Book Review - The Art of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
- 1 hour ago
- 4 min read
February 23rd 2026
Death Stranding made a return in 2025, allowing players to take the role of Sam Bridges again with more scenery to admire and strange enemies to take on. The games from Hideo Kojima are anything but conventional, but fortunately he works with talented artists that can bring these visions to life, as seen in the newly released book, The Art of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach!
The book is now available after being released on February 17th 2026 by Titan Books, publisher of the artbook for the first game with The Art of Death Stranding. But does it, pardon the pun, deliver? A copy has now joined collection so I break down what to expect and give my thoughts.
Build Quality
This new release matches the first Death Stranding artbook, coming as a 31cm x 28cm hardcover with a dustjacket and 240 pages, making it a very large. The paper, print, and binding quality is all very good and the edges of the pages, as well as some of the interior, are gilded in bronze, the same way the first book was done in gold. Under the dustjacket is a plain black cover with a spot-varnished title. This all comes together to create a well-made book that looks great too, so a good start for Titan Books.
Content
People that own artbooks will know that there is a wide variety in what you can get in these releases, with this one coming light on text to read and filling the pages with art, as seen in the photos. The book covers the characters, enemies, vehicles, weapons, and locations, everything you expect to see in a video game artbook and it works well in balancing each of these.
Text comes in the form of short paragraphs that can simply describe what you are seeing on the page, or give some behind the scenes insights. These include early ideas and game design notes, such as envisioning Tomorrow with a katana, having to design the back of Sam’s suit as he can remove his backpack, and concepting a mech suit for Fragile. Fans will find some nice details here and there amongst the artwork, but as it is design focused, don’t expect a development history or interviews.
The Art of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach has a wonderful range of artwork, from styles to different stages of designs. Yoji Shinkawa is back as the Art Director, delivering his unique style that somehow manages to be loose, yet detailed, and bold, yet painterly, art that is always a joy to see. His team also have concepts that can be highly detailed with clean lines, a little more rough around the edges, or created as 3D models too, making the spreads more engaging throughout.
What I really like is that the book features early sketches, thumbnails, and animation exploration among the full colour pieces for all of the chapters, some of which are featured as part of the background. Fans of the game will enjoy seeing the variety and the designs that didn’t get used, but are equally as impressive as what is seen in the game. Whether it be for the main cast, the BTs, or the brutalist style of the architecture that would look at home in Dune or Blade Runner, I thoroughly enjoyed what was included.
There is a lot that stood out in this volume, such as the weapons pages that include concepts from sketches to 3D models, which is more than you get in a lot of artbooks. There isn’t a lot of keyframes or story moments shown though, with the designs being the focal point, but some are included for the BTs. There are also many pieces that focus on boots and gloves for different characters, something that stood out as interesting as it’s typically heads and torsos that get a separate focus. The section for the Ghost Mechs was a favourite part for me personally because of the intricate details in their designs.
Credits
Sadly, the credits are not featured on each page, so it’s not clear who is responsible for the pieces of artwork. The last page, as seen below, does list the members of the art team, so they aren’t excluded entirely which is good.
Use of Space
The Art of Death Stranding 2 does an excellent job with the page design, filling the spreads up but not overcrowding them either. The large dimensions of the book allow even the smaller images to get a strong showcase, also helped by the print quality. The backgrounds are kept simple, with 3 block colours used at most and the occasional sketch featured behind the art on the page. The less is more approach works well and the bronze sections on the page are reflective too, giving the book a premium feel. Overall, the team at Titan Books have helped Kojima Productions show off their artwork effectively while fitting a lot in.
Value
The hardcover has an RRP of $50/£40, which is the norm for a video game artbook in 2026. For the size and production quality, including the gilded paper edges that you rarely see in a standard edition, this is good value for money.
However, that of course improves if you can find a discount, which there are some already available on the week of release. Using Amazon as I always do for these reviews, the book is 20% off in the US and 25% off in the UK at the time of writing this, putting it under $40/ £30. Anything below the RRP is a great price, so bargain hunters finding the book as low as this will be getting themselves a very good deal.
Verdict
The Art of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is an impressive collection of artwork for the hit game, delivering a variety of art and a lot of unused concepts. The art styles are often distinct, especially for the characters, which when combined with the unique world and designs for the game, made my time with the book engaging from cover to cover. This is a superb volume of concept art that comes highly recommended for fans of Death Stranding and even sci-fi art in general.
If you enjoyed the review and would like to add the book to your own collection, you can order the book here;
Comments