Okay it’s finally happening. Nobody panic. After spending more than half my life thinking I’d never want to start a family and have children, I can feel the winds of change. The worm has turned. Norman Reedus Dad Simulator 2, I mean, Death Stranding 2 has finally hit me over the head with a toddler character so cute that I actually kinda, sorta want one of my own.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is a follow-up to Hideo Kojima’s 2019 game. The first game starred Norman Reedus as Sam, a porter who was tasked with traveling all across America with a fetus in a container to help link the colonies to a chiral network. Even as a fetus, BB was adorable, though that certainly didn’t stop 26 year-old me from gleefully shaking it around and cackling like a maniac whenever I took a dangerous tumble, fetus in tow.
Six years later, things are different. BB, who Sam has now lovingly named Lou, is a little older. She’s a toddler now and will no longer fit in a container. Instead, she’s strapped to Sam’s chest in a little baby carrier. She’s a lot more responsive and reactive, too. The opening scene starts with Sam snoozing on a cliff before Lou extends her tiny hand to touch his face, waking him up and letting him know it’s time to go home. Her arms and legs are free, she’s constantly smiling, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it’s actually… heartwarming? Am I developing feelings of tenderness towards a toddler?
As I guided Sam down the rocky ridge, I found myself being more cautious than usual. Funny as it was to watch Sam trip all over himself in Death Stranding with a thousand boxes stacked on his back, I didn’t want to risk that here. Maybe it’s the fact that Lou is no longer in a protective container. I didn’t want to risk tumbling and potentially hurting her.
Moments later, we feel a quake and Lou begins to cry. Here comes the tutorial for soothing Lou! With the DualSense controller, you can move it back and forth to have Sam cradle Lou and rock her around gently. You can also lift her up in the air, Simba-style, and rock her back and forth. Before too long, Lou started smiling and laughing again, and I found myself smiling along with her.
Death Stranding 2 takes the time to show you what home life with Sam and Lou is like as well, and it certainly paints an idyllic picture. Sam cooks while Lou plays with her toys, including a criminally cute cryptobiote plushie that also gets creepier the more you look at it. Especially when you notice that thing has hands. The game’s not afraid to hammer home the point that Sam has very much settled into his role as a dad, with all his past pictures of him making deliveries with Lou.
It’s the little details that make all the difference too, like the height growth chart in Sam’s base to show how much Lou has grown. Or the little marine life charms that Lou is so delighted by. Death Stranding 2 might have the most appealing and beautiful portrayal of parenthood in video game history.
All the awesome photo mode screenshots on Twitter have helped, too. Like this one.
Y’know, maybe what I really want is a psychic child who can float around and do cool superpower things and also strike dorky poses with me.
Things aren’t all sunshine and rainbows in Death Stranding 2, of course. Early on in the game, Sam and Lou are forced to part ways as he helps Fragile (Lea Seydoux) with another job. Even though he’s only going to be gone for a few days, I found myself instantly disappointed that Lou wouldn’t be accompanying us on this journey.
For reasons I won’t spoil, this separation continues even after the job is done, and all I’m left with is a bit of melancholy and loneliness because the game just doesn’t quite feel the same without Lou. Somehow, at some point, Sam stopped being the main character of the Death Stranding series. Or at least, Lou became the second main character in what is now a dual protagonist setup. And without her, Death Stranding 2 feels just a little bit empty.
I suspect that’s how Kojima wants us to feel, and dammit it’s working. Parenthood is a theme that’s been explored quite extensively in video games. Some pull it off excellently (The Last of Us, Telltale’s The Walking Dead), while others fall flat (God of War). Death Stranding portrayed parenthood quite beautifully and I’m glad to see that Kojima has chosen to lean into that a little more with the sequel.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is now available on PS5.
