Do I need to play Death Stranding 1 before Death Stranding 2?
Someone's gotta deliver those packages.
Kojima Productions has just released Death Stranding 2, a massive follow-up to its groundbreaking 2019 'strand-like'.
You might have seen all the hype and glowing reviews and want to get involved, but haven't played the first game.
So, can you play Death Stranding 2 without having played the first game? Should you go back and play Death Stranding 1 first?
We're here to tell you everything you need to know – let's get into it.
Do I need to play Death Stranding 1 before Death Stranding 2?
Technically, you do not need to, but we very strongly recommend that you do play Death Stranding 1 first.
Death Stranding 2's main menu has an option to quickly recap the story of Death Stranding 1, but it's quite short and scant on the details – it's more to jog the memories of players who played the first game rather than to explain the plot to new players.
The game itself is clearly made in a way that, if you do want to skip DS1, you'll be introduced to certain returning mechanics and characters, but you wouldn't get the full experience, in our opinion.
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Death Stranding has a very complicated story with some deep lore, and you will almost certainly struggle to understand a lot of the concepts in DS2 without having played 1, especially when it references previous events and characters like Amelie.
That being said, DS2 does feature a glossary which players can access at any time to read up on specific concepts.
Even so, when it comes to things like Beaches, BTs, voidouts and more, the best thing you can do it learn about them directly in Death Stranding 1.
So, long story short, you don't strictly need to play Death Stranding 1 before 2, but you'll have a much better time in DS2 if you do.
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