Shuhei Yoshida – Most AAA games “It’s really hard to tell who is the creator”, but Hidetaka Miyazaki and Kojima games have something special, “You can tell its their vision.”

    Posted by PhantomBraved

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    1. Auteur theory is really hard in games—they’re a combination of so many more arts than, say, film.

    2. What’s ironic is that their games are specifically designed to not be for everyone and yet that’s what makes everyone so fascinated by them.

    3. computerCoptor on

      There are quite a few game directors with that ‘special something’ that tells you who made it.

      Just off the top of my head, Masahiro Sakurai, Shigeru Miyamoto, Tim Schafer, Ken Levine, and Gregg Mayles have a very recognizable style

      Edit: idk if it counts or not, but Gabe Newell and Valve-made games are also very distinct

    4. random_confusion208 on

      I feel like thats one place Japanese AAA devs differ compared to western, or at least American, devs is a singular person as the face of projects. Like you can tell if Itsuno worked on a game from its action or if Yoko Taro wrote a game from its writing or if Hedaki Kamiya was involved from a games’ sense of style. Like it feels more personal that Miyazaki is the face of Dark Souls compared to something like God of War, which feels more owned by a Santa Monica/Sony rather than a singular mind.

    5. SweatyButtcheek on

      I agree. As you consume more and more media, whether it be video games or movies, it’s nice having creatives or studios that have a consistent quality and tone. Whether or not you like the sort of “auteur” optics these two have developed, I like that sort of creative ecosystem.

    6. war_story_guy on

      With “A Hideo Kojima Game” plastered across the cover of his I would hope it is easy to tell.

    7. Plot is obscure as hell, also poison swamps: Miyazaki game

      Plot is front and center but makes no damn sense, also ninjas and robots: Kojima game

    8. I prefer to recognize success of the games from game devs not only its directors. Probably why I tend to not like Kojima much because he is like the only person of the team that gets praise for the game.

    9. Superb-Employment291 on

      >Kojima sounds disappointed about the state of his industry. Studios are closing left and right producing blockbusters that are too bloated and too expensive. Watching Summer Games Fest, a popular trailer marathon for gamers, Kojima felt like everything previewed involved fighting an alien monster or a medieval monster. “Even the visuals and the systems are pretty much the same,” he laments, “and a lot of people enjoy this, I understand, but it is important to put something really new in there for the industry.”

      >He recalls visiting a big-name studio to advise on a new stealth game and being deeply unimpressed by what he saw. “People who are making military games, they probably don’t know how to dismantle a gun or shoot a gun,” Kojima says. “So that’s kind of sad.”

      >Kojima describes the game (OD) as “something totally different…people will love it or hate it.”

      [https://www.ssense.com/en-us/editorial/culture/hideo-kojima-death-stranding-interview](https://www.ssense.com/en-us/editorial/culture/hideo-kojima-death-stranding-interview)

    10. Illustrious-Virus883 on

      I think this is more true than people realize. I think genuinely some of the only people alive actually pushing video games as an artistic form, at least in the AAA space. Genuinely no else is doing it like them.

    11. East_Age_8630 on

      Oh for sure, but it’s not all great stuff, I remember playing Death Stranding 1 and thinking to myself “what kind of an idiot thought, that watching the same cutscene, when you encounter BT,  every time is a good idea? Sure this game went through QA and I’m not alone, but because Kojima directed it, it’s there, because he knows better” and in around of 2/3 of my playthrough they patched it out…

    12. CutMeLoose79 on

      Is the story silly, convoluted with questionable dialogue? It’s a Kojima game.

    13. ImperialAgent120 on

      In the U.S, it’s more about the studio name rather than the directors. Just on top of my head I can only think of Todd Howard and Glen Schofield.

    14. So it is bad when every member of the team can express his creativity through the game instead of the whole product being presented as the “vision” of genius?

    15. I can usually tell it’s a kojima game by how up its own ass it is along with his name being plastered everywhere.

    16. STylerMLmusic on

      “this game is fucking nonsense. Oh, it’s Hideo Kojima, that makes sense.”

    17. I mean, I can tell when I’m playing a Todd Howard game or a Vince Zampella game, they just don’t put their names on them. Those guys know how to make a *fun* game, whereas Miyazaki and Kojima excel at making *interesting* games.

    18. Blackwolf245 on

      I can tell a Kojima game when my controller turned off during a cutscene and there a closeup on a woman’s bare feet.

      Edit: Also the plot is convoluted as hell.

    19. Due_Potential_6956 on

      I would have to agree. Some of my favorite AAA games I have no idea who made them, except for the studio and publishers. With their games, I know exactly who made it.

    20. SuspiciousRoom5734 on

      Well yeah Kojima will just plaster his name everywhere so you can’t forget