Who Is Hideo Kojima? Creative Genius Or Overrated Weirdo?

16.04.2024 - 15:03 / fortressofsolitude.co.za / Quentin Tarantino

With Death Stranding receiving polarizing reviews, many gamers have asked the question, “Is Hideo Kojima one of the greatest game developers or is he just an overrated weirdo?”

With his passion for classic movies in everything he does, Hideo Kojima has created a personal brand that is—for all intents and purposes—the video game equivalent of Quentin Tarantino. The “Kojima Productions” logo used to mean that the game you were about to play was undisputably a masterpiece. From the first Metal Gear Solid to Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Kojima’s magic touch appeared undefeatable.

That is until The Phantom Pain came around. While not a bad game by any extent of the imagination, it was Kojima’s flawed swan song. With his high-profile divorce from Konami and the fabled “Chapter 3”, we never turned Phantom Pain into a shadow of what could’ve been instead of the shocking final chapter in Big Boss’s epic saga.

Then, Death Stranding made things even murkier for Kojima’s legacy. While some long-time fans swear by Kojima’s quirkiness, which permeates every aspect of Death Stranding, others feel the game only proves that Kojima is only great when he has someone there to reel him back a bit (and that would be Konami).

Of course, no auteur worth their salt has ever been uncontroversial.

It’s no secret that Kojima revolutionized gaming in the PS1 era. Metal Gear Solid might be one of the most influential action titles ever released – and it might have been a stroke of luck more than genius that did it.

For starters, Metal Gear Solid‘s core concept—its highly cinematic stealth gameplay—came about as a necessity. Console limitations made the combat feel clunky, prompting Kojima to create a game that rewarded players who avoided open combat situations.

The success of Metal Gear Solid turned Kojima into one of the most revered creators in the video game industry. Every successive Metal Gear game proved two things: Kojima had near complete creative control over the franchise, and there was no such thing as a “bad” Hideo Kojima game.

The Kojima name became synonymous with action games. Metal Gear as a brand was also a gaming institution, with Snake becoming easily one of the most recognizable gaming characters ever created.

If there’s one thing Hideo Kojima loves more than inserting random movie references in his games, it’s trolling gamers. From metanarrative devices that subvert everyone’s expectations to creating some of the most imaginative video game marketing campaigns, Kojima loves the unexpected.

Remember when The Phantom Pain wasn’t even a Metal Gear game? The whole “Moby Dick Studio” marketing ploy tried to convince gamers that Phantom Pain wasn’t related to either Kojima or the MGS series. However, gamers