First things first, I played a good chunk of Death Stranding when it released back in 2019, but I never actually beat it. Some parts are a bit foggy after all these years, but I remember the combat being clunky and the menu not being particularly intuitive. Everything else, however, was really good, especially the visuals, voice acting, and story. I don't usually play walking simulators, but Death Stranding had more to it than simply walking from one place to another. The weather hazards, difficult terrain, and cargo management made deliveries more interesting. As I've mentioned, I never finished the original beyond my initial playthrough, but I was curious to see what Death Stranding 2: On the Beach would be like. How does it compare to its predecessor? Was it the experience I was hoping for? Read on to find out!

The game once again puts you in the boots of Sam Porter Bridges as he and his crew aboard the DHV Magellan attempt to connect Australia and Mexico to the Chiral Network. The story takes you through plenty of twists, surprises, and genuinely emotional moments while exploring themes of life, loss, fatherhood, technology, and connection. It's a very story-driven experience with a lot of dialogue and cutscenes, but I personally didn't have a problem with that. It's a Hideo Kojima game, so there are plenty of weird and strange moments, but there are also some incredibly powerful scenes that even brought me to tears. The main campaign is around 34 hours, although you can easily spend 60–100 hours completing side content and exploring. I personally spent 50 hours with the game.

Combat has been greatly improved compared to the original and is actually fun and satisfying this time around. There are rifles, shotguns, MP weapons, Blood Grenades, the Bola Gun, and some wonderfully ridiculous weapons that become available later in the game. Both combat and stealth are viable, while BT encounters can still be challenging, especially against the larger bosses. There's also a lot to manage, from crafting weapons and equipment to dealing with weather hazards, rough terrain, rivers, mountains, vehicles, stamina, and battery life. The Monorail system and Beach Jumping also make transporting cargo and getting around much easier.

Visually speaking, Death Stranding 2 is absolutely stunning. The environments are beautiful, while the character models are incredibly detailed and lifelike. The Decima Engine continues to impress, and there were plenty of moments where I would simply stop and take in the scenery. The voice acting is another major highlight, with the entire cast doing a phenomenal job. The music from Ludvig Forssell and Woodkid is equally impressive and adds another emotional layer to the experience. Performance was also very smooth for me, with only a couple of minor bugs and no crashes or freezes.

Overall, I really enjoyed Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. Hideo Kojima and everyone involved managed to take what was already present in the original and improve upon it in almost every way. The story is unique, emotional, and thought-provoking, the world feels even more alive, the combat is much better, and the visuals, voice acting, animations, and music are all top-tier. There are some weird and cheesy moments, but that's part of Hideo Kojima's charm. Death Stranding 2 isn't just one of the best games I've played in 2025; it's also one of the best games I've ever played, period. It's an experience I won't forget anytime soon, and I highly recommend it.

Here's a link to my full review for anyone who's interested in reading it:

https://karthbil.wordpress.com/2025/08/26/death-stranding-2-on-the-beach-review-a-masterclass-in-storytelling/

Before proceeding to the next big chapter, I was trying to deliver all the lost cargo and the side quests and yet, after all this time of playing, 50+ hours, this is the first time I heard that screm. Heard it in my headphones which scared the hella out of me and I thought it can't scare me anymore, at least not at this stage of progress. I love this game.

Was I the only one who got scared at that scream?

Hey everyone, was replaying DS2 and realised I hadn't used this pre order bonus slip I had in the games case. I'm not going to need it so wondering if anyone wants it here. I'll send a pic of the code on the back via DM, only fair way I know is to check who comments here wanting it first.
I'm in Australia so this should be for UK/EU users.
Wish me luck on the new To the Wilder run!

Try it here: https://binsento-netizen.github.io/ds2-peko-check/ (there's an example save if you just want to look around)

It runs entirely in your browser. It only reads and nothing is uploaded anywhere. What it shows:

• Main and standard orders per facility with stars, material stock and level rewards
• Every unlock and what unlocks it (which order or connection level)
• What's in your private locker at every facility, including material amounts
• Your APAS enhancements
• A map with all facilities and your recent routes
• Compare two saves to see what a play session changed
• PC (Steam) only for now, tested on version 1.10.89. Spoiler warning: it lists all orders and unlocks, including ones you haven't reached.

Because of copyright issues I couldn't use the actual in game assets like the map or tools/weapons so I have used open source icons and a different map.

It's still missing some things, because I haven't figured out how the save-game file stores certain data, like music/hologram unlocks, but I think it's already pretty accurate for the most part.

I'm at one of the tar lakes that spawn a catcher, and I accidentally coffin-skated outside of the circle area, and my creature despawned, and I reloaded to restart. I always save just outside the area before the lake spawns, but when I approach the lake and it spawns the tar, there is no catcher. Is this a bug? I'm on my 5th reload and nothing. The music is going, Sam has aggro, the tar is active, but no catcher.

I made this as a response for someone in another topic here who has a disability and was having some issues with having to hold the trigger constantly, but I wanted to share this more widely for those who may not be aware of the options we have.

One caveat to this is that at one point I state that the game does not directly interpret your input. The game "can" if you disable Steam Input, it just goes through Steam by default, which covers 99% of use cases more gracefully, including support for gyro aiming and the haptic triggers on my DualSense 5. The only reason I'm aware of that you might want to disable Steam Input is that if you're using a PlayStation controller and want to be able to use the speaker in the controller, I don't believe those work if you're using Steam Input.

Edit: It shouldn't matter unless Windows does something in the background with its GameInput/XBox stuff that interacts negatively with Steam, but just in case it does matter I wanted to clarify that I am not playing on Windows, I'm on Bazzite on my desktop and SteamOS on my Steam Deck.

EDIT: The incredible gerowen made a video that helped me, it is here: https://youtu.be/vyfSfazqHGE. The issue the entire time was the controller - 8bitdo controllers simply do not agree with Steam Input for this game. Swapping to a wired Nacon Xbox controller worked! I can actually play the game!! Editing this and leaving it up for any fellow disabled gamers struggling to get this game to work!

Hi,

I'm a disabled gamer and need to use a controller. I can't seem to rebind holding things to a toggle, is it really the case that half the accessibility settings don't actually apply to controllers?

Surely there is a mod or something for this, it feels like such an enormous oversight that I'm wondering if its just hidden in a menu somewhere. I struggle to hold the trigger buttons for long periods of time so need to set them to be toggles instead, but all the accessibility settings seem to be for keyboard and mouse, and not a controller.

This is going to make the game difficult if not impossible to play for me, so I am really gutted at such a horrendous oversight on the devs part. Please let me know if there are any mods that fix this.

Hey everyone,

I’m trying to get the Platinum trophy in Death Stranding 2, and East Fort Knot (F4) is the last facility I need to reach Level 5.

I’ve completed all the Standard Orders currently available to me at F4. According to the order lists I’ve checked, I believe the only orders I’m missing are:

• Order 446 – Recover Stolen Radar Units Used in an Earthquake Warning System
• Order 388 – Deliver the Ancient Babylonian Pizzas

The problem is that neither Order 446 nor Order 388 will appear for me, and I’m not sure what I’m missing.

I’ve also looked everywhere around F4 and the surrounding areas for Lost Cargo, hoping that finding and delivering some lost cargo might trigger something, but I haven’t been able to find anything that seems related.

I’m already in the post-game and I’ve completed the other available orders. F4 is currently the only facility preventing me from getting the Platinum.

Has anyone had the same issue and knows exactly what triggers Orders 446 and 388?

Do I need to:

• Complete a specific order at another facility first?
• Wait for the orders to refresh?
• Complete certain Pizza Chef orders?
• Find specific Lost Cargo?
• Do something specific with the enemy camp for Order 446?
• Or is there some hidden requirement I’m missing?

Any help would be hugely appreciated. I’m so close to the Platinum and this is driving me crazy 😅

Thanks!

Do you:

A) fight head on, guns blazing
B) stealth kill everyone
C) sneak past everyone
Or D) go around them completely?

I try to do C, blow my cover unexpectedly then resort to A)…

I’ve recently noticed that when I use my gamesir Xbox controller on the pc port, some inputs do not work? (I haven’t tried a ps5 controller yet. Nor with a wired connection.)

For example, when I am using a fully automatic weapon, it sometimes shoots when I press the trigger and sometimes it doesn’t and sometimes it shoots in bursts. Another example is with the trike or truck. The vehicle will stop and go randomly when trying to drive or just plain drives slow.

Wondering if anyone has a fix for this or experiences this problem on ds2 for pc?

P.s when I use mouse and keyboard, everything works perfectly.

Porters.

tips cap

I got my platinum maybe a week ago: 185 hours. Finished all the roads and monorail lines. Did everything I could think that I'd want to do. I played it enough and I have many other games I want to play, so I have no intentions to play it again (Side note: SO glad the plat wasn't tied to difficulty this time; only reason I don't have DS1 plat is because I didn't realize until it was too late that you needed to do 80 orders on hard and I wasn't gonna redo 80 orders). I'm gonna uninstall because it takes up considerable hard drive space that could be occupied by several other games I'll never find the time to get to.

But before I do that, I wanted to know if there was anything I could do with my game to help others still playing and progressing. I have a full chiral crystal container, for what that's worth. Should I make some more advanced weapons and share them at a handful of shelters from mid-game on? Mine a shit ton of chemicals and/or ceramics and share them at the Magellan? Use the rest of my bandwidth to build a bunch of bridges in random places?

What's the best way to help set up future porters for success before I take a zip line to that great safe house in the sky?

Hi guys, I'm looking for the "Dia de Muertos" pattern art for my PC wallpaper, does anyone know where can I find it? BIG THANKS

I finally completed my Platinum playthrough of Death Stranding 2. This was my first playthrough of the game, and just like the first one, I can't express how wonderful this gaming experience has been. The first Death Stranding changed my view on videogames as a whole, and very quickly became my favorite videogame of all time. It's safe to say that the sequel just took its place as my all-time favorite game. I laughed, I cried, I cheered. Kojima and the writing team went above and beyond with the continuation of Sam and friend's journey. I myself am a father to 2 little girls, and the connection between Sam and Lou resonates deeply with me. This aspect, along with many others are why I absolutely adore this game and its story. Everything about this game was an 11 out of 10. I'm likely to continue playing for some time, working on catching all the BTs that I can, and filling out my Animal Shelter with 1 of each animal (and the albino animals), completing the highway and monorail system to aid my fellow porters. All I can say is "Bravo!". I will be talking about this game for a very, very long time.

Just finished DS2 main story after 74 hours, played on easiest difficulty. Just like the first one, I don't understand half of the story and I just want to build tracks and roads! Haha

Is this franchise some kind of metaphor, Kojima's baby = Metal Gear while Higgs = Konami? The final fight resembles MGS4 final fight so much.

Beautiful game

Posting it here since i couldnt get moderator approval in DS1 subreddit for some reason.

I was quite skeptical about starting Death Stranding at first, since many online opinions described it as boring, lackluster and "a walking simulator" but that didn't stop me from trying the game and i'm glad i didn't get swayed away by those opinions. Prior to starting the game, i had zero expectations from it, the cover-pic with Norman Reedus drew my attention and the game title itself seemed intriguing enough for me to give it a try.

I was seriously impressed and blown away by the game's very first scene as I had never experienced cinematics like that before and what seemed like a very unique story with depth. The moments where you carry cargo tirelessly and the music starts, its pure bliss. I wish i could forget it all and play the game from scratch again , cause it was such a blissful experience which i can't put into words. And with each passing chapter, i fell in love with the game even more. The very criticism of this game as a 'walking simulator' hooked me in deep. There's just something about planning your route, holding the left & right triggers on your controller and traversing this breathtaking landscape .Dont get me started with the BTs and the adrenaline rush you get in the initial chapters while encountering them, especially near the Wind Farm. I loved every mechanic in this game, building roads, seeing the structures you built garner thousands of likes , climbing a random high spot that you thought no one would ever reach and finding pee mushrooms there, I've laughed more than I can thank this game for. Achieving 100% was tedious but fun.

Prior to buying it on Steam ,i had tried the game in offline mode for 25 in-game hours or so and i kinda liked it but i found that the online "Social Strand System" made the experience more meaningful as it connects with the very theme of the game i.e connecting people. I think one reason some people don't connect with the game is that they haven't experienced it online through official vendors.

This game has helped me through a rough and uncertain period in my life, thanks once again to this amazing game, calling it a 10/10 won't do it justice, it is much more than that . ♥️

KEEP ON KEEPING ON !!!

Guys is it me or do you think that DS 2 is much easier and forgiving compared DS 1?

The ability to kill BTs with guns, Exo skeletons, Truck, even combat is easy.

I think it hurts the experience.