The review embargo for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach expired today at 5 a.m. (PDT) and critic reviews have been trickling in all morning. With 103 reviews submitted so far, the next game from Metal Gear Solid visionary Hideo Kojima is currently sitting at a Metascore of 90, beating both its 2019 predecessor and the Death Stranding: Director’s Cut that achieved scores of 82 and 85, respectively.
Here’s what some of the reviews had to say.
TechRadar Gaming | Score: 100
“Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is a great example of a sequel that expands on the original without losing sight of it. The traversal is still the star of the show, while the action has been significantly improved without taking over the experience. While a conventional plot takes the back seat for a more character-driven story, the new cast of characters and a phenomenal final third act stick the landing with prime Hideo Kojima bombast.”
IndieWire | Score: 95
“Some might continue to scoff at a franchise that asks you to play as an Amazon deliveryman, but I found greater — and richer — satisfaction in this glorified walking simulator than I have in just about any other open-world video game I’ve ever played.”
IGN | Score: 90
“Yes, at times, it is unapologetically weird – but that isn't what defines it. It's an inventive journey packed full of both shock and awe, the sort of bold work that deserves to be encouraged. No, it isn't perfect, but it's incredibly exciting and original, never once straying from the path less trodden, and I love it all the more for it.”
Game Informer | Score: 88
“Death Stranding 2 is a game with faults and annoyances, but it also makes big, expensive swings and is trying to establish its own unique genre, often successfully.”
Eurogamer | Score: 80
“A busier, louder, and more emotionally resplendent take on this singular hiking sim.”
GameSpot | Score: 70
“Toward the end of the story, I began to see Death Stranding 2 as a commentary on how even novel ideas can reach a little further if presented via a more hospitable experience. There's an emphasis on repetition that permeates the story, both in the routine involved in preparing yourself for deliveries, and Sam being a Repatriate who can resurrect after dying. Seeing familiar narrative beats and character archetypes repeat themselves in the sequel feeds into this reading, but also puts constraints on its potential.”
Funnily enough, the universal acclaim for On the Beach may come as an unwanted surprise for Kojima. In a Rolling Stone interview with Woodkid, a co-composer on Death Stranding 2, he revealed that Kojima went so far as to make script and game feature changes after test audiences were praising the game too much.
“And he changed stuff in the script and the way some crucial stuff [happens] in the game because he thought his work was not polarizing and not triggering enough emotions,” Woodkid shared with Rolling Stone. “And he said, ‘If everyone likes it, it means it’s mainstream. It means it’s conventional. It means it’s already pre-digested for people to like it. And I don’t want that. I want people to end up liking things they didn’t like when they first encountered it, because that’s where you really end up loving something.’ And that was really a lesson for me; not doing stuff to please people, but to make them shift a little bit and move them.”
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach launches on PlayStation 5 this week on Thursday, June 26.