Absolutely incredible stuff. I loved the original and this looks to greatly expand in all areas.

Kojima is one of the best in the business, masterful craftsmanship on display

Decima engine >

Whew - that was a trippy trailer. I remember really enjoying the game, although not quite understanding a large majority of it. Will have to do a heavy DS1 refresh before June.

Damn this game absolutely ROCKS!

Streamlines a bunch of stuff from the original and plays so good....visuals and soundtrack are out of this world

Haven't played it, but the PS5 edition is on PS+ so it's on my to-do list. I hear the updated version is much more accessible... I'm not sure but I heard it does away with lots of stuff that made the first game overly tedious.

So are you just carrying boxes again or is there gameplay this time?

agdoc2001 said:

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So are you just carrying boxes again or is there gameplay this time?

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Woh woh woh! There were also crazy people trying to steal your boxes, so you had to hit them with boxes.

Ok, yea, I see what you're saying….

Seriously though, the BT boss battles were tons of fun. I finished all the achievements. Not sure what it was, but the game really grabbed ahold of me.

Watched this for a quick and helpful recap while I was downloading 2 this afternoon.

Highly recommend the training. The stealth / combat is a little nuanced. Really pretty game so far. The visual clutter with the scans especially during combat. Still trying to figure out the route planning vs marker pinning during prep. Really diggin the early traversal tunes. Just got the 3D print for shelters. Not looking forward to my first BT encounter.

There seems to be a 'strand contract' ability with online players. I suppose it's a good idea to start dropping some signs and racking up some likes. I do like to see the pacifist player routes that venture out wide to avoid hostiles and with plenty of anchors.

I need to look it up - but I don't recall why you'd want to entrust cargo? Maybe you're running out of space or stamina, so instead they deliver it for you and you get 150 likes, rather than delivering it yourself for 300 likes?

I couldn't get through the first game. It just felt like fetch quest after fetch quest. Post apocalyptic UPS video game.

ChemAg15 said:

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I couldn't get through the first game. It just felt like fetch quest after fetch quest. Post apocalyptic UPS video game.

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A lot of people feel that way at first until they open up the entire game. DS2 does a better job at giving you tools right out of the gate.

Death Stranding is amazing when you have a sandbox at your disposal to make deliveries. Yes, it's "fetch quests" but they are very fun especially if you're building the world and making things easier as things go along.

They do want you to feel some sense of painful isolation at first, and then you come to appreciate unlocking and building everything up.

So unique and fun IMHO. DS2 is still that core game but every aspect of it much more polished.

I made it about 3 hours into the first DS and got overwhelmed. Meant to revisit but never picked it back up.

That said, I'm about 2 hours into DS2 and it's very good so far.

I'm hooked on DS2. The combat in this is awesome and so far the deliveries haven't felt like a slog unlike how I felt about the first game. Good QoL updates that improve the gameplay loop across the board. The art direction is great and the graphics are the most realistic yet of any game in this generation.

GOTY contender for me.

Awesome to hear! I'm in the camp who really liked the first DS and had forgotten about this sequel but I'll definitely be getting this.

A core memory for me in the first DS and when it hit me what this game really was was this:

I remember having to get through this forest/wooded area to complete a main mission and the BTs were everywhere…it was the first really stressful encounter with those things….and the area I was getting to was a dead end so the entire time I'm in that safe area I was dreading leaving having to endure that again….

Whelp…after I'm back outside (and done connecting the strands for that area) I was greeted by a massive bridge going over that whole area that someone else on the server I was on had built for everyone! So needless to say that thing had a ton of likes and I added mine to it….

And those type of experiences happened more and more throughout the game (I did my part by building tons of roads later on) and made for such a unique experience I'll never forget.

Having a lot of fun paving roads as soon as I unlock an area and getting swamped with likes. 100K likes and still pretty early on I'd say (Early in the new continent, IYKYK)

Also - I've had several encounters with the watchers - but haven't gotten tangled enough with them to have them spawn the catcher. You can make this game what you want really - you can stock up on guns/ nades/ ammo and go clear an area out (probably good for harvesting boat loads of chiral quickly) - but I'm over here overloading my Cruiser truck and upgrading mines and roads as quickly as possible.

Never played the game and am trying to get an idea of what it is. From the videos that I have seen it just seems like a DoorDosh sim in space or on another planet?

Is there a story that you follow or just basically do whatever you want to do? Is it all online or can you play it as a stand alone offline?

There is a story to follow that is actually very well-paced vs. the first Death Stranding game which I thought started slowly.

You can choose to play offline if you'd like. Playing online allows you to benefit from and give back to the other players that happen to be on the same server as you in terms of building infrastructure.

There are side quests and there is so much to do outside of just delivering packages and outside of the critical path.

The most pleasant surprise for me was how good the combat is. You can approach encounters from nearly infinite angles and use different strategies

ETA: you don't have to have played the first Death Stranding to be able to play Death Stranding 2. There is a good recap on the main Home Screen before you start the game

Downloaded it and started planning….at the point where you're about to crossover to Australia…

Funny enough while playing and getting ready to take deadman's delivery back to my base I had randomly asked my kids, "hey you think Lou is gonna die in this game?" Well….crap…..found out my answer pretty fast…that sucked man….

I'm somewhere around 40% of the way through the game. This weekend I've put in about 8 hours, and none of that has been advancing the story. I connected the monorail and now I'm addicted to upgrading the mines and building highways

I'm in no rush to get back to the main story.
This game is just so good

Ghost of Bisbee said:

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I'm somewhere around 40% of the way through the game. This weekend I've put in about 8 hours, and none of that has been advancing the story. I connected the monorail and now I'm addicted to upgrading the mines and building highways

I'm in no rush to get back to the main story.
This game is just so good

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Your gonna convince to me to get this game

Playing through the 1st game (Directors Cut) on PS5... what a goofy game!!! It definitely helps to know that, going into it, you are gonna have no clue WTF is going on.

I'm maybe a dozen hours in and I understand the story well enough to enjoy the game for what it is. And I had a nice verbal laugh when the "full reveal" of the body fluid grenades was made. At first it was just #0 from showers... I didn't think anything about it. But then when the happy/chirpy scientist went on to explain the #1 and #2 I lost it.

Friggin Kojima man!

This game is a complete timesink.

Had a buddy of mine come down from Dallas - "Oh, you're playing that walking simulator?" After about an hour or so and getting through the difficult UI, think he finally came around and started to 'get it'.

Some random questions I've come across in my inventory journey - probably easily answered through Reddit but I'd rather not:

• Private Lockers: Are these unlimited storage? Trying to determine what's the difference in storing 1000 metals in my 'Private Locker' versus contributing these to the facilities 'storage'.
• Private Locker on Magellan - assuming that's unlimited as well. I have a metric **** ton of materials in there
• So it would behoove you NOT to storage a ton of things in a PL in far remote facility - but rather leave them in a larger fort / distribution center.
• Depending on my mood - I'm trying to progress the story by adding folks to the Chiral Network - or I'm busy paving / upgrading roads and mines along the way
• Standard Orders - there seems to be a finite amount of Standard Orders per facility. A perfect score gives you a S tier rating - but I see on some standard order areas there is a LLL (vs LL). Not sure what to make of that.
• I've gotten into a habit of dropping off lost cargo and entrusting to other porters - as I'm assuming the last cargo items are infinite and can always be picked up and returned to further increase your star rating for a facility

I think PLs have unlimited storage. I tend to store extra inv in the Magellan since it can fast travel.

Yes, I do know lost cargo is unlimited.

Does anyone know how long it takes for a level 3 mine to produce an XL of minerals if you're not manually feeding it chiral crystals?

I'm assuming there's a metals mine at some point. So far I have the small ceramics mine, the big resins mine, and the big special alloys mine.

I've been spending so much time extending roads and the trolly deal…and on top of that setting up routes to deliver all the lost cargo that pops up…I got my first location up to a 5-star rating and trying to get a few others there….

Hell I may go back to Mexico to shoot up the ratings at those places to improve whatever materials I can build from there now that I got way better gear….

Quick google cleared up (Legend of Legends)

In Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, the "L" ranks (L, LL, and LLL) refer to the player's performance on Premium Deliveries.

• L (Legend): Achieved by completing Premium Deliveries on Normal difficulty.
• LL (Legend of Legends): Earned by successfully completing Premium Deliveries on Hard difficulty.
• LLL (Legend of Legends of Legends): The highest and most prestigious rank, awarded for completing Premium Deliveries on Very Hard difficulty.

cr0wbar said:

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• Private Lockers: Are these unlimited storage? Trying to determine what's the difference in storing 1000 metals in my 'Private Locker' versus contributing these to the facilities 'storage'.

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I'm currently playing the first one but I'm assuming it's the same for 2... the only difference is that when you contribute the metals to the facilities it increases the facility rank and you get "likes" and experience for it.

You are always able to reclaim and use a facilities materials when it's time to build something so it's still readily available. If you are at a facility, always give it to them, not your locker.

Would I enjoy if I never played the first game?

I was never able to get into any of Kojima's previous games, but this one is totally different for me.

Do you like Norman Reedus?

Do you like open worlds?

If you don't like open world games, you won't like this.

I'd say if you don't mind open world games and can suspend disbelief with the story, you should absolutely try this

Feel like they took the good & the bad from the 1st and improved upon all aspects. I can appreciate what Hideo and team are doing with the story - it doesn't make a lot of sense to begin with - it's not vitally important to play DS1 before DS2. There is a YT video floating around with a decent enough recap of the storylines from the 1st

easttexasaggie04 said:

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Would I enjoy if I never played the first game?

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They say that you don't need to play the first one, but it's on PS+ for "free" if you wanted to try it. I just started a few days ago and it wasn't an instant hook, but it's got multiple really great qualities and I'm definitely enjoying it now.

I need to break away and play more Helldivers with you!

Is anyone actually OCD enough to go back to all your roads again and upgrade to Level 2? I saw that and quickly decided I was just going to build the full highway system to level 1

So - I might've spent last weekend dumping 4K Ceramics and 2K chemicals into upgrading my roads to level 2. The mule camp next to Heartman's lab had the audacity to drive down the road I just upgraded to try and kill me. I rearranged their camp with my grenade pistol. Ungrateful asses

LOL

now I feel like I have to do this

God dammit

cr0wbar said:

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So - I might've spent last weekend dumping 4K Ceramics and 2K chemicals into upgrading my roads to level 2. The mule camp next to Heartman's lab had the audacity to drive down the road I just upgraded to try and kill me. I rearranged their camp with my grenade pistol. Ungrateful asses

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whats the benefit to upgrading them to level 2?

and please tell me there's a mine somewhere that gives you metal at some point because dang i could use that convenience right about now.....

Northeastern Mine does Metals (Out by Motherhood)

Level 2 Roads - give you a canopy that protects from timefall and your speed boosts go maybe ~15-20% faster.

Worth it? Probably not, but I'm enjoying the completionist aspect of it.