Hideo Kojima is apparently suffering from success as he wishes Death Stranding 2 was a bit more divisive. Hideo Kojima makes weird games. Like really weird games. The kind of games that you show to someone who has no idea who he is and they look at you like you’re crazy for enjoying it, let alone understanding it. A lot of his games feel somewhat nonsensical at times, but they are really fun and they are made with a singular vision, something that isn’t really common across AAA gaming. However, Hideo Kojima is one of the only gaming auteurs and it seems like he enjoys that.
After leaving the Metal Gear Solid series behind, Hideo Kojima moved on to the increasingly weirder Death Stranding. The game was a big departure from Metal Gear Solid V, which is one of the best action games of the last decade. Instead of bigger gun fights and explosive action, Death Stranding‘s core gameplay focused on walking and delivering packages. It packed all the signature weirdness of a Kojima story, if not much more than usual, and was arguably his most divisive game. Some people really liked how strange it was and the more tranquil gameplay, but others felt that it was way too long and the game wasn’t fun to play.
Hideo Kojima Wishes Death Stranding 2 Was More Controversial
For Kojima, he likes his games to be almost controversial. Unfortunately for him, early test reviews for Death Stranding 2 are extremely positive and there aren’t many negatives. When speaking with Edge Magazine (via VGC), Hideo Kojima revealed that four out of ten people who played Death Stranding 1 prior to release liked it while the other six hated it, something he appreciated. With the sequel, people are much more positive and Kojima wishes that wasn’t really the case.
“Sony is pleased, of course, but I do wish I was a bit more controversial. Blockbuster films need an 80 percent approval rating – I don’t want to make games like that. I’m not interested in appealing to the mass market, or selling millions of copies… That’s not what I’m aiming for.”
With that said, Kojima knows that he has to be responsible and still make a good game that performs well.
“Of course, I can’t afford to make a failure, either. I must take care of my studio, my staff, and our production budget. But in essence, I don’t want to simply recreate something that’s already in the world. I want to make something new.”
Hideo Kojima also said that he wanted to release the game closer to the fall, but ended up deciding on June. It’s likely that PlayStation wanted to space out some 2025 releases with games like Ghost of Yotei and probably was also trying to avoid GTA 6 prior to its delay. However, it sounds like the game is shaping up quite nicely despite Kojima wanting a bit more time with it. Early previews indicate this game will be a masterpiece, but we have no idea if it will woo Death Stranding 1 haters at the moment.
Death Stranding 2 releases on PS5 on June 26th. An Xbox release for Death Stranding 2 may also happen as the first game was released on Xbox 5 years after the PS4 release.
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