In a new video courtesy of Wired, Metal Gear series creator Hideo Kojima has referred to Death Stranding 2: On the Beach as his “masterpiece”. In the video, where he answers questions asked by fans of his works, Kojima clarified that he always looks at the most recent project he worked on as his best one so far.
When asked “what do you consider your masterpiece,” Kojima responded by saying that he gets asked this question a lot, and “my latest work is my masterpiece. So that would be Death Stranding 2.”
Throughout the video, he also went into more detail about various aspects of game development, including how he sees the interactivity offered by video games as a medium being its most important and interesting aspect. For instance, he is asked what makes a game “good” for him. To this he responds by noting that, along with the love of its creator, a game is often good based on how well it uses its interactivity.
“First, the creator’s love,” said Kojima. “That’s key. Also, since it is interactive, say there’s an item with one intended use. But it doesn’t end there. The player thinks ‘Maybe I can use it this way too?’ and tries it out. It works, and they think, ‘Oh, cool!’ Then they try another way, and realize that’s prepared too. It’s about that level of freedom. The player discovers things for themselves, and finds those mechanics.”
This answer is in turn summarized as: “You have to feel the creator’s love. A great game offers a high level of freedom, allowing players to discover their own unique ways to utilize items.”
Another question asked by a hobbyist game developer revolves around how the developer can make a game that “never gets old, one you want to replay after completing it,” to which Kojima responds by noting that the important aspects of a game aren’t just their stories, but also their worlds, controls, and immersion.
“You want to be there,” he explained. “It’s about making you want to stay and play. Say you stop playing for the night. You go to school or work. The key is wanting to return to that world. Making the player want to dive back in is crucial for games. There’s a unique world inside that space, where you can be different from your ordinary self. It lets you do things you can’t do in real life. That’s vital.”
In the same Q&A video, Kojima had also spoken about what kinds of projects he would like to work on in the future. When asked about new genres he wanted to take on, Kojima responded by saying that “I want to pioneer a new genre, so I don’t focus much on existing ones.” This project, according to Kojima, would be based on “maybe hard sci-fi,” because “I love space settings, so I’d like to try that. I’m also a fan of Westerns, so maybe that. Or a period piece, but those exist already.”
After having released Death Stranding 2: On the Beach earlier this year, Kojima’s studio—Kojima Productions—is currently working on two projects: horror title OD and espionage game Physint. In the meantime, check out our review of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, which is currently only available on PS5.
