Because there remain questions about how Death Stranding’s gameplay loop will function fundamentally, it is somewhat surprising to learn about the wide range of difficulty modes. Apparently, the difficulties will start from “Very Easy,” a step below “Easy” designed with “non-game-experienced Western fans” in mind. This is according to Hideo Kojima, who, along with his assistant Ayako Terashima, revealed the news in a Twitter post.
The comment about Western fans may sound condescending on Kojima’s part, but it kind of makes sense. As he explained in his Twitter post, which requires translation as it appears on his Japanese account, the involvement of actors Mads Mikkelsen, Norman Reedus, and Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn changes things. No one can be too sure of this at present, but there may be non-gamers who pick up Death Stranding just because they’re Norman Reedus or Mads Mikkelsen fans. Therefore, the “Very Easy” difficulty is in place to accommodate the inexperience of these potential consumers.
Players who prefer a challenge should not fret, however. In her own Twitter post on the topic, Terashima noted that “Normal” and “Hard” difficulties are recommended for those well versed in action games.
Hopefully, all of this will make a touch more sense in the weeks leading up to launch. With a new trailer set to arrive during Tokyo Game Show, some questions are bound to receive an answer sooner rather than later. TGS is scheduled to kick off next week on September 12th and end a few days later on September 15th.
Death Stranding will launch later this fall for the PlayStation 4 on November 8th. Shortly thereafter, on November 12th, publisher Titan Books will release the title’s official art book, The World of Death Stranding. Preorders are live for the book now, which has a price of $39.95.
[Source: Hideo Kojima on Twitter via Push Square]
