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The following is a selection from Famitsu. This translation is for educational and fan use only.
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Sakurai’s Famitsu Column #593
“Moving Through An Unknown World”
I enjoy new games in the same way I walk through a recent snowfall; what I mean by that is not knowing what lies ahead. It’s like watching a movie without seeing any previews. Because of that, I’ve restricted as much information as I could about this highly anticipated title, Death Stranding, before playing it.
I think that Death Stranding is a remarkable product. I’ve been devoted to playing it until the very end. There are many layers to its originality and it also creates an interesting kind of image. It’s really one of a kind!
Some people may not enjoy its missions, but I love them. I completed them without any complaints. This mysterious world stayed interesting from the beginning to the very end. It was tough to put the controller down because there was always something intriguing ahead.
As far as the game design is concerned, I think the game has the best approach it possibly could. While players often feel that games are worlds of unlimited possibilities, they’re actually quite limited. It takes time and labor to create them. With that in mind, a development team’s ability and what they can reasonably create has to be considered…
In the case of Death Stranding, its production team was quite unique. The team was formed quickly, so it’s clear they utilized great game design within their limits.
For example, making many different enemies is difficult, so the game utilizes terrain itself as an obstacle. Creating lots of backgrounds is also tough, so the game utilizes rooms for its cutscenes. And, lots of people in the game are holograms, removing the player’s desire to interact more besides just speaking.
These things don’t contradict the setting. Creating an open world like this can be challenging even for an experienced team. Creating a deep environment within their abilities and turning that into a challenge complements the game design and highly synergizes with it.
It’d be better without a few things. Prompts for things like button inputs and text are too small and difficult to see. There are also a lot of long button presses in the UI and too many small, protruding cliffs in the terrain. I think these are all trivial issues, though.
By the way, returning to my earlier metaphor, I’m someone who enjoys walking through a recent snowfall by myself. If that’s the case, then how’s the social network-like online? I’d assume since you can see the traces of other players, it would also remove the mystery and loneliness.
However, that wasn’t something to be anxious about. This production was able to consider cultivating so many things and weave them together, and I could have fun with it, no doubt. I can meet people outside of the game’s setting, so the hearing that “you can’t connect the chiral network when doing a mission” and “you can’t see other people in this product” didn’t hold me back when I’d cross over obstacles myself, and I couldn’t gain an advantage from it – in other words, it was really great. Keeping the chiral network in mind, it even fits into the game’s setting, so that’s just as clever.
Absolutely, making a work like this with that kind of production period is really amazing. I’m learning from Director Kojima’s abilities because his work shocks me so much with its varied meanings.
I wonder, since a sequel isn’t likely, what’s coming next? Thinking about sequels worries me. Thoughts about sequels are natural – but saying things like that so often might cause the gaming industry to get caught up in them. Death Stranding avoids many typical practices; it imagines stepping into an untouched game world in ways I don’t think have been seen before.
I love translation, writing, and talking about video games. MOTHER has been the series that's inspired me the most - from Itoi's writing to the MOTHER 3 fan translation. I research gaming translations and storytelling through games. I'm also making a game called GNOMONIC. I appreciate any constructive comments to help me improve.
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