PlayStation explains Death Stranding in 6 minutes to remind hopeful Death Stranding 2 players where they came from, but now I'm so confused I forgot where I was born

(Image credit: Kojima Productions)

Death Stranding 2 is now only days away from its June 26 release date, and publisher PlayStation decided to prep potential fans by condensing the original Death Stranding's 40-hour story into a six-minute video that makes me feel like I got dropped on my head.

"Prepare for Sam’s epic journey in DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH with this essential story recap of DEATH STRANDING," says the description of PlayStation's video. I can condense it even further for you: Kojima Productions' 2019 game explored the lonely and wasted environment around courier Sam (Norman Reedus), who delivers packages on haunted roads. But, you know, Kojima had to figure out a way to include jarred fetuses and actress Léa Seydoux.

So PlayStation explains: "Once, there was an explosion," begins the publisher's video, "a bang – which gave rise to life as we know it." OK, so we're starting from the very beginning.

"And then came the next explosion," the narrator continues as we watch Sam zooming across empty American grasslands, lamenting the Death Stranding that had brought "the timefall" and "those freaks from the beach," who – to me, a Death Stranding neophyte – look like swarms of bugs shaped like people. I think I'm getting it. It's the end of the world and stuff.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach - The Story So Far | PS5 Games - YouTube

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"Dooms and BBs are a good combination," instructs a narrator. "Connect yourself, granting you the ability to sense BTs" – beach things. We see Sam plug himself into a tub holding a baby, who gargles amniotic juice and blows a bubble shaped like a heart.

"It is not a simple walking simulator," clarifies a popular reply on YouTube, "but an experience where each step becomes a reflection of our need to recreate connections and restore meaning to humanity." Right – I was totally picking up on that.

"I'll never forget getting chased by multiple BTs in the mountain when you don't have the baby and someone left a ladder that saved me during the climbing animation," agrees another top comment. "Never triggered a voidout in my playthrough." Yeah, same. That happened to me too, I swear.

"Death Stranding 2: On the Beach," concludes the video. "Pre-order now." Fine, just let me lie down first.

Death Stranding 2's Norman Reedus calls Hideo Kojima "one of the most brilliant people" even if his ideas are wild: "OK, pick up the baby doll and cry."

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