Death Stranding 2: On the Beach – Review

It’s hard to put into words what I felt after completing my journey in Death Stranding 2: On The Beach . It was countless hours of walking, sweat, tension, contemplation and tears. If the first game had already left a deep mark on my memory, the sequel managed something even rarer: expanding the world without betraying its roots, refining the experience without diluting it and moving without having to repeat the impact of the new one. With this, Hideo Kojima delivers one of the most daring, sensitive and authorial works of this generation, and one of the most demanding as well.

Get ready, because here begins the analysis of a game that is not just played… it is lived.

Mechanics and Gameplay

From the very first minutes, I realized that Death Stranding 2 was willing to make me relearn how to walk. Literally. The basis of the gameplay remains the same: you take on the role of Sam Bridges, a delivery man in a devastated world, and you need to transport cargo between distant points to connect what’s left of humanity. But you’d be wrong if you thought this was just a repeat of the first game. Deliveries continue to be the heart of the gameplay, yes, but the system has been completely expanded with new vehicles, gadgets and structures that make all the difference.

The new exoskeletons have specialized abilities, such as greater water resistance or the ability to jump over obstacles, and have been indispensable at various times. Portable cranes, drones, cargo stabilization kits, and retractable vehicles have significantly expanded the tactical depth of the game. It is now possible to plan routes much more strategically, taking into account weather, altitude, equipment wear, and even the presence of enemies.

The chiral network, in turn, gains a new narrative and mechanical function with the introduction of the DHV Magellan ship, which serves as a mobile headquarters. It was here that I found one of the biggest design leaps in the series: the possibility of using fast travel between locations already connected to the network, something that greatly alleviated backtracking without compromising the sense of journey.

Another highlight is the improvement of side missions, which are not just optional rewards, many of them offer short stories, fragmented into files or optional scenes that expand the lore and deepen the experience.

If I had to point out one problem, it’s that even with all these improvements, there are still moments of repetition. The fundamental structure of carrying, walking, and delivering persists, and it can be tiring. But honestly? It was a good, meditative, almost therapeutic kind of tiredness.

Graphics

Visually, Death Stranding 2 is, without exaggeration, one of the most impressive graphical experiences of the generation. The game is built on the Decima Engine, which has shone before, but now shows what it is truly capable of on the PlayStation 5 (finally, in 2025, the PS5 received a game that truly justifies the console’s existence… …let’s wake up to life, SONY, hello!).

Australia and Mexico, the new main locations, not only diversify the game’s biome but also offer a spectacle of natural landscapes, weather effects, and lighting. There’s an incredible amount of attention to detail — the wind gently moving the vegetation, the dust accumulating on abandoned structures, the realistic texture of the water, the reflection of light in chiral rain… Everything screams artistic excellence.

The facial expressions are a show in themselves. Norman Reedus, Léa Seydoux and the rest of the cast deliver such realistic performances that, at times, it feels like we’re watching a high-production film. The rendering of the eyes, the small facial expressions, the silent tears streaming down… there’s a humanity there that goes far beyond traditional motion capture.

And even without real-time ray tracing, the setting is so well-directed that its absence goes unnoticed. The art design embraces the surreal and grotesque in a unique way. The chiralized creatures, humanoid robots, and BTs showcase a level of visual imagination rarely seen in the industry.

Sound

If the eyes are a feast, the ears are no exception. Death Stranding 2 ’s soundtrack is sublime, emotional, and perfectly balanced. Carefully curated, the music selection combines contemplative moments with epic tracks that ratchet up the tension during combat and boss fights.

Woodkid leads the musical direction with mastery, delivering tracks that stuck with me long after I turned off the console. Whether in introspective moments or cinematic passages, the music always arrives at the right time, with the exact emotional weight. The song that plays during the final crossing was, for me, one of the high points of the experience.

The sound effects are also a special case. The feeling of weight of the load, the muffled sound of footsteps in the snow, the roar of the BTs, the metallic noise of the exoskeletons, the echoes of the Australian desert, Sam’s heavy breathing… everything contributes to an almost tactile immersion.

The English dubbing is impeccable, and the game also has very well-localized Portuguese subtitles. The actors’ delivery is so cinematic that I had no doubts: this is the most refined voice and sound work I’ve experienced in a game to date.

Fun

“Fun” in Death Stranding 2 isn’t the same kind of fun as in a fast-paced action game. Here, it comes from emotional involvement, from immersion, from overcoming obstacles. It’s the reward for building a bridge across an impassable valley, it’s the relief of arriving at your destination in one piece with your cargo intact after forty minutes of traversing a sandstorm, it’s the bond that forms between you and other players in a silent, collaborative way.

The social system continues to be brilliant: being able to use buildings left by other players or seeing yours help someone else is extremely rewarding. More than a “like”, it’s a reminder that there’s someone on the other side, and that’s exactly what the game is about.

Combat has been vastly improved. Weapons have more impact, BTs have more intelligent attack patterns, and bosses, while not always mechanically challenging, are visually striking and emotionally charged.

But the most fun I had was emotional. I can’t remember the last time a game made me stop and think about grief, purpose, legacy, and connection the way this one did.

Performance and Optimization

I played Death Stranding 2 on a standard PlayStation 5 (a gorgeous black and red limited edition Spider-Man 2 model) and, at times, on the PS5 Pro optimized version. The result was practically flawless. In quality mode (with higher resolution and greater graphic density), the game maintained its 30 frames per second with jaw-dropping visuals.

In performance mode, the title ran at a silky-smooth sixty frames per second, even during scenes with lots of particle effects, storms or intense combat.

Throughout my campaign, I didn’t encounter any serious bugs. No crashes, freezes, or major rendering issues. In some parts, I saw vehicles getting stuck on rocks or steep slopes, but the game itself offers solutions — like jump commands for the car or rescue drones. It’s the kind of technical polish that the industry should study and follow.

Loading times are minimal, and the clever use of the PS5’s SSD makes navigating between areas extremely fluid.

Conclusion

Death Stranding 2: On The Beach is a work that speaks directly to the player, about loss, reconciliation, hope and connection. It is bold, strange, poetic, uncomfortable and, above all, necessary. It may not please everyone, and that is fine. Great works do not have to be universal; they must be authentic.

Even with the intrinsic repetition of its mechanics and the occasional moment where excessive narrative exposition weighs heavily, the experience as a whole is unforgettable. Kojima not only delivered a sequel that lives up to his original creation, he transcended it. And the most beautiful thing is that, even when we get lost between deliveries and storms, there is still beauty along the way.

Death Stranding 2: On The Beach provided one of the most memorable experiences I’ve ever had with a video game. Kojima, once again, challenges what we understand as “playing” and delivers a true manifesto about the power of staying connected, even in a world in ruins.

For those who allow themselves to dive into this world with an open heart, Death Stranding 2 is a journey that leaves its mark on the soul. And one that, without a doubt, deserves to be experienced.

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Positive Points:

• Deep, mature and emotionally powerful narrative.
• Stunning graphics and spectacular art direction.
• Top-notch soundtrack and sound effects.
• Expanded gameplay with new gadgets, vehicles and progression systems.
• Brilliant and immersive collaborative online system.
• More dynamic and engaging combats.
• DHV Magalhães and chiral network bring new horizons to exploration.
• Impeccable technical stability on PS5.

Negative Points:

• Delivery structure may be repetitive for some.
• Some boss battles are still mechanically simple.
• Excessive narrative exposition in some dialogues.

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Rating:
Graphics: 10.0
Fun: 10.0
Gameplay: 10.0
Sound: 10.0
Performance and Optimization: 9.9
FINAL GRADE: 9.98 / 10.0