Ahead of starting Death Stranding 2: On the Beach on PS5 Pro, I was a little nervous.
I had a slightly strange experience playing the original, and eventually dropped it after around 15 hours of play. So, before release, I worried that diving into the sequel without having seen the first game through to the end credits may be an unwise move that would see me bounce from the new game pretty fast.
For the record, I didn’t quit Death Stranding 1 out of frustration. Instead, I was playing it just before the world went kaput in March 2020 and ended up separated from my PS4 for several weeks. By the time I was reunited with my beloved console, enough time had passed that I didn’t particularly want to jump back in mid-way through, and restarting from scratch was unappealing.
Death Stranding 1 has been on my “I need to circle back to that” backlog for the last five years, but you know how these things go. In the blink of an eye, here we are in summer 2025, and Death Stranding 2: On the Beach has arrived.
After getting the chance to play a little early, I was too interested in the shiny new sequel to play its predecessor first (also, I didn’t have a spare 50 hours!)
I’m still in the early portion of Death Stranding 2 with the Nintendo Switch 2 sucking up the majority of my gaming time this month, but it's already managed to get its hooks into me with its stunning visuals, unique gameplay and surprisingly engaging (and delightfully oddball) cast of characters.
However, most of all, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how much effort has clearly been put into the onboarding experience.
Do you want to learn more?
As you may know, the world of Death Stranding comes from the mind of Hideo Kojima, which means it’s full of nonsense phrases, bizarre characters and surreal sci-fi plot points.
That’s not a criticism either. Kojima is perhaps the closest gaming has to a genuine auteur, but let’s just say Death Stranding’s world isn’t exactly one you can dip into and get up to speed in a matter of moments. Nevertheless, the game does an amazing job of helping you out.
PlayStation, the game’s publisher, has released a six-minute DS1 recap trailer already, and DS2 itself offers a 17-page slideshow presentation in the main menu, which is not only stylish but also does an admirable job of setting the scene and making you aware of all the major players.
However, the most useful tool for those stepping into the shoes of protagonist Sam Porter Bridges (played by Norman Reedus) for the first time is the Corpus databank.
Taking cues from Final Fantasy 16’s much-praised Active Time Lore, Corpus is a repository for the game’s extension lore. During cutscenes — or just general gameplay — when a phrase like “timefall” or “voidout” is uttered, a little pop-up informs you that a new entry has been added to Corpus for you to read.
Lore scholars can completely ignore these, but newcomers (or those needing a refresher) can hit the options buttons on the PS5 DualSense controller and will be presented with a little glossary or character profile to fill in the blanks.
This did mean that the game’s opening cutscenes took me about four times as long to get through, as I was constantly pausing to read up on terminology and trying to understand who the heck Heartman is, but it was remarkably effective at ensuring I never felt lost as the story unfolded around me.
It was a great feature in F16, and it’s just as useful here.
Picking up the Porter basics
Death Stranding 2 also isn’t shy about showing players the ropes as they set out to explore its expansive Mexico map.
The first couple of missions you’ll take on as Sam serve as tutorials, running you through the basics and highlighting the various tools at your disposal to make delivering packages much easier.
Of course, early missions being gussied up tutorials isn’t exactly unique; it’s a common staple of modern games in general, but I appreciated that Death Stranding 2: On the Beach didn’t assume I was already an experienced Porter. It took its time to explain the fundamentals.
Another handy tool is the VR training missions, which allow you to brush up on the essential stealth and combat skills that you’ll need to survive the harsh conditions you face out in the Mexican desert. Seriously, I’m just trying to deliver medical equipment, why does everybody want to murder me?
These are entirely optional, so I suspect Death Stranding veterans will pay them no notice, but for (relative) newcomers like myself, they’re a handy tool. Again, these aren’t groundbreaking, but they’re a great inclusion that I was very pleased to see here.
At this point, more than five hours into my Death Stranding 2 playthrough (which I’m informed is barely scratching the surface), I feel like I’m in a good place to push forward.
And best of all, while I may have only read the Cliff Notes version of the first game’s story, I’ve been given a way to understand what is happening, and most importantly, why I should care about this sci-fi yarn.
It would have been easy for the team at Kojima Productions to assume all players were already familiar with Death Stranding’s rich lore and characters, but I greatly appreciate that a clear effort has been made to onboard new players, and that should help broaden the game's appeal even further.
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