Kojima Explains Why Death Stranding Is an Open World Title
Recently Hideo Kojima took to the stage at Gamescom 2019 to reveal some amazing new footage of Death Stranding, including some gameplay and an introduction to some brand new characters. While at the event in Cologne, Germany he sat down for an interview where he talks about the decision to make Death Stranding an open world title as opposed to a linear one.
In an interview with the German website 4Players Hideo Kojima stated he just couldn’t go back to making a linear title with Death Stranding after making the leap into the open world design with Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Here’s what he had to say on the matter, “Well, after experiencing an action game in an open world, you cannot just go back to other things. That’s what I thought. Because of the interactivity. Of course, there are other ways to make a game. A linear game for example. However, I cannot go back after having had the experience of having a large-scale world in a game.” He continued saying, “The problem, however, is the technology. Of course it is technically difficult to create an open world. The player has the greatest possible freedom in an open world. Therefore, you are never really sure what the player will do. In this context, storytelling in an open-world game is the biggest challenge. As there is more and more freedom, it means that the story sometimes gets in the way of a distraction. So in Phantom Pain I started with a kind of experiment by starting linear. And once the world opens, the story fades in one way. Some Hideo Kojima fans were not happy that the story takes a back seat. But this was done very consciously.”
Kojima compared the differences in creating Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain to Death Stranding and it seems he’s trying to keep his fans happy and making sure the story doesn’t fade into the background as a consequence of the open world model. “This time was the biggest challenge and the biggest obstacle: it’s an open world, but at the same time we do not want to reduce the importance of the story, so fans of Hideo Kojima games will not be disappointed.”
The latest Kojima title is set to be released exclusively to the PS4 on November 8th. Are you excited to dive into the open world of Death Stranding? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and don’t forget to keep it locked for updates!