i was playing death stranding 2: on the beach last night, something i’ve done every day for the last week or so, when i decided to have protagonist sam porter bridges stop off at one of the few hot springs i’ve discovered after dozens of hours with the game. as sam soaked alongside BB (a bridge baby) and dollman (a doll man) — the latter of whom had just finished an impromptu performance of “ii yu da na” by japanese comedy rock band the drifters — i was given a choice i’d never seen before: “put bucket on head.”

curious, i held the square button on my dualsense controller for a few seconds and watched as sam did just as the prompt described. in one fluid motion, he grabbed a small bucket floating in front of him, placed it neatly on the top of his head, and disappeared beneath the waters of the hot spring. as everything went black, dollman shouted about something pulling them in, and i waited for what felt like an eternity as the game took a few seconds to load the next cinematic. spoilers ahead.

sam was spat out in another body of water, one i’d previously visited that was built into a building used by ally heartman to study the death stranding phenomenon. while heartman had already vacated the premises during a previous cutscene, his partner still occupied the research station. known as the hydrologist, she suffers from a so-called “21-minute syndrome” that causes her to projectile vomit every 21 minutes as her stomach muscles seize. heartman suffers from a similar malady — his heart stops every 21 minutes, requiring the constant wearing of a defibrillator device to bring him back from an afterlife known as the beach — and apparently the hydrologist‘s daughters also harbor their own 21-minute syndromes. i’m sure i’ll learn more about that in due time.

“so… you actually managed to jump here from the miracle spring?!” the hydrologist asked sam excitedly after he wrapped up his bath. “i knew it! i’d always theorized the existence of incredibly strong overlaps between this world and the beach, places where a special kind of hot spring would emerge from the tar currents. similar to the plate gates, but on a smaller scale. in principle, a person could use one to ride the currents within the earth and jump to other connected springs. just like you did. in fact, i dug that spring you used in order to test this theory. and now i want to confirm if it holds true for different locations.”

thus kicked off an entire side mission based around hot springs, something the original death stranding also featured but only as a fun distraction. rather than simply existing in the world waiting to be discovered, hot springs are something sam is able to build using a special piece of equipment, like bridges or private shelters, to create a network of fast travel locations. the hydrologist guided me towards an area she thought would make a great place for my first hot spring, but i assume the bulk of the legwork will be left to me to find future locations. and as far as i can see, this has nothing to do with the main storyline while nonetheless still expanding the intricate details of the death stranding universe.

death stranding 2‘s hot springs also kick serious amounts of ass. it was always nice to find a cute, little spot to soak for a few seconds in the first game, but the sequel turns them into places you almost always want to spend more time. i already mentioned doll man‘s musical number, but hot springs can also be customized with different holograms as well as items that improve sam‘s stats. they even provide an opportunity for stargazing if you happen to plop down in one at night, revealing various images as pseudo-constellations ranging from death stranding mainstays like a hand giving a thumbs up and sea life to the kojima productions logo and a straight up photo of death stranding writer, director, and designer hideo kojima himself.

it’s little things like this that add up to make death stranding 2: on the beach feel so much larger than its predecessor. and even 40 hours into the game, i feel like i’m barely scratching the surface of everything kojima and his team managed to cram into the confines of its gigabytes. it makes me wonder if they have anything left in the tank for a director’s cut.