Ex TLOU Director: You Can Create Such a Story Without the Shooting Parts; Kojima Did Really Good

Bruce Straley, ex TLOU and Uncharted director at Naughty Dog, said it is possible to create such stories without the shooting parts and praised Kojima for trying to do something different with Death Stranding.

[Chris_Wray]

There's no doubt about that. If anything, games need to explore narrative without violence, if only to finally stretch themselves a little and create new experiences. Violence, shooting, etc will always have it's place in games - fighting is usually the way games test you - but there are ways to go without.

[yoshatabi]

There are plenty game with narrative and no violence

[Juiceid]

Shooting in real life is bad. In video games it’s fun.

[2pacalypsenow]

It's fun in real life too.

Ever been to a range?

[Juiceid]

Yes, I meant shooting people.

[TheEnigma313]

Ehhhhhh you have to shoot in death stranding too. The non lethal weapons worked like lethal ones. But I get what he's saying, it's very possible. People love shooting things, myself included.

[xX-oldboy-Xx]

The Bolar gun and a kick to the spuds worked was my go to.

[TheEnigma313]

I love the non lethal assault rifle. Worked just like the lethal; knocked them right out.

[xX-oldboy-Xx]

I struggled with the spread, I don't enjoy burst firing autos.

[theshredded]

Death Stranding is an easy top 3 gen game for me alongside Bloodborne and The Witcher 3. Such a therapeutic game, playing on hard as a hoarder is an amazing experience.

[TheEnigma313]

Yes it was very soothing. I just hated the mules. They were just annoying.

[dumahim]

Really? Great people to steal from for supplies building roads.

[TimeSkipLuffy]

I still prefer TLOU over any Kojima game any day.

[Alexious]

MGSV was great. But yeah, TLOU is one of my favorite games ever.

[Moe-Gunz]

For me MGS3 is the best game I’ve ever played. TLOU is my second and Shadow of The Colossus my third.

MGS3 is the epitome of story and game mechanics perfectly fused. There is so much details in the gameplay that makes games made today look inferior.

[Imalwaysright]

And MGS3 did this well before Death Stranding. The Sorrow segment is far easier if you don't kill anyone.

[xX-oldboy-Xx]

MGS3 is one of the best games ever, solid from beginning to end. And it had the best bosses since MGS.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

Snatcher is by far my favorite Kojima game

[Edgelordsupreme]

Boktai is clearly the superior game sir.

[Abcdefeg]

If i wanted a passive experience i would go watch a movie or read a book besides games like portal already exist

[Melankolis]

So if any developers want to make a shooting game, it has to shoot zombies, monsters, aliens or anything except human

[Pedantic91]

Sure, it can be done. Doesn't mean it'll be fun to play.

If core mechanics mean imitating real-life functions and trying to turn that into a video game, that honestly sounds very boring to me. How about making video games with functions/setting/situations you can't replicate in real life.

[dumahim]

So no shooting = not fun for you?

[RazzerRedux]

Games with a story without shooting have been around a long long time.

[Kumakai]

Correction: Kojima did WELL.

[ShadowWolf712]

Correction: his game was boring af.

[MadLad]

You just "don't get it".

It's high art!
Or art made while high.
It's hard to tell with Kojima.

[ShadowWolf712]

Must be my stupid Americanism getting in the way again. I just can't grasp anything that's not a First Person Shooter.

[ShadowWolf712]

Not really but... ok.

[bluefox755]

Agreed, not every game has to be generic shooting mechanics. Kojima proved you can make a great game without it.

[dumahim]

Except it did have it. Just not as much as other shooters.

[MadLad]

Said story is told 90% through hours and hours of cutscenes though. A better example of a game telling a story, while still being a game, as of recent would be something like A Plague Tale.

[jambola]

can make a good story with no gameplay too
Doesn't mean it fits

[DaDrunkenJester]

Sure, there are plenty of games that tell stories without combat or at least combat focus. This isn't something new nor is it something Kojima came up with in Death Stranding lol

[MetalGearAlex]

Kojima's point is that MOST games involve violence, shooting, or killing -- even the last of us 2 is intending to show there is an ugly side to all this revenge and killing. Kratos had to be a father rather than a blood hungry killing machine and even went to the Nords to hide his past. So yes, MOST games involve shooting or killing and it is very fresh and healthy and nice to see something different. :)

[LordoftheCritics]

That's alright. Naughty Dogs games had terrible shooting mechanics anyways.

Give us that great story.

[TheOptimist]

I mean.... Portal 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Can be played in Pacifist), The Witness etc did it, and did it multitude times better imo. Same goes for something like Disco Elysium. But oh well, mainstream people don't play these games.

[MadLad]

Portal and Deus Ex are pretty damn mainstream.

Disco Elysium made relatively big waves, considering it was a late year release and was only on PC at launch.

[TheOptimist]

Deus Ex HR sold 2.18 million units and Mankind Divided tanked pretty hard due to it not being up to par to uphold the legacy of the series (Mind you it was still the best game of 2016 aside from Doom). That's not mainstream in a climate where PS3 and Xbox sold around 80 million units each.

Portal 2 is maybe more mainstream, but it is the epitome of what games without violence can do, that's why I took it up as anexample. Also, not many people talk about it these days.

Point is, there are multiple games that don't use violence to tell a story. If action games didn't have a demand by the audience they wouldn't be made. Saying Kojima did good just means the person is picking based off limited number of games played. I could name more than a dozen games this gen that did what he is saying better than the example he has taken.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

Portal 2 and Deus Ex are widely considered masterpieces amongst the entire gaming community. I know people that have only played Portal and no other games to completion.

[OhReginald]

Death stranding still had combat. sometimes necessary at parts.....

[Jsm89k]

At what point does it stop being a game and more of an interactive movie? Why not just make a TV show on Netflix if a story base narrative with little gameplay is your goal?

[Edgelordsupreme]

Death Stranding has gameplay even when you're not engaged in combat, combat doesn't immediately mean gameplay. That's like saying The Witness or Talos Principle aren't games because they don't have any combat and that isn't true at all.

[froy402]

I get what you're saying but it's not the same, story driven games are a unique experience they are relaxing and help relieve stress especially when I have a rough day at work. A slow movie might put me to sleep because I can't interact within it where as a game I'm engaged to unvail a story as I progress within the game, heavy rain comes in mind as well as beyond two souls which I really enjoyed.

[Imalwaysright]

Kojima did it far better with MGS games.

[pietro1212]

Nah. This is his best game since MGS 3 and Peace Walker.

[deadfrag]

Well if we really wants to follow this than i think is better for him to Change Work .Just go and write a book get yourself a writer job!I frankly dont know how you could provoke the tension moments that exist in Last Of Us without some kind of action/shooting and the Gameplay mecanics used in it,if the game was just the Story without the action it would be a slog boredom!And not Just TLOU!

[Chumdiddy]

Absolutely. Storytelling does not require violence of any kind and gaming is seemingly just now realizing this in the last decade (maybe less). Most games still include a tacked-on battle/fight system onto games that are clearly created to tell a story and it's not necessary.

You CAN and it can still be great but it's not a necessary addition.

[Rimeskeem]

Journey and The Witness come to mind.