"There’s a key moment where we had a discussion, probably halfway [through] when we were doing the game, where he came to me and he said, 'We have a problem,'" Woodkid explained.
"Then he said, 'I’m going to be very honest, we have been testing the game with players and the results are too good. They like it too much. That means something is wrong; we have to change something.' And he changed stuff in the script and the way some crucial stuff [happens] in the game because he thought his work was not polarizing and not triggering enough emotions."
According to Kojima, "If everyone likes [your work], it means it’s mainstream. It means it’s conventional. It means it’s already pre-digested for people to like it."
"I don’t want that," Kojima reportedly told Lemoine. "I want people to end up liking things they didn’t like when they first encountered it, because that’s where you really end up loving something."
25 Comments
will either backfire or forwardfire
Kojima is a hipster? Is this supposed to be a twist?
I am not able to understand or see his ideas.
God he’s such a pretentious douchebag. Go ahead and downvote, it’s true.
Hideo Kojima, the George Lucas of game developers.
This dude loves sniffing his own farts
yes yes of course. my girlfriend is super hot but goes to another school. same energy
He is the perfect example of a genius who needs a pragmatist to keep him from going too far.
Someone needs to be in his ear to remind him that sometimes good is just good. It doesn’t suddenly need a stupid twist. Or a goop whale or a reference to Mario
Kojima is too creatively talented to be called a hack, but he gives off those vibes. “The gamers are having fun? No, that isn’t right. They’re supposed to be upset and irritated. Put in a 3 hour cutscene, please.”
I know folks love his games, and that’s great, but Kojima strikes me as the epitome of the idea of getting high on your own supply.
They hated it because it was too perfect, so Kojima, in his infinite wisdom, decided to make it slightly less perfect, ensuring the true *Death Stranding* experience.
I’ll take “Things that never happened” for $800, Alex.
El, you really must try this because it’s puerco pibil.
It’s a slow-roasted pork, nothing fancy. It just happens to be my favorite, and I order it with a tequila and lime in every dive I go to in this country.
And honestly, that is the best it’s ever been anywhere.
In fact, it’s too good.
It’s so good that when I’m finished, I’ll pay my check, walk straight into the kitchen and shoot the cook.
Because that’s what I do. I restore the balance to this country.
I guess I’m the only one who thinks this rules lmfao. I love art that is trying to be progressive and boundary pushing, that means they are doing something different. If he just made a standard 3rd person shooter, that goes against his intention and goals behind trying to push the boundaries of gaming.
We need more artists like this! All great creators are a little self indulgent, but when they have earned it and lean into it, I think that kicks ass lol. I’d much rather have a polarizing game than Call of Duty Black Ops 7 that is universally loved in the mainstream because it’s more of the same.
People are reading way too into this, he didn’t say they liked the game or its mechanics too much, they liked the story and had no qualms with its subject matter. Say what you want but a “good story” is just that, good. He wants the games story to be “great” and I trust him to make the story more interesting without doing stuff just to check an emotional box. Like yeah he smells his own farts and calls them flower scented but a million people agree with him about his farts smelling great so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.
I heard the first game was just a walking simulator, will the new game have any gameplay?
Kojima, for all his success, is really just that one guy in your friend group that stops listening to a band once it gets too popular and insists that he was the one that discovered them but now they’ve sold out
So there’s two ways to read it.
1. Kojima is being contrarian for the sake of it. Not a fan, but absolutely fits.
2. The experience they’re creating (mind you I never played the first game) is one that is meant to unsettle the audience and coming off saying “yeah, that was a good session” isn’t the mood they want. And this is a common thing that games that do try for that sort of thing have to adjust for.
Am I stupid or is this the opposite of what you’d want to do?
I call BS. This is just marketing
Is this an onion article?
See man, I dunno, as is typical in the culture I think a lot of people in this thread are jumping the gun on criticizing his philosophy/ideas of what he wants out of his game here in terms of how it impacts people.
If he wants his game to ride the line (*again* btw, because I think DS1 had a similar reception) of “I just bounced off it and can’t get into it” vs “didn’t really click at first but it grew to be a personal fav of mine” – he just seems perfectly cognizant of the risk. He’s just adamant that that kind of friction will stick with people who end up loving the experience more than something with less friction.
Is he a bit pretentious and has stereotypical visionary traits? For sure, but for those who’ve enjoyed his stuff since MGS1 it’s part of the charm.
Seeing as we don’t know what’s been changed, only time will tell though!
this comment section proves that gamers can be the most ignorant people on earth
God forbid that people have FUN playing your games, Kojima.
>”I want people to end up liking things they didn’t like when they first encountered it, because that’s where you really end up loving something.”
THIS. I 100% agree with this. That feeling feels SO good and I really wish more people could experience and accept it way more.
…That being said, I would be lying if I said I agreed with his extremism on that stance. He seems to belittle people for simply liking the things they do, and while, again, I do wish people would give more chances to things they think are bad and let it grow on them, there is certainly nothing wrong with simply not enjoying to do that. I think he should just suggest that mindset, not condemn others for not sharing it. But then again, it’s not like it matters that much in the grand scheme of things.