in a game full of fun and memorable characters, dollman stands out as death stranding 2: on the beach‘s best new addition and, if i may be so bold, one of the best characters in the nascent franchise. spoilers ahead.

dollman is, in typical hideo kojima fashion, a doll inhabited by the soul of a man, animated on twos so as to appear to be rendered in stop motion. i haven’t gotten far enough into death stranding 2‘s story to have learned his whole deal, but the little wooden man has already stolen my heart. protagonist sam porter bridges meets dollman near the beginning of the game, and the two soon become inseparable traveling companions. dollman is there for every delivery, features in almost every cutscene (even if its just to hang around in the background and be cute), and gently reminds sam to shower every time you visit a safehouse or private room.

but dollman‘s influence on death stranding 2 goes beyond that. he’s also a vital reconnaissance tool, encouraging the player to toss him high into the sky as a way to scout out enemy bases and other various dangers outside of sam‘s line of vision. throw him at an charging enemy, and dollman will distract them long enough for sam to prepare a weapon or play more defensively and take cover. gameplay mechanics aside, i also love listening to dollman explain the plots and histories of literary mainstays like moby dick and frankenstein to sam during downtime.

oh, and did i mention the musical numbers? because dollman is prone to breaking out in song at various moments in death stranding 2, providing a wonderful distraction from the game’s heavy themes.

i think those of us with long memories of video games past are predisposed to see sidekicks as potential nuisances. folks still joke about navi imploring link to “hey! listen!” ad nauseam in the legend of zelda: ocarina of time, and more recently, companions in games like god of war: ragnarök have become overbearing hint providers. so even with the care kojima and his team typically pay to developing their characters, i wouldn’t have held it against anyone if they saw dollman in a death stranding 2 preview and immediately assumed he was going to be annoying.

fortunately, that’s not the case! dollman is so very charming that i can’t imagine heading out on a mission without him chiming in from sam‘s belt. and while i can’t wait to learn more about him, the game could leave dollman‘s entire existence a mystery and i’d love him just the same.