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. ANNOUNCING - The Art of DEATH STRANDING Limited Editions, from Titan Books and KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS - signed by Yoji Shinkawa and Hideo Kojima But someone had placed a ladder across the ravine, and I escaped the ambush. That player will never know how much that ladder helped, but that’s beside the point. They made the game that much easier for me. I left a ladder of my own up a steep slope just a few hundred yards ahead — what else could I do? I would say sequels are easier to set the image at the start. New IPs always have this start-up difficulty of giving birth, so to speak, so it is a whole lot more difficult.

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? In DIRECTOR’S CUT, take on the trials of Sam Bridges with advanced combat, more character actions and a competitive ranking system for special player challenges in this definitive DEATH STRANDING experience. Expanded content 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. 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. He is the Art Director of DEATH STRANDING. He is the lead artist and character, mechanical and environment designer for KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS.

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. 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. Over time, the thrill of acquiring hi-tech items yields to a pang of regret. Other players’ emoji signs litter distribution centre entrances in the quest for cheap likes, and rugged landscapes start to resemble red-light districts. You start to crave undiscovered delivery routes for a reminder of the game’s unspoilt beauty. Thematically, it’s pretty overt: mankind’s attempt to tame nature – through selfishness, or selflessness – is storing up an environmental problem. 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.

The second edition is an ultra-limited of 30 units, featuring one original signed art piece in each unit from Yoji Shinkawa, and a tip-in sheet signed by Shinkawa and Hideo Kojima, the game creator of DEATH STRANDING. From legendary game creator Hideo Kojima comes a genre-defying experience, now expanded in this definitive DIRECTOR’S CUT.

This Limited Edition is offered with an art print signed by Yoji Shinkawa. The print's title is Sam Porter Bridges and ghost-like BTs by Yoji Shinkawa. 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. I love cars and bikes,” Shikawa explains. “And when you look at my designs, although they are mechanical, people sometimes refer to them as ‘sexy.’ Almost as if they are living. I always want to add this feeling to any of the mechanical designs that I make, bringing a ‘sexy looking’ feeling into it.” I don’t think so much on how to create a cinematic experience,” Shinkawa says of how he approaches his designs. “Of course, there are times when Mr. Kojima is trying to share his image and brings up a scene from a movie, but usually his actual image is much more sophisticated. I focus more on how we can make a better gaming experience, so I don’t really look into films for inspiration. When designing, the story, gameplay, and design all link together.” 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.

When it came to designing mechanical elements like robots and vehicles, how much did you consider how realistic or believable they might be in the world? So: Is Death Stranding: Director’s Cut worth playing? Absolutely. Especially now. Was Death Stranding also worth playing in 2019? I’d say so. I just wasn’t ready for it yet.Kojima games are also known for their hidden messages and easter eggs. For example, one of the creepy figures you see emerging from the tar early in Death Stranding is actually Kojima himself, glasses and all! Metal Gear Solid is one of the most cinematic, movie-like series in video game history. The games have featured widescreen, carefully directed, voice-acted cutscenes since the mid-90s. However, Shinkawa tells us that it’s the gameplay itself that always informs everything the team does, including cutscenes. According to the artist, their games are doing something very different — and even more complex — than what movies do. One of the most fascinating things about this re-release of Death Stranding is its timing. When the game debuted on PS4, it was released into a world that was physically connected and thriving economically, at least in the United States. The PC version arrives in an extremely different sociopolitical climate in which most US citizens are detached from one another physically, much like the characters in the game. PC players will experience Death Stranding in an entirely new real-world context, and Shinkawa believes this may change the way the game’s story touches people. But Shinkawa’s mechanical designs are more than just eye candy. While they certainly look cool, they also evoke far more emotion than the typical video game robot usually does. The perfect example is the Odradek from Death Stranding, which is as expressive as any other character in the game, spinning wildly to signal when the ghoulish BTs are nearby and giving Sam a thumbs up when he’s in the clear. 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.