Death Stranding 2: On The Beach is still on its way to the PlayStation 5 and at Tokyo Game Show 2024 over the weekend, director Hideo Kojima teased more gameplay, new features, and an in-game performance by Japanese singer Daichi Miura and a group of Death Stranding 2‘s unnerving Dollmen.
On stage for an hour-long panel discussion about the upcoming sequel, Kojima revealed that the game will have a traditional photo mode but also something entirely new and different: a Photo Shoot event. These revolve around in-game snapshots rather than traditional screenshots, and have consequences depending on how good the pictures are.
A sample photo shoot featuring Tomorrow (Elle Fanning), Rainy (Shioli Kutsuna), and Fragile (Lea Seydoux) dancing with fake Cryptobiote babies was shown to illustrate the gameplay:
Death Stranding 2 will also include an in-game dance number from Miura and a group of dancing dolls. Players will have to figure out a secret to trigger the event, and the song performed, called “Horizon Dreamer,” was released earlier today on streaming platforms like Spotify. Alan Wake 2 isn’t the only game making dance numbers a core part of it aesthetic, though in Death Stranding 2 the actors seem like they’ll be CGI rather than live action. After all, Kojima’s human scanner has been getting quite the workout.
We got our first solid look at Death Stranding 2 last year at the 2023 Game Awards, complete with big new gameplay set pieces, Hollywood cameos, and Troy Baker’s returning antagonist Higgs Monaghan looking more unhinged than ever. But so far the PS5 console exclusive still doesn’t have an official release date beyond sometime in 2025.
Kojima said during the TGS 2024 panel (via VGC) that due to “unforeseen circumstances,” he can’t reveal the game’s release date just yet. “I haven’t said the release date today, but the release date has already been decided, and I’m currently working on it in preparation for that,” the director explained. I’m guessing that means a final date will be revealed later this year, potentially at buddy Geoff Keighley’s 2024 Game Awards in December.