Here's Exactly How Long It Takes to Beat Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
An Australian expedition.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is Hideo Kojima’s latest mind-bending sci-fi epic, once again taking players into a post-apocalyptic world where humans live isolated and disconnected. This time around, Sam Porter Bridges sets out on a new expedition to reconnect Mexico and Australia, a world-roving trip filled with packages and cargo to deliver. But Death Stranding 2 also adds on a lot more complexity for its formula, telling a bigger and bolder story that provides the player with more options for combat, stealth, and everything in between. It’s a sequel that ups that ante in nearly every way, and that likely includes how much time you’ll sink into it. With that in mind, here’s every detail you need to know about how long it takes to beat Death Stranding 2.
How Long Does it Take to Beat Death Stranding 2?
Death Stranding 2 has a much bigger emphasis on action and boss battles than the first game.
Death Stranding 2 is structured almost exactly the same as the first game, long stretches of deliveries bookended by big story moments and boss battles. There are 16 total chapters or “Acts” in Death Stranding 2, two more than in the first game. There’s also a seventeenth chapter that acts as a post-game where you can go back and do anything you might have missed.
The length of these Acts can vary wildly because of how much side and open world content there is to do, but if you simply mainline the story as much as possible, Death Stranding 2 should take a minimum of 35-40 hours, a good bit longer than the first. There are two different maps you get to explore, with Mexico serving as the tutorial area, before the rest of the game opens up to Australia. You will, however, be able to return to Mexico anytime you want.
In our own playthrough, we spent a moderate amount of time completing sub and side-orders, and just wandering the world, clocking in at roughly 66 hours. There’s currently no New Game Plus in Death Stranding 2.
How Much Side Content Is In Death Stranding 2?
Australia is a massive location, basically recreating the entire continent on a smaller scale.
While the main story of Death Stranding 2 is lengthy, the amount of side content in the game is absolutely staggering. You can see a good 20 hours difference just in our own playthrough, not even doing everything.
There are 42 different facilities to connect in Death Stranding 2, and while most of these are done through the main story, there are a handful that you’ll need to find yourself. To connect these, you’ll have to find Lost Cargo out in the world and then bring it to the facility in question. Just like the first game, every facility has a star rating (1-5), which rises as you complete deliveries — and each star will give you some kind of reward, from new weapons and tools to music. This is where the bulk of your time will be spent in Death Stranding 2, and if you’re looking to five-star everything, that’s at least an extra 50 hours — meaning 90-100 hours in total.
But there are also a few secrets hidden around the world as well, this time, like a mysterious BT known as the Lord of the Lake. A lot of your satisfaction with Death Stranding 2 will be based in how much you put into the game. If you’re simply enjoying the story but don’t want to do anything else, that’s fine; stick with it. But if you want to dive into the nitty-gritty of the game’s delivery system, there’s more than enough to keep you busy for a few weeks.
Will There Be DLC For Death Stranding 2?
There’s currently no DLC announced for Death Stranding 2, although that doesn’t necessarily mean we won’t get any in the future. While the first Death Stranding didn’t have typical DLC, it did eventually get a Director’s Cut version that added on a wealth of new features — additional story missions, quality-of-life improvements, racing tracks, new gameplay mechanics, and more.
So while there’s no word on DLC currently, it’s not out of the question that we could see something similar for Death Stranding 2 — especially if the game comes to other consoles and PC at a later date.
