Death Stranding 2 is one of the best-rated games of the year so far, in what you'd think could only be fantastic news for developer Kojima Productions and director Hideo Kojima himself. But fans don't think so, as they're all making the same joke about how Kojima must be feeling behind the scenes.
Kojima is a very unique game creator. While you'd imagine most would celebrate universal acclaim of their game, he previously revealed that although everyone seemed to be "positive" about Death Stranding 2 during its playtests, he actually wished "it was a bit more controversial." Conversely, he revealed that the original Death Stranding's playtests saw around 60% of people say it was "a terrible game," which he remarkably believed was "a good balance."
He doubled down on this sentiment a while after glowing Death Stranding 2 hands-on previews were published, once again mentioning the playtests and suggesting that positivity towards the game could be "a problem." What's more, it was even revealed by the game's co-composer that some parts of the script had been changed in an attempt to make people like it less, with Kojima apparently thinking that "if everyone likes it, it means it's mainstream. It means it's conventional."
With all that in mind, you can understand why everyone is finding the fact that Death Stranding 2 has a phenomenal average Metacritic score of 90 rather amusing. It feels almost like a reverse review bomb, and fans over social media are imagining Kojima furious, distraught, and inconsolable about the fact that people love the game he's put so much effort into.
Hideo Kojima when he hears Death Stranding 2 is now universally acclaimed and less controversial than the first game: https://t.co/0dzbkFUX76 pic.twitter.com/P4bXXzqwEBJune 23, 2025
Kojima after seeing that Death Stranding 2 is getting better review scores than the first game 😅 pic.twitter.com/SojC8QmJwFJune 23, 2025
kojima after seeing the death stranding 2 scores: pic.twitter.com/U3vGmAOpTi https://t.co/dcCC9ceSNEJune 23, 2025
Was all that effort to change the script for nothing? Did a single tear roll down Kojima's face as he looked at the reviews, only to realise that, try as he might, he failed to make a game that some players genuinely hated?
It's hard to imagine anyone actually upset that something they've made is considered, y'know, good. And in all seriousness, you'd hope not – he deserves to take it as the win that it is. He's shared many positive reviews on his Twitter page, so he can't have been too insulted by them, but I wonder if there's part of him that actually is a little disappointed that his game isn't more divisive?
While you're here, be sure to check out our Death Stranding 2 review, as well as our roundup of upcoming Hideo Kojima games.
