Death Stranding 2: On the Beach has gone gold, following extensive previews from journalist outlets detailing its new mechanics. One of the more interesting additions is a day/night cycle, and though it adds to the overall beauty of exploration, there are some gameplay advantages. For example, sneaking around is easier at night, but less visibility could be an issue for traversal. With a series as focused on carefully navigating terrain as Death Stranding, it introduces some new challenges. But what prompted director Hideo Kojima to add a day/night cycle when it was missing from the first game? Speaking to IGN, Kojima revealed, “We did this in Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain as well, but I wanted to properly include the passage of time in an open world. Gazing at the sky as the sun rises and sets is something that couldn’t be done in the first game, in part due to engine-related reasons, but it’s been put into the sequel.” Kojima notes that night-time scenes were originally “far too” dark, prompting a “lot” of lighting changes. “Cutscene lighting changes depending on the time of day too. It wasn’t easy building a game that could account for that. “There are times when I want to use film-like backlighting in specific scenes, but this is a game, not a movie. What’s being seen will change based on the player. I’d personally like you to play certain cutscenes at night, but it’s fine if you see them at another time of the day too.” Fortunately, unlike Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, you won’t have to wait around and smoke to advance time. Instead, players can return to a Private Room and go to bed. “We also included the option to go to bed and wait for the morning before leaving. This is something we’ve been sure to include because I imagine there will be players who don’t want to travel at night. “Metal Gear Solid 5 had a system where you could smoke to advance time, but this game does it in more natural ways, like going back to bed in a private room after waking up once.” Death Stranding 2: On the Beach launches on June 26th for PS5. Head here for more extensive gameplay, showcasing new boss fights and new weapons that Sam employs.