Is Death Stranding 2 Good For Beginners?
If you didn’t finish or never played Death Stranding, should you consider playing Death Stranding 2?
I played about half of Death Stranding, enjoyed my time, but for whatever reason stopped playing and never returned. With the launch of Death Stranding 2 upon us, the answer I wanted to find was if Death Stranding 2 was good for beginners? Is it good for people that never played the original or like me, never finished the game?
After spending a handful of hours with Death Stranding 2 and experiencing what it has to offer so far, I think I have a good answer.
HOW DEATH STRANDING 2 WELCOMES NEW PLAYERS
To begin with at the start screen, you have the option to get a recap from 17 different slides that are narrated and try to get you filled in on what happened in Death Stranding. It’s still a lot of information, but it’s relatively succinct and digestible.
There is also multiple levels of difficulty with the the default being standard. Below that is a beginner difficulty with combat and gameplay being tuned down. There is also a story mode below that, which is just for people who want to enjoy the story and not have to worry about combat and other gameplay mechanics that push back against the player.
There is also the option to play online or offline. I chose offline because I wanted to experience the world and figure out my own way of navigating. Ironically, this might be counterintuitive to the reconnecting theme of Death Stranding.
Finally, once you are in the game, there is something called a Corpus. This is basically your glossary that gets filled up every time you learn something new. From what something does in the world to who someone is. It’s very handy as Death Stranding 2 is constantly throwing new terms and information at you. A lot of times it's just a different term for something you already understand such as calling a glossary a corpus.
After a few hours with Death Stranding 2, it feels like much more of a game than the first one did. I have already had to use stealth, combat, and plan routes. There is also appears to be a better balance of gameplay, story and cutscenes.
I am having a great time and I personally find myself to be enjoying it the most when I am taking it slow and typically one delivery at a time. The game feels more digestible in small chunks, as you want to take your time with the deliveries, the scenarios and you have time to digest the narrative, instead of rushing through everything.
Death Stranding 2 is a game with a high bar to entry as it asks a lot of the player in terms of mechanics and plot, but I feel confident in saying that if you want to play the sequel, it welcomes you, no matter your experience of the series or skill level.
