After about 50 hours of gameplay I finished Death stranding 2 and come away feeling disappointed. Considering the first game was one of my favourites with such explicit intent this sequel feels like its shed that identity in order to drive mass appeal and as a result the entire game from beginning to end is flat. Figuratively and literally.

So what are the good bits.

Graphics: astounding, it really goes to show using more traditional rendering techniques is still viable and can look great. Extremely sharp visuals with such a high attention to detail the game is astounding pretty much everywhere. The characters still can look a little uncanny at times but for the most part facial features and expressions are the most well realised I've ever seen in a game ever. Eyeball graphics seem to be a staple these days them some good lookin balls. It seems almost all parts of human expression can be conveyed in a digital model it works really well.

And then the bad bits (the rest of the game)

Story: It seems the main goal of the sequel is to close of most (not all) of the plot threads the first game left open. It's wacky its Kojima its filled with some of the best cinematics I've seen him make but its spread very thin over the course of the game. In general the story feels rushed which is absurd for something that spans 50 hours in a way the first game didn't. During episode 8 you basically spend 90% of the game in silence outside of dollman repeating lines maybe some small cutscenes here and there. I do remember DS1 having an episode that lasted a while but it didn't feel as barren as this did.

Also it kinda just has no weight. Not only did kojima spoil Lou's death in the first fucking teaser but its given little impact. She dies. We grieve with Sam for 1 cutscene. Then he's back to work with people telling him to get over it... Bruddah I'M NOT OVER IT. And so ensues a treck across Australia that most of the time feels pointless. Ok so Sam is hallucinating Lou in the pod but we know Lou is dead and so does he Sam himself literally mentions it. But actually we're supposed to believe that Sam doesn't know this............... What... And so goes a romp around Australia with a crying corpse pod that I just ignore with every character being like "u got problems bro" to link up a world i no longer give a shit about. But ahoy Tomorrow turns up and Niel and i basically figure out the rest of the story from the first Cliff Unger scenario encounter.

Then kojima does a metal gear solid 4 reference. Heartman makes a metal gear BT to punch other BTs and then two shirtless men beat each other up at the end of the world with some guitars.

Then the big bad who got ressurected purely to be an antagonist gets eaten by a large Lou oh and something something APAS kinda just came and went and Die Hardman does a silly dance. I understand the lore of the world very well I'm not confused by any of it, it's just a bit shit.

Gameplay: now this is where it really falls off. Its basically just mid metal gear solid 5 you fight so many humans but you're always strapped up to the eyeballs with every weapon imaginable up to and including non lethal rocket launchers, grenade launchers, mgs, snipers. The enemies aren't a threat you're mostly steamrolling them the whole game. BTs you barely interact with and the one mech boss fight you do is repeated 3 times.

Now the delivery my favourite bit they can't fail me on this one.... Except its the worst part of the game. Plotting routes planning equipment none of this is here. You simply acquire the ford f150 and drive it to the end of the game never needing to set foot on ground ever again. Drive around every BT zone drive up vertical inclines gain spike tires to climb to the top of mount everest without ever getting out of the fucking car. The entire purpose of the first game is gone delivery is simply a formality.

Music: all over the place and not thematically consistent like the first games soundtrack. Feels more like Kojimas spotify playlist than anything else.

Conclusion: the game feels like a weak clone of the first like a soulslike trying to capture a mainline dark souls game it just doesn't know what it wants to be. Honestly it feels like Kojima got cold feet and capitulated into making mgs6 lite rather than death stranding which feels extremely off brand.