Hideo Kojima’s recent release, Death Stranding, has been met with a myriad of different reactions since its release in early November. Yet, many significant members within the video games industry expressed praise for the title, the team behind it, and Hideo Kojima for the ambition and direction of Death Stranding. The praise has been reflected in the game's large number of nominations for this year’s Game Awards, although somewhat controversially.

Now, another major figure within the games industry has praised Death Stranding, this time being the director of the Super Smash Bros. series, Masahiro Sakurai. Through a recent Famitsu magazine column, the famed director praised many different elements of the game, including its story, gameplay, and the efforts of Kojima and his team.

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Sakurai led off by saying that games that manage to feel so original, while staying as interesting as Death Stranding did are very rare today. Though Sakurai conceded that Death Stranding is certainly not for everyone, as evidenced by its overall very mixed reception, he also added that he personally enjoyed the game so much to the point that he would completely lose track of time while playing it.

Sakurai Super Smash Bros. Nintendo Switch

He then goes on to praise how the game was built, saying he was initially anxious that the inherent integration of online interaction would quickly make the game too easy, but shortly found those fears to be groundless. He also commented that he was thoroughly impressed by how the game managed to mix story, gameplay, and opportunities to discover of new possibilities so naturally.

However, it wasn’t all praise from Sakurai, as he mentioned a handful of gripes, such as the small text size and his dislike of the button symbols used in the UI. He also mentioned how he disliked the overabundance of small rocks and bumps in the terrain meant to hinder the player, as well as the UI’s reliance on button-hold prompts.

Overall, Sakurai was very impressed with the efforts of both Kojima and the team behind Death Stranding. Interestingly, Death Stranding even received praise from those outside of the gaming industry, such as director George Miller who talked about the importance of the game in today’s generation.

Praise coming from Sakurai is particularly significant, as he himself is a very celebrated and renowned game director in his own right. In the most recent Smash Ultimate Showcase featuring Terry Bogard Sakurai took time to express thanks for receiving five awards at the Japan Game Awards, as well as many others.

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Source: DualShockers