I loved the first Death Stranding. Kojima Productions’ debut sits alongside Astro Bot and Gran Turismo 7 as my favorite PlayStation console exclusives in recent memory.
Coming off the high of Astro Bot late last year, I impulse-upgraded my PS5 to a Pro. I tried a few games, felt honestly whelmed, and went back to my PC after the launch month (see also: my experience with Switch 2). PS+ subscriptions have expired, controllers have gone uncharged, and my PS5 Pro had not been played over the past 10 months or so.
Death Stranding 2 released at a not great time for me, so despite my love of the original, I generally ignored it, going as far as to mute the title and related terms on Bluesky. I figured I’d play the inevitable PC port. I’m a grown man, I can wait.
Turns out what broke me was the sale price of $50 I spotted while getting groceries at Target yesterday. I saw that price, that cover, and could not deny Kojima any longer. I found a man in red to open the case.
After installing the Blu-ray-Key-Card, I jumped in and was immediately impressed. The game looked incredible on my TV via the Pro, running at a smooth 60fps (and I only had to change *one* graphics setting in the options menu. Take that PC gaming)! (jk personal computer gaming, ilu). The snappy interface (no shader compilation here) and excellent DualSense functionality is making me think that maybe I should use this PS Penta Professional more often.
I’ve only played a few hours so far, but Death Stranding 2 is delivering like a porter. The game starts pure “take it or leave it” Death Stranding and then just starts throwing QoL features at you. There’s probably some pushback on this somewhere, but I did my time and finished the original, so whatever. Less friction here allows me to focus on the story, mechanics, and world; something I struggled with in the first game.
Sometimes returning to a platform after ignoring it for a while just reminds you why you ignored it in the first place (i.e. every time I spend 20 minutes hooking my Wii U up). But other times, like now, I find myself re-evaluating and appreciating a console that I wasn’t even thinking about enough to have buyer’s remorse. Thank you $20 Death Stranding 2 price cut for showing me the true meaning of my $800 console.
Played and captured on a PS5 Pro (obvs).
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