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If there's one thing Hideo Kojima is known for, it's his near movie-length cutscenes in his games. As it turns out, that wasn't originally how he planned to make video games.
In a 1997 interview originally published in Famitsu (uncovered by Shmupulations), Kojima says "The one thing I want to avoid, though, are those tedious scenes where characters are just blabbering at each other for 4 or 5 minutes." All you can do is laugh when you read that given how long the cutscenes are in Kojima's games these days.
According to Barrier Four, three of the five longest cutscenes in video games appear in Kojima projects. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater has a 24-minute one, but that's lightwork compared to the others higher on the list. Death Stranding has one that's 31 minutes.
I remember watching my housemate play Death Stranding during lockdown and it felt like I was sat for a film. I enjoyed it thoroughly, but I can see why that's not everyone's cup of tea.
Metal Gear Solid 4 really takes the cake, though. It has a cutscene that's a whopping 71 minutes long. That's the length of some horror movies.
Kojima did preface his early quote with the following: "I'm worried about the cinematic presentation. In order to make the direction effective, I feel like I may have to add unskippable cutscenes. The story for Metal Gear is very complicated, so I think cutscenes will be necessary." So, we can clearly see he decided to lean into the skid rather than find a workaround.
He adds, "For Metal Gear, too, I'm trying to get as close to film as possible. What I mean by that is an expansive, well-written setting, making the polygon characters 'act', and lighting effects [...] When you've finished Metal Gear, I want you to feel like 'ah… I understand now.' That's my goal. In that sense, too, it's a cinematic or literary experience."
I'm a big fan of cutscenes. While it's great when a game can tell its story through gameplay and the environment, sometimes it's nice to just sit back and watch the drama unfold. One of my favorite video games, Jak 2: Renegade, held the record for the most cutscenes in a video game at the time, and I think it's what marked Naughty Dog's shift into a studio known for telling great stories. I'm excited to see what the team does with Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.
If you're hungry for some great cutscenes, check out what upcoming Kojima games there are.
