Death Stranding 2 ‘I won’t do it’ choice has a secret clever twist

[Ed. note: This post contains spoilers for the first hour of Death Stranding 2, which is now in early access]

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach’s “I won’t do it” choice, the first in Kojima Productions’ long-awaited sequel, is a bit of a surprise. Here you are, presented with your first main-story mission – and you can refuse it.

The stakes seem high enough that folks playing the game early are leery of turning the quest down, but while there’s a bit of deception involved in how important your choice is, this little sequence does a lot to establish Death Stranding 2’s emotional beats and one of its core themes.

After Fragile, Sam Bridges’ colleague from Death Stranding, tracks him down with a job opportunity to extend the internet-like chiral network into Mexico, players get the option to accept outright or dig a little deeper into her company’s motivations. If you skip asking for more information, you missing out on some important character development for Sam. What Fragile says isn’t entirely appealing to Sam, who thinks this venture is just economic imperialism disguised as public service, and you get the seemingly radical choice to turn down the offer.

The decision is giving streamers pause for thought – well, some of them. Of the five longplays I watched, only one was brave enough to turn Fragile’s job down. On Wednesday, one popular streamer, Jacksepticeye asked Fragile for all the details before immediately accepting the job to help save Mexico. Others, such as GameRiot, hesitated and worried that refusing might backfire in some horrible, unexpected way. Even “no commentary” streamers like Shirrako paused longer before deciding to accept the job than they did before choosing any other option.

The truth is that your choice doesn’t matter. Death Stranding 2’s “I won’t do it” choice is another in a tradition of games tricking you into thinking your decision matters, like debating over letting Junjiro stay in Assassin’s Creed Shadows or pressing two control sticks to make Clive Rosfield break through a subconscious barrier in Final Fantasy XVI. Junjiro stays regardless of your choice, Clive can’t not accept the truth, and Sam has to take Fragile’s commission. However, if you’re the type of person who’s interested in Death Stranding for its story, you should refuse her request once or at least watch a video where someone does.

The scene after Death Stranding 2’s first tutorial where Sam preps dinner while Lou does toddler things plays again after you refuse. She’s busy with building blocks; he tests the sauce. She rams a wooden toy into his ankles; he’s proud of his little porter-in-training and gives her a big hug. The photo board has a new image of Sam speaking with Fragile in front of a hologram displaying plans for the chiral network in Mexico, and the camera zooms into it, dropping you off at the point where Sam has to make his choice. You can refuse it again for a shorter, amusing little flashback that gets cut off before you finally have to agree.

The whole scenario seems like just a funny little gag at first, a cute way to show you that you can’t progress without accepting the job – except it’s the same for Sam. The game focuses on his unwillingness to get drawn back into the wider world, but the unspoken sentiment is that he’s trapped in an unhealthy cycle of hiding, getting found, and running away again. He can’t move on without accepting this job either, whatever the consequences of it might be.

There’s a very specific intention to having these scenes replay when they do. Fragile waxes eloquently about the importance of connecting people and how technology can improve life – while conveniently hiding the parts people want to ignore. Then you see again things like Lou playing with tactile toys and no digital objects in sight; Sam enjoying the simple pleasure of making a meal without a recipe app telling him exactly what to do; and the two sharing a tender moment together.

Kojima Productions’ marketing for Death Stranding 2 constantly asks “Should we have connected?” It’s an obvious follow-up from the first Death Stranding’s theme of bringing people together. However, it’s also asking you to think a bit more deeply about the kind of connection that’s worth having and what’s more important: a digital network of anonymous people spanning the globe or a handful of close, meaningful relationships anchored in reality and affection? It’s worth keeping that question in mind as you play through the rest of Death Stranding 2.