Is OD Connected to P.T.? Hideo Kojima’s New Horror Game Explained

Kojima Productions’ caller Beyond the Strand livestream gave america our archetypal due look astatine OD, the developer’s fearfulness crippled that’s being produced successful collaboration with Xbox Game Studios. While the project’s archetypal trailer features hardly much than a mates of minutes of gameplay and is acceptable wholly successful a azygous room, it’s already creating rather a buzz. That’s due to the fact that it’s distinctly reminiscent of P.T., Hideo Kojima’s celebrated 2014 “playable teaser” for a Silent Hill crippled that ne'er was. P.T. went connected to power an full question of dread-fuelled fearfulness games, but it seems similar Kojima is yet returning to those ideas himself for OD.

While there’s nary proposition that OD and P.T. are straight related, it’s already wide that this caller Xbox exclusive fearfulness is reusing and reinterpreting galore of the themes, motifs, and designs that were established successful the Silent Hills teaser. From ominous knocking to terrifying babies, let’s research the important connecting threads betwixt these 2 projects.

Suburban Terror

Perhaps the astir wide nexus betwixt OD and P.T. is their perspectives and settings. P.T. is played from the first-person position and takes spot successful what (at slightest initially) seems to beryllium a mundane and unremarkable suburban home. OD appears to beryllium pursuing that approach, astatine slightest with the series we spot successful the trailer. The country successful which the panic unfolds could beryllium a country successful anyone’s location – the dull walls, herringbone flooring, and miserable upwind extracurricular suggest different boring time successful suburbia. But, similar P.T., determination are unnerving elements that pierce done the mundanity. For one, wherefore is the country lone furnished with 2 armchairs, some of which are oddly positioned? Secondly, and astir importantly, wherefore is determination a shrine of burning candles?

Cryptic Puzzles

P.T. earned wide acclaim due to the fact that it approached fearfulness successful a mode mostly unseen successful video games prior. While its first-person position and implicit deficiency of combat whitethorn good person been influenced by 2010’s Amnesia: The Dark Descent, P.T. went respective steps further and avoided immoderate consciousness of accepted video crippled enemies. Instead, your foe was the situation itself: an endlessly looping corridor that holds you hostage until you tin lick its galore mysteries. With nary tools provided speech from a elemental flashlight, these puzzles were cracked done the usage of elemental observation. Find the close clues, and the location would morph connected your adjacent loop, dilatory revealing the disturbing components that pieced unneurotic to archer the communicative of a murdered family.

While there’s nary proposition that OD volition diagnostic immoderate benignant of looping hallway, it does look to instrumentality a akin attack erstwhile it comes to puzzles. The trailer opens with the protagonist, played by Sophia Lillis of It and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, being told to “Light the fires to observe their [redacted]”. She past proceeds to airy a fig of candles utilizing a container of matches, with each caller occurrence causing changes successful the environment.

Hush, Little Baby

Perhaps the astir evident and instantly scary constituent of this puzzle is its usage of crying infants. As Lillis lights a baby-shaped candle, the shrieks of a crying newborn instantly capable the room, causing her to flinch and driblet the match.

Kojima, of course, has a celebrated transportation to babies via Death Stranding, successful which “Bridge Babies” are utilized to observe spirits. However, P.T. besides prominently featured crying babies, arsenic good arsenic the much horrifying representation of a mutated, bloody fetus lying successful a bath washbasin. The trailer does thing to explicate however babies are related to OD’s story, but it’s wide that Kojima is erstwhile again turning to the chilling dependable of a distressed babe to springiness you goosebumps.

Who’s There?

While the baby’s cries are surely disturbing, the much ominous sound is the changeless knocking that becomes progressively louder and much frantic arsenic the trailer progresses. This volition intelligibly beryllium a important constituent – arsenic revealed arsenic portion of the Beyond the Strand livestream, OD is subtitled “Knock”.

“I truly americium acrophobic of large sound sounds," explained Kojima. And, erstwhile again, we tin spot that expressed successful P.T.. Since the full crippled takes spot successful a corridor, the situation is people filled with doors, and creepy knocking echoes done the hallway arsenic you implicit loop aft loop.

Of course, it’s not the knocking itself that’s frightening, but what it signifies: idiosyncratic (or something) that wants to get inside. It’s a informing that your information is astir to beryllium breached. And considering that you person nary weapons successful P.T., that’s a terrifying prospect. The aforesaid seems to beryllium existent of OD – Sophia Lillis’ quality has nary quality to support herself from immoderate is trying to get done that door.

Don't Look Back

If it wasn’t already evident from the oppressive ambiance and screaming babies, it’s mostly considered a atrocious thought to behaviour a ritual astir which you cognize nothing. Sophia’s candle lighting seems to summon thing – we ne'er spot it, but aft each that knocking, we perceive that it opens the doorway and slowly, dramatically approaches. While neither we nor Sophia tin spot this foe, thing other does: an representation of an oculus stuck to the window. As the antheral (or monster?) closes in, we spot the representation alteration – the oculus opening wide successful fearfulness astatine what it observes.

Once again, there’s a nexus to P.T. here. During 1 of the loops, each the pictures mounted connected the corridor’s walls are replaced with images of eyes that determination and alteration arsenic you locomotion done the house, arsenic if they are observing you.

P.T. besides preyed connected the thought of a malevolent fig lurking down you. The location is haunted by a spectral pistillate known arsenic Lisa, who appears successful a assortment of frightening sequences. But beyond those scripted moments, there’s ever the unsettling feeling that Lisa is adjacent by – flickering shadows and eerie dependable effects marque it look arsenic if she’s conscionable beyond your peripheral vision. And that’s due to the fact that she rather virtually is: her quality exemplary is tethered to you, perpetually pursuing down you arsenic you research the house. While we person fundamentally nary accusation connected however OD volition play, the last moments of the trailer bash suggest that the fearfulness of idiosyncratic being close down you volition beryllium explored, conscionable arsenic it was successful P.T..

The Hills are Silent

As the unseen force approaches Lillis, you tin perceive the progressively erratic dependable of a Geiger counter. It seems to enactment arsenic immoderate benignant of proximity sensor, akin to the question detector utilized successful Aliens. Or, possibly much appropriately, the screeching static of Silent Hill’s radio.

P.T., of course, was some a “playable teaser” and uncover for Silent Hills, a collaboration betwixt Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro that would person been the next, perchance revolutionary section successful Konami’s Silent Hill series. And portion there’s perfectly nary accidental that OD is simply a concealed Silent Hill crippled – Konami is not progressive astatine each – determination bash look to beryllium a fewer nods to the bid passim this trailer.

Aside from the Geiger antagonistic replicating the relation of Silent Hill’s enemy-alerting vigor static, there’s besides the information that the connection that begins the trailer’s ordeal is delivered connected a paper done a spread successful the door. This is reminiscent of Silent Hill 4: The Room, successful which cryptic messages are slipped nether the locked doorway of protagonist Henry Townshend’s apartment.

The doorway done which OD’s mysterious connection is delivered whitethorn besides beryllium hiding a tiny motion to Silent Hill – the plan features 9 reddish panels arranged successful a three-by-three grid. This resembles the aforesaid three-by-three grid of reddish squares seen successful Silent Hill 2, which featured connected the game’s Japanese container creation and tin beryllium recovered in-game arsenic the story’s last prevention point.

It wouldn’t beryllium astonishing to spot a fig of different subtle references to Silent Hill successful OD, but erstwhile again, this surely isn’t Kojima yet making Silent Hills. And truthful portion determination are wide parallels betwixt OD and P.T., the 2 are not canonically connected. It seems much apt that OD volition subordinate to P.T. successful the aforesaid mode that Death Stranding – peculiarly its sequel, On The Beach – relates to Metal Gear Solid. DS2 features a refreshed attack to combat that echoes the stealth sandbox of MGS 5, and 1 of its cardinal characters, Neil Vana, is simply a wide motion to Kojima’s astir enduring hero, Solid Snake. While Kojima nary longer has immoderate authoritative ties to his erstwhile workplace astatine Konami, it’s wide that helium inactive enjoys making connections with his past projects, and truthful it’s lone logical that OD – his archetypal fearfulness task since Silent Hills – volition echo P.T. successful a fig of ways.

But it’s not however OD replicates P.T. that’s the absorbing happening – the much breathtaking imaginable is however it volition physique connected P.T.’s successes. And truthful present we look guardant to learning overmuch much astir this project. After all, we cognize truthful small astir it. We bash cognize that Get Out and Nope manager Jordan Peele is involved, but that he’s moving connected a abstracted OD experience, 1 that volition regenerate the “Knock” subtitle with a antithetic benignant of fear. So is this an anthology of games, each 1 exploring unsocial phobias? Or volition OD beryllium a postulation of antithetic media, breaking boundaries betwixt games and films? P.T. reimagined the signifier of fearfulness implicit a decennary ago, of course, truthful we’re much than acceptable to spot Kojima bash it each implicit again.

Matt Purslow is IGN's Executive Editor of Features.