnt out with how repetitive these games can be.

In all honesty, I much preferred the first game. This one just lost all the sense of freedom, challenge and intrigue the first game gave me.

Not that it's a bad game, but I wouldn't personally give it anything over a 7.
 
Taking my time with this, don't know how players rush to game ends, it's such a beautiful, cohesive, intriguing and relaxing game to play, just discover music player and man, nothing beats WALKING around taking materials to build the first roads and getting 4 stars at prepers at least (to get best rewards), listening some songs, it's a lifetime gaming experience ,,,

Chapter 3 23 Hours
 
Memati187 said:
Do you guys rush through your game? I'm still at chapter 9 with over 120h and 330 porter lvl. I can't ve the only one who enjoys to build roads and rails and do other stuff.
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Finished the story at just over 100 hours.

Seeing people beat it in 35 is just insane to me - at that point, they really are just playing a walking simulator because all they've done is gone from point A to point B until the credits rolled. Gotta mix up the gameplay with building infrastructure, unlocking and playing with new tools + gadgets, completing premium deliveries with the highest rank, etc.
 
Crimsonhead said:
Taking my time with this, don't know how players rush to game ends, it's such a beautiful, cohesive, intriguing and relaxing game to play, just discover music player and man, nothing beats WALKING around taking materials to build the first roads and getting 4 stars at prepers at least (to get best rewards), listening some songs, it's a lifetime gaming experience ,,,

Chapter 3 23 Hours
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Yes if you're a fan of the first game, it would be sinful to rush through this game, a lot of the joy comes from the world building elements, bridges, roads and shelters. I'm in no rush to finish the game.
 
EviLore said:
There's an optional upgrade that makes the truck usable there too.
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Yeah, but you don't even need that. The bike is versatile enough to climb up almost 90* angles, lol. That's what I used for the most part. I don't think I laid down a single zip-line etc.

When I played the original game when it first came out, I did all that 'contribute to the cause' stuff and created a whole network of zip-lines, when I replayed the Director's Cut again a few months back, it dawned on me that I don't need to do any of that, the Bike works wonders. The same applies to the sequel.
 
I think the first one is a purer, more distilled version of the original game design intention of Death Stranding.

That said, this one is a much refined version of the same game that gives you a ton of new sandbox elements to play around with. It's like MGSV and Death Stranding had a baby.

It actually reminds me a lot of the comparisons of Breath of The Wild / Tears of the Kingdom -- Breath is a purer expression of the original idea, and Tears invites you to go apeshit in a similar world. Both are valid and incredibly good.
 
Edge Mag's review just came out.

7/10

Death Stranding 2: On The Beach (Post Script - Sublime or ridiculous? Why not both?)
"The game is hurt by the fact it's a sequel and we've seen so much of this before. It's no longer as fascinating to watch Reedus enjoy a drink or take a shower, nor to see many of the same gadgets return in almost the same order as before. We're grateful when a new pickup truck variant inevitably unlocks, as it enables us to cut a few corners. It's not designed for the toughest terrain, but a little brute-forcing over rocks and past BTs often still saves time. In missions that ask us to keep our cargo cool or flat, we throw the stuff in the boot, accepting that it may not arrive in perfect condition, ignoring a slower, steadier approach.

Indeed, while there's plenty you can engage with, there are too many makeweight missions where it hardly seems worthwhile. Death Stranding 2 is often easygoing, yet it's when you have to plan carefully or improvise ingeniously to escape a pickle that it shines…
It's visually stunning throughout, in fact - whether the camera is lingering on Sam's face or a similarly rugged landscape. But it also doesn't know when to quit prime antagonist Higgs puts on a show for the finale, not least due to Troy Baker's fizzing performance, but its duration will likely test anyone's patience.

It couldn't be more different from that first walk with Lou, and despite all the money and talent on the screen, it's hard to escape the notion that Kojima Productions should have done more to nurture the unique, quiet details - making even more of the undulations of scenery, the degradation of cargo in the rain. Still, there is plenty to celebrate here, not least that an action-adventure game with a primary focus on logistics can work at all, even if it requires support from the ensemble. This is a grand, unwieldy behemoth of a sequel, buckling under the weight of its features and bombast. In lacking a sense of direction, though, it sometimes delivers in unexpected ways." [7]
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adamsapple said:
Yeah, but you don't even need that. The bike is versatile enough to climb up almost 90* angles, lol. That's what I used for the most part. I don't think I laid down a single zip-line etc.

When I played the original game when it first came out, I did all that 'contribute to the cause' stuff and created a whole network of zip-lines, when I replayed the Director's Cut again a few months back, it dawned on me that I don't need to do any of that, the Bike works wonders. The same applies to the sequel.
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Eh it can be tiresome traversing the rocky terrain with the reverse trike, and once you get stuck in a cavity or whatever, you have to do all sorts of experimentation with the controller to get out. It can be a nightmare.
 
Clocking 45 hours now and I am (I think) at the end of chapter 6. Although I have spend a lot of time doing other things and having the game on play. I think I have spend around 40 hours on the game.

Still love it. Got a lot of roads done now and some settlers on lvl 5. I just go in to a chill mode when I play this game. Don't care much about the story tho but that's okay, I just enjoy it for what it is.
 
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