| Death Stranding 2: On The Beach | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Release Date | Gameplay & Story | Pre-Order & DLC | Review |
Can you play Death Stranding 2 without playing 1? The short answer: No. Read on to discover why DS1 is essential for fully understanding and enjoying Death Stranding 2, along with insights into Kojima’s storytelling philosophy and more.
← Return to Death Stranding 2: On the Beach main article
Should You Play Death Stranding First?
You MUST Play Death Stranding First
If you’re excited to dive into Death Stranding 2: On the Beach but find yourself asking, “Do I really need to play the first game?”—the answer is a resounding yes. And no, we’re not just saying that for dramatic effect.
In this article, we'll explain—without spoilers—why experiencing the first game is crucial to fully understanding and appreciating everything Death Stranding 2: On the Beach has to offer. From Kojima's signature storytelling style to the intricate world-building, there's a lot you won’t want to miss out on.
By the end, we hope you'll be ready to dive in, pick up the game, and experience the strange, beautiful, and unforgettable journey that is Death Stranding.
Recaps Can’t Save You—Not Even the Official One
First and foremost, Death Stranding is widely recognized as a dense, narrative-driven experience that demands your full attention. Its story is layered with complex themes, cryptic lore, and intentionally ambiguous moments that invite players to piece the bigger picture together themselves. Death Stranding 2 picks up directly where the first game left off—it’s not a spin-off, side story, or soft reboot. It’s a direct sequel.
So yes, we strongly recommend playing the first game before diving into the second. Skipping it means missing out on crucial storylines, character arcs, and world-building details that simply can’t be summarized or substituted through a recap. Without that foundation, Death Stranding 2 will likely feel confusing, and much of its emotional and thematic depth will be lost.
Before you think about skipping the first game and relying on the official recap video—"Death Stranding 2: On the Beach – The Story So Far"—you might want to reconsider. Despite its name, the six-minute video does little to help new players understand the plot. Instead, it’s a stylized montage of cutscenes with no real context or explanation. Even long-time fans in the comments have pointed out that it feels more like a "mood trailer" for returning players rather than a true summary.
And really, can a game like Death Stranding be boiled down into six minutes? Critical plotlines are omitted, major characters—like the one played by Mads Mikkelsen—are entirely missing, and key story beats are glossed over. Even those who finished the game years ago found the recap confusing. If you’re thinking of diving into Death Stranding 2, watching that video alone won’t cut it.
Gameplay is Integral to the Story
While it’s tempting to rely on recap videos or story summaries to catch up, they simply can’t replicate what Death Stranding is truly about. Yes, you can technically watch a breakdown of the main plot, but most recaps only scratch the surface. You’ll miss out on a lot as they tend to skip over side content, optional character arcs, and the emotional depth that's embedded directly into the gameplay itself.
In Death Stranding, the gameplay isn’t just a backdrop to the story—it is the story. Every delivery you make, every mountain you climb, and every package you protect serves a purpose beyond mechanics. These aren’t just tasks—they’re metaphors.
Take the core delivery mechanic, for example. Sam’s mission is to transport vital supplies and data across a fractured, post-apocalyptic America, reconnecting isolated cities through the Chiral Network. On the surface, it sounds simple—but the gameplay loop of walking long distances, maintaining balance, and managing cargo is anything but.
This isn’t just a gameplay challenge; it’s a narrative one. Every carefully placed footstep, every steep climb or treacherous crossing, mirrors the emotional and psychological burden Sam carries. The act of balancing cargo, plotting safe routes, and braving unpredictable terrain is a direct metaphor for the weight of human connection in a world that’s lost its sense of unity.
Much of Kojima’s storytelling is deliberately woven into the gameplay. It’s subtle, atmospheric, and often unspoken.
You feel the story not just through cutscenes, but through every choice and every step. That emotional weight—the themes of isolation, perseverance, and rebuilding—isn’t something a recap can convey. They need to be experienced. That’s the magic of Death Stranding: its most powerful storytelling moments are the ones you live through, not the ones you simply watch.
"The Walking Simulator" That Changes You—Step by Step
Beyond its intricate storytelling, skipping Death Stranding also means missing out on one of the most unique gameplay experiences of the last decade. Yes, it’s polarizing, and we’ll admit—it takes a while to click. But once it does, there’s something incredibly satisfying and fulfilling about it. The game has often been labeled a "walking simulator," but that label doesn’t do it justice. What makes Death Stranding stand out is how it transforms traversal into a deeply strategic, immersive, and emotional journey.
At its core, Death Stranding turns something as mundane as walking into a meaningful challenge. You’re constantly assessing the terrain, plotting routes, managing your balance, and adapting to environmental hazards like rivers, mountains, and storms. It becomes less about simply moving from point A to B, and more about solving an evolving, open-world puzzle.
There’s also a surprising satisfaction in cargo management. You decide how to carry your gear—how it’s stacked, distributed, and secured. Every choice affects your movement. It plays like a real-time inventory puzzle, where even the smallest decision has weight. The better you get at optimizing your loadout, the more rewarding each delivery becomes.
As you progress, new equipment and tools unlock fresh possibilities—vehicles, exoskeletons, zip-lines, and more—all of which open up new strategies and encourage creative thinking. You don’t "level up" in the traditional sense. Instead, you gain mastery over the landscape itself. Even the repetition, which might sound tedious on paper, becomes part of the appeal. You find peace in the rhythm of the journey: walking through vast, quiet landscapes while ambient music swells in the background. It’s meditative, introspective, and unlike anything else.
And if you're the type who likes to dig deeper, repeat playthroughs offer more than just nostalgia. They allow you to absorb nuances you might’ve missed the first time around. Some of Death Stranding’s strangest side content ends up being surprisingly crucial to understanding its world and characters. The bizarre often becomes essential, and those who take the time to explore every corner are rewarded with revelations that reshape the bigger picture.
And let’s not forget one of Death Stranding’s most unforgettable elements: the soundtrack. Sure, you could listen to it on YouTube or stream it separately—but it’s not the same. The emotional weight of the music is deeply tied to the gameplay experience itself. These tracks don’t just play randomly—they arrive at precisely the right moment, turning an ordinary delivery into something quietly transcendent.
Woodkid’s haunting compositions, known from projects like Arcane, bring a sense of grandeur and vulnerability. But it's not just him—artists like Low Roar and Silent Poets leave a lasting impression. Low Roar’s "Don’t Be So Serious" still lingers in players’ minds years later, with its dreamlike, melancholic tone perfectly capturing the isolation and hope embedded in Sam’s journey. Silent Poets’ "Almost Nothing" featuring Okay Kaya delivers another standout moment, hitting like an emotional gut-punch at just the right time.
These songs aren’t just background music—they’re part of the narrative. You feel them. You remember the moment they played. That’s something you can’t replicate with a playlist. It’s art, deeply integrated into the game’s emotional core. To miss out on that is to miss a major piece of what makes Death Stranding so powerful.
Kojima Defies the Conventions of Traditional Storytelling
If our words aren’t enough to convince you, perhaps Hideo Kojima’s own creative philosophy will. In a recent statement, Kojima revealed that he rewrote major portions of Death Stranding 2’s script midway through development—not because the story was flawed, but because it wasn’t polarizing enough. For him, that was a red flag. He wasn’t aiming to create another safe, easily digestible blockbuster. Instead, he set out to craft something bold, emotionally charged, and thought-provoking—something that might not resonate with everyone at first, but would leave a lasting impression.
"If everyone likes it," Kojima explained, "it means it’s mainstream. It means it’s conventional. It means it’s already pre-digested for people to like it." That philosophy drove him to rewrite the story during some of its most pivotal moments, all in pursuit of deeper emotional resonance. He even asked composer and collaborator Woodkid to rework the score mid-production to better match the tone of his vision. As Woodkid put it, "You can make pieces of art that are halfway of everything, but Hideo? You have no idea how much he doesn’t give a shit about this. He really doesn’t. He doesn’t compromise; he does what he wants."
And that tells you everything you need to know about what Death Stranding 2 is shaping up to be. Kojima isn’t crafting a sequel designed to handhold new players or streamline his storytelling. He’s leaning into ambiguity, emotional complexity, and layered symbolism—just as he did with the Metal Gear Solid series, and arguably even more so now.
So, ask yourself: do you really think Kojima is going to slow down and explain things for newcomers? Not likely. Death Stranding 2 will challenge players not just in gameplay, but in understanding its narrative. And without the context of the first game, you’re essentially trying to solve a complex puzzle without one of its most essential pieces.
Kojima’s goal has never been to confuse for confusion’s sake—his mission is to provoke thought, stir emotion, and push the boundaries of storytelling within games. But to fully appreciate what he’s doing, he demands your complete investment. Skipping Death Stranding means missing out on critical storylines, emotional arcs, and the intricate world-building that Death Stranding 2 is built upon.
Kojima has long been vocal about his desire to blur the lines between cinema and interactive media. He doesn’t just make games—he crafts experiences designed to challenge convention and prove that video games are a legitimate art form. Like any piece of art, his work isn’t always meant to be understood in a single sitting, or interpreted the same way by everyone. It’s layered, ambiguous, and deeply personal—and that’s exactly what makes it so powerful.
And this matters beyond just the sequel. With an anime adaptation and an A24 film in the works, the Death Stranding universe is expanding fast. Playing the first game now doesn’t just prepare you for Death Stranding 2—it gives you the full experience across all mediums. To fully appreciate what’s coming, you need to start where it all began.
Death Stranding is Arguably Kojima’s Magnum Opus
Death Stranding isn’t just a prequel—it’s the foundation. To truly understand and appreciate what Death Stranding 2 will offer, experiencing the first game is essential. This isn’t a story you can absorb through a recap or summary—it’s a journey meant to be lived, one step at a time. It’s a game that slowly reveals its meaning through its gameplay, world, and emotional weight. Many consider it Kojima’s magnum opus—a bold, genre-defying masterpiece. And if Death Stranding 2 can even come close to the bar it sets, we’re in for something truly special.
We strongly urge players to dive into this remarkable title, especially now that the Director’s Cut—the definitive edition—is readily available for just $40–$50. It’s a tremendous value, offering not only the complete base game, but also expanded storylines, new missions, additional vehicles and weapons, quality-of-life improvements, and enhanced combat mechanics. It’s the best way to experience Kojima’s original vision in its fullest form.
Trust us: this is a journey worth taking. Not only will it deepen your connection to the world and characters, but it will also bridge the emotional and narrative gap between both entries—allowing you to fully appreciate what Death Stranding 2 is trying to say. Together, these two games aren’t just installments in a franchise—they’re two halves of a single, unforgettable masterpiece.
| Digital Storefronts | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Steam |
 PSN |
 Xbox |
|||
| $39.99-$49.99 | |||||
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