Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach sees Hideo Kojima do something he rarely has done in the past—repeat himself. Each Metal Gear Solid provided a wildly different mechanical and systemic experience to the last, whereas Death Stranding 2 very much feels like more Death Stranding, structurally identical to the last game. It also sees him reference his prior work on Metal Gear more than ever before. What if, however, through this repetition, Kojima was trying to tell a story on the level of Sons of Liberty? What if Neil Vana is actually Solid Snake? What if Death Stranding 2 is actually the sequel to the Phantom Pain we've been waiting a decade for?!
Or, what if Kojima wants us to move on from Metal Gear Solid altogether?
In this analysis of Death Stranding 2, let's talk about how the structural similarities between the first game and its sequel allow Kojima to tell a much more personal story about grief than before, and crucially, how the game's constant references to Metal Gear Solid and what came before, make us feel Sam's grief too, encouraging us to move on in the same way.
Death Stranding 2 early review code provided by PlayStation. This video contains spoilers for Death Stranding 2.
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Support the show on Patreon - patreon.com/writingongames
Podcast - http://anchor.fm/writingongamescast
Second Channel - youtube.com/channel/UC1xxfS_HILi09yaELQdmV1A
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0:00 - Intro and spoiler warning
0:16 - Sam Porter Bridges walks on decayed ground
4:01 - Death Stranding 2 is a game about grief
6:28 - It's also an absolute blast to play
10:04 - A far more personal story
13:04 - Sam's grief is conveyed through mechanics
17:03 - Combat in Death Stranding 2
19:16 - Is Death Stranding 2 secretly a new Metal Gear Solid game?
21:48 - Is Neil Vana really Solid Snake?!
23:07 - Kojima's most exciting ending in decades
24:53 - Kojima wants you to move on from Metal Gear Solid (ENDING SPOILERS)
27:06 - Repetition tells a story, one step at a time
31:05 - Outro
#deathstranding2 #deathstranding2onthebeach #hideokojima #metalgearsolid #deathstranding2pc
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach sees Hideo Kojima do something he rarely has done in the past—repeat himself. Each Metal Gear Solid provided a wildly different mechanical and systemic experience to the last, whereas Death Stranding 2 very much feels like more Death Stranding, structurally identical to the last game. It also sees him reference his prior work on Metal Gear more than ever before. What if, however, through this repetition, Kojima was trying to tell a story on the level of Sons of Liberty? What if Neil Vana is actually Solid Snake? What if Death Stranding 2 is actually the sequel to the Phantom Pain we've been waiting a decade for?!
Or, what if Kojima wants us to move on from Metal Gear Solid altogether?
In this analysis of Death Stranding 2, let's talk about how the structural similarities between the first game and its sequel allow Kojima to tell a much more personal story about grief than before, and crucially, how the game's constant references to Metal Gear Solid and what came before, make us feel Sam's grief too, encouraging us to move on in the same way.
Death Stranding 2 early review code provided by PlayStation. This video contains spoilers for Death Stranding 2.
---
Support the show on Patreon - patreon.com/writingongames
Podcast - http://anchor.fm/writingongamescast
Second Channel - youtube.com/channel/UC1xxfS_HILi09yaELQdmV1A
---
0:00 - Intro and spoiler warning
0:16 - Sam Porter Bridges walks on decayed ground
4:01 - Death Stranding 2 is a game about grief
6:28 - It's also an absolute blast to play
10:04 - A far more personal story
13:04 - Sam's grief is conveyed through mechanics
17:03 - Combat in Death Stranding 2
19:16 - Is Death Stranding 2 secretly a new Metal Gear Solid game?
21:48 - Is Neil Vana really Solid Snake?!
23:07 - Kojima's most exciting ending in decades
24:53 - Kojima wants you to move on from Metal Gear Solid (ENDING SPOILERS)
27:06 - Repetition tells a story, one step at a time
31:05 - Outro
#deathstranding2 #deathstranding2onthebeach #hideokojima #metalgearsolid #deathstranding2pc
