Death Stranding 2: Do you need to play Death Stranding 1 first?

Death Stranding 2, the sequel to Kojima Productions’ debut triple-A title, is out now, and millions of players are taking their first steps into Mexico, Australia, and beyond. Undoubtedly, though, there will be players who don’t want to play through the 50+ hour Death Stranding before jumping into the bright and shiny new Death Stranding 2. 

But should you play Death Stranding first? And what are you missing out on if you don’t? That’s what this guide aims to answer. 

Make sure you also check out our guide on how long it takes to beat Death Stranding 2, so you know what you’re getting into before you step foot in the wilds of Australia. 

DS2: Should you play Death Stranding before Death Stranding 2? 

You don’t necessarily need to play Death Stranding before playing Death Stranding 2. DS2 has a recap feature available from the main menu before even starting the game, and whenever a keyword or character pops up that might need extra explanation, the Corpus system is accessible to read a brief summary of it. 

That said, the recap feature is fairly limited. It covers the broadest strokes of what happened in the first game, leaving out some major story beats, important characters, and a lot of the background for Sam, baby Lou, and Fragile. You can figure some of it out just with context, and the Corpus can fill in the gaps for a lot of things if you’re willing to read a lot, but it’s not a perfect solution. 

There are also aspects of gameplay that are largely assumed to be understood by the player. It’s not too bad, and the tutorials are quite solid in Death Stranding 2, but it’s easy to miss some of the smaller features of the gameplay loop if you haven’t played the first game. 

Finally, some minor and major story beats rely on some knowledge of past events and characters to get the most out of them. You won’t necessarily understand the significance of some characters as they appear, and knowing who they are and why they’re important can help set the scene. It’s not totally incomprehensible without prior knowledge, but if you want to get the most out of Death Stranding 2, you should play the first game first.