Death Stranding 2, the follow-up to Hideo Kojima's 2020 surreal post-apocalyptic survival game Death Stranding expands on the first game with some meaningful quality of life upgrades, as well as earlier access to some of its more useful tools.
However, Death Stranding 2 is still a very unique game with a lot of quirky elements gamers will have to wrap their heads around as they spend the next 50-plus hours walking across Australia, the setting for the sequel. After spending around 20 hours with the game, here are 18 tips you should remember before starting -- a lot of advice for a game with a ton of quirks.
The recap video found on the main menu Sean Booker
Watch the recap video
From the main menu you can select to catch yourself up on what happened in the first game with their Recap video. Strangely enough, this video doesn't actually spoil much of the story beats from the first game. Moreso, it paints a broad picture of the main quest Sam went on and some of the characters he worked with. In fact, almost everything in the video is told to the player in the first five hours of Death Stranding 1. So if you're playing this before finishing the first game and are worried about having it ruined for you, it's actually pretty safe to watch.
Crouch has changed inputs
One of the most important actions Sam will need to perform is crouching. There are plenty of moments of stealth in the game and this time around they've changed the button command. Instead of the circle button in DS1 you'll now need to hit R1 to crouch.
Play more aggressively from the start
One of my favorite aspects of DS2 is that its beginning portion is nowhere near as slow as the first game's. In fact, you get access to a gun and a vehicle within the first couple of missions. This means you can move much faster, carry more cargo, and don't have to avoid/hide from enemies as much. Feel free to play more aggressively from the get go this time around.
Cutscene management
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