WINNER:
DEATH STRANDING
You expect a game to deliver a certain level of quality – a very high level – if you see the words “A Hideo Kojima Game” printed on its box. Death Stranding is different- not only from your typical open world title, but also from anything else Kojima has ever worked on before. But though it’s different, it maintains that quality that Kojima games are alway associated. By its very nature, this is a game that is not for everyone, but if you do buy into the experience Death Stranding is trying to deliver, you’ll find it easy to acknowledge the game’s accomplishments.
Its traversal-focused mechanics and unique social elements intertwine to create an open world experience unlike any other, and it all takes place against the backdrop of the kind of vivid and compelling high-concept narrative and setting you’d expect to see in a Kojima game. There aren’t enough developers in the AAA space looking to take risks and experiment with things, and Kojima deserves all the credit in the world for boldly doing so with Death Stranding.
