Death Stranding 2 On The Beach gets a trailer and 2025 release window, still absolutely bonkers

Sony and Hideo Kojima have released a new Death Stranding 2 trailer alongside the game’s full title – Death Stranding 2 On The Beach. It’s out in 2025 on PS5, with a PC release date still to be revealed, and appears to be as free-wheeling and self-serious yet whimsical as you’d expect from a Kojima joint. I got as far as the pet anime dragon before my brain squirmed out through my ear.

The trailer is an excitable mash-up of gameplay and cinematics, with plot developments, catchphrases and quintessentially Stranding puns fired at you out of a Gatling gun. It looks like the same mixture of open world exploration and base-building beneath it all, with some additional high-tech vehicles and enemies. But things have escalated, to put it mildly.

Sam’s old nemesis Higgs is back with a Goth rock makeover, scarlet armour and an electric guitar sword – Troy Baker in full Joker mode with a splash of The Crow. He puts the guitar sword to use against a massive samurai robot that appears to be operated by a baby – perhaps Lou, your surrogate bottled kid from the first game.

We also see Léa Seydoux’s Fragile, who is running a secretive organisation of her own these days called Drawbridges (“no strings attached”, she promises) . We see robot dogs with claw faces, and hear talk of fresh mysteries involving the otherworldly mind-altering substance chiralium. We see Mad Max director George Miller, for some reason – he’s the one with the pet anime dragon. All this and a billion things more. This is a game constructed from meme-able moments. I haven’t even mentioned the talking wooden puppet who appears to be Sam’s new sidekick.

“Embark on an inspiring mission of human connection beyond the [United Cities of America],” reads the trailer blurb. “Sam – with companions by his side – sets out on a new journey to save humanity from extinction. Join them as they traverse a world beset by otherworldly enemies, obstacles and a haunting question: should we have connected? Step by step, legendary game creator Hideo Kojima changes the world once again.”

Thoughts? Theories? I hope it’s still basically a walking sim. I really liked the hiking physics in the first.