Death Stranding 2 Feels Too Easy – Here’s Why
▼ Summary
– The author finds Death Stranding 2 too easy, echoing a flaw from the first game, despite improvements in other areas.
– The Chiral Network’s community assists, like pre-placed tools and paths, reduce the game’s challenge and decision-making.
– Overpowered gadgets and upgrades, such as anti-grav generators and leg skeletons, trivialize core mechanics like balance and stamina.
– The author suggests self-imposed restrictions to increase difficulty but wishes for an official hardcore mode with tougher conditions.
– Proposed hardcore mode ideas include limited structures, faster degradation of tools, and scarce resources to maintain early-game tension.
Death Stranding 2 delivers breathtaking landscapes and innovative mechanics, but some players are finding its challenge lacking, here’s why the sequel might feel too forgiving compared to its predecessor.
Last night, I embarked on what should have been an arduous journey across the Australian wasteland in Death Stranding 2. Loaded with 200kg of cargo, probably something mundane like canned food, I prepared for the worst. Bandits, BTs, treacherous terrain, I expected to abandon my truck at some point, forced to improvise with ladders and ropes. Instead, the trip was shockingly smooth. No ambushes, no supernatural threats, and thanks to Drawbridge suspension tech, even the roughest rocks posed no obstacle. The entire delivery took less than five minutes.
This wasn’t an isolated incident. Over 20 hours of gameplay, I’ve encountered far too many missions that felt trivial. While Death Stranding 2 improves on the original in many ways, its difficulty remains disappointingly flat. The culprit? The Chiral Network.
The Double-Edged Sword of Connectivity
I’ve considered disconnecting entirely to reclaim the struggle, but that would mean losing the social elements I love, leaving messages, sharing supplies, even the absurd joy of discovering a communal pee mushroom. Still, the game’s core mechanics, stamina, balance, navigation, are undermined by an overabundance of assistance.
Gadgets That Solve Too Much
This isn’t new for Kojima. Since Metal Gear Solid, his games have flooded players with tools that outpace the challenges. The tranquilizer pistol, for instance, trivialized combat in multiple entries. Death Stranding 2 follows suit: vehicles with endless battery life, auto-generated shortcuts, and yes, another early-game tranq pistol.
Self-Imposed Challenges Only Go So Far
What Death Stranding 2 needs is a hardcore mode, one where resources are scarce, structures degrade rapidly, and BTs are a constant, terrifying threat. Even on Brutal difficulty, the challenge barely differs from Normal. Imagine a world where ropes could snap, weapons couldn’t be printed, and every decision carried real weight.
For now, the sequel’s beauty and creativity shine, but its lack of tension leaves some longing for the raw struggle of its early hours. Here’s hoping a future update, or a Director’s Cut, delivers the punishing experience certain players crave.
(Source: PC Gamer)
