Death Stranding 2’s photo mode looks wild

The 2024 edition of the Tokyo Game Show took place over the weekend, and one of the highlights was a presentation from Death Stranding 2 studio Kojima Productions. It included a few interesting details about the weird-as-hell sequel, which the developer has helpfully split up into a series of clips in lieu of a traditional trailer. They feature some of the new characters joining the cast, some dialogue that makes little sense out of context, and what looks like a completely ridiculous photo mode to play around with.

The first includes some returning faces played by Norman Reedus and Léa Seydoux and also provides a proper introduction to one of the stranger elements of Death Stranding 2: a physic medium who has been turned into a marionette, who is obviously known as Dollman:

Next up we have two of the characters director Hideo Kojima has been teasing for some time, with Rainy played by Shioli Kutsuna and Elle Fanning as Tomorrow. (If you’ve played the original Death Stranding or really any Kojima games, those names are actually pretty normal.) It includes an unexpected sing-along:

Then there’s a short clip of Heartman doing some math and also collecting his own tears:

Those clips provide a decent sense of the oddball world players will be exploring, even if it’s still pretty unclear what Death Stranding 2 is actually about. But this next clip shows off how the photo mode works, and honestly, it looks pretty fun, with the ability to snap pics with lots of characters doing lots of poses. Also, there’s a stuffed cryptobiote, a small but tasty snack from the original game:

Death Stranding 2 doesn’t currently have a release date, though it is expected to launch in 2025. It’s one of several projects in the works at the studio, including the horror game OD, a new tactical espionage game, and a live-action Death Stranding movie.