Death Stranding 2's loading times are pretty much instant, adding another notch to the best-looking game on PS5

Death Stranding 2 prologue Sam standing on a mountain with lou strapped to his chest
(Image credit: Sony)

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is available tomorrow for everyone, but early adopters via the game's more expensive Deluxe edition are discovering just how technically impressive the game is, with split-second loading being the standard.

It's safe to say Hideo Kojima's latest game is already one of the best-looking games of all time, with players being absolutely wowed by how good it looks on release day, thanks to its gorgeous environments and how Norman Reedus tech has evolved since the first game. But what's just as impressive is just how fast the massive graphically-intensive world of Death Stranding 2 loads up.

As seen in a post by a fan on Twitter, upon selecting your save in Death Stranding 2, you are thrown into the gameplay in what has to be less than a second. And while some have pointed out it's the opening area of the game which is quite empty, having completed the game already, I can vouch that it's pretty much like that for the entire game, no matter what area you're in, it's super impressive. And when you consider that the game world is just all there and only really loads when you go into a private room or between Mexico and Australia, that's a whole other level.

Granted, Decima has always been a fantastic engine, as the Horizon games and the original Death Stranding proved, considering both are among the PS4's absolute best-looking games. Plus, it runs pretty damn well on both the PS5 and PS5 Pro, with Digital Foundry's rundown of the game pointing out that Performance mode on Pro looks almost as good as the Quality mode with double the framerate.

Even aside from the tech, Kojima Productions' latest is pretty great, as you'll find out if you check out our Death Stranding 2: On the Beach review.

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Scott McCrae
Contributor

Scott has been freelancing for over three years across a number of different gaming publications, first appearing on GamesRadar+ in 2024. He has also written for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, VG247, Play, TechRadar, and others. He's typically rambling about Metal Gear Solid, God Hand, or any other PS2-era titles that rarely (if ever) get sequels.

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