JimmyRustler
Member
I completed Death Stranding 2 last evening. While the huge plot exposition at the end made my head swirl and didn't impress me that much, I'd still say it's my game of the year 2025.
Here the review Chat GPT wrote with 15 minutes of audio impression from me. I love this.
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Death Stranding 2 took me by surprise. I went in with modest expectations—pleasantly remembering Kojima's ambition from the first game, but also its frustrating pacing and that infamous long walk back at the end. This sequel released in summer 2025, but I only now got around to it. And honestly, I didn't expect that it would become one of the most enjoyable games I've played in years.
Narratively, Death Stranding 2 is classic Kojima: dense lore, endless exposition, and an avalanche of strange concepts that only get stranger the closer you get to the finale. Sam travels from Mexico to Australia to reconnect the chiral network, but the plot rarely asserts itself beyond lore dumps and quirky world-building.
Everything eventually spirals into a complicated swirl of APAS, souls, presidents who aren't dead, Higgs returning, Tomorrow being Lou, and Fragile dying but… not really. By the time the massive finale hits—beautiful as it is—I felt the same way I did after the first game: impressed by the spectacle, baffled by the writing. It all feels oddly improvised, like Kojima is stitching fantasy logic together on the fly.
The result is a story that's overly convoluted and emotionally inconsistent, easily the game's weakest aspect.
Where the story falters, the gameplay absolutely shines—far beyond the first game. Delivery routes are now curated and clearly planned, creating a surprisingly addictive rhythm. Each delivery feels distinct thanks to smart terrain variety and clever environmental challenges. Upgrades arrive at a satisfying pace, and the loop of connecting areas is consistently motivating.
This is where the game becomes genuinely special:
I constantly wanted to keep playing. Even simple deliveries were compelling, and I found myself annoyed when I had to stop for the night.
Boss fights deserve special praise. Nearly every one of them—mysterious soldiers in vision-worlds, tentacled monsters, random lion-creatures, and the giant spider—was visually stunning, tightly staged, and incredibly memorable. They're rarely difficult, but the presentation is so strong it hardly matters. Kojima's team is firing on all cylinders here.
Graphically, the game is breathtaking. Vistas in Mexico, the varied Australian landscapes, snowy mountains, the twisted dream-battlefields—everything looks immaculate. The art direction elevates even mundane moments, and the major set pieces are flat-out spectacular.
Conclusion:
Death Stranding 2 is a strange experience: the story collapses under its own weight, yet the gameplay is so good—and the boss fights so consistently thrilling—that it became one of the most enjoyable games I've played in years. It even managed to edge out Clear Obscure as my personal Game of the Year for 2025.
It's easily Kojima's most fun game since the original Metal Gear Solid. I only wish the narrative had been more coherent instead of a chaos-spiral of improvised mythology.
9/10
Here the review Chat GPT wrote with 15 minutes of audio impression from me. I love this.
---
Death Stranding 2 took me by surprise. I went in with modest expectations—pleasantly remembering Kojima's ambition from the first game, but also its frustrating pacing and that infamous long walk back at the end. This sequel released in summer 2025, but I only now got around to it. And honestly, I didn't expect that it would become one of the most enjoyable games I've played in years.
Narratively, Death Stranding 2 is classic Kojima: dense lore, endless exposition, and an avalanche of strange concepts that only get stranger the closer you get to the finale. Sam travels from Mexico to Australia to reconnect the chiral network, but the plot rarely asserts itself beyond lore dumps and quirky world-building.
Everything eventually spirals into a complicated swirl of APAS, souls, presidents who aren't dead, Higgs returning, Tomorrow being Lou, and Fragile dying but… not really. By the time the massive finale hits—beautiful as it is—I felt the same way I did after the first game: impressed by the spectacle, baffled by the writing. It all feels oddly improvised, like Kojima is stitching fantasy logic together on the fly.
The result is a story that's overly convoluted and emotionally inconsistent, easily the game's weakest aspect.
Where the story falters, the gameplay absolutely shines—far beyond the first game. Delivery routes are now curated and clearly planned, creating a surprisingly addictive rhythm. Each delivery feels distinct thanks to smart terrain variety and clever environmental challenges. Upgrades arrive at a satisfying pace, and the loop of connecting areas is consistently motivating.
This is where the game becomes genuinely special:
I constantly wanted to keep playing. Even simple deliveries were compelling, and I found myself annoyed when I had to stop for the night.
Boss fights deserve special praise. Nearly every one of them—mysterious soldiers in vision-worlds, tentacled monsters, random lion-creatures, and the giant spider—was visually stunning, tightly staged, and incredibly memorable. They're rarely difficult, but the presentation is so strong it hardly matters. Kojima's team is firing on all cylinders here.
Graphically, the game is breathtaking. Vistas in Mexico, the varied Australian landscapes, snowy mountains, the twisted dream-battlefields—everything looks immaculate. The art direction elevates even mundane moments, and the major set pieces are flat-out spectacular.
Conclusion:
Death Stranding 2 is a strange experience: the story collapses under its own weight, yet the gameplay is so good—and the boss fights so consistently thrilling—that it became one of the most enjoyable games I've played in years. It even managed to edge out Clear Obscure as my personal Game of the Year for 2025.
It's easily Kojima's most fun game since the original Metal Gear Solid. I only wish the narrative had been more coherent instead of a chaos-spiral of improvised mythology.
9/10
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