The learning of letting go while continuing on: Death Stranding 2 Review

Be aware, there are spoilers for Death Stranding 2 in this article! Everyone has their beach, a waiting room for their final chapter. Death Stranding 2 expands on the first game's story and dives deeper into the philosophical journey of healing, bringing people together, and the psychology of the mourning process.  While Death Stranding one and two as a whole are a master class in cinematography, storytelling, and re-playability with taking on and delivering various orders, Death Stranding 2 misses the mark on some crucial things when it comes to accessibility and part of the story. The Fight for Inner Peace Death Stranding 2’s world is a fascinating one, Kojima Productions focusing heavily on the evolution of the characters, while creating in the sequel a more combat-heavy environment for the player. The first game felt solely focused on the journey between Sam and Lou, and more of the overall experience with the story. Now in Death Stranding 2, it seems to have more focus on the way the player builds the world, and what you’re fighting along the way. The story, while rich, in some ways almost feels secondary to the connection of both Mexico and Australia, and the games' overall setup.

With that being said, this time around, I felt as if the BTs and monsters in general weren’t something to fear. In the first game, I felt overawed and creeped out by just how larger than Life everything was in a scary, I don’t know how this will turn out kind of way. In Death Stranding 2, the only parts where I felt my breath being taken away were at the very end of the game with those giant BTs, and during a side quest where you have to defeat the Lord of the Tar Lake. Go fight that boss if you haven’t; it’s incredible.  It might seem like something small to nitpick over, but none of the enemies felt like an actual threat; instead, they felt more to likes of an art piece where they were simply existing in the world. Much like a Wasp, if I don’t bother them, they won’t bother me.

Art is Subjective While I am all for expressing a certain creative vision and pushing the envelope when it comes to how certain stories are portrayed, I feel as if (especially at the beginning of the game), this is one time where a trigger warning should have been in place.  We don’t know people's stories; they’re as deep as the sea, with multitudes of shelves in rocks to explore. Adding something as horrific as infanticide, suicidal ideation, and having a character being punched in the stomach while she was pregnant, mind you, is horrifying. We don’t know people's lived experiences, so putting in a trigger warning would have been helpful to those with trauma surrounding those issues. The Last of Us Part 2, for example, explored similar avenues with the killing of a pregnant woman, I’m not excusing that either. It’s a horrifying thing to add to a game. While I still have an issue with those concepts, and the entire idea and addition of a stillmother, that’s my issue to work through, not the artists. The whole concept and story that surrounds Death Stranding is eerie, thought-provoking, and something that challenges people. While certain topics like infanticide should come with a trigger warning, I firmly believe that the artist should be allowed to create what they want as long as they’re not hurting anyone in the process.

A Natural Progression There was already SO MUCH psychology in Death Stranding, now in the second game, Kojima Productions went from a 10 to a 30, in terms of how intense the psychology and philosophical implementation goes.  Sam's mentality is showcased beautifully, and the way trauma is represented is excellent. When depression becomes an intense point in someone's life, one of the key things to help with said depression is a community of people surrounding you. This is Fragile, Rainy, Tarman, Heartman, everyone on the DHV Magellan is Sam's rock and comfort during the storm. By taking him back on the road and letting Sam believe that Lou was still in her BB pod, it gave him this form of therapy where he could heal from Lou’s death instead of being in a perpetual loop of pain and suffering. Even Dollman's conversations with Sam in regards to psychological themes, i.e., coffin therapy. Coffin therapy refers to a participant lying in a coffin simulating a funeral experience to handle a whole host of things, including but not limited to grief over a lost loved one or confronting a fear of death. You obtain a hoverboard that's shaped like a coffin later in the game that you can also hide in, and get some coffin therapy from as well! All while Death Stranding Two deals with some of the most intensive concepts in regards to death and understanding the connection between the land of the living and the dead, it's also a game that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It has its silly moments, its relaxed moments, and moments where you can just exist. That in itself is humanity and the cycle of living, knowing that there will be bad times but embracing and experiencing the good within the storm. Making Connections Means Making Connections with EVERYBODY Accessibility is a topic that should be discussed when it comes to both Death Stranding Games (and in the games industry in general, quite frankly). Just to be clear, I do not have any form of disability that makes me unable to play a game, so my opinion on this comes from a place of seeing things in the game that could be improved, and listening to player feedback. With that said, the accessibility in this game is not where it should be at all.  The things that I noticed that I think would cause issues for disabled played would be the following: The light blue text of items around the world. You can barely tell them apart from the other packages, my eyesight isn’t bad, and even I had a hard time seeing them either on their own or in a group when they’re on the off-roader/on the ground.  You cannot adjust certain noises and audio, the text is small in general, to confirm a mission or make a delivery, you need to hold the square button, which could prove challenging for those who have motor disabilities. While you do have the option to hold or toggle for creating weapons or structures, I would have loved to have seen that across the board. While some of the quality of life did change in terms of the combat, making more options for controls, as well as subtitles in terms of adding a speaker's name, there wasn’t anything overly impressive that was added in terms of accessibility. With older games, I get not being as accessible because the technology was simply not there, but now, in the year 2025, with a game like Death Stranding 2, there is no excuse for there being no in-depth accessibility options for players. Beyond the critiques With all I have critiqued of this game, with everything I’ve mentioned and chose to keep out to let you all enjoy it for yourself. This game delivers one hell of an experience that continues from the first game beautifully. Every character is impactful and carries a substantial weight, bringing the player closer and closer to each of them, even Higgs. The narrative design, along with the many twists and turns that this game offers, not just in the main story but with each person you’re delivering to, is filled with chaos and fun moments. Again, the game doesn’t take itself too seriously at points, so it becomes a joyous ride for the player to simply experience. The music in this game balances the emotions felt. I almost feel like the music was regulating me, keeping me in check the entire journey. It made me aware and present, and in the moment when each song popped up. I knew I was either in for an emotional scene, something epic, or something life-changing was going to happen to a character. This game, while having some issues, delivers on so much. Death Stranding 2 takes on grief and the learning of letting go while continuing on. This title tackles hard topics and creates a space for the player to exist, and by the end of the story, you breathe a sigh of relief, as tomorrow is in sight.