The Art of Death Stranding

Product Information

Death Stranding is replete with questions of whether any of this is worth it — the solidarity and togetherness of it all. If catastrophes will keep piling up, and humans will continue to isolate, and communities will continue to fracture, then what’s the point of ever coming together? For all of its preaching, the game doesn’t end with tidy answers. To tie a bow on these questions in a final cutscene would undercut all of the work its gameplay has already done more elegantly than its thousands of words. The frame rate has increased from 30 fps on the PS4 to 60+ fps on PC, which makes the already excellent character animations truly sublime. The way Sam shifts his feet and hops over gaps as he traverses the expansive, varied terrain is nuanced and looks startlingly realistic, especially at a higher frame rate. And the game just looks considerably more cohesive and grounded overall thanks to the better-quality assets, the option of a true 4K presentation, and an ultra-wide option for PC gamers with compatible monitors.

Kojima Productions Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game development studio founded in 2015 by game creator Hideo Kojima. DEATH STRANDING is produced, written, designed and directed by Hideo Kojima.Yoji Shinkawa is a long-time collaborator with Hideo Kojima. DEATH STRANDING DIRECTOR’S CUT on PC includes HIGH FRAME RATE, PHOTO MODE and ULTRA-WIDE MONITOR SUPPORT. Also includes cross-over content from Valve Corporation’s HALF-LIFE series and CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077. Stay connected with players around the globe with the Social Strand System™. Do you need to take any additional steps when working on a new property like Death Stranding, compared to making a sequel in a long-running series? But in its ability to tell a story through your actions, Death Stranding is — I might as well admit it — brilliant. It’s languid until it’s terrifying. It conjures up fear before it cleanses with relief. It’s mundane until shit suddenly hits the fan, and it’s all you can do to escape the pouring timefall and make it to the nearest base, with a crowd of holograms erupting into applause — just as my neighbors and I did every night last summer, all but hanging out of our windows as the ER nurse who lives below me returned from a long shift.The Art of Death Stranding" is a stunning masterpiece of a book that explores the breathtaking visuals, themes, and concepts of one of the most innovative video games of recent years. This book is a true treasure for fans of the game and lovers of art alike. The book is filled with incredible artwork, from concept sketches to fully rendered illustrations, showcasing the vast and unique landscapes of the game, as well as the striking designs of its characters and creatures. DEATH STRANDING is the first game from legendary game creator Hideo Kojima’s Kojima Productions since it became independent. To be clear: Death Stranding’s story is nonsense. Or, I should say: Its script is nonsense. It’s like The Pilgrim’s Progress if every character were high. The cutscenes are dumb and fun, yes, but they are also maudlin. In the traditional sense, Death Stranding is a narrative mess. The first edition is limited to 300 units, and is presented with a signed art print featuring the work of Yoji Shinkawa, Art Director for the game. This incredibly rare Limited Edition contains a tip-in sheet signed by Hideo Kojima and Yoji Shinkawa.

Yes, it’s cool to have a more technologically advanced version of the game, but the best part of the PC port is that it allows the artists’ work to be displayed in its full glory. DEATH STRANDING Art Director Yoji Shinkawa commented: “This book covers insight to elements in DEATH STRANDING, along with how some concepts gradually evolved from inception. Consider this another view of the world of DEATH STRANDING.”

System Requirements

Some art will, given time, morph alongside us. Some art will wait calmly, even stubbornly, for us to return with a new perspective. Death Stranding, by my estimation, has done a bit of both. It has sat patiently, confident in its mechanisms and gargantuan in its ideas, but it has also shifted — just a little bit — while we all did our best to grow. But "The Art of Death Stranding" is not just a beautiful coffee table book; it's also a valuable addition to the understanding of the game's themes and narrative. The book dives into the symbolism and themes that underpin the game, exploring the ideas of life, death, and human connection. It's clear that a lot of thought and intention went into the creation of this game, and the book does a fantastic job of conveying that.

On Nov. 8, 2019, after three years of nebulous trailers and confusing gameplay demos, Kojima Productions released Death Stranding, its first project as an independent studio. I played it for 15 hours and didn’t enjoy a single one of them. I played the role of an exhausted man transporting boxes to a bunch of jerks scattered across a decimated U.S.; it was a plodding, preachy, indulgent mess. I promptly deleted it from my PlayStation 4. I saw some tweets from fans that said, after playing Death Stranding, they feel more appreciation towards the people that deliver you things. So, in that sense, there seems to be a lot more influence in our everyday lives coming from the feelings you have when you play the game,” Shinkawa says. “[The game] may resonate more, especially for the people who play Death Stranding for the first time on PC and especially with this situation in the world right now – there might be more of an emotional connection and feeling.” With real people representing the characters in Death Stranding, was it easier to imagine their personalities and mannerisms? The much-touted “strand” system is a form of collaborative online play, where you can share items with other players, leave pre-set warning signs, and contribute resources to construction projects. You never see your fellow porters, but their items and cargo litter your world. Building your first bridge sparks mild euphoria at never having to tiptoe across a wild river again. Later in the game, players can pool materials to form motorways, and reward players’ philanthropy with likes. Death Stranding is one of the most bizarre and unique games ever made, which isn’t so surprising when you consider it’s the first project from an independent Kojima Productions, where the legendary video game auteur Hideo Kojima is finally completely free to let his imagination run wild. Setting players on a grueling trek across a post-apocalyptic United States while delivering valuable cargo along the way, Death Stranding may be Kojima’s most divisive game (although I love it). Some have labeled it a “walking simulator” while others hail it as a prescient work of art that may even have predicted the state of the world during the Covid-19 pandemic.From legendary game creator Hideo Kojima comes a genre-defying experience, now expanded in this definitive DIRECTOR’S CUT. The combined result of his artistic training and choice of tools, is that his pen flows intuitively, the paper capturing bold characters in strong poses that seem to come from nowhere—Shinkawa's doodles show his absolute mastery of weight distribution in a human body, keeping character art from "floating," as the workings of gravity are always evident.

Death Stranding’s otherworldly imagery was presented gorgeously on the PS4 when the game initially released. But the PC version elevates Shinkawa and the rest of the team’s art in spectacular fashion.

About This Game

From a career perspective, Shinkawa first envisioned being a manga artist, but, fearing his love for painting had given him the "wrong skill set," decided against that. Instead, he applied for a position at Konami in Tokyo, then and now one of the leading entertainment businesses in Japan. At the time, Konami saw opportunities in the new generation of home consoles (the Sega Saturn and the PlayStation both launched in 1994), leading to large investments in studios and games. Shinkawa … was a rare find, the kind you only come across once every 10 years. Before our hiring interviews, we make a point of reviewing the potential candidates’ portfolios. We’re looking through about 100 people’s work, and in the process you do see things that really jump out at you as amazing." Yoji Shinkawa was born in Hiroshima, December 25th 1971. In 1994 he graduated from Kyoto Seika University, a private art university renowned for its art, design, and manga faculties, where Shinkawa majored in "Western painting." Here, he specialized in oil painting, but did not restrict himself to learning one specific technique or skill: he was highly versatile in the arts of drawing and sculpting, honing skills at university that would prove very useful later on. Ahead of Death Stranding‘s PC release, we spoke to the legendary artist and character designer Yoji Shinkawa, whose signature art style defined the aesthetic of the Metal Gear Solid series and has again shaped the unique look of Kojima’s latest creation. Shinkawa’s character designs are some of the most iconic in gaming history, and when you think of Kojima’s legacy, it’s impossible to leave Shinkawa out of the story.