Death Stranding 2 hasn’t even been out a month yet, but it’s undeniably another wild, hard-hitting, psychedelic adventure from Hideo Kojima and his team, worthy of the legacy of the original. The signature Death Stranding gameplay that audiences have come to love has been greatly expanded with new mechanics and tools, the world has been revitalized thanks to the new settings of Australia and Mexico, and the story is as beefy, cerebral, and bizarre as ever.
But as ostensibly convoluted as Death Stranding 2‘s story can be at times, it’s actually surprisingly easy to understand. At least, it’s easier to get a handle on than the first game’s story, which thrust players head-first into Kojima’s singular vision of the post-apocalypse. For one thing, the dialogue in Death Stranding 2 is much more natural-sounding, and less defined by the often absurd surreality of the first game’s (there are no lines to rival the ridiculousness of the “Mario and Princess Beach” quip from Death Stranding 1). But Death Stranding 2 also includes a useful Corpus feature, which essentially acts as a comprehensive glossary of various terms and concepts, and is invaluable for gaining a stronger understanding of the game’s rich world.
Death Stranding 2 Corpus changes everything, offering a way to keep up with Kojima’s world without ever leaving the game or looking at another screen.
Death Stranding 2 Delivers Lore Excellently, and FromSoftware Should Take Notice
Why Death Stranding 2’s Corpus Is Superior to FromSoftware’s Drip-Feed Lore Approach
Death Stranding 2‘s greatest quality of life feature is arguably the Corpus, not just because it’s a helpful glossary, but because of how it is implemented. During cutscenes, characters will often reference in-game lingo and concepts like “JumpShock” without dragging the pacing down with clunky exposition. This makes sense, because people tend not to speak in expository monologues, and Sam is a part of the world already, so he doesn’t need such lengthy explanations. This is where the Corpus comes in, prompting players to hold down the Options button to read more about any number of nebulous or confusing in-universe ideas.
The first Death Stranding was criticized for its cumbersome expository dialog, so the Corpus might have been introduced as a way to address these criticisms.
The cutscene integration is a great feature, but the Corpus itself is nothing to sneeze at either. It’s a detailed and well-organized collection of all the lore information a Death Stranding 2 player could ask for, which is a big part of why it’s so much better than what a developer like FromSoftware does. In a traditional FromSoftware Soulslike, players glean lore information from items and text entries, but these are dependent upon actually finding these items. Even then, each item or note is just one small piece of a bigger puzzle; it’s not uncommon to read several item descriptions and still not know what’s going on.
By including the Corpus, Death Stranding 2 is able to retain this investigative style of lore consumption without being obtuse or unnecessarily convoluted. Players will still feel like they’re peeling back layers of information and uncovering a grand, cosmic mystery, but they can do so with fewer hiccups, stoppages, and moments of general confusion.
There’s also the way that Death Stranding 2‘s cutscenes and dialogue exchanges function. As previously mentioned, these aspects are far better in Death Stranding 2 than its predecessor, partly by virtue of their trim exposition. But at the same time, the inclusion of certain lore and character details during conversations prompts the player to investigate further, should they so choose. These moments serve as breadcrumbs, leading players closer to an answer and communicating the significance of certain concepts, even if those concepts aren’t thoroughly explored in the actual cutscenes or conversations. By comparison, FromSoftware leaves almost the entire process up to the player, which is what can cause some to feel rudderless and confused.
