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  1. Games
  2. Action
  3. Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand

Fans really want what Hideo Kojima calls his "most experimental game" - but he already made it over 20 years ago on the GBA

News
By Dustin Bailey published 4 January 2024

Kojima says OD is "just as different" as his 2003 GBA cult classic

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand
(Image credit: Konami)
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Hideo Kojima has taken to social media with comments about his "most experimental game," and in the process has revealed that a whole lot of his fans don't actually know his back catalog very well.

"It seems I have been acknowledged by creating games that go against the current of the times, such as 'hide-and-seek' games where you sneak into a building without being detected by the enemy, or 'delivery games' where you enjoy moving around in an open world," Kojima said on Twitter, obviously referring to Metal Gear and Death Stranding. His next reference, however, was not quite as obvious for many commenters.

"For me, the most experimental game was 'defeating vampires outside your house' using actual sunlight around you. It was met with fierce opposition from the staff and even within the company," Kojima said. "In that sense, 'OD' is just as different."

It seems I have been acknowledged by creating games that go against the current of the times, such as "hide-and-seek" games where you sneak into a building without being detected by the enemy, or "delivery games" where you enjoy moving around in an open world, For me, the most…January 4, 2024

It seems a lot of people want Kojima to make that vampire game. "The vampire game idea sounds solid though," one commenter said. "The answer is yes. We need the vampire game," another responded. "A Kojima Vampire game sounds kinda interesting," yet another noted. "Isn't that Alan Wake?" someone asked. "Make the vampire game Kojima-san I promise you we will buy it," another fan begged.

I - alongside about a million other commenters under that post - am here to tell you that Kojima did design and produce that vampire game way back in 2003, under the name Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand. This isometric action game for GBA had a sunlight sensor built into the cartridge, so you had to literally go outside to charge up your in-game weapon with real-life sunlight. It's certainly not the cinematic experience Kojima would eventually be known for, but it sure fits with his interest in bizarre game mechanics.

Hideo Kojima's OD being "just as different" as Boktai is particularly interesting. I can't imagine we'll be hooking up sunlight sensors to our consoles anytime soon, but it looks like that experimental spirit is never quite going away.

Recently, Hideo Kojima said it’s going to be a "tough year" with Death Stranding 2, OD, and more on the go. 

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Dustin Bailey
Dustin Bailey
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Staff Writer

Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.

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