The new trailer for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach has taken fans of Hideo Kojima’s open-world action title by storm. His subtle references to titles from his past notwithstanding, the sequel to Death Stranding, highly successful in its own right, seems all set to build on the complex narrative that the legendary director set up in the first installment while bringing new additions to its cast and gameplay.
Kojima, unsurprisingly, looks to be taking the original game in a bigger, bolder direction while taking inspiration from other popular franchises in modern gaming. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is a title that shows the potential to stay with its players long after they roll the credits on its campaign.
Building on the Original Death Stranding’s Best Features
Although the new trailer for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach remained blissfully spoiler-free, it indicates that Kojima has been strategic in retaining familiar faces from Death Stranding’s original cast while adding new ones that could potentially take the UCA’s story forward in ways that only he is privy to at the moment.
However, this blend of the past and present shines through in more than just his characters. It is reflected in the bizarre new Beached Things he has thrown into the mix. It shines through in every frame of the new open-world he has designed. And most of all, it underscores the possibility of continuing the weird, but utterly fascinating narrative that he set up with aplomb in the first game.
Kojima has not been a stranger to tackling complex narrative themes and using metaphors to give his players the license to form their own interpretations of his underlying messages. On that front, Death Stranding’s themes of legacy and loneliness in a constantly shifting world seem ready to take Sam Bridges to new places without Lou, his adoptive daughter from the original game’s ending, in tow.
While there is speculation that Lou’s absence in Sam’s latest journeys can be an imitation of Geralt and Ciri’s story in Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt (fuelled by the scene with Fragile teleporting her away), I am hoping that Death Stranding 2: On the Beach builds on this, incorporating emotional moments and give a fitting conclusion to Sam’s character arc.
Considering that the original Death Stranding was about Sam helping piece together the United Cities of America, the Chiral network looks like it is finally up and functioning as intended. In many ways, it is Sam’s legacy from the first game, with a lot of effort and personal trauma on his part acting as catalysts for his decision to walk away from it all.
The sequel could give him a new reason to dive back into the UCA’s fractured and dangerous landscape – and a whole new set of emotions and moral quandaries to deal with in the process. Kojima is sure to have more than a few tricks up his sleeve, and newcomer Neil, whose resemblance to Snake from Metal Gear Solid has not gone unnoticed, is sure to be a crucial addition. considering Kojima’s own assertion that he wanted an actor who could surpass Mads Mikkelsen’s performance as Clifford.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach’s Subtle Real-World Connections Shine Through
It’s no secret that the original Death Stranding reflected the real world at the time of its release. The COVID-19 pandemic had many of its players isolated in their homes with Kojima’s excellent title being a great way to cope with that isolation. Sam’s harrowing journey through an American landscape torn apart by the cataclysmic Death Stranding event drew interesting parallels with the real world in many ways.
His lonely trek was the perfect canvas for Kojima to weave a deeply personal story about how an individual could be a part of the world while still being isolated from it, with Sam’s actions directly changing the UCA for the better despite him being unaware of Amelie’s true motives and her ultimate intention to end a cycle of life and death which she found morally repugnant.
However, an interesting counterfoil to Sam’s loneliness was how his journey could not have been possible without the help of Death Stranding’s stellar cast of supporting characters. From Fragile to Higgs, each of the original game’s characters had a role to play in its story, adding meaningful angles to Kojima’s explorations of how an individual’s actions can have ripple effects on the world around them. Neil’s role in these nuanced interactions is sure to have Metal Gear Solid fondly looking back at Kojima’s own legacy.
In Death Stranding 2, players are now privy to a world that the original game’s cast has shaped. Fragile seems to have rebuilt BRIDGES, while the UCA is apparently a force to be reckoned with, its denizens now able to take the fight to the BTs in exciting ways. Lou has certainly grown in the eleven months since the original game’s conclusion and is sure to be crucial to the new narrative.
However, by focusing on Sam once again and telling the new story from his point of view, Kojima once again reintroduces his original narrative theme of an individual versus the collective. It could very well be the final swan song to Sam’s compelling tale, allowing him to ride off into the sunset just like he had intended at the end of Death Stranding.
At its core, Death Stranding is about its people. The new trailer is an excellent showcase of how its cast of characters, old and new, is sure to comment on how no single individual can rise above the hopes and ambitions of others, even if they do come with the ability to cheat death. It’s an interesting play on Kojima’s own journey from Konami to starting his own studio, the larger-than-life reputation he has built over the years earning him the goodwill and support of his fans and team alike.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is sure to be an interesting continuation of its best features: Kojima’s penchant for oblique storytelling working in tandem with a stellar cast capable of bringing the emotions he aims to portray to life. If the latest trailer is any indication, Sam’s latest adventure is going to be a tale to remember for a long time to come.
