Hideo Kojima’s favourite game of the last 5 years is an indie

It seems the artistry of the sector isn’t lost on the famed developer.

You might know Hideo Kojima best for his sprawling, slightly confusing epic action-adventure games like Metal Gear Solid and the upcoming Death Stranding. But, and this may come as no surprise to some, he’s also a big lover of indie games, art games in particularly.

Kojima, considered as a bit of auteur by many, a bit pretentious by a few, recently stated in an interview for Eurogamer that it was the indie game, Inside that had really caught his eye in recent years: “My all time best games are Super Mario Bros., Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken (The Portopia Serial Murder Case), XEVIOUS and Outer World (Another World in Japan). The game I like most from the past five years is Inside“.

When you take a closer look at Inside, it’s not too difficult to see why Kojima might relate to this particular title. Full of the artistic sharp concrete edges of Brutalist architecture, Inside is beautiful piece of melancholic art following a lone boy, hunted in a strange corporate world. Released in 2016, Inside was the follow-up to Playdead’s smash hit Limbo and followed a similar 2D style, seeing the player platforming through puzzles and the visually compelling environment.

Inside’s paled colours and uncanny atmosphere reflect on Kojima’s own work in interesting ways. See, for example, any snippets of gameplay from we’ve seen so far from Death Stranding. As Sam Bridges, the game’s protagonist, journeys across desolate and rocky landscapes to get from point to point, some of this same uncanny and unnerving feeling perpetuates the atmosphere. Something’s just a little off, but it’s not clear what that is. Kojima is knack is this similar suspension of belief, but on a much grander scale. That he might have been inspired by Inside in some way when developing Death Stranding, is a good boon to the indie development scene.

It’s always fantastic to see such large figures in the industry showing their appreciation for indie games, and with Inside, Kojima has certainly picked well. To find out more about Inside, go to the game’s Steam page. Kojima’s latest title, Death Stranding, is due for release this November.