Hideo Kojima on Death Stranding: "You Will Feel Lost"

Don't expect to have too much fun while playing Death Stranding on PlayStation 4, but do expect to feel lost for at least half the length of the PS4 title. Not only does Hideo Kojima's new game have a slow start, but it doesn't hold your hand. You're going to be confused and lost, just like you were watching the game's first few trailers. We still don't know how long the game is, but Kojima seems to suggest the title doesn't get really fun until, well, about halfway through the game.

"There is so much information, you have new terminology, you may be puzzled about what it is about, said said Kojima while speaking to GameReactor about exploration and how the game starts. "But don't worry, when you play the game, you are driven in very slowly at the start. It's not like Terminator or Star Wars. There is no explanation or anything. It's very easy to do it that way and I can do it, but the story progresses slowly. Especially at the beginning. You will feel lost, but don't worry - you will naturally fit in. The system is explained."

Kojima continued:

"Some people say it's almost like the movie Alien, where you are gradually finding out what the whole world is about, what you can do and not do. Maybe it gets really fun when you have completed 50 percent of the game. The player, like in shooters and other genres, go into the game with a known rule and you think you know what a game is about. I didn't want to have that feeling. Everyone should start from ground zero. Not knowing how to pick up and play the game. What I have shown makes you puzzled, but it all really makes sense when you play the game."

As you can see, it all sounds a bit vague, but it sounds like Kojima wants players to go into the game knowing nothing. And the game won't explain much to you either. And that's why it starts slowly, to not overwhelm players. And thus it takes awhile before the player understands what's going on, what the game is about, and thus it may be a bit into the experience before players start having fun in the traditional sense.

The more that's revealed about Death Stranding, the less I know about it. And it's increasingly obvious that this is the point. Kojima wants players to know as little as possible about the game, and it sounds like he's only revealed as much as he has because of a nudge or two from marketing.

Death Stranding is in development for PS4, and is set to release on November 8. For more news, media, and information on the game, click here.