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decease Stranding 2 : On The Beachjust came out with a 2nd ten - minute trailer , and it has me convinced that there ’ll never be another subsequence . This new trailer is a lot more melancholy anda lot less bizarre than the last one . It reveals quite a flake about the game ’s level , with a passel less screentime consecrate to showing off its massive all - star cast or its electric guitar - playing Joker - Higgs , although both of them do show up . At this stage , I ’ll eat up up anything Hideo Kojima puts out , but this particular one is dead dripping with his unique visual modality .
The trailer , which divulge preorder details alongsidea release date forDeath Stranding 2 , is bittersweet in many elbow room . There ’s a Metal Gear Rex lookalike . There ’s an appearance by Luca Marinelli , an doer Kojima called " the spitting image of Solid Snake " in a 2020Instagrampost , here seen donning a bandanna and army fatigues . There are some worked up moments between Sam and Fragile , Tomorrow and Higgs - even if we do n’t know the context of use of it all just yet . But there ’s also an strain of finality about it all , which prepare me thinkthis 2nd secret plan could also be the last .
Will There Be A Death Stranding 3? Doesn’t Seem Likely
DS2 Feels Incredibly Final
Honestly , I never really expectedDeath Strandingto plow into an enduring dealership . The first secret plan was great , and the 2d one already looks brilliant - I ca n’t hold off to see what it has in depot . But the world ofDeath Strandingis so unique that each successive secret plan has to totally reinvent itself to preserve the series , and that ’s just not sustainable in the long terminus .
This first continuation is warrant , but thing might get muddy if the series went on too long . The story of the subsequence is likely the gross opposite of the first game : inDeath Stranding , we were rebuilding a fractured society objet d’art by small-arm , quite literally forge connections via the Chiral connection in the humankind ’s first - ever Strand - type game . dying Stranding 2looks to be the perfect escalation of that construct : we rebuilt companionship , so now what ? Was it really worth it ?
Death Stranding 2 will have a phone number of new revolutionary gameplay features , but it is also carry onto some of the regretful ones from the first secret plan .
Just about every plot of land peak I could ’ve opine aDeath Strandingsequel to search seems to be brought up and resolved neatly inDeath Stranding 2 , which makes me thinkthere ’s no need for a sequel . The continuation peeks at spirit before the Death Stranding begin - we see Sam running through a rubble - covered street line with modern cars . It check in on a more or less older Lou , now a blonde - hairy almost - toddler visit tumbling around theMagellan . There ’s a cameo by Deadman in silhouette , Heartman come along to be piloting Metal Gear , and then there ’s whatever ’s pass on with Tomorrow and Higgs .
Like I said , an embarrassment of riches , and one that ’s so thoroughly original it spite . It feel like the ultimate recognition of Kojima ’s vision , and it ’s hard to imagine where his series could go from here . It ’s a world all his own , populate with filmmakers he admire , headed up by his own studio with his own name beplaster all over it . Another adult , triple - A biz would be courteous , but it feels more unrealistic than anything .
There was a time , after initiallylukewarm reception to the firstDeath Stranding , whenKojima verbalize a desire for his production company to start working on smaller - scale projects : simple , non - candid - humanity game , maybe a manga or a motion picture or two . I doubt he ’s let go of that dream , and I could truly see his company be active in that focus afterDeath Stranding 2 . That ’s not to say it ’ll never make another triple - A game , but do n’t be surprised if it pose aside its flagship prop for a while after this next entry .
Death Stranding 2 Is A “Final Journey” In The New Trailer
But Final For Whom?
If nothing else , it seems likeDeath Stranding 2will be the last drive for Norman Reedus ’ Sam Porter Bridges . He undeniably looks a batch older here , even though the continuation is only set eleven month after the ending of the original . Maybe all that Timefall is catching up with him , but either way , he seems to be jell up his departure from the spotlight . I suspect that , if there is ever aDeath Stranding 3 , Sam will only dally a pocket-sized office .
destruction Stranding 2seems to be gearing up to withdraw Sam in the most efficient manner possible , by resolving all his major plot beat from this game and the last one . The trailer feature several especially pensive shooting of Sam : bear on top of lot , looking up at the sky , et cetera . Intermittently , he ’s get word playing with Lou , and even sharing a buss with Fragile .
Death Stranding 2 has a number of refreshing gameplay mechanics , but one in particular is so mindblowing that it could just see it win GOTY .
finally , DS2seems to be resolving feelings that Sam could barely acknowledge in the first game : his paternal instincts and his loneliness . He ’s now provide to be a Fatherhood figure to Lou , unfettered by the unfertile science of Bridge Baby care . And in voiceover , Fragile is even discover guarantee him that he was never alone - his friends and allies were with him the intact sentence .
Besides , the prevue pretty explicitly call this a “ last journey,”which can be interpreted in many ways . It strike me in relation toDeath Stranding 2 ’s connections to Egyptian mythology , in particular theBook of the Dead . In it , death is impersonate as a final journeying each somebody must take in charge , after which they may rest in the afterlife . In a similar venous blood vessel , Death Stranding ’s porter must travel to cremate the bodies of the idle far outside the major city , so that the Chiralium does n’t attract BTs .
SoI would n’t be terribly surprised to seeDeath Stranding 2lining up to kill off Sam , although I do n’t necessarily expect it . An ending like that could be jolly dissatisfactory if fulfill badly . Still , I ’m almost sure it ’s the oddment of his story one manner or another - and he may not be the only one .
Custom image by Katarina Cimbaljevic
DS2 Appears To Be The End Of Kojima’s Story
Kojima May Be Scaling Back
Frankly , it seems to me thatDeath Stranding 2could be Kojima ’s last major release before scaling back his involvementin plot ontogenesis . He ’s now 61 years old , and though he evidence no signs of stop , it ’s exonerated that there are other things he wants to achieve : the allegedly still upcomingDeath Strandingmovie , pluswhateverODis conk out to be .
To be absolved , I do n’t think Kojima will ever fully retire . He himself say in a 2023 post onX(formerly Twitter ) that " there is no retirement , " going on to explain that , for him , creating ideas and telling stories is n’t a task , but effectively his reason for being . That ’s obvious from even a brief coup d’oeil at his lifelong output - he clearly has a strong ride to make , and an incredible work ethic . I would n’t be surprised , though , if he after announce thatDeath Stranding 2was his last big , triple - A video game .
If Kojima continues working on games after the continuation , I ’d rather see him explore new worlds and new idea than have to invent excuses for the continuation ofDeath Stranding . Unsurprisingly , this most recent trailer does seem to be setting up a definitive conclusion inDeath Stranding 2 : On The Beach , but we ’ll have to hold off for freeing to see what ’s really in store .
author : Hideo Kojima / Instagram , Hideo Kojima / X