Hideo Kojima was in the Netherlands not too long ago. He is visiting my home country more often now to visit Horizon Zero Dawn developer Guerilla. When Kojima departed from Konami, he undertook a long adventurous trip to meet with various development studios to see if their engine technology would fit his needs. He finally set his choice on Guerilla’s Decima engine. Not long after, Death Stranding was a thing. Well, it is a game really. However, what kind of game? The mastermind behind the Metal Gear Franchise managed to intrigue gamers worldwide once again with his unique, bold vision and art direction.
That unique & bold vision has gained Kojima a lot of respect from industry veterans. Especially after his ruthless breakup with Konami (who infamously started to remove his name from box art) many developers sympathized with him. His work is heavily influenced by American cinema (often sci-fi) and cyberpunk anime. As a result, his games often provide a top-notch cinematic experience with incredibly fleshed out characters and a complex, layered narrative.
Remedy shares many of these traits. It is no secret Kojima is a huge fan on Control. After his business in the Netherlands was done, Kojima also wanted to take some time to visit the Remedy studios. A flight from Amsterdam to Helsinki is relatively short so it makes perfect sense for him to drop by. Remedy welcomed Kojima warmly. The Finnish developer had put up a welcome message on their LCD information panels in the entrance as well as a presentation that featured Japanese language.
Hideo was toured around the new Remedy offices and got to see many aspects of their trade. His tour concluded with Remedy displaying some of their latest progress on Control. In exchange, Hideo showed around two hours of Death Stranding gameplay. Both parties were impressed with each other’s work.
During the day, various employees of both studios have taken pictures to preserve these memories. Finnish gaming magazine Pelaaja compiled all for them together in one, big, enjoyable article. Click here if you want to see pictures of Hideo Kojima’s visit to Remedy. 次回まで!
