Kojima’s “Death Stranding” series has been highly anticipated since its debut, and now the media reviews for “Death Stranding 2: On the Beach” have been released, with IGN France giving the game a score of 6 out of 10.
Summary: “Death Stranding 2” is not a bad game. It is a beautiful game. However, it disappoints in the very aspects that made the original so stunning: it levels the difficulty, making the journey bland and diluting the original’s harsh and memorable experience. Kojima seems to have succumbed to comfort and past criticism, delivering a game that is easier to pick up but lacks the profound meaning of its predecessor. Rather than continuing his vision, it feels like a sign of his fatigue.
Score: 6/10 – Average
Overall: “Death Stranding 2: On the Beach” represents both an affirmation of artistic freedom and a departure from the radical traits of the first game. It is visually stunning and ambitious in content, yet it betrays the core gameplay—now stripped of all tension, risk, and loneliness. The once rugged but engaging gameplay is flattened and oversimplified, betrayed by an abundance of quickly appearing assistive tools, making every journey feel mundane.
Kojima, once a pioneer, seems to have yielded to expectations of ease of use, trapping himself in a museum of personal obsessions—breaking the fourth wall, deconstructing gameplay, and deliberately referencing “Metal Gear”—but never reaching the subversive and boundary-pushing power these elements originally held.
The story remains mysterious and strange but struggles to recapture the emotional connection between Sam and the father-son duo, despite some brilliant moments, especially in its meta-discussion on over-connection: “Should we have connected in the first place?” This line, while showing the author’s intent, is not enough to save a game that, after hours of play, feels like a genius mocking himself.
It is no longer a reinvention but almost a mechanical replay of past discoveries. While this stance can sometimes impress, it leaves a bitter taste: a genius creator no longer embraces the unknown but is content to converse with his own ghosts. Kojima has never been a conventional creator, yet “Death Stranding 2” paradoxically both confirms his artistic independence and betrays the power of his foundational work. Therefore, a score of 6 out of 10 seems the only fair rating, acknowledging its remaining value while mourning what has been lost.
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