Last week at the Tribeca Film Festival, fans of Hideo Kojima came out in force, hoping for new photos or new reveals for his mysterious new game, Death Stranding. In hundreds of fans waiting, many came with the Kojima Productions or Metal Gear T-shirt so that the author of the game can sign it. Kojima ended up on the red carpet, while Walking Dead actor Norman Reedus posed for selfies and signed a Metal Gear NES cartridge. Unfortunately, it turned out that Kojima didn't have a new Death Stranding sequence to show that night, though he hinted that players could expect new ones. footage in a month or two - we're guessing it'll be E3 2019. But in the absence of a trailer, Game Awards moderator Geoff Knightley has managed to piece together a lot of interesting title information for They Come from Kojima and Reedus. Here are the most intriguing details we've picked up from the panel on what to expect from this strange PS4 title.
You play as Sam and Norman Reedus...
Norman Reedus spent his entire time sweeping his entire body in-game (Image credit: TechRadar) E3 had taught us that you play the role of delivery guy Sam 'Porter' Bridges. But Kojima revealed that you also play the role of Norman Reedus himself. As a movie buff, Kojima said that Reedus' previous filmography would influence the character you're going to play in Death Stranding. While he loved the way Daryl gave way to his badassery persona on The Walking Dead, he also appreciated Norman's "sexy cute" side on Boondock Saints and his dark humor as the show's host. The reality show "Ride with Norman Reedus." "In Death Stranding, I try to bring all aspects of (Norman's) in," Kojima said through his interpreter, "and you'll see everything that's going on. He's got in the game," he concluded, pushing his way through the crowd. At the end of the game, he says he, you'll like Norman. "So, will you play like me?" Reedus recalled asking Kojima for clarification. "No, they will be you," Kojima replied. Metal Gear Solid has always had meta elements to its stories, from Psycho Mantis judging by your player stats and Twin Snakes' favorite Gamecube games to the AI asking Raiden to sit down more. Away from TV in Sons of Liberty. Not surprisingly, Kojima's first game with full narrative control can return to the idea of Sam/Norman being separate from the player controlling him. "You will see Norman as Sam in the game, you will see the role of him and you will enjoy it," Kojima promised. "You have to become Norman when you play. And Norman says a lot of things that you'll probably feel when you play Norman. So he's both Norman and Sam at the same time." To fully capture Reedus for the game, Kojima spent two straight days analyzing expressions. Reedus facial and body features for the game. Later, when Reedus got a new tattoo, Kojima insisted that he scan again to insert the tattoo into the game. And he joked that if Reedus got a tattoo after the game's release, he'd sell it as a DLC skin. Reedus, who said that he came from the "waka-waka-waka generation", said that it was important for Sam to feel like a real person, as opposed to an empty avatar that you control. .
... and as a camera?
Kojima ended his confusing Sam/Norman explanation with a hint of another part of the game, which you don't play either. "If you go somewhere in the game, you won't control Norman or Sam. You'll just control the camera and see Sam/Norman, and if you look at him, he might wink at you." Many AAA games now have a mode of photo, where you can take a photo of the protagonist in the middle of a beautiful landscape. Not surprisingly, Kojima took this concept and inserted it into the DS as a meta-game mechanic. We know he did something similar with the classic concept of the "Continue" screen after death in a video game. In an interview with IGN in 2017, he explained that an underwater footage in a 2017 Death Starnding trailer was actually "purgatory", so his late Norman Reedus must reincarnate himself to return to the game world. .A history of connections.
Thematically, Metal Gear has gone much further than secret clone agents fighting giant mecha. The series tackles everything from the dangers of genetic modification to the merits of denuclearization to the exploitation of soldiers for political purposes. We still don't know why Norman Reedus is wandering around in a post-apocalyptic world with a baby at his throat. But, Kojima revealed the themes that he hoped players would remove from Death Stranding: the connectedness (or disconnection) of the world and the people around us. "There's so much going on in the real world, in the United States, in Europe, everything is really connected to the Internet, but we're not connected as we would like," Kojima said. "I put this into a metaphor in the game. The player will have to reconnect the world in the game. You're very alone, in solitude, but you're trying to connect." To complicate matters, he also suggested that connection wasn't always the solution. As an example, he stated that a person could be jealous of a happy couple, but then went on a date and realized that she was happier with her. -even. Knowing when to disconnect from people or things that don't inspire happiness also plays into the story's themes, it seems. Whatever his decisions, it will undoubtedly be intentionally political and controversial. Kojima says that he is considering Death Stranding's story as taking place in the "near future," the result of "tensions and divisions" in today's world. He also predicts that the story will "make people cry." So you better prepare yourself for an emotional and intellectual roller coaster.An open world, but an unbranched story.
Open world games are a challenge for major game studios, not to mention indie developers like Kojima Productions. You have to tell a consistent story while the players do what they want. create a compellingly large environment with enough indoor activities not to appear empty; and make sure these activities are not repetitive or error-prone. Kojima admitted that it was challenging during the panel. Game narratives, he said, once seemed like a highway: Players could ride any lane or go back, but the world's parameters were tight and tight. Players can now exit the highway and take other routes at any time. For Death Stranding, Kojima's solution seems to offer players an illusion of choice. Kojima hinted that the game will offer players painful and heartbreaking choices. But when Knightley asked if this meant players could influence the story by their choices — think Mass Effect or Dragon Age — he shut down the idea firmly, saying he had a narrative in mind, Reedus suggested that his gameplay varied according to the potential player choices. But it almost feels like these choices won't ultimately affect one player's overall story over another.Possible Online Features
Could Death Stranding have online features? (Image credit: TechRadar) We previously learned that Kojima had planned to include some elements of online co-op in Death Stranding, with player 2 playing the role of the female lead. But based on feedback from last week, there may be a lot more to it than that. Kojima says that he "has launched a really new idea." "You connect the game, and everyone plays together, and you'll be connected, everyone will be connected too," Kojima quipped. "And I can't say anything because Sony will be very unhappy, I don't want to be cut off from Sony," he concluded, laughing from the crowd. Although Death Stranding is single player, it sounds like you need Playstation Plus to get the most out of it. But what is Kojima's supposedly unique idea? Players who enter the world of other players find themselves in games as varied as Forza Horizon 4 and Dark Souls. The very foundation of MMOs is connectivity with other players. So we admit we're baffled as to what exactly he's planning that Sony wants to keep mysterious right now.
How did death turn into Stranding?
A bromance for the ages (Image credit: TechRadar) After Konami forced Kojima to cancel Silent Hills, Kojima decided to create his own independent game studio. He also decided that he wanted to design his next game protagonist with Norman Reedus in mind specifically. The only problem was that he didn't have a graphic concept to show or staff to start working on in pre-production; Just his words and his ideas. So Kojima invited Norman Reedus over for sushi and talked about his ideas for Death Stranding for two hours. At the end of their discussion, Kojima asked Reedus if he wanted to play the game. He immediately answered "yes". It's thanks to Oscar winner and Silent Hills collaborator Guillermo del Toro, who has great respect for Kojima and told Reedus to "do whatever (Hideo) wants." Reedus addressed audiences about Kojima's style of achievement, stating that he had an "infectious enthusiasm" for his work, an inherent "honesty" in the making of his film, and a respectful desire to collaborate and improvise ideas with him rather than Control your every move. As other Hollywood directors have done in the past. Thanks to the meticulous attention paid to detail in the MGS series, Kojima has earned a reputation as a perfectionist; However, he denied that on panel. He "wakes up" from his game's story, but needs to interact with others to clarify the details. "I like a lot of things live," Kojima explained. "I really want to do a collaboration." He says that he can never go back to the way things were when he only worked with voice actors and only stage sets in his room. He hopes his theatrical experience in Hollywood from actors like Reedus, Mads Mikkelsen and Léa Seydoux will be the norm for the future. Although one slant hasn't changed since the good old days of Metal Gear Solid 4 - Kojima admitted that "of course, there are a lot of long scenes" in Death Stranding.
The Future of Kojima Productions: A Netflix Partnership?
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Brie Larson at the Unicorn Store (Image Credit: Netflix) (Image: © Netflix) During the question period, a fan asked if Kojima had ever considered making a movie himself. Unfortunately for his fans, it doesn't seem to be happening, at least not in the traditional sense of the word. "I also want to shoot movies," he replied, "but I don't have time. I've gotten a lot of offers (but) I really want to create games until I die." He then expressed an interest in creating content for streaming platforms like Netflix or Amazon Prime. "It's all there now, and I think there will be games there sooner or later." He predicts that games and movies will get "closer" from a structural standpoint, and he wants to "challenge" by bridging this gap. Netflix has already begun publishing interactive "Choose Your Own Adventure" experiences like Bandersnatch. One can only imagine what the king of gaming scenes could do with his own JVM branching experience. In an interview with Nikkei Business (spotted by Variety), Kojima said that with the advent of 5G and Google's streaming service Stadia, he was excited about the possibilities it holds for his future games. "There's one important thing I think about the broadcast," he said, but "I can't say anything else, because I don't want to screw it up." One thing is for sure: the only thing Kojima likes more than coming up with bold new ideas is keeping these ideas under wraps and making us dream up enigmatic clues.
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