Time is a concept that is very hard to master in video games, and few creators have been fascinated by it as much as Hideo Kojima. The legendary designer behind the Metal Gear Solid series and Death Stranding, whose second installment, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, showed off some impressive gameplay footage at Summer Game Fest, recently shared on his KOJI10 podcast some ideas for future games that he felt could revolutionize the use of time in the medium. However, something very similar to Kojima’s concept was already attempted — back in 1987.
Nihon Falcom Corporation is the most important Japanese video game developer you may have never heard of. In the 1980s, Falcom pioneered role-playing games and action-RPGs in Japan, creating iconic franchises such as Ys, Dragon Slayer, and The Legend of Heroes. One Falcom game, part of the Dragon Slayer series, was the most innovative and experimental in terms of its gameplay: Sorcerian.
Sorcerian came out in 1987 (the same year as the original Metal Gear) for the PC-8801 personal computer. On the surface, it’s a simple side-scrolling action game with RPG elements (a successful formula for Falcom), which allows the player to create several parties of characters and send them out to adventure in many different scenarios. The scenario system was one of Sorcerian’s biggest innovations, as it made the game modular and expandable; more scenario packs were released over the years, with some even created by players. However, the most forward-thinking element of the game was one that, 38 years later, Hideo Kojima is thinking about implementing in his future games: The characters grow old.
During episode 17 of his podcast, Kojima reflected on how some of his most innovative game ideas had to do with time. For example, Metal Gear Solid fans will remember how, in the iconic Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (a remake of which is about to be released), the food Snake could salvage by killing animals during his missions would spoil after a few days passed in real time. More famously, perhaps, the boss fight against The End could be bypassed by leaving the game and coming back after a week (or manipulating the internal game clock). The legendary (and very old) sniper would simply die of old age, which at the time was seen as more of a fun Easter egg than anything else.
However, Kojima’s attraction to the concept of time in video games is clearly deeper than that. In 2019’s Death Stranding, one of the main hazards players have to face is Timefall, an otherworldly rain that speeds up the aging and deterioration of objects and people. In his podcast, Kojima revealed more time-related ideas that he would like to implement in future games. As translated by IGN: “It starts out with the player being born, you’re a child and then gradually over time you become an adult. In the game, you fight various enemies. Like with the previous example, if you keep playing the game, you will become a 70- or 80-year-old man. However, at this age you will be weaker, your eyesight will worsen. When you are a teenager you’ll be able to run faster but by the time you reach 60 you’ll slow down a bit.”
A revolutionary idea for sure, but one that was already present in Sorcerian. In Falcom’s game, each character starts at a set age, and playing each scenario advances the in-game calendar by one year. More importantly, some necessary activities also take a lot of time to complete. Training to increase a stat, which you will need to advance past certain points of the game, takes two years. Enchanting an object by adding magic to it, the only way to use magic in Sorcerian, requires three years for each element added to it, and you need at least two to create a spell. Add to this that you will surely need to play certain scenarios more than once to make sure you collect valuable items and enough XP to tackle the more difficult scenarios, and your characters have a good chance to reach what the game defines as “old age” (which varies depending on their class /race (they are the same thing in the game, just as in the earliest iterations of Dungeons & Dragons).
Once your characters reach a certain age in Sorcerian, they are hit by random penalties and negative effects, just as Kojima imagined. Moreover, in the podcast, he mentioned another idea for a game in which players have to create things that take time to mature, such as cheese or wine… or Sorcerian’s magic items.
While Sorcerian’s actual side-scrolling gameplay is far from impressive, and the game failed to reach the same popularity as the Ys series, it remains incredibly forward-thinking for its time. The complexity of the character management (besides the four classes, there are also 60 jobs to choose from, each with its own bonuses and disadvantages), of the magic system, and of the time-related elements stand out, even 38 years later.
In the podcast, Kojima jokingly said that no one would buy a game in which the protagonist grows old, but I beg to differ. If there is anyone who can pull this off, it’s him. Unlike many other creators, Kojima hasn’t let technological innovations stifle his creativity; quite the contrary. The same out-of-the-box genius that was present in the first Metal Gear (and, in parallel, in Sorcerian) is clearly present in Death Stranding. Just like carrying equipment and weight were aspects that video games never considered seriously before Death Stranding, in regard to showing it on screen, so the concept of growing old and weaker could be the next revolution that Hideo Kojima brings to the industry. Just remember that Falcom and Sorcerian did it first.
If you want to know more about Sorcerian, you should check this video from the amazing retrogaming channel Basement Brothers. You can also play a port of the game on Nintendo Switch; it’s available in the eshop under the name “EGGCONSOLE SORCERIAN PC-8801mkIISR.”
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