Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima has clarified comments made earlier this week about the character design in Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. The legendary designer caught some flack after asking game artist Yoji Shinkawa to make a particular female character more “erotic” in order to push cosplay and figurine sales over the edge, but has since attempted to explain what he meant by the statement.
During a Q&A session with Kojima, Shinkawa and model Stefanie Joosten (who the scantily clad “Quiet” character is being modeled after), Polygon asked about the need to present the female character in such a fashion.
"Maybe the phrase 'erotic' wasn't really [the correct word for] what I was trying to say," Kojima said through a translator. "What I'm really trying to do is create unique characters. One of those is, of course, Quiet. She's a really unique character; I wanted to add that sexiness to her. It wasn't really supposed to be erotic, but sexy.”
"From my perspective, it's not just the characters, but often I look at a weapon or a vehicle and think 'That's really sexy,'" Shinkawa said. "It's not just the characters, but the mechs and weapons [as well.]"
That answer doesn’t exactly resolve each and every issue people currently have with the art direction, but at least Kojima recognizes the peculiarity of his wording.
"You're going to notice [when you play,] but there's limited dialogue with the [Metal Gear Solid 5], and for that reason we really want to show the characteristic from each character," Kojima added. "Sexy could be for guys, weapons, vehicles, it's really that characteristic."
The Phantom Pain is still a long ways off, so don’t expect to see too much from the hotly anticipated sequel until next year.
