When it first leaked as Overdose, it was believed that Kojima Productions’ new IP would be horror title, albeit one with director Hideo Kojima’s signature twists (and potentially related to Death Stranding). However, upon its reveal as OD, it’s looking to be a lot more complicated than initially believed. The developer trademarked terms like Social Scream System and Social Stealth, and it’s confirmed to utilize Xbox’s cloud-native technology.
The jury is still out on how OD plays. However, Kojima provided insight into how it goes against the grain of current trends. He tweeted, “It seems I have been acknowledged by creating games that go against the current of the times, such as ‘hide-and-seek’ games where you sneak into a building without being detected by the enemy, or ‘delivery games’ where you enjoy moving around in an open world.
“For me, the most experimental game was ‘defeating vampires outside your house’ using actual sunlight around you. It was met with fierce opposition from the staff and even within the company. In that sense, ‘OD‘ is just as different.” The title referred to is Boktai: The Sun Is in Your Hand for the Game Boy Advance, which utilized a unique sensor for sunlight. It was a core mechanic for fighting, to the extent that players would be disadvantaged at night.
While Kojima isn’t saying that OD will play the same, it could be as unorthodox and unconventional, if not more so. Time will tell, so stay tuned for more details, hopefully in the coming months.