DEATH STRANDING: Hideo Kojima Addresses Concerns That The Highly Anticipated Game Is "A Walking Simulator"

Death Stranding was announced with a mysterious and cinematic trailer back in 2016. Gameplay of the highly anticipated, upcoming title was only revealed earlier this year and it showed off Norman Reedus' character walking and... walking and... walking some more. It seems that the majority of Death Stranding will consist of the player trotting across its in-game world on foot.

Thus, many have voiced concern and criticism that Death Stranding will just be a "walking simulator," and essentially just involve trekking back and forth across the map. Hideo Kojima, the renowned director of the upcoming game, recently addressed this concern during a talk with Game Informer at Tokyo Game Show 2019.

Kojima explains that it might not seem very entertaining upon first glance but when you get your hands on it you'll quickly realise that it's fun to just stroll around and explore, tackling the game's many traversal challenges when you come across them — like precariously crossing over a ravine or wading through a river with a strong current.

In the past, even if games are 'open-world,' there are limitations where you can’t go further. Like, they created valleys where you can’t go. But in this game, you can go anywhere. You set routes, and you want to know what goes on beyond. In this game, I think you will not understand if I just say this, but once you start playing the game, just walking in that world is really fun. What I realized is, when I monitor playtests – even the staff's – they don’t get it at first. But when they really start playing, just walking is really fun in the space.

"And now everyone will say, 'Oh, it’s a walking simulator!" It’s the same as when I first brought out a stealth game," Kojima continued. "If 100 people play it and 100 people say it’s fun, it means the genre or the game already exists. But this is a new genre – same as stealth the first time, there will be people who don’t get it. It will take time for the real evaluations to come in."

In the near future, mysterious explosions have rocked the planet, setting off a series of supernatural events known as the Death Stranding. With spectral creatures plaguing the landscape, and the planet on the verge of a mass extinction, it’s up to Sam Bridges to journey across the ravaged wasteland and save mankind from impending annihilation.