Many have considered Death Stranding 2: On the Beach to be quite an improvement over its predecessor across various aspects, from gameplay to story. Director Hideo Kojima has revealed that the studio made a conscious decision to have fewer difficulty spikes in the sequel. In an interview with Nikkei Cross Trend, as caught by Automaton Media, Kojima spoke about balancing the general gameplay difficulty of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, and how it has led to there being fewer spots that made players players drop out as they made their way through the game.
A major concern in this regard was ensuring that the gameplay in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach remained faithful to the original, while also giving players more tools to deal with problems that they might face in the game. One example of this was giving players access to more vehicles. “We gave a lot of thought to difficulty,” Kojima said, noting that the original Death Stranding had a few “pretty sharp edges”. “We wanted to retain the theme and gameplay mechanics, but make adjustments so it’s easier to play. That’s why we added more vehicles, for example.”
Kojima also spoke about how the “extreme” design choices of the original Death Stranding were added into the game intentionally. This, he noted, led to two major points of the game’s story that saw players dropping out. He confirmed that one of these points was fairly early in the game, where players have to deliver the dead body of President Bridget Strand to an incinerator in order to be cremated. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach doesn’t really have parts like this that see players dropping off, he said.
On the other hand, Kojima also admitted that smoothing down some of the rougher edges of the original with the sequel also led to “hardcore players” who enjoyed Death Stranding to have a “lukewarm” reception to the sequel. Ultimately, he acknowledged that there is a balancing act that game designers have to pull off when it comes to balancing titles to appeal to more players while also making sure that they don’t alienate their core audience.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach was released on PS5 earlier this year. While neither Kojima Productions nor Sony have confirmed it as of yet, the title is also expected to make its way to PC, especially if the ESRB rating discovered last month is to be believed. For more details about the open-world delivery game, check out our review.
In the meantime, Kojima has also spoken about the future of the Death Stranding franchise. In an interview from back in August, he confirmed that he has no plans to make Death Stranding 3 himself. However, he does have a concept written up for it, and he hopes to see another developer take on the reins of the franchise.
“I have no plans to make [Death Stranding 3] at the moment,” he said. “Because the ending of Death Stranding 2 was my finale of 1 and 2. But I already wrote the concept of DS3. So I have that in data. I hope that someone will create it for me.”
Kojima Productions is working on two titles for now—horror game OD and espionage title Physint.
