Why is Death Stranding 2 more combat-heavy? Kojima has the most Kojima explanation possible: an obscure gameplay theory he cooked up 8 years ago

Hideo Kojima has confirmed that Death Stranding 2 will have more action than the original in the most Hideo Kojima way possible.

The original Death Stranding did have a lot of action in it, but throwing jugs of your urine and feces at goop monsters was a far smaller part of the puzzle than the more peaceful elements like traversal and making deliveries. Kojima in the past has cited Kobo Abe's novella Rope, which talks about the first inventions of the human race being the stick and the rope (with an excerpt being the first thing you see when you launch Death Stranding).

Speaking to Edge, Kojima says, “I have a ‘stick and the rope’ theory… so many games are just about the stick. Even in games where you’re connected to each other online, everyone’s just battling with the stick.” He adds, “In Death Stranding, I wanted to make a game that was all about the rope," which can definitely be felt in the original, deterring players away from combat as much as possible.

However, if the combat-filled trailer released earlier this year didn't give it away, Kojima has confirmed that Death Stranding 2 will focus more on combat, telling Edge, "The sequel balances the stick and the rope.”

Considering dead bodies in Death Stranding would cause a voidout (a massive explosion that leaves a crater in the map) if not properly disposed of, I'm interested to see how that mechanic comes forward in the sequel. If you're going to be in combat with humans more often, will you have a lot more dead bodies to transport, or Kojima could just decide they fixed it, who knows?

Death Stranding 2 technical director says that the jump from PS4 to PS5 "isn't so great," it's just "more efficient."