The Complicated Kojima Legacy
The elephant within the room is that Konami remade Metal Gear Solid 3 with none involvement from franchise creator Hideo Kojima, who directed, produced, designed, and co-wrote the unique 2004 recreation. Konami and Kojima had famously, and fractiously, parted methods towards the top of improvement on 2015’s Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. It successfully ended a partnership that spanned 30 years. Adding salt to the wound, Konami canceled Kojima’s in-development Silent Hill revival, Silent Hills—going out of their method to scrub the sport’s demo P.T. from digital storefronts—and eliminated Kojima’s credit from Metal Gear Solid V’s recreation packaging, together with related merchandising.
This is in distinction to the Silent Hill 2 remake, which noticed the return of the 2001 unique recreation’s creature designer, Masahiro Ito, and musical composer Akira Yamaoka. Konami’s relationship with a lot of the Silent Hill 2 group hadn’t been almost as publicly contentious as its rupture with Kojima Productions, and the 2024 remake masterfully balanced new parts throughout the acquainted framework of the PS2 recreation it was primarily based off. Like Metal Gear Solid Delta, there are many moments in Silent Hill 2 that straight name again to the unique recreation, however not slavishly so in its execution.
Konami is probably going effectively conscious of the continued controversy behind its relationship with Hideo Kojima, notably in terms of the Metal Gear Solid video games. With that in thoughts, noticeably deviating from Metal Gear Solid 3 may’ve been perceived as a slight towards Kojima since any adjustments to his unique imaginative and prescient would have been made with out his consent. And to make sure that correct credit score was given the place it was due, Kojima’s numerous credit are displayed prominently, typically in stylized triplicate, all through the James Bond-inspired opening title sequence, itself that includes a re-recorded model of the track “Snake Eater.” If Kojima and Konami cut up underneath acrimonious phrases a decade in the past, the corporate wished to make sure he was no less than revered when positioning a remake of his 2004 masterpiece.
Konami had a difficult tightrope to stroll in adapting a recreation that comes with publicly aired soiled laundry linked to its creator. In remaking Metal Gear Solid 3 so faithfully, it’s clear that the event group wished to play issues as secure as doable. But one nonetheless can not assist however surprise what a bolder trendy reimagining of Snake Eater might need been.
Developed and revealed by Konami, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is offered now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
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