It’s been five years since the release of the first Death Stranding, and Hideo Kojima and his team are hard at work with the sequel, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach.
With the first game shrouded in odd iconography and mystery until the release date, it looks like Kojima wants to do the same with the marketing for the sequel. Thanks to the Tokyo Game Show 2024, we have a better look at the game, but despite all of the answers it gives, fans are just left with some more questions.
TGS Showcase for Death Stranding 2
Kojima Productions just released over 20 minutes of footage. While there are only tidbits of gameplay, the trailer spotlights several main players and sets up where Sam Bridges (Norman Reedus) will be at the start of Death Stranding 2.
Who are the Cast of Characters?
Though there are some returning characters from the original game, Death Stranding 2 also gives players some new faces. Players are already familiar with Sam Bridges and his function, but Lea Seydoux’s Fragile also gets a larger role in the sequel than her smaller role in the first game.
They’ll also remember Heartman (Nicolas Winding Refn), who has a more fashionable look and a very functional exoskeleton that lets him sleep on his feet. Speaking of fashionable, Troy Baker is also back as Higgs Monaghan, and he looks way more like an insane clown than his pretty grounded appearance in the first game.
Other new characters include:
Rainy (Shioli Kutsuna) – A crew member of the DHV Magellan who is also pregnant and expecting to be a mother soon.
Tomorrow (Elle Fanning) – A mysterious character in the game who is said to have been brought back from the Realm of the Dead.
Dollman (Fatih Akin) - A consciousness stuck inside a puppet. He is said to be a spirit medium, but he has since lost his powers. He looks to be pretty knowledgeable about the world outside of the UCA, and it does seem like he will be hanging around with Sam while making some humorous/informative commentary—just like Mimir in God of War.
Captain Tarman (George Miller) – The DHV Magellan's captain, also the ship’s doctor. It’s not clear exactly what he is, but he looks to have some kind of special condition that allows him his special abilities—but the crew has to be careful around him.
Miller’s casting is also worth noting since the first game also had a director who acted as a model for a character, Guillermo del Toro, of Hellboy and Shape of Water fame.
Still a Mystery
The preview does a lot of explaining the setting, but the sequel still leaves many mysteries for players to uncover.
Even players who checked out the first game are still pretty confused with what’s going on, but anyone who’s played a Kojima game knows that’s exactly what they can expect from a director like him.
No task has ever been as daunting as trying to make sense of the Metal Gear Solid franchise, but players still love Kojima, and On the Beach looks like he’s back on his usual antics.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is set to release in 2025 for the PS5 and PS5 Pro.