Hideo Kojima‘s long-anticipated sequel Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is out now on PlayStation 5. While the game itself poses the question of whether the world should be connected, gamers on social media are coming to life with every neat gameplay secret and discovery they unearth in every nook and cranny of the game.
Speaking of connections, io9 spoke with On the Beach composer Ludvig Forssell, whose credits include Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain as well as Mamoru Hosoda‘s 2022 animated film, Belle. Among other topics, we asked about how his musical philosophy evolved to make the sequel’s soundtrack live up to what’s being called an early candidate for game of the year.
Isaiah Colbert, io9: If you had to describe Death Stranding 2’s score in three words, what would they be?
Ludvig Forssell: I’m gonna go ahead and not use adjectives, but rather just words. Expansion, heart, and I would say, headbanging.
io9: As a composer, you greatly influence players by subtly highlighting key moments and quiet periods in gameplay— delivering packages, avoiding ink ghosts, and linking Mexico and Australia by surfing on a coffin. With Death Stranding 2, which emotional themes were crucial for you to emphasize or expand on?
Forssell: One of the most important parts for me with Death Stranding 2 was to give a connection to the emotional parts of the story that are a bit more expansive, again, compared to the first one. I really wanted to make sure that what we gave the player in terms of musicality on the second one was way more not on the sleeve, but a bit more easy to grasp in a way. A bit more straightforward.
io9: You’ve worked closely with Kojima Productions for years. How has your creative shorthand with Hideo Kojima evolved, especially when shaping the musicality of the emotional arc in its sequel?
Forssell: I’ve worked with Mr. Kojima for over 10 years. That relationship has expanded bit by bit. I think, at this point, he is able to give me a lot of freedom to where I’m basically thrown in the deep end at the very get-go like, “Here’s the story. Figure it out yourself and give me something to run with in the game in terms of music.” I’ll be obviously in direct contact with him while delivering things like shooting him emails, [like], “Hey, this is the new cue for this part.” He’ll check it out on his phone or wherever he is.
It’s very much letting me run with things and then we throw them into the game and see if they work or not. Then we might change things up. But generally—even now that I’m working as a freelancer on the game, and obviously not as hands-on with having a dev kid or anything in my house—I’m still given the freedom to use very little information to create something that I perceive and create out of my own mind without too much oversight.
io9: Kojima’s storytelling often blurs the line between surreal and profoundly human, even if actors like Norman Reedus can’t entirely suss out where the story is going in the moment and have to trust that things will pan out. With this being your second go-around for a game like Death Stranding, would you say you’ve cracked what’s going on in its narrative in a way that informs the composing of its music?
... continue reading