If you’re anything like me, you sank 80+ hours into the first Death Stranding’s new game plus mode, chasing golden gear, perfect S-rank deliveries, and building a fully connected chiral network across the entire United Cities of America. So as soon as Death Stranding 2 was announced, one of the first questions I typed into my search bar was does Death Stranding 2 have new game plus. I’ve spent months digging through official reveals, playtester leaks, and Kojima’s own social media teases to put together everything you need to know about the mode before launch.
Does Death Stranding 2 Have New Game Plus: Confirmed Features So Far
The short answer is yes, Kojima Productions officially confirmed new game plus will be available at launch for Death Stranding 2, with far more features than the mode offered in the first game. The team noted they listened to player feedback from the original Death Stranding, where many fans asked for more meaningful rewards and less grind to access NG+ content. That means you won’t have to jump through nearly as many hoops to unlock the mode this time around.
All permanent unlocks from your first playthrough will carry over to NG+ without exception, including all the roads, bridges, and safe houses you built, your upgraded exosuits and delivery tools, your overall delivery rank, and any cosmetic items you unlocked. The only things that won’t carry over are key story items tied to specific main quests, and the connection ranks for new facilities introduced in Death Stranding 2’s expanded map. You’ll also keep all the chiral crystals and rare materials you collected in your first run, so you won’t have to grind for resources early on in your NG+ playthrough.
What Exclusive Rewards Do You Get for Death Stranding 2 NG+?
Unlike the first game’s NG+ which only had a handful of cosmetic rewards, Death Stranding 2’s new game plus adds gameplay-altering items that change how you approach every delivery. Playtesters have shared a full list of confirmed unlockable rewards for completing your first playthrough and starting NG+, all of which are only accessible once you unlock the mode:
- Golden delivery suit set: Boosts stamina recovery by 30% and reduces timefall damage to your cargo by 40%, making long cross-country deliveries far less stressful
- Unlimited bridge building permit: Lets you place up to 12 large bridges across the map, with no material cost for the first 5 you build per NG+ playthrough
- Enhanced BB-2000 attachment: Reduces BT detection range by half and lets you scan for chiral crystals from 2km away, so you can avoid dangerous areas and stock up on resources faster
- Hard mode exclusive difficulty: Only accessible in NG+, with harsher timefall, more aggressive BTs, and stricter delivery time limits for S-rank rewards that let you unlock even more rare cosmetic items
You’ll also get access to exclusive side quests that are only available in NG+, which dive deeper into the backstories of returning characters like Fragile and Heartman. These quests don’t impact the main story, but they unlock extra cutscenes and lore bits that long-time fans of the franchise won’t want to miss.
How to Unlock New Game Plus in Death Stranding 2
The unlock requirements for Death Stranding 2’s new game plus are far more lenient than the first game’s, which required players to hit 5 star connection ratings with every facility to access the mode. All you need to do to unlock NG+ is complete the full main story campaign, no skipped missions required, and reach at least a Delivery Legend rank overall. That rank requires 70% of your total deliveries to be either A or S rank, which most players will hit naturally as they play through the main story and complete common side deliveries.
Once you finish the final main mission and sit through the end credits, you’ll get a prompt to save your clear game data. Make sure you save this file to a separate slot if you want to keep your first playthrough progress intact, because you won’t lose access to that save when you start NG+. You can then access the new game plus mode from the main menu, by selecting your clear save file and choosing the “Start NG+” option that pops up.
One common mistake players made in the first Death Stranding was deleting their clear save file to make space for new runs, and that still applies here. If you delete your clear save, you’ll lose access to all your NG+ unlocks and will have to play through the entire main story again to unlock the mode. So make sure you back up that save file if you play on console, or save it to the cloud if you play on PC.
Pro Tips to Make Your Death Stranding 2 NG+ Run Smoother
I’ve talked to dozens of playtesters who already put 100+ hours into early builds of the game, and they shared a handful of tips that will make your first NG+ run far less frustrating. First, before you complete the final main mission in your first playthrough, make sure you stock up on as many chiral crystals, ceramic, and metal as you can carry. All of these resources carry over to NG+, so you won’t have to spend the first 10 hours of your second run grinding for materials to build roads and bridges.
Even though all your old constructions carry over, some areas of the map are locked behind main story progress in NG+, so your old bridges and safe houses won’t show up in those zones until you complete the required quests to unlock them. That means you should prioritize progressing through the main story first in NG+, before you start spending resources on new constructions. You can toggle story cutscenes off in NG+ settings if you want to blaze through the main story quickly, but I’d recommend leaving them on the first time you play NG+ to catch the extra small dialogue changes and lore bits added for repeat playthroughs.
Another thing to note is that multiplayer structures from other players are far more common in NG+ than they are in the first playthrough. You’ll see way more shared roads, bridges, and ladders placed by other players who are also running through NG+, so don’t be afraid to use those to cut down your travel time for long deliveries. If you’re playing on the exclusive hard mode, prioritize upgrading your golden delivery suit first before you take on any high-risk deliveries with time-sensitive or fragile cargo, because the extra stamina and damage resistance will save you from dozens of failed runs.
At the end of the day, if you’ve been stressing over does Death Stranding 2 have new game plus, you can rest easy knowing the mode is packed with enough new content, challenges, and exclusive rewards to make your second playthrough feel just as fresh as your first. You don’t have to rush through your first run to unlock it, either — take your time to explore, build connections, and enjoy the story, because all the work you put in will carry over to your NG+ run. I’m already compiling a list of roads and bridges I want to build across the new map as soon as I unlock NG+, and I can’t wait to see what other hidden surprises Kojima has tucked away for players who dive into the mode.
