Taking to Twitter, Hideo Kojima has said that Death Stranding will feature a broad range of difficulty levels, including a ”very easy” mode. Perfect for the slackers out there who want a leisurely ride through Kojima’s upcoming idiosyncratic opus.
普通はイージーまでですが、ノーマンやマッツ、レアさんなどが出演しているので、ゲーム未経験者の洋画ファンでも楽しめるようにと、ベリー・イージーを用意しました。パックマンの1面がクリア出来なかった矢野さんもベリー・イージーで楽しみながら、クリア出来ました???? https://t.co/qR0lWdcIzx
— 小島秀夫 (@Kojima_Hideo) September 5, 2019
Non-Gamer Interest and Accessibility
Easy jests aside, Kojima says the implementation of the varying difficulty levels are to accommodate Western movie fans with little to no gaming experience drawn to Death Stranding for its stacked cast of superstar actors that include Mads Mikkelsen, Norman Reedus, Margaret Qualley, and Gullermo del Toro.
Kojima Tweeted;
Usually it is up to Easy, but Norman, Matz, Rare, etc. have appeared, so we prepared Very Easy so that it can be enjoyed by non-game-experienced Western fans.
Kojima stopped short of providing firm details of what the very easy mode would entail, but accessibility for players of all skill levels seems to be the intent. We imagine drastically scaled-down danger, the possible removal of the more finicky survival elements, and a smoother progression to highlight Death Stranding’s narrative.
The Japanese auteur took the opportunity to take a jab at long-time collaborator and Death Stranding co-writer Kenji Yano to highlight just how straightforward the very easy mode is;
Mr. Yano who could not clear one side of Pac-Man was able to clear while enjoying with Very Easy.
Kojima’s Assistant Takes A Month To Beat Death Stranding
『デススト』テストプレイ。8/6から1カ月間、仕事の合間にやりながら本日終了。ゲーム初心者の私はVery Easy モードで。これはゲームやらない洋画ファンやRPGユーザーにピッタリ。アクションゲーム好きにはNormalかHardがオススメだそうです（BOSS談）
ところでマッツさんは最優秀男優賞確定でしょ！ pic.twitter.com/KTclp6lsHu— Ayako (Touchy!) (@Kaizerkunkun) September 5, 2019
Kojima’s personal assistant, Ayako Terashima, also chimed in on Twitter to hammer home the full range of difficulty levels as well as revealing that it took her a month to navigate the entirety of Death Stranding’s eccentric game world and story.
“Desto” test play. Ended today, working between 8/6 and 1 month. I’m a beginner game in Very Easy mode. This is perfect for Western fans and RPG users who don’t play games. Normal or Hard is recommended for action game enthusiasts (BOSS talk).
Unsurprisingly, not everyone is happy about Kojima introducing a very easy mode to Death Stranding, but granting non-gamers a chance to experience what many expect to be one of the most bizarre and iconic games of the past few years is unquestionably a welcome push towards accessibility.