Hideo Kojima changed Death Stranding 2 because too many people liked it

In what seems to be one of the most artistic moves a video game creator, or any creator for that matter, can make, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach was changed during development because too many people liked it.

The inside information comes from a new interview with Yoann Lemoine (Woodkid), who composed the music for Death Stranding 2: One the Beach. During the interview, Lemoine discussed his time making music for the upcoming game, slated to launch on June 26, and working with creative director Hideo Kojima.

According to Lemoine, there was a moment about halfway through the development of Death Stranding 2 when Kojima approached Lemoine and said, "We have a problem. Then he said, 'I'm going to be very honest, we have been testing the game with players and the results are too good."

Kojima went on to say, "They like it too much. That means something is wrong; we have to change something." Lemoine said that decision ended up going through and changes were made to Death Stranding 2's script, particularly "crucial stuff" because Kojima believe his work wasn't polarizing and not emotionally triggering enough. According to the composer, Kojima said, "If everyone likes it, it means it's mainstream. It means it's conventional. It means it's already pre-digested for people to like it. And I don't want that"

The legendary video game director further added, "I want people to end up liking things they didn't like when they first encountered it, because that's where you really end up loving something'. And that was really a lesson for me; not doing stuff to please people, but to make them shift a little bit and move them."