An In-Depth Thematic Analysis of Death Stranding 2 (SPOILERS)

By Writing on Games

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Death Stranding 2: On the Beach sees Hideo Kojima do something he rarely has done in the past—repeat himself. Each Metal Gear Solid provided a wildly different mechanical and systemic experience to the last, whereas Death Stranding 2 very much feels like more Death Stranding, structurally identical to the last game. It also sees him reference his prior work on Metal Gear more than ever before. What if, however, through this repetition, Kojima was trying to tell a story on the level of Sons of Liberty? What if Neil Vana is actually Solid Snake? What if Death Stranding 2 is actually the sequel to the Phantom Pain we've been waiting a decade for?! Or, what if Kojima wants us to move on from Metal Gear Solid altogether? In this analysis of Death Stranding 2, let's talk about how the structural similarities between the first game and its sequel allow Kojima to tell a much more personal story about grief than before, and crucially, how the game's constant references to Metal Gear Solid and

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