Sony’s State of Play conference had a whole ton of exciting announcements, including a very lengthy trailer for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. This will not be a prequel centered around Fragile like we’d originally thought, though it will still have some focus on her backstory. It’s a direct continuation of the Death Stranding story, and follows Sam’s journey to connect the whole world.
In typical Kojima fashion, this trailer is cryptic as hell and there’s a lot going on. So here are six tiny details you might’ve missed in the new Death Stranding 2: On the Beach trailer.
Fragile and Her BT Smokes
Now we’re not sure this will actually have any effect on gameplay, but we couldn’t help but notice that Fragile — played by Lea Seydoux — had some pretty cool-looking cigarettes and smoke effects. Towards the end of the trailer, her hand mask lights a cigarette, she takes a puff, blows out the smoke, and we get a glimpse of little smoke BTs before they dissipate.
Knowing Kojima, this could very well just be there to add a bit of flavor to the game, but it’s cool nonetheless. Now, all I want is for Sam to get cigarettes in Death Stranding 2 and smoke out little BTs as well.
Dynamic Flooding Mechanics
Needless to say, the new terrains and environments in Death Stranding 2 look insane. They’re looking way more dynamic now, with swamps, mountains, and even new weather effects. In the first game, rain just meant that BB would be impaired and you’d be more likely to run into BTs. But now, we have avalanches and floods as well, and these can damage the structures you’ve built around the world.
Put that together with potential BT encounters and boss fights, and Death Stranding 2 could very well take combat to the next level.
More Guns, More Action
Speaking of combat, it’s no secret that the first game was largely criticized for just being one giant fetch quest simulator. While I personally enjoyed that style of gameplay, it seems clear that there will be a lot more action and combat in Death Stranding 2.
The trailer starts off with Fragile showing Sam around the ship, and the first thing we see is a cabin full of guns and other weapons. Even Higgs notes that Sam’s traded his rope for a stick, indicating that this game will likely be more offense-oriented. The combat in the first game was fine, but nothing special; if Death Stranding 2 is able to make combat feel more interesting with increased weapon variety and enemy types, then I’m all for that.
There’s Cooking
This is one of those blink and you might miss it moments, but towards the end of the trailer, we get a shot of Sam flipping something on a frying pan before he gets interrupted by his whale roomba. With his personal quarters and facilities looking to have expanded in Death Stranding 2, it seems likely that we’ll have more activities to engage in in-between missions.
I, for one, would be very excited to have cooking be a thing in the sequel. Simple things like cooking meals for increased buffs or benefits for an upcoming expedition would be neat, and I’d imagine that a game like Death Stranding would be able to offer up some very interesting recipes for players to try out.
That Ninja Got Possessed by Lou
In that very weird scene where Higgs busts out an electric guitar to fight off a rogue ninja, we hear a small giggle that sounds very similar to Lou’s little laughs from the first game. This happens right after Sam and Higgs have a very brief chat about Lou’s fate as well, which leads us to believe that Lou must’ve somehow possessed the ninja unit to protect Sam.
While the ending of the first game implied that Lou might’ve survived after all, it’s still unclear exactly what happened with her after that, and we may be missing a few pieces in the story puzzle here. Still, Lou’s possession of the ninja is interesting to say the least, and may have some strong implications for what this means for the story.
Elle Fanning Is Totally Lou
Finally, speaking of Lou, there’s still one big mystery to solve in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. Elle Fanning is a new addition to the cast, but we still don’t know anything about her character. We see that she was rescued from the beach by Fragile and Drawbridge, but that’s it.
However, there might be a hint to be found at the end of the trailer. She shows up quite prominently right after the fight between Higgs and the ninja, and is seen eavesdropping on Sam and Fragile as they talk about how she was rescued. With Lou’s fate still up in the air, we wouldn’t be surprised if Elle Fanning’s character turned out to be the adult version of Lou, with time travel shenanigans in play.
And those are all of the little details in the Death Stranding 2: On the Beach trailer you might’ve missed. Any theories on where the story is going? Let us know in the comments down below.
