Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (PC) Review – Kojima’s Masterpiece Gets a Stellar Port

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (PC) Review

I really wanted to love the original Death Stranding. I mean, it was obviously a visionary game, with incredible visuals and a weird, complex, poignant story. For some combination of reasons, I bounced. Frustration with the controls and the occasionally nonsensical narrative, combined with the demands of other games, pulled me away. However, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach sucked me in completely. Even on my base PS5, it looked stunning and controls were more refined. Bosses were more approachable, too.

Industry surveys have indicated that many dedicated PC gamers also own PS5’s. It’s very likely that players picking up Death Stranding 2: On the Beach in Nixxes new port have already played it on PS5. On the off chance that they haven’t, I won’t spoil the story beyond the basics. There are plenty of emotionally rich, surprising plot twists You can read COGconnected’s glowing review here, too.

Going Down Under

An elevator pitch of the second game’s plot might go something like this: 11 months after the first game, Sam Porter Bridges returns to connect the Chiral Network to Mexico and Australia. Quite a number of characters from the first game return — in one form or another — and the basic mechanics of traversal remain, albeit in more refined and less frustrating forms. The story moves a little faster, there are more low-level enemies to fight and the performance capture retains its state-of-the-art position. If all that’s a little vague, well, go play the game.

There’s no doubt that both games represent game-auteur Kojima’s best and most layered games to date. If the first Death Stranding was an elaborate proof-of-concept, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is an assured final implementation. However, nothing is perfect, and some players found the sequel a little too easy. And the narrative is still pretty opaque, no matter how emotionally effective many scenes can be.

Options and More Options

With previous PC adaptations like Ghost of Tsushima and Horizon: Forbidden West, Nixxes proved that they were more than capable of steering Death Stranding 2 into port. In addition to simply porting the game to PC, though, there are some gameplay changes and additions that make the package even more appealing.

Maybe the two most significant additions are a new, more hardcore difficulty setting (“Into the Wilder”) and the chance to replay bosses via the “Trapped in a Strange Realm” mechanic. Into the Wilder makes Sam weaker, makes the enemies hit harder and increases basic survival challenges. Personally, I play the game for the story, characters, and incredible atmosphere more than the combat. But it’s great to have that option, and shows that Death Stranding 2’s combat is pretty adaptable to harder difficulties without being unfair.

It’s a Stunner

I don’t envy developers who have to somehow target PC gamers and their wide range of gear. Nixxes has nailed it again, and Death Stranding 2: On the Beach runs and looks great in almost every configuration of settings, from low-end to bleeding edge.

Upscaling options include the game’s PICO tech (used in the Horizon ports) and DLSS. That’s just the tip of an immense iceberg of options that include Texture Quality/Filtering, Shadow Quality and Resolution,  Adjust Ambient Occlusion and Reflections, and Ray Tracing options. You can also adjust nearly every level of detail and lighting. In other words, no matter what your relatively current rig, you can find a balance between performance and fidelity. The PC port of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach runs on Steam Deck at a fairly low resolution and performed without issue on my ROG handheld. Options for audio and controls are equally deep.

Speaking of controllers, implementation is thorough. I tested it on PC with DualSense and Xbox controllers, plus mouse and keyboard and all were excellent. I’ve heard — but not directly experienced — that it also performs well with Nintendo Switch 2 Controllers and even a few from the dark ages of gaming.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach landed on a lot of “Best of” lists in 2025 for good reason. With jaw-dropping visuals and mechanics improved over the first game, it’s almost certainly Kojima’s best work to date. Nixxes PC port is a masterpiece of technical wizardry and makes Death Stranding 2: On the Beach worth replaying or experiencing for the first time.

***PC code provided by the publisher for review***