Death Stranding 2: On the Beach Feature Scores
Explore all 75 feature scores for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, organized into pros and cons.
Scores by Feature
Summary
75 reviewed features-
Very positive 4.5-5.041 (55%)
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Positive 3.5-4.424 (32%)
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Neutral 2.5-3.410 (13%)
Pros
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Graphics quality receives near-universal acclaim, with reviewers repeatedly calling it gorgeous, stunning, or among the best-looking games on PS5/PC.
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Soundtrack quality is strongly praised, from licensed tracks to Ludvig Forssell/Woodkid scoring and emotionally timed music.
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Voice acting is one of the strongest consensus positives, with performances frequently called excellent, memorable, or world-bringing.
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Asynchronous multiplayer is one of the clearest strengths, making players feel connected through structures, roads, likes, and shared effort.
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The open world is repeatedly praised as varied, beautiful, and more densely interesting, with Australia seen as a stronger setting than before.
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Environmental detail is consistently praised for texture, variety, visual density, and natural effects.
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Performance optimization is praised across PS5 and PC, including smooth performance mode, strong PC scaling, and polished port work.
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The cast/character roster is widely praised as excellent, quirky, memorable, and performance-rich, with a few mixed views on newer characters.
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Community features receive strong praise for likes, shared structures, monorails, roads, and the sense of helping unseen players.
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Facial animation evidence is uniformly positive, with reviewers highlighting detailed faces, capture, and rendered human contact.
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The delivery loop is often called addictive, satisfying, and more approachable, with dissent focused on repetition rather than the basic loop itself.
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Stealth is broadly praised as deeper, more flexible, and more fun, with many reviewers comparing the expanded toolkit favorably to Kojima’s stealth legacy.
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Atmosphere is a major strength, ranging from meditative and haunting to warm, strange, and emotionally resonant.
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Movement and hiking retain a distinctive physical weight that many reviewers loved, even when vehicles reduce how often players need to walk.
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Frame-rate stability is consistently positive, with reviewers citing smooth 60fps, high PC frame rates, and handheld stability.
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Boss design earns frequent praise for spectacle and improvement, though some reviewers found bosses simple or out of place.
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Sound design is very highly rated for immersive environmental audio, rain, wind, footsteps, and overall atmosphere.
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Exploration is strongly praised for making Australia exciting, scenic, and rewarding to traverse, especially when routes and vistas click.
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Emotional impact is usually strong, driven by sincerity, human stories, and moving payoffs, but not every reviewer felt affected.
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Reviewers generally describe the broader mechanics as substantially refined and more approachable, though one review found the gameplay disappointing despite the spectacle.
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Combat is widely seen as tighter and more viable than before, but several reviewers still found it basic, intrusive, or less compelling than traversal.
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Narrative quality is highly divisive: many praise the story as memorable and emotional, while others find it muddled, messy, or unsatisfying.
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Fun factor trends positive, with many reviewers calling the sequel more fun, though some still did not personally connect with it.
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Mission variety is praised for fresher cargo conditions, hazards, and delivery setups, though some reviewers still noted simplification.
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Supporting characters are often praised for nuance and memorable moments, though one review felt they were underused.
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Originality remains high, with reviewers praising bold creativity, even as some say the sequel is safer than the first.
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Animation quality is strongly praised through motion capture, character animation, and facial/body performance work.
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Platform-specific support is excellent in cited reviews, covering deep PC settings, controller support, and full DualSense implementation.
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Controls are mostly praised as more refined, smoother, and less cumbersome, including PC input support, with only minor complexity caveats.
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Polish is praised through refined systems, a smooth PC port, and an almost flawless technical presentation.
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Dynamic weather, terrain hazards, and reactive routes add life and variety, though one critic felt some additions gesture at depth without enough substance.
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Pacing is mixed: many reviews praise improved mission or story momentum, while others call the narrative slow, muddled, or filler-heavy.
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Vehicles are praised for handling better and arriving earlier, though several reviewers felt driving can trivialize the hiking-focused identity.
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Enemy variety is mostly praised for new forms and loadouts, but at least one review felt bandits and BTs were too familiar.
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Reviewers praise expanded tools, weapons, boots, and unlockable options, making the sequel feel broader than the first game.
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Haptic/DualSense integration is praised as highly immersive through controller feedback, speaker use, and adaptive triggers.
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Immersion is strongly praised, with reviewers describing effortless absorption and deeply lingering experiences.
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Visual effects are praised as incredible, with weather, landscapes, and special effects repeatedly singled out.
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Menu usability is improved overall, especially radial menus and reworked menus, though some still found systems fiddly or clunky.
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Onboarding is praised for clearer instructions, a stronger opening, and a better job of pulling players into the systems.
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Upgrade systems are praised for flexible perks and incentives that help tailor traversal, stealth, and combat approaches.
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World-building is praised as bizarre, imaginative, and distinctive, though one review criticized gaps in cultural representation.
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Dollman’s companion role is strongly praised for scouting, advice, and personality, making the journey feel less lonely.
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Progression is praised for faster unlock pacing and more forgiving advancement that keeps deliveries rewarding.
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Skill-tree and APAS-style systems are praised for rewarding playstyle choices and allowing situational re-specs.
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Art direction is strongly praised, especially the detailed vistas and rugged depiction of Australia.
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Social features are praised where likes and player feedback create a warm, positive network of encouragement.
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Character development is praised where reviewers saw Sam relying on others more and the sequel deepening characterization.
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User interface design is praised for thoughtful fictional UI and a radial menu that makes road management easier.
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Accessibility-adjacent options, especially boss skips and a more accessible sequel structure, are treated positively by reviewers who mentioned them.
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Fast travel is useful and convenient through the Magellan and waypoint systems, though some restrictions and grading tradeoffs remain.
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Reviewers praise the sequel’s inventive systems, unusual world, and a gameplay structure that few other games attempt.
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Load times receive a perfect single-review score for near-seamless transitions between menu, cutscenes, and gameplay.
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Map and navigation design gets strong praise from the Route Simulator and more convenient route planning.
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One reviewer praised the sequel for preserving the franchise’s heart and soul while expanding its systems.
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Level and environment design is praised for being more thoughtful and confident in how it leverages traversal.
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Grind level is rated positively by one reviewer who felt the game can be enjoyed at the player’s own pace without grinding.
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One reviewer found Sam especially well cast and suited to the game’s semi-silent protagonist role.
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Replay value is supported by one reviewer eager to return for more missions after finishing the story.
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One reviewer praised the sequel for letting individual playstyles feel legitimate through its expanded systems.
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VR Training/tutorial support is praised as both useful and fun for refreshing mechanics.
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Handheld play is viable but compromised, with Steam Deck running at low resolution while ROG handheld play was issue-free.
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Lore support and depth are praised through the Corpus encyclopedia, which helps handle the dense terminology and proper nouns.
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Vehicle roster evidence is limited but positive, with one reviewer praising the usefulness and variety of vehicles across missions.
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The main noted learning curve is movement weight, which takes adjustment before it becomes satisfying.
Cons
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Enemy AI is a repeated weak spot, with reviewers noting it is not especially sharp even when combat remains fun.
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Fetch-style questing remains a pain point for one reviewer, who found ferrying boxes back and forth exhausting.
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Horror tension is mixed to weak because BTs can still feel tense, but several reviewers say the sequel reduces their fear factor.
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The only clear aiming criticism was the absence of gyroscopic aiming, despite the game pushing ranged weapons more heavily.
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Resource balance is mixed because plentiful building materials make construction smoother but also reduce challenge.
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Weapon balance is mixed to weak, with several reviewers calling Sam overpowered or finding many weapons redundant, despite some praise for variety.
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Dialogue quality is mixed, with one review praising clarity while others complain about long or nonsensical speeches.
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Mission design is mixed: reviewers liked forward momentum and variety, but some criticized forced backtracking or insufficient challenge.
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Writing quality is split sharply, ranging from career-best praise to criticisms that the script and finale do not land.
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Difficulty balance is one of the more divisive areas: some praise fair harder settings, while others say combat, BTs, or traversal became too easy.