Death Stranding: Kojima Unchained

It’s been a week since the “Death Stranding Release Date” trailer was revealed and it’s already amassed almost 7 million views on YouTube. It appears with every trailer that gets released we get no answers and more questions – and everyone is loving it. The reaction to the trailer demonstrates how the mystery surrounding the title is pulling people in, making them want to learn more about the game. It’s comparable to an unfinished jigsaw puzzle but in the form of a narrative spread across several trailers – Everybody wants to see the “full picture” when the game finally releases in November.

Hideo Kojima tweeted shortly after the release of the trailer stating how the Decima engine (created by Guerilla Games) has allowed him to make his vision a reality, including that he’s had the game envisioned in his mind since January 2016 – just a few months after the release of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Many of the landscapes shown in the trailers are similar to those found in Iceland which Kojima visited in 2014, leading us to believe that this is where a lot of the inspiration for the main setting of Death Stranding originated.

One of the many tweets of Iceland which can be compared to Death Stranding

Those who have been following Kojima’s work closely will be aware of the troubles that the aforementioned Metal Gear title faced. In early 2015, rumours began to circulate that there was an ongoing feud between Kojima and Konami. During this time Konami removed Kojima’s name from the box art as well as limiting the team who were working on the game. This caused rumours to surface that the previously released Metal Gear HD Remasters & Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance were only produced to help fill the budget Kojima was quickly tearing through, which greatly displeased Konami. Although it was never confirmed first hand by either Konami or Kojima, insiders leaked the information regarding the dispute – including the working conditions of Konami employees. Soon after MGSV released many players realised that the game was unfinished in many aspects as a result of the Konami-Kojima breakup, leading many players to feel unsatisfied with the game they waited 3 years for.

3 months after the release of MGSV, Konami allegedly forbid Kojima from attending The 2015 Game Awards which brought more public attention to Konami’s unethical decisions regarding (now previous) employees. 12 days later on December 15th, Playstation announced a new partnership with the newly reformed Kojima Productions including a new console exclusive title for the Playstation 4 – This would later turn out to be Death Stranding.

Hideo Kojima & Andy House (Playstation) in the announcement video

Playstation has a history of taking risks which usually pay off and it seems Kojima Productions is no exception as their talent is easy to see. At the 2017 Game Awards, Norman Reedus who had previously worked with Kojima on the Konami owned (and cancelled) Silent Hills took the stage with Kojima enthusiastically stating “We’re Back… and nothing is gonna stop us this time!” to the crowd’s delight. This is what people want out of a game from Kojima Productions. A game with a vision, no obstacles, no strings attached – and it seems that’s exactly what we’re going to get.