If you've been keeping up with "Death Stranding 2: On the Beach," you might have picked up something out of the ordinary for a Japanese studio: the headline cast is predominantly non-Japanese, with Hollywood A-listers and Western celebrities filling most of the roles. Just a single Japanese actor features in a lead role, raising questions as to who was picked for each role by Hideo Kojima's hotly awaited sequel.
Now, though, Kojima has spoken out on why that is the situation—and the reasons are a combination of practical constraints and surprising technical issues related to contemporary game development.
Recording in Los Angeles Makes Japanese Talent Difficult to Cast
In an interview with IGN Japan, Kojima recently stated that most performance capture and voice work for his studio is done in Los Angeles, where there is not much exposure to Japanese actors with native-level English fluency.
As "Death Stranding 2" is highly reliant on cinematic storytelling and high-fidelity facial capture, English fluency becomes imperative.
"We record with other actors in a studio in Los Angeles, so it's a bit of a problem if they don't have native-level English skills," said Kojima.
He pointed out that Kō Shibasaki, the game's only Japanese lead, is from Australia and is quite proficient in English, making her perfectly suitable for this global project.
'Flawless' Skin Looks Too Perfect in-Game
Aside from language differences, Kojima pointed out an unexpected technical challenge to scanning Asian performers: flawless skin. In his opinion, when executed in-engine, the even, smooth skin most Asian people share particularly youth and women, can look unrealistically smooth, causing the characters to appear less realistic and more console-born.
"It's hard to make Asians resemble their real counterparts," Kojima admitted. "They have such wonderful, smooth skin, so it just looks like CG."
On the other hand, the skin textures of people who are older or have traits such as freckles are simpler to capture and more realistically render, according to Hideo Kojima.
Kojima Still Hopes to Work with More Japanese Actors
Despite such issues, Kojima stated categorically that he wishes to engage more Japanese artists in future endeavors. He recognized the value of developing technology and skills to surmount these problems.
The Japanese game designer said that he used the new tech and felt satisfied with the results. However, he said that he would like to see it perform better next time.
According to The Gamer, Kojima also spoke of his hope to keep encountering worldwide talent and breaking limits in digital realism, something that has become a trademark of his games.
