Kojima: I'm Confident Death Stranding Will Be My Best Work, I Won't Have To Give Up or Compromise

Kojima said to be confident about Death Stranding becoming his best work yet once it's released, since he won't have to do any compromises like with his previous games.

[ccgr]

Let's hope that it is!

[Reibooi]

There is also the possibility that not having any restraint could be bad for the game at the end of the day. Like having to many new ideas thrown into a game all at once make it a overwhelming experience in a negative way.

That said I honestly don't expect that to happen. He has done enough large scale games to know where the line is I think and Konami had been stopping him far short of that line(we can see that quite clearly in MGS5). Either way I am just excited to see something new that is not metal gear from Kojima. Good or bad I think it will certainly be very interesting.

[firelogic]

I was thinking the same. Without someone telling him, "no" the game could turn out to be a bloated incoherent mess. Or it could be the best game of all time. But constraints/limitations aren't always a bad thing. It makes you think of other ways to do things.

[donthate]

If anything, Kojima is known to go well overboard. The compromise will come after a few years of and the cost starts catching up. It will be a great game most likely since it is Kojima, just expect it in 5-years!

[Soc5]

I agree but I think it also means he will take forever to release it

[rainslacker]

As much as I admire his enthusiasm, game development does require compromise. There are very few big budget games which don't see cuts from the original design. If he's getting money from an outside source, he will probably be required to give up something to meet deadlines as that's typical, and more often than not, producers want things that the developer may not....thus compromises have to be made. It's also pretty well known that Kojima dreams big, so this will mean he won't be able to achieve everything he sets out to do.

It'll be nice if he isn't forced to do as much as Konami made him do with MGSV though. Their hand in the design of the game is painfully obvious.

I wish him the best of luck in achieving as much as possible with his ideas though. I'm excited to see what he comes up with when he's not shackled by a publisher. Some of his work back when he was allowed to be more creative was outstanding and ahead of it's time.

[Number-Nine]

I bet that is a shot at Konami. MSGV was a colossal disappointment and unfinished

[Alexious]

Not so veiled stab at Konami there!

[johndoe11211]

And he's damn right to do it. Konami has been holding Kojima back for years. Imagine a Kojima game without the restrictions and abuse of konami. I really don't want to overhype the game but this could literally be a masterpiece. I think he'll be pushing some boundaries, ones he could not push at konami.

[Kaneki-Ken]

But then again Kojima was given a budget limit, which he used to create the Fox Engine(probably spend millions of dollars) and MGSV, Kiefer(contract probably cost too much that previous MGS voice actor couldn't be cast since they were offer little money), surpass the limit and led Konami and Kojima to go against each other so you can't blame Konami completely since Kojima waisted too much money that the game couldn't even finish the last chapter. In the other hand, now that Kojima is working with PlayStation, he have a bigger budget since PlayStation have a long history with Kojima and believes that he will create a masterpiece and have full control of the project with no interference and no string attached.

[Majister-Ludi]

Ugh yea who knows if Konami hadn't been involved maybe there could have been 30 hours of cuts scenes hooray.

[morganfell]

"But then again Kojima was given a budget limit..."

Kojima's restriction limits have never been one of money. He has been creatively hamstrung.

[moegooner88]

30 hrs of cutscenes would have been better than the abomination that was MGSV story.

[KaiPow]

I'll be following Deaths Stranding if only to figure out what the hell it even is.

[Shubhendu_Singh]

Show someone just the trailer and he will be hooked.
That's Kojima.

[Majister-Ludi]

Are you serious. Not only did kojima say that the trailer has almost nothing to do with the game but if I saw that and knew nothing about it I would have zero interest.

[morganfell]

And you believe Kojima was being 100% honest? He is a master of the mental sleight of hand and I love it. I think the trailer has a great deal to do with the game as it could be likely he meant "not in the way people perceive." Kojima has shown himself to be a master of saying "no means yes and no at the same time."

[Ratty]

@Majister-Ludi
I've been away from gaming news for the past weeks so unless he said something in the past 2-3 weeks, he actually didn't confirm whether or not the trailer was an actual cutscene from the game. He did confirm the area in the trailer was in the game though.

[PigsR4Eating]

Not me. I wish this guy would go away, stay out of gaming news and just make his game. I wish almost anyone making games the best, I am always looking for a good gaming experience, kojima included, but he has made the same type of game for ever as far as I know. If I see some good gameplay in a few years maybe I will understand what everyone is getting so hyped for.

I don't see an option to respond to rainslacker so ill put have to put this here. First I had no idea Kojima was involved in all those titles. I played MGSV quite a bit until I realized the game just repeats all its missions halfway through. I though the gameplay was solid but the story was a let down. Pt looked interesting, not a huge horror fan but its a bummer it got cancelled. Ive played various metal gears at friends over the years. I know of castlevania and zone of the enders but havent played them. You made a very informative post, and what I take from it, aside from that he has more than metal gear to his credit, is that people are excited because he is making a game, not because of the content of the trailer itself. I hope sony is able to give him the creative freedom he needs.

[Nathan_Hale53]

@morganfell
I believe the trailer won't have much to do with the theme, but overall story and message as he always does. Lot's of meaning behind the scenes and in the details of all of his games.

[rainslacker]

@pigs

The same type of game...that his employers told him to make. It wasn't buy choice that he was so stuck on the MGS series for so long. After MGS3 released, he said he wanted to move away from the series. With MGS4, he said it would be his last MGS game. Then he was made to make MGSV, and play a part in Revengence. Even when he wanted to move away from the series, he couldn't, and to his credit, he still put all his talents and backing into the production of the game, and didn't half ass it. MGSV may have been a disappointment by Kojima standards, but those disappointments look more like Konami influence(read as demands) that he was required to put into the game.

Beyond that, he's had a hand in other games as well, so even while making MGSV, his time was occupied elsewhere. He was the producer for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, the game which brought the series back to life. He was the creator of Snatcher and Policenauts, which gave rise to the digital novel and was well ahead of it's time. He produced some of the Tokimeki Memorial series, which was a precursor to the "real life" sim games that we see today. Zone of Enders 1&2 were a personal project of his, and while good, is probably one of his few earlier games which didn't set some sort of standard. He's directed PT, and was scheduled to turn that into a Silent Hills game to many peoples delight given just how well a demo of the game was made. And he's had producer or director roles in a lot of other games throughout the years which never really made it to the west.

People know him most for MGS. But he is influential and well respected for much more than that. It's people's limited knowledge of his portfolio that make them think all he is is MGS, but that is far from the case. He has proven time and again he understands good game design, and has a very open fervor and commitment to trying to make good games. If you want to see good game play, look at any number of games I mentioned. MGSV is considered to have some of the best game play in the series, and outside it's open world repetitiveness, the game play is up there with some of the best titles available, if not beyond it.

Maybe that will help you get understand why people are hyped. We expect great things, because he delivers great things.

[neoandrew]

It has something to do with dead that can't anymore fit in the death world and go to ours, there are to many of them, they are "stranding".

Thats what i understood from Kojima explaining the title.

[Alexious]

Not sure how that will turn into an action game, though...

[lastking95]

So is it a zombie game? No more room in hell so the dead remain on earth type of deal? Trailer had me thinking it would be an apocalypse type of deal. Something goes wrong and destroy society.

[Ratty]

@Alexious
Kojima said it wasn't exactly an action game but something unique. He said it was an action game for lack of a better term.

[rainslacker]

Doesn't really have to be zombies. Zombies tend to indicate that the dead are walking without any mental faculties, but in some cases they aren't mindless creatures, and can be represented as regular people.

Or could just mean some kind of ghost, but in human form, maybe akin to the forsaken from WOW, not like casper.

Technically, zombies are the revived dead traditionally through witchcraft, but other means have been employed more recently, whereas this would just be the dead sticking around. Kind of more akin to Game of Thrones Frozen Walkers....but without the ambiguous magic.

[Yoshikiri]

I can't even begin to explain just how much I'm looking forward to whatever this title may bring to us. I have faith in Kojima and the freedom and creative control he has with this one.

[bloodybutcher]

true. without noone limiting his creativity, he can now make a 30hour long cutscene with few minutes of gameplay spread through it.

[FreddyFazbear]

I believe in kojima. I never heard of him saying that his past metal gears are his materpiece but still gratefull to fans and critics. And yet here he is saying something like this

[Lighter9]

That guy in the pic looks similar to Darryl on The Walking Dead.

[DarkOcelet]

That joke seriously got old XD

[Lighter9]

I didn't realize it was a joke. I'm serious anyways. I wonder if the actor knows.

[Goldby]

oh you're scudding there, it's clearly a Saint

EDIT: Yay someone got my two refrences

[scark92]

One of the best movies I ever watched.

[Goldby]

@Scark

Which one, Boondock Saints or Blade 2?

[thejigisup]

not only does the actor know, he actually is doing the work for this character.

[dreamoner]

He looks more like Jon Snow.

[bloodybutcher]

disagree. more like barbra streisand.

[Muzikguy]

Not to sound like a nonbeliever, but does that mean it'll be out next generation instead? Don't get me wrong, I love the man's work and imagination, but he can sometimes spend way too long to create his games. Hopefully I'm wrong and in which case I can't wait to check this out

[jb227]

You could just as easily assume that the man isn't responsible for that long production time. Konami's obviously a train wreck of an employer, so there is every possibility that they are the ones to blame for the lengthy productions of the past. With full freedom to create his own game from the ground up, and w/ Sony's help finding him an engine & their devs potentially pitching in to help, he could set a new personal record.

The game obviously won't be out next generation unless you count Neo & Scorpio as one. Kojima has been kicking this idea around for years from what he's said so he may already have something resembling a full script, he could potentially get this game out as soon as 2018 if the stars align.

[Muzikguy]

I actually do think that as well. That's what I'm hoping for 😄️

[BIGWILLDX]

Acidently disagreed with you

[rainslacker]

Did you know in the time that he was making MGSV, he had 4 other production or director credits to his name release. Most of them well received.

This guy got moved around so much by Konami, and probably some by his own wishes, that it's amazing that he was able to make MGSV the game it actually ended up being, since despite being unfinished, still had impeccable quality.

It's funny how people criticize him for taking so long on MGS, but completely ignore the fact he released four games, and a demo....no two demos with PT and MGSV:GZ, in the same 10 years, all while still making MGSV.

Oh yeah, and he had that little thing called Fox Engine he was in charge of creating for Konami.

Obviously, he's such a slouch on getting things done though. /s

There aren't that many developers out there who can release that much in that time frame, so how about stopping this criticism of how he takes too long on his games.

[pompombrum]

Shots fired! I'm looking forward to see what Kojima can come up while having complete control over his creative vision.

[King_Lothric]

This game may be a PS5 launch title exclusive as we already know the game is officially exclusive to PlayStation. Can't wait to k own more about it.

[Tobsesan]

By the time it comes out, theire will be a steam app on Xbox scorpio that lets you play all PC games. So since its coming to PC it will be playable on Xbox. Just wait and see.

[Christopher]

Not very likely at all. Gabe really doesn't like MS and their methods for taking a cut of money from third-party retail stores. Also, they'd have to develop a Steam that disables almost every Steam feature and allows XBO access to their backend to use those same features.

[Tobsesan]

Thats why Microsoft partnered with Valve VR??? Ye totally dont like em

[King_Lothric]

Have in mind that if this game is published by Sony, it will never be on PC. Also, Hideo already stated this game is a PlayStation exclusive.

[VJGenova]

"I'm confident [phantom menace] will be my best work. I won't have to give up or compromise." - George Lucas

[Davemyrose592]

Kojima Is still my fav developer, MGD TPP would have been his best work giving he was allowed to finish it, I love the NHS franchise it has such a feel and soul to it that so little games have, and I've confident Death Stranded will be amazing as well

[Davemyrose592]

And people can hate on kojima all they want, but hey at least the guy is a passionate serious game maker that cares more about the game than the corporation satisfaction, unlike ubisoft and there souless game factories

[PaleMoonDeath]

Thus.. Death Stranding will have a Chapter 3. :P

[Frisky]

I'm sure it will be. He could've come up with a better name tho.

[Ethereal]

Darn right it is. Finally he has complete freedom to achieve his vision.

[susanto1228]

Don't worry Hideo by the time your done so will the NEO and the next iteration of consoles will be upon us.

[CaitSith]

Omg, I can only imagine a game that's BETTER than the MGS series. IM SO GIDDY RIGHT NOW. ^^

[WellyUK]

Can this guy get anymore up himself?

[rainslacker]

Have you done anything near as productive or influential to be able to judge him in such a way?

He's always been confident and a bit of an ego fiend. But you know what....he does deliver more often than not.

[Godmars290]

So good luck seeing it anytime soon?

Not really trying to knock it, but it comes out in under 3 years it'll be very surprising.

[gangsta_red]

He'll be able to make the plot as convoluted and ridiculous as humanly possible.

[rainslacker]

If I had to guess, that's one of the things he's never had to give up or compromise on in the past.:)

Granted, I don't find it over convoluted, but often times one has to really pay attention. Ridiculous....sometimes, yeah, but that's Kojima's signature....at least with MGS. Honestly, that's the only game he's ever done where it's like that, and at least he's consistent throughout the series.

[s45gr32]

So is coming to PC after all 😋

[S-Word]

He says that about every new game he makes.

[Tankbusta40]

Sorry Kojima, you don't have unlimited funds and or time for this, you are still under the same constraints as you were under Konami

[thejigisup]

I don't see why Sony wouldn't give him at least a decade. I mean look at the last guardian, its finally upon us. Sony has the patience of saints.

[1nsomniac]

I'm not a massive fan of Kojima but if he's claiming that he will be unhindered & it will be his masterpiece. I'll be willing to give it a shot at least after I've seen it in action anyway.

[MilkMan]

I'm confident I'll be "waiting and seeing"

[Tankbusta40]

Lol 4 years from now:

Kojima: This will be my best game ever!

Average Joe: When is the release date?

Kojima: Trust in the Almighty Kojima, it will be done when I divinely say it will(hint hint another 3 years)

[Majister-Ludi]

Oh boy. I know people are taking this as good news but to me it's not. Kojima while undoubtedly talented has no idea how to tell a coherent story. Mgs4 was one of the biggest messes I have ever encountered in terms of story. Now that he has no leash I imagine this next game will be an even more convoluted. I bet it will be good but he should really have someone else either write the story or edit the fuck out of it.

[ziggurcat]

Good Guy Sony giving Kojima all the freedom he needs.

[Bismarn]

We'll see in 6-8 years whether its his best work.

[Soldierone]

AKA don't expect it within 5 years lol

[na2ru1]

The trailer totally struck a note I can't explain. I was a proper Silent Hill P.T demo fan.

[GrimmyReaper]

Dear god.

Kojima on the loose? No chains to hold him?
We are in for a treat :D

[medman]

There is always compromise....either budget, or technical constraints. But I'm hoping with less restrictions, Kojima can fly free and the game he makes will truly be his vision, and his choice alone. I will play that game, no question.

[DarXyde]

If he can build a mythology more engaging than Metal Gear, I will be thoroughly impressed. Metal Gear had its issues with lore at times, but it was still a phenomenal series with very interesting characters.

Color me excited.

[Kyizen]

Just hope it doesnt take forever to come out cause it is to grand and big

[danny818]

ofcoarse it is why would he say otherwise

[C-H-E-F]

That's a HUGE statement. I'm looking forward to seeing what this is then, because every MGS game KOJIMA wrote/directed/produced is "his best work yet"

[Nathan_Hale53]

Although I figure the games will be a lot different, MGS 3 and 4 were and probably always will be my favorite games of all time and my favorite work from him. Plan to snatch this game the week of as long as the PC gets a version. Please Kojima, I am a huge fan! Give PC a copy!!

[Saito]

Love the mystery

[Fullmetalevolust]

Why are Norman Reedus and Kojima so closely related? (not family wise, professionally wise).

[Fretboy79]

Suck it konami!!

[The7Reaper]

It might be awesome but so far it's not interesting in the slightest to me.

[Scatpants]

I can't wait to play this. I bet it's going to be insane. Kojima with full creative freedom and Mark Cerny as his technical director.