The tail end of June’s gaming month goes out with a bang as one of gaming’s most prolific auteurs has just released his magnum opus. 

The Big Picture

Our 35+ hours with Death Stranding 2, the latest action-adventure title from Kojima Productions starring a package-delivering and gun-totting Norman Reedus traveling in post-apocalyptic Australia, is proof that hard work and perseverance pay off. Hideo Kojima has been making games since the 80s and found a way to get himself and his chosen team to get mainstream recognition. 

Yet at the other side of this coin, you will get universal praise out of what you do no matter where you go. A few weeks ago, Hideo Kojima said that after getting mostly positive reviews of his game’s beta builds, he was disappointed he wasn’t divisive enough with his approach and design. 

Kojima Productions and its esteemed director are in a rare place in the video games industry where they cannot do any wrong regardless of critic scores. His titles will be universally praised no matter what genre he flip-flops to. He is with publishers who don’t mind spending more money than they should with marketing and advertising because he is a legacy name in game history. 

Both developers and publishers are in an industry where its good half of the media act as both second-hand PR agencies and sycophants who believe its audience think anything below a 7/10 is a terrible product. The sad part is: we have cultivated and encouraged this lack of understanding basic math and critical thinking for so many years that it’s hard to go back. 

If Kojima and co. wishes to get a divisive response out of both critics and viewers alike, make a genre out of the norm. Like a turn-based strategy title, or a short visual novel that costs US$80. 

Short Beats

Arc System Works just announced two new non-fighting game projects: a speedrunning evil-focused JRPG called Demon’s Night Fever by ex-Disgaea producers, and a top-down isometric action title named DAMON and BABY spearheaded by Daisuke Ishiwatari. 

PlayStation Malaysia are responsible for helping put together Kojima Productions’ Death Stranding 2. 

PlayStation will still not release first-party games on PS Plus on day one. Its current plan of adding first-party games after 12 to 18 months is “working really well” for the company. 

Famous all-ages golf game Everybody’s Golf: Hot Shots will be out on 5 September for PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC. 

RPG adventure title Digimon Story Time Stranger will be out on 2nd October for PC, Xbox Series, and PlayStation 5.

Op-Eds

We point out the various cameos in Death Stranding 2, ranging from Korean actor Don Lee to famous vtuber Usada Pekora. 

Games Out This Week

Death Stranding 2 is a PlayStation 5-exclusive action-adventure open world game where you play as Sam Bridges (Norman Reedus), a porter/delivery man who has to connect the whole of Australia using a special network. He has to bring packages & equipment on time to clients, fight off ghosts using stealth and guns, and go through a plot filled with intrigue and scifi out-of-this-world mysteries. 

Ruffy And The Riverside is a 3D platformer where you play a bear-and-bee tag team combo. You wield the magic SWAP to Copy & Paste textures – turn ice into lava or waterfalls into vines! Explore, fight, skate on straw bales, and unleash your imagination in this quirky open-world action game.

Outrider Mako is a top-down 2D action adventure title where you’re a girl stuck in a demon fantasy realm having to deliver packages & fight off rival enemies using the power of goo. 

Umamusume Pretty Derby is a new Cygames mobile title for iOS and Android where you play a coach who has to train horse girls to race for glory. 

Rift of the Necrodancer has now added new Hololive Music Pack DLC in its list of songs, available right now for PC and Nintendo Switch. 

Filipino-made adventure game Until Then is out for Nintendo Switch. 

Recommended Viewing

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