Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
First Impressions (First Two Hours)
Alright, so I got my hands on Death Stranding 2 thanks to a pre-order early release—48 hours early, to be exact. I only had about two hours to dive into it last night, but here are my first thoughts, fresh from the opening stretch of the game.
At first glance, it's not a massive departure from the original game. The feel is familiar, but there are enough new tweaks and changes that I’m curious to see where it goes. There’s no major structure-building yet—I just got my first PCC—but I’ve placed a couple ladders and used a rope anchor. Still haven’t built anything big. The game starts small and slow, like the first one.
Story Setup
The story picks up about 11 months after the first game. Sam is now living with Lou near what looks like the southern border of Texas—desert terrain, close to Mexico. Fragile shows up at Sam’s shelter and lets him know that the UCA is officially formed. The Death Stranding is still a thing (guess we didn’t fix that), and while I haven’t seen any BTs yet, I’ve already run into some bandits—basically the new version of MULEs.
Sam still has Lou in a chest carrier at the beginning, but she doesn’t go with you on your first mission. There’s a cool moment where she reacts to an earthquake, which was a nice bit of immersion. Apparently earthquakes will happen during gameplay now—looking forward to (or dreading) that.
Gameplay & Controls
If you've played the first game, the muscle memory will both help and mess you up. A lot of the controls have changed:
Picking up chiral crystals is now mapped to Triangle instead of X.
Square is now used to climb, and X is used to back away from ledges.
Crouching and holding your breath are now combined on R1.
And more feels like it should be different.
The UI and quick menus got a refresh too. You can now toggle through item and weapon menus instead of holding them down. Cargo management is still there, and you can auto-arrange your loadout like before.
Map & Terrain
The map system got a big upgrade. Instead of that weird flat 3D scan vibe from the first game, the terrain now has more detail—almost like it’s made out of pin art. It’s way easier to read the topography, and planning your route is much more intuitive. You can actually rotate the map this time around, which I’m pretty sure wasn’t possible in DS1 (or maybe I just never figured it out).
Combat & Stealth
Haven’t had any real combat yet, but you can already mark enemies using the zoom/first-person view—just like in Metal Gear Solid V. I ran past a bandit base right across the river at the border, but didn’t get into a fight.
One cool new sequence was walking through a lightning-filled dust storm. It reminded me of the snow blizzards from the first game—super low visibility, constant scanning to avoid tripping, and lots of atmosphere. I half expected it to clear like the dust storms in MGS V, but it stayed pretty intense the whole time.
Gear & Upgrades
No exoskeleton yet, which makes traversal feel a bit sluggish early on. But with the pre-order bonus, I should unlock one soon. Right now, Sam can’t carry much at all, so I’m relying on ladders and careful planning. I did lay one or two ladders in obvious places, but I definitely won’t be the first person to build a bridge—someone out there probably played till 5am.There’s also a new cinematic camera angle that pulls way back for dramatic shots. It seems to trigger during particularly scenic moments—pretty, but I think it’s more for effect than functionality.
Final Thoughts (For Now)
It’s only been two hours, and the story is just starting to unfold. No BTs yet, but I’m sure they’re coming. Controls are flipped just enough to make you fumble for the first hour or so, and I’m already feeling that urge to slow down and take my time. This is definitely not a game you want to rush—there’s a rhythm to it. I'll probably keep jotting down thoughts as I go and post more entries here on the site. If you're playing it too, let me know what you think!
Keep on Keeping On!!
