It should hardly be a surprise that Death Stranding is off to a slow start right out the gate. Its deliberately insane promotional strategy of being as confusing and chocked full of celebrities as possible, its meager premise of delivering packages in an empty post-apocalypse America, and its minuscule range of tone and variety all add up to make it “limited appeal”.
But the bad news gets worse when a certain somebody speaks out…
Continue readingI was pleasantly surprised by the Death Stranding trailer released today because it finally established in more clear terms what the main plot and game structure will be about, and showed off more genuine gameplay, including gunfights, fight fights, and motorcycle riding. If Kojima had continued to delay and tease without revealing the core of the game, it would have been a massive red flag for me, and a sign that the game itself isn’t worth advertising. Unlike Metal Gear Solid games, Death Stranding has no established fan base or legacy to fall back on, so it needs to attract people. This trailer showed that they have confidence in the core game, if nothing else.
Continue readingI asked for replies, and I’m glad you guys responded! I felt the need to follow up here and acknowledge your views, clarify what I think, and further push the idea that I introduced in the previous one. Once again I’d like to know what you think, agree or disagree.
Once again, thank you to the Patreon supporters for pushing the goals even further!
Isn’t it weird how Hideo Kojima has stopped talking about the dangers of the digital society? In this video I talk about the new opinion piece he has written for Glixel.
Thank you very much to my Patreon supporters, this video is brought to you by them!
Their discussion is the last one in the conference. I might add some commentary later.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKw2JpLAHdw
Hideo Kojima is creating a new independent studio named “KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS” and has already made a deal with PlayStation for a “collaboration” on a new project. This confirms reports from just a few hours ago, and means a new era of Kojima works are on the way. We can assume that his old team is joining him, which means we should expect extremely high quality and solid development times; especially since Konami was pretty notorious for having an awful work environment for creators to begin with, and that is no longer a problem.
Of course, this is the best possible news in the wake of the Konami fiasco. They are undoubtedly very jealous of this, and were acting out of spite against him until now — using all of their legal power to hold him down until the very last second. I have to admit, I can still hardly believe how absurd they behaved, even for as cynical as I am. Then again, I also never thought that his departure from Konami would be a bad thing, because — as we can clearly see today — he is perfectly fine without them. In fact, he leveled up in the process, judging by that sweet beard.
Will the next title be anywhere near as fascinating as a new Metal Gear? Not from a “meta” angle, I’m sure. But I’m a fan of Kojima’s work in general, so I am very excited to see what he comes up with. Personally, I hope he builds a new fictional universe that’s filled with social commentary and philosophy, and grounded in solid action/adventure genre that his team knows best, not some risky attempt to be a futurist. Kojima might have so many pent up gimmicks in his brain that he won’t be able to resist making some PlayStation VR technology showcase requiring 3 peripherals to even experience properly. (According to the new badass logo, he might want to pursue stuff you wear on your head. That is supposed to be a robotic knight’s helmet right?)
Right now I’m focused on my book about Kojima and the Metal Gear series (although it also includes Snatcher, Policenauts, and spinoff games!) so if you want to truly appreciate his life and legacy until today, you have something amazing to look forward to still. Not bad timing, I must say! My deep interpretation of the series has only been reinforced by evidence over the years, and the book pushes everything to a new level. I’m very excited to share it with you, as I stay tuned what comes next.
Let’s also have a moment of silence for the great, fun, and promising ruse theories, which spoke to so many people’s imaginations as well as their high regard for Kojima’s trickster legacy. He was in a league of his own, and if there was ever a creator who could have somehow pulled a ruse on that scale it would have been him! Since I no longer have any choice but to believe all of the negative reports and rumors in the past, I have to wonder even more what was truly behind the conflict and toxicity. Maybe it will come out in the wash.
