If you’ve seen the surreal, star-studded trailers for the upcoming Death Stranding sequel and are itching to dive in, you’ve probably asked do you have to play Death Stranding 1 before 2 at least once. The first game is famously long, weird, and divisive, so it makes sense you’d want to skip it if you can to get straight to the new, improved gameplay and story. I’ve put 120+ hours into the original Death Stranding, including multiple playthroughs and 100% completion runs, so I’m breaking down exactly what you need to know before you make that call.
Do You Have to Play Death Stranding 1 Before 2 to Understand the Core Gameplay?
The short answer is no, you don’t need to play the first game to understand how to play Death Stranding 2. Hideo Kojima and the development team have explicitly stated they designed the sequel to be accessible for brand new players, so all core mechanics will be explained from the start when you boot up the game. You’ll get full tutorials for traversal, combat, delivery systems, and multiplayer features just like you would in any standalone title.
Death Stranding 2 will include optional recap content for new players, so you don’t have to hunt down external summaries if you don’t want to. These recaps are designed to give you the bare minimum context you need to follow the plot without spoiling every detail of the first game, if you decide you want to play it later.
That said, some gameplay terms won’t be explained in as much depth as they were in the first game, since the devs assume a portion of players will already be familiar with them. You won’t be completely lost, but you might have a few moments early on where you’re not sure what a certain term means, or why a specific mechanic works the way it does.
Key Context From Death Stranding 1 That Improves the Sequel Experience
Even if you can technically play the sequel without the first game, there are a few core pieces of context that will make your experience way more enjoyable, and stop you from pausing every 10 minutes to look up lore. The most important points to know are:
- The core premise of the Death Stranding event, which wiped out most of human civilization, left the world infested with invisible ghost-like BTs, and split the former United States into isolated, walled settlements called Knot Cities
- Sam Porter Bridges’ backstory, including his connection to Amelie, Higgs, and the BB (Bridge Baby) technology he uses to detect BTs and navigate the dangerous post-apocalyptic landscape
- The rules of timefall, chiral networks, and DOOMS abilities, which all return as core mechanics and plot devices in the sequel
You don’t need to memorize every side character’s name to follow the sequel, but knowing the basic rules of the world will make the story feel far less confusing. For example, if you don’t know that timefall is rain that ages anything it touches within seconds, you’ll be caught off guard when your gear starts falling apart the first time it starts raining in the sequel.
Most of the core cast from the first game returns in the sequel, and many of their motivations and relationships carry over directly from the first game’s ending. You’ll still be able to follow their arcs, but emotional beats and small callbacks will hit far harder if you know their history from the original.
Pros and Cons of Skipping Death Stranding 1 Before Playing the Sequel
There’s no right or wrong choice here, but it helps to weigh the upsides and downsides before you decide. Let’s start with the pros of skipping the first game: you’ll save 40-60 hours of playtime, which is a huge commitment if you don’t have a lot of free time to game. The sequel also has far more quality of life improvements, including faster traversal options, more customizable loadouts, and expanded co-op multiplayer, so you’ll get to jump straight into the most polished version of the Death Stranding gameplay loop.
The biggest downside of skipping the first game is missing out on the full emotional weight of Sam’s arc, which carries directly into the sequel’s core plot. The first game spends dozens of hours building Sam’s relationship with other characters, his connection to the BB, and his personal stake in rebuilding America, so a lot of that depth will be lost if you start with the sequel.
If you only care about gameplay and don’t follow story closely, skipping the first game won’t ruin your experience at all. The core delivery and traversal loop is fun on its own, and the new multiplayer features are completely accessible even if you don’t know a single thing about the first game’s plot. You also won’t have the first game’s ending spoiled for you, so if you end up loving the sequel, you can go back and play the original later with fresh eyes.
Our Recommendation for Who Should (and Shouldn’t) Play Death Stranding 1 First
If you’re a story-focused player who loves deep worldbuilding, complex character arcs, and surreal, thought-provoking narratives, you should absolutely play the first game before the sequel. The Death Stranding story is designed to be experienced in order, and you’ll get far more out of the sequel’s twists and emotional moments if you have the full context from the original. Even if you find the first game’s slow pacing a little tedious at points, the payoff is well worth the time investment.
You can safely skip the first game if you tried it already and hated the slow, delivery-focused gameplay, or if you only care about the sequel’s new co-op features and improved traversal mechanics. The sequel has way more action and variety than the original, so even if you didn’t like the first game, you might still love part 2.
If you’re on the fence, try watching a 20-minute story recap of the first game before you start the sequel – it’s the perfect middle ground that gives you all the context you need without the huge time commitment. You won’t get the full emotional impact of playing the first game yourself, but you’ll avoid most of the confusion that comes with jumping into the sequel blind.
At the end of the day, the answer to do you have to play Death Stranding 1 before 2 depends entirely on what you want out of the sequel. There’s no wrong choice, whether you dive straight into part 2 or take the time to play the original first. As long as you go in with the right expectations for what you will and won’t understand, you’re going to have a great time exploring Kojima’s weird, wonderful post-apocalyptic world.
