By most early accounts,Death Stranding 2: On the Beachis a triumphant continuation of the post-apocalyptic story that Hideo Kojima built. Once again starring Norman Reedus as Sam, a porter who made a name for himself by transporting goods across a lawless wasteland, the game delves deeper into the relationships between Sam and his companions like Fragile, played by Léa Seydoux. The game ventures beyond the bounds of its predecessor in other ways as well, especially in how it opens up the world to bring players to other countries like Australia and Mexico.
ScreenRant’sDeath Stranding 2: On the Beachreview–which gave the game 10 out of 10 stars–pointed out poignant musical cues as a highlight of the player experience. This is in large part to Ludvig Forssell, the Swedish composer and songwriter who wrote the bulk of the game’s music (although French singer/songwriter Woodkid was also a major player). Forssell also composed the music forDeath Strandingin 2019, a project on which he embarked during the surprisingly scrappy early days of Kojima Productions.
Ludvig Forssell spoke withScreenRantabout his work onDeath Stranding 2: On the Beach, whichunlocks in your region soon. Forssell discussed the differences between his work onDeath Strandingand its sequel, how the larger world of the new game informed his musical choices, and what he believes Hideo Kojima wants people to feel upon playing. Forssell also discussed how fan expectations affected his work on the score.
Why The Music Of Death Stranding 2 Is A More Rewarding Part Of The Game
“There Was A Lot More Fan Service This Time Around”
Ludvig Forssell came into his work onDeath Stranding 2: On the Beachfrom a very different place compared to the first one.“This time I’m not in-house with the company,”he said, continuing,“I was also the audio director for the first one, and now I’m completely solely focused on music.”Being a freelance artist this time around helped, he said:“I feel like I write much better when I’m not on a train for an hour and 20 minutes to get to the place.”
Forssell also had his award-winning score forDeath Stranding,plus his experience of seeing fans’ appreciation for his work, as starting points.“There was a lot more fan service this time around,”he shared.“I definitely wanted … [the music] being about storytelling, but also some parts being about headbanging, [and] some of it being more musical, generally, and that making the gameplay situations more gratifying and fun for the player–and me as a composer as well.”
“I definitely was getting inspired by a lot of other video games and their approach to how they showcase their music within different gameplay situations,”Forssell added, saying,“Some of that stuff was definitely something I didn’t get the time to think about for the first one, that I really wanted to lean into the for the second one.”
Even the technological jump from PS4 to PS5 helped Forssell craft a better musical experience:“Being on the PlayStation 5 now also affords us a lot more leeway with how we structure music and how it’s implemented. [The] music can be interactive, but still be musical in a way that wasn’t as easy to do before. I definitely wanted to try more of that–to have the music be more gratifying when you’re playing it, and not just informative.”
Ludvig Forssell’s Long Journey To Death Stranding 2
The Composer Began Writing Music Before The Game Was Greenlit
Forssell’s work on the hotly anticipated sequel to Hideo Kojima’s latest franchise began before he actually knew there was work to be done.“There were parts of the score that I’d written in between projects where I was like, ‘This would be a cool thing for a sequel for Death Stranding,’”the composer shared. And at least one of those made it into the game:“The track that plays in the very final scene of the game, I wrote before Death Stranding 2 was a thing.”
WhenDeath Stranding 2officially became a thing, it started“very, very, by the book … the CEO reached out and said, ‘Hey, do you want to do the sequel?’”For Forssell, that wasn’t a tough sell:“Having done the first one and having had a long relationship with Kojima Productions and Mr. Kojima himself, that all felt very natural.”But what’s “natural” at Kojima Productions is still different from the norm elsewhere.
“Kojima Productions doesn’t do things by the book, so we know that we’re going to change a lot and we’re going to try to expand and find new dimensions to what the first one was.”
Those new dimensions inspired Forssell to write music that was“much more lyrical and melodic”than its predecessor.“[It’s] not as ambient and dark, but rather closer to actually pointing towards different feelings, rather than staying clear of them and letting people figure them out themselves.”
Ludvig Forssell Took Death Stranding 2’s Boss Battles Up A Notch
“It’s About Storytelling & Motive”
Forssell has been clear thatDeath Stranding 2: On the Beachprovided him with opportunities to accomplish things he wasn’t able to in the first game. When asked about that, he shared that one area of expansion was“thematic boss battles that are way more about telling a story rather than just being action music,”which is very much in keeping with his stated overall vision.
To accomplish that, he had to work closely with the game’s mix engineer, who didn’t immediately understand the vision.“I talked to the engineer mixing the entire game, [and] he said it was really hard for some of the boss battles, because [at] first he didn’t actually know what I was trying to do with the music, and it didn’t really work.Then, we went out for drinks, and I explained, ‘It’s about storytelling and motive–the music emotionally driving the player, rather than the action driving the player in the game.’”
Death Stranding 2’s Returning Characters Are Redefined
“The Most Obvious … Would Be Higgs”
Ludvig Forssell had a bigger world and a new story to score inDeath Stranding 2: On the Beach,but even returning characters got musical updates.“The most obvious one here would be Higgs,”the composer said.“Higgs the villain from the first game comes back in the second one. He looks different [and] his mannerisms are upped a few notches [whereas] in the first one, he was more of a mystery.“
“Troy Baker really leaned into how the character has changed beyond the events of the first game, both physically and mentally, and I really wanted the score to represent that.”
To“lean into the more cartoonish side of it,”Forssell took the theme he originally wrote for the character and“wrote parts around it so it all flows [like a] song.”Although he didn’t want to go into any details, Forssell also cited the fact that gamers will see Higgs play guitar in the game (as revealed in trailers) as a source of inspiration:“That was a big part in giving me clues as to how to expand the score.”
Why A Key Element Of Death Stranding’s Music Is Different This Time Around
Ludwig Forssell Wanted To Incorporate “More Human Facets”
For the firstDeath Stranding,Forssell took the sounds of everyday objects and manipulated them into his musical score. While those elements are still present, the composer didn’t want to simply attempt to recapture the novelty.“I’m reusing some of that,”he shared,“but it was an idea that’s already part of the score, and I wanted to expand upon that with more human facets.”
To do that, Forssell“recorded a small vocal ensemble over the course of a few days, recording a few cues that I’d written.”But, ever the experimenter, that was just the beginning, shared Forssell:“I re-sampled all those vocals [to create] vocalizations, weird sounds, and strange melodies to have a constant presence of vocals throughout the score beyond those specific cues.”
“That was one of the major new things that I wanted to do that was more experimental.”
How Does Hideo Kojima Feel About Death Stranding 2?
The Creator Finally Realized “Everything He Envisioned For The First One”
Death Stranding 2: On the Beachwas written and directed by legendary video game designer Hideo Kojima who, in Forssell’s words,“definitely got to do everything he envisioned for the first one”this time around. This even applies to the music, said the composer:“I know for a fact that he’s very happy he’s gotten to work directly with artists to write bespoke cues and songs for the game,”especially considering thatDeath Stranding“was a lot of licensing existing music.”
In terms of story expectations, Forssell said Kojima“definitely wants people to cry,”and that the director’s vision saw“everything … just turned up to 11.”The composer added that while he’s personally yet to“experience everything in a sequence,”there is“more or everything that made you cry,”and“more of everything that made you angry.”(But, you know, in a good way.)
Death Stranding 2: On the Beachwill be released June 26 for PlayStation 5.
