I completed Death Stranding 2 back in June 2025, when it first released on the PS5. You can see my trophies from the link below. This review contains major spoilers!

https://psnprofiles.com/trophies/34699-death-stranding-2-on-the-beach/Bearsonal

When Death Stranding 2 was first announced back in 2022, I became extremely excited and happy. Because I've never believed PlayStation was going to keep supporting Kojima to make another Death Stranding after the mixed reception of the first game, even though DS1 sold well. Death Stranding is one of my five favorite games of all time, so I have been very excited since then.

But apparently, Kojima did the same game to earn some more money from an already finished story, while butchering everything that's amazing about Death Stranding. I don't mean only the gameplay by saying the same game. It's the same story, same scenario, villain, story arcs, same characters here again. Everything is just worse here. Kojima took what people loved about DS1 and did the same thing again, while also destroying what made it unique. Let me explain.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3514508304


Kojima destroyed the perfect game design of Death Stranding 1 because it received so much criticism back in the day. Because casuals didn't understand and like DS1, now Kojima has made the game child's play. He filled the map with straight roads with no rugged terrain at all, so there is literally no reason to build constructions, roads, or monorails like we needed to in the first game. The entire core of the gameplay is gone.
I completed the whole game with a single truck. A single truck from the online garage right at the beginning, and it never ran out of battery. It's crazy. This alone already explains everything about how easy the game has become.

The game presents no challenges for you as a player, none at all. In DS1, mules scanned you and chased you aggressively, and you were in a tough situation since you didn't have a vehicle most of the time. In DS2, you just drive past them. In DS1, BTs could grab you easily. In DS2, I literally drove past them with my truck and they couldn't catch me. You have to go straight into them for them to react. You can also kill them easily with guns. Such a joke.

There is no difficult terrain, everything is smooth. No reason to use gadgets or build anything. The truck can climb mountains easily. What's the point of playing Death Stranding if I'm just holding R2 and driving from point A to B? That is how I finished the game in 28 hours, without thinking about anything.

In DS1, there was a good balance for using the chiral network (other players' constructions, vehicles and resources). Meaning you had to go through pain and difficulty first, strategizing and working your sweat in the first game, so that you can be slightly rewarded with help from other players.

That truck of mine, never once its battery depleted or the truck never broke down because of timefall. In Death Stranding, I can't remember how many trucks malfunctioned because of damage from timefall, and how you could only drive a few hundred meters with it since the battery would only go that long.

You have to pass a long river, so you need a bridge. It's already been built. (Actually, there is no need for a bridge since none of them are deep like in the first game; you can just drive past them.) People built bridges; nevertheless, you don't need roads in DS2, but they come readily built most of the time as well. The whole revolutionary system of DS1 is just pointless now.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3514514615

Players are more experienced now, so the game should have been harder. Instead, Kojima made it easier and turned it into a casual PlayStation game. There are many other changes that make the game brain-dead.

They say it's more action-focused, but you can avoid everything. The mechanics like gunplay and melee are good, but the game never makes you use them in an interesting way. So they end up feeling pointless.

Bro literally did the same final boss again because it was very liked, but with guitars this time. Same with the final delivery sequence, where in DS2, again, we are playing the intro sequence once again with the same music from DS1's final (BB's theme). IT'S CRAZY... I am not stupid, I don't fall into nostalgia baits Kojima, Especially when it's used this lazily. Whatever you did in Death Stranding 2, I have already seen you doing it a lot lot better before, so none of your lazy attempts had any effect on me. It really is the laziest game of all time.


As I've told you before, this is the same story once again in a different package. It's filled with absurdity, which I like when used properly, but this is too much even for Kojima's standards. It destroys the dramatic tone the game is trying to go for. There are many characters, but none of their stories are told properly. Some voice acting is terrible. What's the point of bringing Lea Seydoux if she shows no emotion? Sam is once again emotionless. Characters talk in monologues while Sam just listens. In DS1, that made sense because of Sam's condition and history, but here it's just absurd. The villain and the mysterious man...Higgs is very undercooked here once again, and do I really have to say anything about the Cliff Unger clone? People loved Mads Mikkelsen's character so I am doing EXACTLY the same character while telling his story EXACTLY the same way. Casuals will eat it up...

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3514515715

The relationship between Sam and Lou is told terribly; I didn't feel any emotion for them, even though this is a very lengthy game. It's incredible how Clair Obscur's 4-hour-long Gustave Maelle relation was told way better. And that's an AA studio, while Death Stranding 2 is a 100+ million dollar AAA project.


They are not as memorable or as atmospheric as the first game's music, but Low Roar's phenomenal tracks were something else. Woodkid's To the Wilder and Minus Sixty One are good tracks, and Ludwig Forssell managed to bring some good tracks once again, but they don't hit as hard as they did his time. I wasn't able to hear the music because of the truck's sound. I don't think the balance is right here. And because you can truck everywhere, and the music begins 15 seconds before you arrive, you only hear the beginning of the song. Another fumble by Kojima to one of the best parts of DEATH STRANDING, which is related to the game design here as well.


It's easily the best-looking game of the PS5 generation. Graphics, models, animations, everything is top tier. Only Rockstar can compete.

It will probably run great on PC too, considering Kojima's track record and Nixxes. This has to be one of the best-looking and best-running games on PC.


When I first wrote my thoughts about DS2 in the screenshot's comments - link below the video, I couldn't find anyone thinking even slightly similar to me. I was going crazy! All the casuals loved DS2. 10 days later, Skill Up showed up thankfully. He is one of the rare big Youtube reviewers that actually understood Death Stranding. I highly suggest you watch it if you haven't already. He explains his similar opinions in a great video.

https://youtu.be/UxMJ5WAp1gY?si=JqHNDY-QI6nV6D4x

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3515735954

This is not the Death Stranding I loved. I lost my respect for Kojima after this. I am not a fanboy who will blindly love a sequel. So sad...

A GAME FOR EVERYONE IS A GAME FOR NO ONE.


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Before I begin, I have to mention something important. Hollow Knight is one of my five favorite games of all time. I played it for more than 300 hours, got every achievement, and even defeated every single boss hitless. I can even say I was an amateur speedrunner for it. I never did those in any other game. That's how much I love Hollow Knight. That game will always be very dear to me. 

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2947732024

So naturally, Silksong was one of my most anticipated games ever. And honestly, I beat it without much trouble. Most bosses took me 2-3 tries at most, except Savage Beastfly.

I know some people will say, “You are comparing Silksong to Hollow Knight plus its 4 DLCs.” Yes, I am, and I think it’s fair. Hollow Knight and all its DLCs took 4 years to make with only 42,000 dollars of budget. Silksong took 7 years, with a budget of tens of millions. So I think it's pretty fair to compare them in this state, even though it's safe to say that comparing Hollow Knight with Silksong is too unfair for Hollow Knight.
 
  

I am okay with some bosses and enemies dealing double damage in Silksong. Because in Hollow Knight, you could face tank some bosses, and this change forces you to play smarter. But there are problems. Contact damage should always be 1 mask, and stunned bosses shouldn't do any damage at all. And the runbacks are worse than Hollow Knight. In the first game, they were manageable, but here, it feels like torture. There should have been benches near the bosses. I don't think it would hurt anything about the game’s design. 

Exploration doesn’t feel rewarding. In Hollow Knight, every time you left the main path, you got something valuable. Geo, relics, shards, charms, pale ores, grubs, bosses, or benches. Silksong’s world is double the size of Hollow Knight’s, but the rewards aren’t double. Instead, they are way less, especially compared to the world's size. Rosaries (money) are extremely rare, while everything is way more expensive. 

I explored everything I could till the end of Act 2, but Hornet still felt weak compared to how strong the Knight felt after finishing Hollow Knight. In 40 hours, I only got 2 extra masks, which alone tells something. Maybe I missed some, but I checked everywhere carefully with all the abilities. Even bosses don’t drop charms or rosaries. Imagine finishing the game and still not having money for benches or stag stations in some areas. And I wasn’t wasting money or dying often. How am I supposed to experience the 60+ charms of the game when I can't even purchase 1 more without grinding? The game shouldn’t be this grindy, because it just makes it not fun. 
  
 

Let me be clear. The art direction and art style are incredible. Silksong might be the best-looking 2D game of all time, on par with Cuphead. It deserves all the praise it's getting.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3562086720

But because they had to double the size of the game and have 28 areas, it feels like Team Cherry reused assets and recolored them too often. For example, Moss Grotto and Lost Verdania look very similar. Same with Putrified Ducts and The Slab, Whiteward and Weavenest Atla, The Marrow and Wormways, the list goes on... By doing this, both areas lose their originality and atmosphere. And some of these areas don’t even have bosses or meaningful content. Too many empty hallways. The map is big for no reason, and it wastes time. I would have preferred a smaller, tighter world with a refined design, like Hollow Knight. 
 
 

Flying enemies are extremely annoying. Their attack patterns waste time, and bosses with adds get chaotic in a bad way. Hollow Knight had maybe one or two bosses like that, and they were balanced. Silksong pushes it too far. 

The charm system is worse. It’s limited and color-coded, so you don’t have the same freedom for builds and playstyles. Tools have limited ammo, too, which makes me not want to use them. The shard system, the ammo for tools, is the worst part. If you get stuck on a boss and die 3-4 times, now you’re out of shards. That means farming shards for half an hour just to get a few more tries for the boss. It feels like Team Cherry designed it to suck out the fun from Hollow Knight and turn it into frustration. 

I also don’t like the new healing system. In Hollow Knight, healing was a fun risk/reward mechanic. In Silksong, you just jump and hope you don’t get hit while healing. If you do, you lose both silk and masks. Really bad.
 
  

The fact that Silksong doesn’t have a colosseum or Godhome is insane to me. I was sure those modes would return as part of the base game, with new twists. Instead, we got a racing mini-game and a shooting mini-game, which are nowhere near as fun or deep. Godhome and Colosseum should have been base content, and DLC should have expanded on them even more. That’s what I expect after 7 years of development. 

Another hilarious choice by Team Cherry is how Act 3 is locked behind completing all side quests. That means you have to finish a ton of fetch quests just to see the true ending. Side quests should be optional extras, not mandatory content to access an important part of the game. 
 
 

This is a subjective opinion, but I don’t think Silksong’s soundtrack is as memorable as Hollow Knight’s. In Hollow Knight, I still remember the emotions I felt hearing Greenpath, Dirtmouth, City of Tears, and many more for the first time. In Silksong, many area tracks feel like loopable ambience music. Such as The Marrow, Greymoor, Sinner’s Road, Mount Fay, or Sands of Karak, etc. But not all is bad. Some of Silksong’s tracks are masterpieces and stand out with originality and personality. I really enjoyed Strive, Trobbio, Lace’s theme, the main theme, Moss Grotto, Bone Bottom, Cogwork Core, and the Cogwork Dancers, and some more. So while a lot of the soundtrack is just “fine,” there are a few excellent pieces too.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3562603524

 

Silksong’s sound design, responsiveness, mechanics, animations, and game feel are all phenomenal. On a technical and artistic level, it feels like the GTA 6 of indie games. The diagonal pogo system is fine for me, too, though it could have been smoother with crest options. As for the bosses, Trobbio, Lace, Cogwork Dancers, Widow, Fourth Chorus, and the final boss are all well-designed and memorable. 
 
 

In the end, I still recommend Silksong because at its core, it’s a good game. But it’s not on the level of the masterpiece, Hollow Knight. Team Cherry expanded the game’s size without adding enough meaningful content, and they broke a lot of systems that didn’t need fixing. 

Hollow Knight didn’t even get nominated for Game of the Year at TGA 2017 because it launched quietly with only 2,000 players, despite being far better than Silksong and at the same level of quality as Breath of the Wild. Silksong will get nominated just because of the hype and its 500k launch players. Which proves that nominations and awards are given from the hype that’s going on, not the games’ qualities.  

Hollow Knight: Silksong is a good game, but not the masterpiece it should have been.


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I've been eagerly waiting for Crimson Desert for six years, imagining the grand adventure it could be. After finally playing it, I'm left with a massive sense of disappointment. If you have a slave hidden inside you, or if you don't value your own time, this is the game for you. Otherwise, be prepared to waste hours on a game that promises so much but delivers so little.


I've explored quite a bit in Crimson Desert, and I can say it's not worth your time. The map is way larger than it's supposed to be, and I hate games that don't respect the player's time, so I am not going to ride my horse for hours just to find some ♥♥♥♥♥♥ loot or more of the ♥♥♥♥ side quests. They tried copying Zelda and Elden Ring's brilliant open-world design with the exploration part, but they couldn't stop their MMO mindset once again here. Even Elden Ring's late game (the mountain) was a bit empty compared to the incredible early-mid areas. But when you are playing BOTW, Tears of the Kingdom or Elden Ring, you know the content's quality you are about to find if you keep discovering, that's what made exploration so fun, while in Crimson Desert you may not find anything, filler boring quests or meaningless loot, while having the multiple-time-sized world, so it's not worth it and not fun at all to explore.
Gliding was supposed to be fun, but you can glide for like 5 seconds. (I don't care if they patched it later, I spent more than half of my playtime that way, which was the half I needed it more since I didn't have a 50-minute cooldown dragon until some point.)

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3691925094


The main quests are simply terrible. I've completed 60+ side quests to see if it ever gets good there. God, are these the most boring and bland quests I have ever seen. It's like 90% of the main quests, you either talk (listen) to people, follow them on foot or on horse, do fetch quests, or clear outposts. Talk to people, go to castles, fight 200 guys (literally, it's so boring). People may not see it, but this is simply Assassin's Creed Valhalla in its quest and map design. 90% of the quests are so MMO-coded.


The combat may seem deep with all kinds of mechanics. But you can kill all enemies with simple attacks. Mid-game to later game is where the game turns into a boring Musou game, where you need to spam your area-affecting abilities if you don't want to spend 10x the time trying to get each guy one by one. There is literally no tactical approach. At that point, the game sends you so many ridiculous amounts of hordes, it's so frustrating and boring. These fights last for hours in total and you are not getting anything worth in return. Now that's what you call encounter and combat design. And at some point the bosses begin hitting you so hard even if you have good armor, your best option is to stack dozens of food to tank the boss.

There are missions where you are asked to kill hundreds of enemies in dozens of minutes mindlessly, I'm not kidding. The control scheme takes some time to get used to, but is manageable for the most part. But controlling Kliff is not fun
and trying to do what you want to do is a whole other thing in this game.

Bosses are a mixture; some are really fun to play, while some are frustrating, where they don't let you hit them, spam multiple long combos on you, or their attacks aren't well telegraphed. The main bosses are also stat checks most of the time, telling you to grind and cook hundreds of food, again artificially lengthening the game time and not respecting the player's time. I don't think you are rewarded well for beating these main bosses.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3694377683


Unintuitive, badly telegraphed and hinted puzzles, most importantly, not fun. Puzzles are boring. They are very poor on tutorialization and there is always a single way to do a puzzle; all these mechanics, you can't use your own way to solve these puzzles. You have Ultrahand, but you can't use it other than the exact specific way the game asks you to use it. This is not a sandbox where you are free to use all these mechanics however you like in puzzles and combat (TOTK). This is not a game with great level design where there is only 1 way to do stuff but it's presented to you amazingly (RDR2). What is Crimson Desert? It is the jack of all trades, master of none.

The game usually brings up a new mechanic, to be never used for dozens of hours again, then expects you to remember and understand to use that mechanic without any reminders or smart visual clues. The minigames are all very shallow. I mean look at games like Yakuza for an example of minigames.


The story and narrative are bland and generic. Kliff mostly just listens, typical MMO style.Cutscenes are visually high quality and carefully choreographed, with decent voice acting.Still, characters, villains, and writing are uninspired. Quest flow is poor; one moment you're cleaning a chimney, next you're raiding camps because the journal tells you. I would be okay with this terrible narrative if it didn't waste my time. You can't skip these and you spend a lot of time listening to the story.


The music is really good. But I don't think I'll ever listen to them again. The cities have decent atmosphere. The way cities are designed, NPCs are placed and their animations all add to the liveliness of these places, even though everyone is static, and none of the people have any day-night cycle.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3693676322


Lots of visual errors, indoor lighting, and textures break very easily, even on a high-end system with ray reconstruction and ray tracing on. Without those, the game looks like absolute garbage, especially at night and indoors. No idea how they shipped the game in this state. It's such a disrespect to people who don't have the newest system, which is very hard to get right now.
Graphically, it looks good most of the time, aside from the many visual bugs and technical issues, especially with lighting and shadows indoors. Even with everything maxed out and ray reconstruction on, the game looked really bad sometimes. If you can't run ray reconstruction, it's going to look terrible. I am not sure I like this art direction. They clearly tried to copy Red Dead Redemption 2's looks, but it doesn't hit the same.
The camera and lock-on system are bad. The UI looks very bad and is unintuitive. Quality-of-life issues exist, but I don't care how fast they patch them because I already spent 60+ hours with the game before patches started. I pre-ordered it for 70 bucks, and I evaluated the launch state of the game.


Crimson Desert is a random mix of gameplay elements without a clear idea. It copies mechanics from the best games of the last decade but fails to make them meaningful or fun. Pearl Abyss simply doesn't know how to do it. Even without calling it an MMO, it feels like one. Even if they didn't say Crimson Desert was first designed to be an MMO, it would still be clear as day.

There are many more small issues, but Steam reviews have limits. Crimson Desert reminds me why Red Dead Redemption 2 and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom are masterpieces. This game has nothing to do with their quality. I call Crimson Desert a glorified Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Pearl Abyss confused having too much content with having good content and forgot that a great adventure is more than copied features. Crimson Desert never achieves a clear and consistent vision.


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