Death Stranding 2: What's Returning (and Why We're Not Excited!)
Death Stranding 2: A Kojima Masterpiece…With Some Serious Baggage!
Death Stranding 2 is shaping up to be…well, wonderfully weird. It's the sequel to a game that delighted Kojima fans, earned some new converts and puzzled everyone else! A unique blend of deep gameplay and crazy sci-fi, this initial release really stood out in the gaming community. This sequel? It’s even weirder, with tons of new features for diehard fans. Yet some serious problems remain from the first game – problems that didn’t disappear.
This new title offers lots of insane new features which should delight anyone already familiar and who enjoyed that first release! Yet it retains some of its predecessor's least-liked features; not the typical gameplay issues; but the much larger issues involved, most significantly with product placement; and the numerous celeb cameos—which become increasingly pointless when you re-examine it! This article reveals why some of those original elements should not return.
Death Stranding 2: Those Pointless, Distracting Cameos
Like its predecessor, Death Stranding 2 has those celebrity cameos; even including renowned director George Miller (known for Mad Max!). This includes some returning actors from Death Stranding (such as Nicolas Winding Refn's Heartman), adding intrigue. Many fans will not notice a distinction however! That initial game used tons of cameos. These however are just mere name-drops, mostly pointless, not even performed by those original celebrities! The cameos themselves detract from this surreal world! That includes George Miller’s Tarman (portrayed by Marty Rhone) and Heartman (Darren Jacobs), this illustrates some significant issues, making them just silly; almost like gratuitous displays of celebrity.
Only Conan O'Brien actually appeared (as The Wandering MC) in the first game— adding surprising humorous elements! Those other cameos feel forced and gratuitous; especially for simple moments, this includes showing unnecessary details that seem silly and ultimately meaningless– further demonstrating how Kojima's love for showing-off his celebrity connections feels more like over-indulgent self-promotion rather than clever integration for improving storytelling; detracting and removing immersion rather than aiding it, especially when trying to convey that intense and deep world which requires that sense of intense connection and believable reality.
Product Placement: Death Stranding 2's Return of Unnecessary Marketing
Death Stranding was heavily criticized due to product placement; particularly noticeable was Monster Energy and Norman Reedus' then-upcoming projects. Most of this got removed but this failed to satisfy critics and audiences; who recognized the negative impact this intrusive marketing had; negatively affecting the gaming experience; causing an initially immersive world become strangely unbelievable and impacted player immersion negatively, creating a strangely unwelcome moment for some. Sadly, the sequel looks like it’s going that same way, collaborating once again with Acronym; releasing its unbelievably expensive jackets for a very, very limited release and very, very limited run! This alone demonstrates just why this product placement shouldn't continue.
While that is not proof there are more of those elements coming later, that Acronym collaboration– that hugely expensive jacket promotion– creates doubts. This could entirely be a cost-cutting method to offset development budgets, even if that might look as if it becomes a conscious attempt for these projects becoming a cinematic adaptation; creating doubts whether its main game objective is storytelling or a possible revenue-gathering opportunity, causing significant doubts about this sequel’s main priorities; potentially suggesting creative quality over revenue.
Death Stranding 2's Biggest Risks: A Sequel That Could Fail
Death Stranding 2 is incredibly strange— even weirder than before! Those unfamiliar with the original will probably hate it! Its intense, complex storytelling and the need for additional references (a two-part novelization and many hours of YouTube videos attempting to make sense of that storyline). That alone makes entry quite hard. That doesn’t make the original game bad (it is great!); yet that extremely convoluted storyline necessitates players to have done some pre-game preparation just to enjoy it properly.
The sequel involves this weird mix of returning characters—such as the guitarist Higgs— strange conversations involving kids, "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" puppets, etc! Adding pointless elements; it's going to drive some players away. Those already mentioned cameos, those unwelcome intrusive moments for product marketing will only worsen matters. It seems likely this sequel is repeating its own mistakes! Death Stranding almost pulled it off. This might not. Hopefully, that doesn’t really happen.
Conclusion: Death Stranding 2 Should Leave the Bad Stuff Behind
Death Stranding 2 has those huge strengths. Yet the same creative choices responsible for those incredibly frustrating experiences from its initial release remain present. This sequel might fail because of those pointless additions and these easily avoidable mistakes from the earlier versions, most notably that bizarre product marketing and unwelcome celebrity inclusion. Let’s hope Kojima learns from its past, because otherwise this next entry runs the risk of replicating those previous creative decisions which negatively affected that initial game; possibly destroying its reception. While fans might find certain elements acceptable and might eagerly await its launch date, some others really require a lot of critical changes to make that next title not only good, but successful and highly regarded in this very competitive marketplace of modern videogames!
