Hideo Kojima is the sort of creator that doesn’t need extra freedom. Death Stranding was a beautiful exercise in excess, with the legendary creator being offered a blank canvas and plenty of budget to bring his desired vision to life. The finished product was unlike anything we’d ever seen before, occupying a genre of its own with characters, worldbuilding and storytelling that dared to try something new in a triple-A landscape that had long surrendered to routine.
Even before this, Metal Gear Solid defined itself as a series that was never afraid to indulge in its military jargon and convoluted storytelling. Heck, I’d argue these were two of the biggest reasons why MGS has such staying power – it provided Kojima with a platform to go positively wild with few restrictions. This crumbled eventually, and out of the rubble emerged Death Stranding, something I’m still shocked Sony let him get away with. I love it to bits, and I’m so excited to see it return on PS5, but I struggle to justify the existence of a Director’s Cut that descends even further into the absurd nonsense this studio is so renowned for.
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Hideo Kojima himself has even come out to say that he doesn’t view Death Stranding: Director’s Cut as being truly representative of the term, likely drawing his definition from the world of cinema as opposed to the remasters and definitive editions we so often see in the medium. From that perspective, his view makes complete sense, especially given how much film has influenced his career. Still, it’s a bit weird to appear on social media and blast the PS5 version of your own game all of a sudden. The man is an enigma, but he loves La La Land so I can forgive him. All of this proves my point though, it seems like Kojima fulfilled his purpose with Death Stranding’s original narrative, and Director’s Cut is more of a moniker for the re-release as opposed to anything substantial.
As we’ve learned from the debut trailer and PlayStation Blog post, Death Stranding on PS5 will feature enhanced performance options, improved graphics, and all of the bonuses introduced as part of the PC port. We can also expect new content in the form of fresh missions, weapons, equipment, and even a racing mode for Sam Porter Bridges to partake in. It all seems to be optional bonuses as opposed to a substantial upgrade of the original experience, which further cements the Director’s Cut identity as being rather obsolete in our medium. It will look and play better than ever, but we shouldn’t expect a meaningful expansion on the overall experience or additional lines from the likes of Norman Reedus and Mads Mikkelsen.
Being a PS4 exclusive that arrived late into the previous generation, a next-gen upgrade is perfectly reasonable, but Sony shouldn’t be marketing the game as something it demonstrably isn’t. From the looks of things, Hideo Kojima agrees. Even if it did feature a more robust storyline, allowing the Japanese developer to delve even deeper into his twisted imagination would only result in needless growth of a tale that already feels complete.
Sure, I’d appreciate more spoken dialogue from the big names, but given how ridiculous the concept of Death Stranding is, the finished product managed to tell a grand, sympathetic tale that reflected on our current society in poignant ways. Hideo Kojima isn’t subtle, but the material of his work doesn’t require that kind of touch. If anything, his heavy hand only helps games like Death Stranding or Metal Gear Solid shine ever brighter. I’d rather him and his team continue to work on whatever their next big project is instead of digging up a past that is so recently buried, and I’m still crossing my fingers Kojima has been handed the reins of Silent Hill.
While part of me is excited for Death Stranding: Director’s Cut and will likely play it to completion, the naming both betrays its intention and feels unnecessary, threatening to further complicate a narrative experience that already has some trouble communicating with a wider audience. I hope more people play this game on PS5, but they shouldn’t be subject to an adventure that betrays what the original managed to achieve. Give us extra bells and whistles without changing the core fundamentals.
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