Death Stranding 2 creator Hideo Kojima has provided new details about the upcoming sequel, as well as more about his other upcoming projects, in a revival of his HideoTube YouTube series.
The followup to 2019's Death Stranding was originally revealed during the 2022 Game Awards, and a new trailer was shown during January's PlayStation showcase, where we also learned that the game's official title will be Death Stranding 2: On the Beach.
In the new episode of HideoTube, Kojima-san, alongside gaming presenter Risa Unai and voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda, goes into detail about that PlayStation showcase trailer and what it all means for Death Stranding 2.
According to Kojima-san, Death Stranding 2 will feature real-time terrain changes; Sam will be beset by floods, forest fires, and earthquakes, and he'll have to adapt to those phenomena if he wants to survive.
He also confirms that it'll be possible for Sam to set his backpack down during fights, allowing for greater mobility.
The strange cat-like creature that appears alongside Mad Max director George Miller's character is, according to Kojima-san, inspired by Captain Harlock from the Space Pirate Captain Harlock franchise.
This being Kojima-san, you won't be surprised to hear there are a couple of cryptic-sounding hints, too; he says to watch the scene involving Higgs and the robot soldiers carefully, as well as to watch Fragile's cigarette smoke, which "forms into human figures".
The showcase also features appearances from several special guests, including Death Stranding actor Norman Reedus, who originally "leaked" the existence of Death Stranding 2 back in May 2022.
Also appearing are Elle Fanning, who plays a "mysterious" character in the game, as well as George Miller and Fatih Akin (on whom Fragile's puppet is based).
Naturally, Kojima-san is tight-lipped about his Xbox collaboration OD, although he does say it's a "completely new" project, expressing doubts about whether he can "pull it off".
When it comes to recently-announced "action espionage game" (ahem) Physint, Kojima-san says it will be "both a game and a movie at the same time".
He goes into some moving detail about why he decided to make the game, too; he says that for the last eight years (since the last Metal Gear game in which he was involved), social media users and fans have been asking him to work on another Metal Gear.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kojima-san says he fell ill, and that his priorities shifted; he realized that "people die", and that although he still wants to do new things, "if the users desire it so much", he should return to the genre with which he made his name.
The full presentation is well worth watching, especially if you're a fan of Kojima-san. Stay tuned for more on all of Kojima-san's upcoming projects.
