Hideo Kojima is an "auteur" in the industry — many gamers and critics can attest to that. So after his messy divorce with Konami, everyone eagerly anticipated his next project.
When Hideo Kojima offered a glimpse of his latest work-in-progress Death Stranding, it was met with a mix of confusion, curiosity, and interest.
Is it an open-world game? Is it an action game set in a weird post-apocalyptic world? Kojima did not provide much detail. But a horror game? It is most definitely not, according to him.
'I Get Scared Very Easily'
This is the reason why Death Stranding won't be another survival horror game.
"Actually, this is true of Alfred Hitchcock as well as Steven Spielberg. Because they scare easily, because I scare easily, it's actually easy for us to make something that is scary, because we understand what is scary," he said.
He added that constantly imagining scary situations tends to give him bad dreams.
"That's the reason why I don't want to make a horror game," he added.
First Came 'Silent Hills'
The expectations for a horror game are not without basis. On Aug. 12, 2014, Kojima (while still with Konami) released a "P.T." or "playable trailer" for Silent Hills, a big project that was part of the Silent Hill franchise. It was a collaboration between Kojima, actor Norman Reedus (of The Walking Dead fame), and director Guillermo del Toro.
The trailer game used a first-person POV. The unknown protagonist must escape a haunted house filled with looping scary supernatural occurrences. The PT received praise from game critics, citing its creativity, originality, and execution.
However, the Silent Hills project was canceled in April 2015. This was because of Kojima's then-growing rift with Konami's higher-ups.
'Death Stranding' Comes Next
After his breakup with Konami, Kojima set up his own shop called Kojima Productions. In E3 2016, he revealed a trailer for his latest project, Death Stranding. The trailer was bleak, dark, and mysterious. It featured beached dead whales (aka "stranding") and a naked Norman Reedus holding a baby.
In December 2016, Kojima released another trailer. It featured director Guillermo del Toro, Kojima's collaborator in Silent Hills. Also featured was actor Mads Mikkelsen. The new trailer looked very dark and eerie, evoking the horror "feels" that the fans felt.
However, in an exclusive interview with Glixel, Kojima said that Death Stranding "is not a horror game."
"I just wanted to make something that looks very unique, something you haven't seen before, something with a more artistic slant to it. I'm not pursuing a dark aspect to the game," he said.
