Getting started with Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
This BigFriendly.Guide will give you some tips for DS2 to help you get started on your new journey
Death Stranding: On the Beach is somehow even more Death Stranding-y than Death Stranding was. It's also really comfortable to slip back into if you played the first one.
This BigFriendly.Guide will give you some tips for DS2 to help you get started on your new journey
You don’t have to remember much of the first game
Look. Death Stranding is a Kojima-ass Kojima game and that makes it impossible to describe succinctly or fully in any reasonable amount of time. And if you — like me — haven’t really gone back to Death Stranding in the last six(!?) years, you might be a little fuzzy on the details.
But good news! There’s a nice, pithy recap right on the start menu. And even after that, just about everyone you meet — even hours into the game — has a pretty bad case of recap- and exposition-itis, so you’re not going to be lost.
Even more good news: there is an active codex in the game that you can activate during any cutscene to read up on the game's many capital T Terms.
The sequel-ness of the game starts after the first five deliveries
When you start Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, you’ll drop right back into the world and gameplay of Death Stranding. Sam lugs big boxes of things from one place to another, (re)connecting people and dodging BTs. It all feels very familiar.
Depending on how fast you get through the first five(ish) deliveries, it’s just kind of that for a couple to a few hours. And then everything — as everything is often wont to do — goes sideways.
The real game starts after that. So if you find yourself thinking "wait a second, this is just Death Stranding, where are all the new characters and toys?" Just get through chapter 1 and you'll see for yourself. That being said ...
It’s still Death Stranding, just more
The location and the landscape has changed, there are (some) new people to deal with, the weapons are cooler and better, and you’re operating outside of the UCA. But On The Beach is very much still Death Stranding. It’s just… more. Also, George Miller is (kinda) there.
You’re still lugging stuff around for folks, you’re still crafting gear, you’re still sneaking around to avoid ghostly BTs, and you’re still occasionally fighting giant, tar-covered nightmare-fuel bosses. And it's still weird as hell. It just feels a little tighter and more refined -- similar to the step up the original game got with the Director's Cut.
There are still some tweaks and nuances that are a little different from the first game, but On the Beach is really good about introducing them. And none of them really change the core experience.
Except…
Starting orders is a whole process
This might be a tip just for me and my lack of attention to detail, but starting delivery orders feels more complicated and has more steps in On the Beach. And there are more confirmation button presses to get into the actual job.
First, you select the order. Then, there’s a really cool route planning map. When you’re done with that, you’ll have to confirm that you’re really done with that. Then you can pick up the cargo you’re moving. After all of those menus, you can choose to head out.
All the steps make sense (and the route simulator is a really nice touch), but it’s possible to button-mash your way through the menus too quickly and not actually pick up the cargo or even the job. Yes, I speak from experience. And yes, I went all the way to the drop off before I realized it.
Camo matters
As you get deeper into On the Beach, you’ll unlock new camo colors for Sam’s outfit. These aren’t just cosmetic, though. The color of your camo will actually affect how easy you are to spot by enemy humans.
While you're looking at the map, check out points of interest along your (planned) route. They'll have little pictures that will help you decide what color camo works best.
Combat is a much more realistic option in Death Stranding 2
In Death Stranding 1, combat was almost entirely worthless. The Director's Cut version of the game did a lot to improve this, but it was largely still a game about bringing packages places. Death Stranding 2 is still mostly about the cargo, but you have so many more options to fight. And your weapons will automatically incapacitate enemies rather than kill them -- meaning there are no worries about your enemies necrotizing and causing a Void Out.
The game will teach you how much better the combat is by throwing you into missions that have you go against MULEs and Brigands, but it's important to remember that you can do much, much more than sneaking around with a rope trying to tie people up this time.
Separate from just human combat, you'll also be able to kill BTs MUCH earlier than you were in Death Stranding, so keep that in mind and go on the offense when things get tense.
Vehicles unlock early
You’ll unlock your first vehicle after you complete the first big boss fight. You’ll have access to that trike from then on. Use them. Yes, On the Beach can still (reductively) be called a walking sim, but there’s so much more going on, and you’ll get to it faster when you’re not on foot.
As a bonus tip for vehicles, MULEs often like to use larger, slower trucks that can haul a -- and this is the scientific term -- shitton of cargo. If you steal one of these trucks from their bases, you can use them way before you unlock them for yourself. Just keep in mind that you can't store enemy vehicles in garages.
Make sure to create contracts with your actual friends
Buried in the SSS menu (the social services one), you can scroll to the bottom of your recent connections to see a section that says "friends." If you click on this, you can mark friends as contract buddies. This will make it much more likely that you'll run into each other's creations or can contribute to the same highway, or whatever. If you have a group of friends who are all actively playing the game and texting each other about how much of a monster Kojima is for the stuff that happens in the first chapter (maybe this is just me and the four or so people I've talked to while playing, but it's definitely happening), link up through the contracts so you're actively helping each other and not just stranger on the internet.
This post originally appeared on BigFriendly.Guide
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