Death Stranding 2 (PS5) Review - The Essence of Being Human

Right from the start, Death Stranding was never just about moving boxes from one place to another. Its real story digs into how people stay lonely yet yearn to link up, whether through a handshake or a Wi-Fi signal. The game introduces a cast weighed down by past wounds, cautious optimism, and a stack of duties that feels nearly too heavy to carry. Seeing these familiar faces again in Death Stranding 2: On The Beach isn't just for nostalgia; it gives us a chance to explore the scars they're still nursing and the hard-earned lessons they've picked up along the way.

Sam Porter Bridges: The Burden of the Bridge

Sam's trip in the first game showed us reluctant heroism up close. He hated crowds and closeness, yet life kept pushing him into the role of human connector. That made him a walking puzzle-a loner who lived for tying the world back together. We watched him wrestle with painful memories, cope with being a repatriate, and slowly form a tender, almost dad-like bond with Lou. When the credits rolled, he didn't see himself as just a delivery guy anymore; he had become a living spark of hope for a broken humanity.

In Death Stranding 2, the first question fans ask is simple: What happens next? The new trailers show an older, maybe tired-looking Sam still hauling cargo, and that alone tells a story. His new tagline, "On The Beach", nods to the endless grey zone between life and death that the series loves to explore (it is what makes it unique). So, is he still trying to pull people together, or does he now have to fight the problems that closeness created? When the first game wrapped up, the world was stitched together yet still fragile. Peace can be shaky, though, and every new bridge opens the door to fresh dangers.

I'm aging. It's a small tick in the story's clock, yet to me it echoes loud. Time drags on, taking with it victories and scars. So, how much of the old fire burns under his more lined face? Does he chase the same big question, or has the reason-why turned on its head? Lou is no longer a toddler-she towers now, a teenager with her own questions. Does he see her growing up and feel pride, fear, or both? For a man used to shutting doors, letting her in must sting every bit as much as it comforts. Love in a world that hands out loss like candy carries fresh aches with each new bond. The burden of being the last bright candle for everyone else has to press hard on his mind. Did that pressure crack him, or reshape him into something even tougher? If the answer we get skims the surface, it would undo all the quiet strength he worked years to build.

Fragile: From Courier to Commander?

In the first game, Fragile went through a painful story of loss and redemption. Time-fall from Higgs wore her body down, her delivery service fell apart, yet she stayed guided by a strong sense of right and wrong. She and Sam respected each other, worked together out of necessity, and over time turned that working relationship into a real friendship. Fragile was the only one who could read the Beach, steer them past its traps, and in the end, she helped expose and disable the darkest side of Bridges.

Now in Death Stranding 2, she seems like a different person. Fragile leads a group called Drawbridge, and they come off as tougher, even military, compared to the old Fragile Express. That shift is intriguing. Has all she's lived through made her harder? Is she so set on saving others that she feels forced to fight instead of deliver? Little details, for players who buy PS5 games, like the way she looks, suggest either more damage or a new way of living with her scars.

My biggest question right now is whether her big change in attitude really feels natural. Did everything she went through in Death Stranding give her the know-how to steer the Bridges ship on this scale? Or is the author just leaning on her backstory so they can hand her the spotlight when the plot needs a new hero? If her journey is going to hit home, we have to watch her wrestle with the shift instead of only hearing about it. Is the kind-hearted, battle-scarred woman we met still hiding beneath the steel skin she now shows the world? That inner fight should come with real trade-offs, shady choices, and nights spent regretting the price of wearing the crown in a universe that never stops teetering on disaster. Watching her crawl from broken courier to possible commander has to feel like a hard-earned grind, honest to the weight of her mistakes and the new risks knocking at her door.

Cliff Unger: The Lingering Specter of Fatherhood

Cliff Ungers' set-up in the first game was a pure gut punch: a dad willing to break every rule, even space and time, just to guard his little boy. Each time he stepped onto the scene, the haunting, charged moments peeled away another layer of Sam's own strange identity. By the finale, their story looped back on itself in such a bittersweet way that it felt like putting a soft blanket over a really painful wound.

The idea of Cliff appearing as a lingering ghost in Death Stranding 2 is both exciting and shaky for the story. If he shows up, is it really him, or just a memory, or something even stranger? The danger is obvious: bringing him back might water down the punch we felt the first time. His goodbye hit hard because it gave us clear closure.

Yet Hideo Kojima is good at handling fragile moments, so Cliff could add real depth if done right. Maybe he acts like a quiet moral guide for Sam, reminding him how heavy the weight of fatherhood can be. Or maybe Cliff lives on in a more symbolic way, standing for the hurt and love that keep haunting Sam after all these years. For fans who follow every detail, though, the real question isn't whether Cliff shows up but how the game chooses to show him. His role should push Sam forward, give him a fresh lens on the Stranding, and not just recycle old lines or rob the first game's finale of its power. In many ways, Cliffs' legacy-what he stood for-might matter more than a literal ghost walking beside Sam.