That was a question I began to ponder the more I thought about it. Death Stranding is a game about connectivity with others, it’s about building bridges and rebuilding civilization using strands, strands being the people you meet. Death Stranding’s social systems revolves around getting “Likes,” giving kudos to things created and left behind by other players to help you as you traverse the world. So what happens when that asynchronous online feature goes away in the near future?
Would the game still have the same impact to people that it does today? This is an important facet of the game that needs to be discussed as a lot of people have begun to consider Kojima’s latest game an art in the gaming community, not realising that most things considered art are able to stand the test of time and can be appreciated in it’s entirety, no matter when you gaze upon it. Art has no expiration date, Death Stranding’s online feature does. Sooner or later, the servers that runs Death Stranding’s asynchronous online will have to be shut down in response to the majority of players leaving the game for something else.
So when new player, lets say 10-20 years from now wants to try out this game that was considered “art”, how will they be able to experiences the core essences of the game? Art is the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.
In Death Stranding’s case, will it be just you appreciating the fact that this offline version of the United states was once inhabited by players, and now all you’ll see is the remnants of the past? It sounds cool and could be what Kojima intended, but that’s not the selling point of Death Stranding from what I’ve seen online.
Don’t get me wrong, games are ART! They’ve always been art in my book, but the narrative behind considering Death Stranding as this “revolutionary art” is a bit wild, considering its art is hinged on the duration of those serves staying online. It’s not like Dark Souls. It too also had an online component which enhanced the experience, however, the game could also stand on its own without it and in fact, could be considered the true form of the game by most people.
It’s something interesting to consider when we start labeling games as “ART”, because the art these people are talking about when it comes to Death Stranding are the ones worthy enough to be placed in a museum. If it does deserve a spot then fine, you won’t see me outside the museum with a pitchfork, but to me art has to defy time, especially in gaming and movies. Someone 20 years down the line should be able to experience the same expression that someone who saw it 2 days ago. As in the vision that the creator intended. I know art is subjective but we talking video games here, something that has to be physically experienced. Just something I thought I’d point out.
Let me know what you guys think of this?
