TheRetroArcade
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Joined: Feb 2026
Joined: Feb 2026
Being more divisive wasn't the goal after all.
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When Kojima Productions set out to develop Death Stranding 2, writer and director Hideo Kojima gave his team a clear goal: Keep people playing all the way through this time.
"Kojima wanted more people to enjoy the game all the way to the end. This was an order he provided," said lead level designer Hiroaki Yoshiike, in a recent interview with PC Gamer.
That directive might sound surprising if you saw a widely circulated quote about Death Stranding 2 last year from co-composer Woodkid. In an interview with Rolling Stone, the musician alleged that director Hideo Kojima changed the game based on playtesters liking it too much, striving to make it less conventional. It was a compelling quote out of context—the auteur, going against the grain! But in reality, as Kojima cleared up in December, he actually made the writing more explicit and "changed the game to make it more playable and fun" based on focus tests. He just didn't want it to be too "digestible," easily played and quickly forgotten.
Kojima did take feedback about the first game to heart, though, and his reaction wasn't to double down on making the sequel harder to like.
Yoshiike said that for Death Stranding, the developers needed to be "very elaborate" as they "introduced all the new concepts and what the world is like." But the player feedback was that the game "might've been a little bit slow."
"In the second game, we didn't need to provide too many worldbuilding elements, we could make it less elaborate. For completionists, they can enjoy it, but at the same time, people who don't necessarily care about it that much, we made sure they can follow the story through other supplemental elements within the game. That was one of the design choices that we made. We've gotten a lot of feedback that it's much easier to recommend DS2 to people. And we're able to see the metrics, and we saw that people progress much further than they previously had. So that was just as we designed, I think."
According to trophy data on PSNProfiles and Steam, fewer than half of players saw credits in the first Death Stranding. Stats vary by game version, with about 40% completing the original PS4 release, 34% finishing the PS5 Director's Cut and only 20% (likely double-dippers) reaching the end on Steam.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the be...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
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Every Friday
GamesRadar+
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
When Kojima Productions set out to develop Death Stranding 2, writer and director Hideo Kojima gave his team a clear goal: Keep people playing all the way through this time.
"Kojima wanted more people to enjoy the game all the way to the end. This was an order he provided," said lead level designer Hiroaki Yoshiike, in a recent interview with PC Gamer.
That directive might sound surprising if you saw a widely circulated quote about Death Stranding 2 last year from co-composer Woodkid. In an interview with Rolling Stone, the musician alleged that director Hideo Kojima changed the game based on playtesters liking it too much, striving to make it less conventional. It was a compelling quote out of context—the auteur, going against the grain! But in reality, as Kojima cleared up in December, he actually made the writing more explicit and "changed the game to make it more playable and fun" based on focus tests. He just didn't want it to be too "digestible," easily played and quickly forgotten.
Kojima did take feedback about the first game to heart, though, and his reaction wasn't to double down on making the sequel harder to like.
Yoshiike said that for Death Stranding, the developers needed to be "very elaborate" as they "introduced all the new concepts and what the world is like." But the player feedback was that the game "might've been a little bit slow."
"In the second game, we didn't need to provide too many worldbuilding elements, we could make it less elaborate. For completionists, they can enjoy it, but at the same time, people who don't necessarily care about it that much, we made sure they can follow the story through other supplemental elements within the game. That was one of the design choices that we made. We've gotten a lot of feedback that it's much easier to recommend DS2 to people. And we're able to see the metrics, and we saw that people progress much further than they previously had. So that was just as we designed, I think."
According to trophy data on PSNProfiles and Steam, fewer than half of players saw credits in the first Death Stranding. Stats vary by game version, with about 40% completing the original PS4 release, 34% finishing the PS5 Director's Cut and only 20% (likely double-dippers) reaching the end on Steam.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the be...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?