There are 4 unique difficulty settings that players can use in Death Stranding 2, and it’s important to know the difference between each of them before players start their journey as Sam to connect the Chiral Network across continents.
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Whether players are looking for something more suited to a casual playstyle so they can experience Hideo Kojima’s story for Death Stranding 2, or for players who are looking to be punished like the hardcore gamers they are, every difficulty setting in Death Stranding 2 can be found below, along with information on how best to experience the game.
All Difficulty Options in Death Stranding 2 & What They Do
|
Difficulty |
Description |
What Does it Do? |
|---|---|---|
|
Story |
Allows you to focus completely on the story. Recommended for those who struggle with action games but want to play all the way to the end. |
Story difficulty essentially makes Sam invincible, as damage from enemies is barely recognized, as is damage to cargo, meaning delivering parcels and combat is extremely easy, especially as health automatically replenishes, so Sam can basically never die. Players will get no additional evaluation when completing Standard Orders. |
|
Casual |
Gameplay remains relatively effortless, allowing you to enjoy the story. Recommended for those who want to enjoy a few moderate challenges along the way. |
Like Story, Casual has its easy aspects with reduced damage from enemies and reduced damage from cargo, but more tweaks in place make it feel like a breeze. Players will get the Legend evaluation when completing Standard Orders at an S rank. |
|
Normal |
Mixes challenging gameplay with an enjoyable story. Recommended for those who are familiar with action games and want to experience everything this title has to offer. |
This is the standard difficulty for players that blends challenge with story, allowing players who are familiar with action games and combat in general to be responsible for the dangers that they put themselves in. Players will get the Legend of Legends evaluation when completing Standard Orders at an S rank. |
|
Brutal |
Recommended for those who want a real challenge to accompany the story. Completing the game at this difficulty will test all your skills and provide a true sense of accomplishment. Your reputation will be legendary, and your standing as a porter unmatched. |
This is a punishing difficulty option for players who want to play it hardcore, as there is an extreme challenge ahead where enemies are unrelenting in their aggressive nature, amount of health, and the damage that they can deal. Cargo is also extremely fragile and takes a lot of damage from trips and enemies. Players will get the Legend of Legends of Legends evaluation when completing Standard Orders at an S rank. |
Above are all four difficulty options found in Death Stranding 2, along with what they do so that players are best prepared to select their chosen difficulty.
It’s also worth noting that players will not get any additional evaluations on Standard Orders on Story difficulty.
Best Difficulty Options for Death Stranding 2
There are quite a few ways to play Death Stranding 2, depending on what type of gamer is playing, but what’s the preferred way to play? Most players will want a balanced and fair playthrough where the game is best experienced on Normal difficulty, as the developers intended it to be played on. However, for more casual players who want to experience the story without being punished for a lack of skill, Story will be the best difficulty option for players who want to enjoy the game without the challenge. While there is the Brutal difficulty, players should only try this if they are looking for something new, as it might be a frustrating way to experience the game for the first time, when everything is deadly and cargo is so easily damaged.
Does Death Stranding 2 Have a Difficulty Trophy?
Luckily, players will not have to slave away in the hardest difficulty, as Death Stranding 2 has no trophy for players who finish the game on Brutal difficulty. This means that players won’t have to prepare to punish themselves with the hardest challenge. However, a trophy requires players to be on at least Casual or above, and that’s the Seasoned Porter trophy. The Seasoned Porter trophy requires players to “complete 10 deliveries, 10 recoveries, and 10 elimination/destruction standard orders with an S rank in Casual difficulty or above”. This means that if players want all trophies in Death Stranding 2, they need to complete a playthrough on Casual, Normal, or Brutal.
How to Change Difficulty in Death Stranding 2
If players have started Death Stranding 2 and they are not happy with the difficulty they chose, then worry not, as there’s a way to change it to scale it up or down, depending on personal preference. Players can change the difficulty in Death Stranding 2 by hitting the Options button on the controller, and navigating to the System tab, where they can then select Options and select the Game Difficulty found in the Game Settings tab.