Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is out, and as porters worldwide begin trekking across Hideo Kojima’s newest adventure, all sorts of little secrets and discoveries are being uncovered. While much attention will be paid to the grand, cinematic experience on display, Kojima also went ahead and stuffed Death Stranding 2 to the gills with little flourishes and details, some obvious, some very, very hidden.
We’ve compiled a list of all the little details that help bring the world of Death Stranding 2 to life, from easter eggs to ingenious gameplay we can’t believe Kojima Productions thought to even add in the first place.
1. The best part of Death Stranding 2 is seeing how the natural world interacts with Sam, or how Sam interacts with the natural world. Given that this is a game about traversing the different biomes of Australia, Sam will naturally get dirty, and this will be reflected on Sam’s character model. He’ll be covered in dirt, snow, and sludge after long journeys, which will require you to take showers to clean off.
2. It’s not limited to just the elements, either. After an intense fight, Sam will also become covered by the blood of his enemies. While this might make him look very battle hardened, it probably isn’t how Sam wants to present himself when he’s on deliveries, so be sure to clean off the blood in the shower too.
3. When not covered in grime, even just exposure to the sun can affect Sam’s appearance. He’ll turn redder as he gets more and more sunburnt, to the point where he can start resembling a cherry tomato in the face. Taking a shower will heal these burns, so bathe regularly.
4. However, if you decide to take off your backpack before showering, you’ll find that while you become clean, your backpack will stay dirty. Why you'd take your pack into the shower is beyond me, but it's better than carrying around a dirty pack, I suppose.
5. If you can’t make it to a shower, hopping into a lake or river will clear off some of the dirt up to the point you submerge yourself. Meaning if you only dip your shoes into the river, your boots will be clean, but the rest of you won’t be.
6. There are all sorts of different weather conditions in the world of Death Stranding 2, all of which will hit in real-time.
7. The earliest natural event you encounter is the sandstorm, which severely impairs Sam’s visibility, forcing you to rely on your Odradek scanner to scope out the terrain. When the storm gets particularly bad, you’ll lose stamina and will need to hide behind large structures to shield yourself from the storm.
8. Other natural disasters include blizzards that, like a sandstorm, will impair Sam’s vision and slow him down. Plus, when Sam’s too cold, his stamina will deplete faster than normal.
9. Lastly, thunderstorms will also strike Sam when he’s out and about. The rain in Death Stranding 2 is known to degrade Sam’s cargo and equipment faster than usual so be sure to find shelter fast to prevent your packages from getting damaged. And watch out for lightning strikes. While I haven’t seen anyone get hit by one yet (unlike in The Legend of Zelda), they can strike awfully close to Sam if he’s not careful.
10. What’s more, you can even see these weather events in real-time from afar. Meaning if there’s a blizzard happening on a mountaintop, you can see it from the base of the mountain.
11. Dust, rain, snow, and even chiral creatures build up on the screen when you spend too long in them, which adds to the immersive and cinematic approach Kojima takes with his games.
12. If you’re in the high heat of the desert too long you’ll begin to see mirages of rivers flowing through the sands. But as you get closer you’ll realize there’s no water there. Sorry.
13. Depending on which biome you’re in, whether it’s the hot desert or freezing mountaintops, Sam will take either a cold shower to cool off, or a hot shower to warm up.
14. As you and other porters begin carving paths through the world of Death Stranding 2 to make deliveries, you’ll find that regularly used paths become roads by themselves from being worn down, making them easier to traverse over time.
15. Rivers will also rise and fall with the rain. Some rivers become flooded under heavy rainfall, making them more difficult to traverse than under dry conditions.
16. The iconic image of Death Stranding as a series is Sam carrying a stack of boxes on his back. That’s because his porter job is inspired by the Japanese Bokka porter who transport boxes to homes that aren’t reachable by trucks or cars. There are references to the Bokka in dialogues with other porters and even a Bokka skeleton for Sam, which make it easier for him to traverse difficult terrain like rivers, inclines, and snow.
17. One of the most useful vehicles is the Pickup Off-Roader, which lets you haul tons of packages across long-distances. Depending on how and where it’s parked, Sam changes the way he climbs into the driver’s seat.
18. Ramps are invaluable when it comes to getting your vehicle across large gaps. But depending on what vehicle you use to jump the ramp, whether it’s on a vehicle, your floating carrier you ride like a skateboard, or even just using a skeleton on your legs, you can even do some cool skateboard and acrobatic tricks off the ramp.
19. Some Pickups aren’t driveable because they belong to specific shelters. Weirdly, Pickups that aren’t owned by Sam or Drawbridge feature the logo of Yamato Transport, a real-life Japanese delivery company.
20. There are numerous monorail lines you can build across Death Stranding 2 at set points, much like the roads you can build in Death Stranding 1 and 2. But they’re not just for trains as you can use a zip line to attach yourself to a monorail pole and travel that way.
21. But if you’re inclined to travel on foot, always remember to wear shoes! Walking barefoot too long will eventually cause Sam’s feet to bleed, which leaves a trail of blood behind. While you'll still be able to get around without shoes, Sam will refuse to run given how uncomfortable it is on his toes.
22. If you choose to give Sam a rest while on the road, or leave your controller idle for too long, Sam will have a nice sit down to catch a breather, at which point a floating Lou will appear over Sam’s head as he dreams about her.
23. While it might be fun to see how high you can stack boxes on your back, be careful of your surroundings as tall stacks of boxes won’t fit through certain doors and will instead topple over if they hit the ceiling, forcing you to pick them up again.
24. There are also special timed events set to specific dates, just like in the first Death Stranding. At the beginning of the game you’re asked to input your birthday. And if you boot up the game on your special day a unique cutscene will trigger where all your friends (and enemy) will wish you a happy birthday.
25. More than that, if you go out into the world and use the call out feature, other NPC porters will wish you a happy birthday too.
26. Your birthday isn’t the only special day. Playing Death Stranding 2 on Christmas day will add Christmas Tree holograms to shelters and give NPCs little Santa hats to wear to celebrate the joyous occasion. If you don’t want to wait for Christmas or your birthday, changing your PS5’s internal clock to the correct date will trigger these events.
27. While Death Stranding 2 isn’t purely about combat, there are a ton of ways to fight the BTs. Sam’s blood already has anti-BT properties making Blood Grenades lethal to BTs, but shooting a normal bullet through the blood cloud left behind the grenade will make them deadly against BTs too.
28. Guns aren’t your only weapons in a fight. If you unlock the secret cutscene for the Pizza Chef (played by Ghost in the Shell director Mamoru Oshii), you’ll unlock an entire new martial arts fighting style based around the delicious meal.
29. One of your constant companions on the road is Dollman, who you can throw up high into the air to do reconnaissance on enemy bases. But you can also throw him straight at an enemy to temporarily stun them.
30. Unlike other weapons, Dollman is a living being and he will eventually get mad at you if you throw him at too many enemies, or let him drop to the ground after a recon trip. If he’s upset, he won’t let you throw him for a while.
31. Bandits in Death Stranding 2 are often equipped with stun rods that blast waves of electricity. However, if you have the Electric Shock Absorber add-on for you backpack, you can turn their electric attacks into power for your battery.
32. Boss fights return in Death Stranding 2, and while you should have all the weapons and tools to get through them, some are incredibly tough and can cause you to die repeatedly. If a fight is too annoying, the game will trigger a “Pretend You Won” option to skip the fight in exchange for a small impact to your overall mission score.
33. Death Stranding 2 is populated by a ton of survivors, many with familiar faces, and if you make enough deliveries to them they might give you some unique items. The Data Scientist, who is a famous Vtuber named Usada Pekora, will give you a bunny hood that makes Sam say “Peko” after each sentence, similar to Pekora’s verbal tic. Peko.
34. The Peko hood is only one of a variety of hoods and hats you can earn in Death Stranding 2 with others giving Sam unique abilities. The camel hood will protect Sam from the heat of the desert and refill his water for stamina, and the seal hood returns which lets Sam safely float across rivers. One gooey looking Chiral Roden hat will even ward away Chiral Creatures.
35. Shelters house different survivors, and depending on their real-life counterpart, will have little nods to their identities. The Adventurer and his son who are played by RRR director SS Rajamouli and SS karthikeya, for example, their holograms outside their shelter has them doing an iconic pose from their hit film.
36. Another shelter in Australia is an animal sanctuary overseen by members of a conservationist group, played by the music group CHVRCHES. If you rescue animals and send them to the sanctuary, the group will send you social media pics of the animal living happily in their new home.
37. However, you have to be careful when traveling because you can accidentally run over and kill these poor creatures if you’re not paying attention. Which is one way to earn dislikes in the world of Death Stranding 2. While a lot of what you do in the world will get you likes from your fellow porters and shelter dwellers, there are ways to have likes taken away, and accidental animal killing is one of them.
38. There are also a ton of scares in Death Stranding 2. During certain times, Sam will get nightmares while sleeping aboard the DHV Magellan, which trigger some frankly terrifying cutscenes, including one notable one that features a mannequin doing some freaky stuff.
39. There are scares out in the world too. One mission revolves around a Ghost Track haunted by Headless Bikers. Find them and you’ll trigger a unique boss fight.
40. There is also a haunted monorail train that only appears at night. You can sometimes see it as it passes by you while you're riding the monorail, or you can see it flying through the sky on its own. It gives a sinister red glow as it passes by and triggers your odradek, implying the train is full of BTs.
41. It’s not all scares and monsters though. There are plenty of pleasant experiences to be found aboard the DHV Magellan and elsewhere. On the ship, one crewmate, Rainy, will give Sam intermittent trivia quizzes with some special prizes for getting the correct answer.
42. Dollman, who hangs out with you in your cabin, will not only talk with you whenever you want, but playing ‘Horizon Dreamer’ by Daichi Miura while chatting triggers a fun dance from him.
43. Sam is also apparently an avid reader given the stack of books in his cabin. If you pick up a copy of Frankenstein, Dollman will mention a movie about the fictional doctor starring Elle Fanning, the actor of Tomorrow.
44. The Pizza Chef, who is a fountain of many little surprises, will eventually make Sam a Pac-Man shaped pizza that, once eaten, turns Sam’s world map into a minigame of Atari classic.
45. One very special item you can receive is an instant camera that unlocks a unique photo mode. Unlike the default photo mode, this camera can only be used aboard the DHV Magellan and can be used to take photos of Fragile, Tomorrow, and Rainy. These photos can then be given to crewmates or used to decorate your room, and the photo you take yourself will even appear in a cutscene towards the end of the game.
These are our favorite details and hidden easter eggs we’ve come across in Death Stranding 2. Check out our full Death Stranding 2 review for why we can’t get enough of Hideo Kojima’s latest game, and check out our ending explained for a breakdown of the game’s grand finale. We also have an updated ranking of every game Hideo Kojima has directed and designed, so see where Death Stranding 2 sits alongside his other games.
Matt Kim is IGN's Senior Features Editor.
