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She calls Kojima a master storyteller in a very powerful medium.
They are all charmed by Kojima, 56, looking boyish in all black and Harry Potterstyle glasses.
The concern was short-lived.
The games plot unfolds slowly and quizzically, likeTwin Peaks,Lost, orThe Leftovers.
Just know its a bit of a slow, satisfying burn.
I wanted the player to become Sam, but gradually, explains Kojima.
He doesnt know how to control himself at the beginning.
Thats putting it mildly, since the undertaking is downright Sisyphean.
You do it until you get it right, says Kojima, like a baby learning to walk.
This acclimation occurs against a backdrop that is often eerie, and occasionally outright chilling.
)InDeath Stranding, handprints appear out of nowhere.
Rain burns your skin like acid.
The game is comprehensively unsettling.
I felt lonely when I was talking to my friends because they couldnt understand.
I wanted to go home … and turn on the lights because I was frightened.
I had so many friends at school,but was lonely.
I didnt tell anyone.
I thought I was sick.
He became the class comedian as a cover, but even as a popular student felt isolated.
Then he discoveredTaxi Driver.
Travis [Bickle] was the same as me in a way.
Im Japanese; I thought every American guy never even felt solitude.
So this was new to me.
When I sawTaxi Driver, I was surprised but I empathized.
Kojima wanted to relay that feeling to players.
Youre relieved that youre not alone.
You see other peoples footprints and thinkits not just me here.
That tar-ridden ocean and the threatening squid monsters, for instance.
Kojima remembers at the age of two my father pushing me out on the ocean on a boat.
It was so frightening.
I thought,Ill tell her once Ive become a little successful, he says.
I didnt want her to worry.
But she died during the games gestation.
Kojima admits to regrets about not telling his mother about the game.
He appears shaken as he says it.
Kojima recalls being invited to dinner at Reeduss home.
During the meal, Reeduss cat walked into the room, stopped, and puked.
What a funny cat!
