Remember how everyone thought Raiden was stupid and dorky when Metal Gear Solid 2 came out, then ten years later the consensus was all of a sudden that MGS2 was a postmodern masterpiece? Well now we know what the endgame of that “Kojima Cycle” might look like: Future space aliens agreeing that you should absolutely give Death Stranding another shot.
Kojima’s meditation on the potential afterlife of a piece of art comes from a fan Q&A organized by Anan News (by way of GamesRadar). In response to a question about the mindset a successful game developer needs to have, Kojima replied that it’s “to make something that you’re satisfied with. Or rather, you can’t create something that you are not satisfied with.
“For starters, the way art is evaluated changes with the times. Just as paintings are appraised 100 or 200 years after the artist’s death, games and films also remain as objects to be passed down through generations after their creators pass away. If I make something I’m satisfied with, centuries later aliens may come and say, ‘that’s awesome.’ That’s what it means to leave something behind.”
While it’s an eccentric image, I definitely agree with Kojima’s sentiment—you’re not going to make great art if you don’t believe in it. And like I was saying earlier, Kojima’s work already has this quality of maturing and aging like a fine wine, people going “oh, that’s just goofy and ill-considered” at launch, then deciding years down the line that a given Kojima game was actually a prescient work of sci-fi. MGS2 is the big example, though I still think it’s high time MGS5 got its roses as one of the best, most thought-provoking stories Kojima has done. Quiet’s outfit is still really embarrassing to look at though, I’m sorry to say. I am not “ashamed of my words and deeds.”
Of course, Kojima might have failed to account for videogame publishers and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s stance on game preservation in predicting that future space aliens will even be able to enjoy these games. Ensuring that the Grebulons of Altair IV will have access to this body of work could impact quarterly profit projections.