Death Stranding Will Have A Slow Story With Little Explanation In The Beginning

We’ve finally gotten the layers peeled back on Death Stranding, the newest game from Hideo Kojima and his Kojima Productions. Needless to say, the game is going to be a big hit, but it also clearly isn’t what many people were expecting. Some of the reaction to the gameplay has been somewhat mixed with many wondering if the game will be fun. Well, we can’t say until we get there, but those hoping that the game will hit the game running will probably be in for some disappointment.

In an interview with GameReactor, Kojima said that the story of Death Stranding will be a slow burn. He says there will be little explanation of things in the game’s beginning, meaning that many players will feel lost and frustrated (on top of feeling lonely, I guess). But one thing sure to make those nervous about the gameplay loop even more nervous is he says the game may get “really fun” half way through.

“Yes, it’s a special world game system itself,” he said. “There is so much information, you have new terminology, you may be puzzled about what it is about? But don’t worry, when you play the game, you are driven in very slowly at the start. It’s not like Terminator or Star Wars. There is no explanation or anything. It’s very easy to do it that way and I can do it, but the story progresses slowly. Especially at the beginning. You will feel lost, but don’t worry – you will naturally fit in. The system is explained.

“Some people say it’s almost like the movie Alien, where you are gradually finding out what the whole world is about, what you can do and not do. Maybe it gets really fun when you have completed 50 percent of the game. The player, like in shooters and other genres, go into the game with a known rule and you think you know what a game is about. I didn’t want to have that feeling. Everyone should start from ground zero. Not knowing how to pick up and play the game. What I have shown makes you puzzled, but it all really makes sense when you play the game.”

The game was met with skepticism by Kojima’s own staff apparently, but they came around. So odds are the general consensus will be about the same, though maybe we’re going to need a lot of sequels to get it ironed out. Either way, Death Stranding‘s November 8th release isn’t too far, so it won’t be too long before we see for ourselves.