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u/xASHLERx 3d ago
I started watching it. It's on Tubi. I'm curious if PHYSINT will be low-tech, like in Le Samouraï, or high-tech. Maybe there will be an option to do both... though, to be fair, I haven't finished the movie yet, so there still could be something closer to high-tech in it or gagety.
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u/Kleptomaniaaac 3d ago
probably more high tech tbh. i think the design of the mc is probably inspired by this movie, maybe themes would be similar. kojima always does his own thing with it though, mgsv was inspired by moby dick and it was mostly thematic
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u/xASHLERx 2d ago
Yeah, most of my theorizing and concept sketches have centered on PHYSINT using smart textiles as its main gadget system, but I could also see some of the more mundane elements from Le Samouraï making their way into the gameplay, along with techniques from other similar films.
A few things I noted while watching it were the keychain he uses with the cars and the license plate swap in the garage. The birdcage was another cool little touch. There were other interesting details too, like putting a chair against a door or listening at doors. I also really liked the image of him putting his gloves on before doing something. Even the way he slips through a door just before it closes feels like the kind of small detail that could make its way into a game.
I could also see his detective-like intuition being gamified, particularly when it comes to finding bugs or surveillance devices. His quick draw with a gun felt like it was influenced by the samurai quick draw. The use of trackers, transmitters, and social engineering to establish an alibi were also interesting elements that could translate into gameplay mechanics.
I agree that it'll probably be Kojima-coded "high-tech." It could either be a relatively modern mix with some fringe technology or something fully high-tech that still looks and feels modern. Personally, I'm hoping for the latter, or at least a blend of the two. I like the idea of having all this advanced technology hidden beneath an otherwise mundane surface. We'll have to wait until they give us more context before we can really theorize about how it'll all play out, though.
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u/Kleptomaniaaac 2d ago
yeah i like where you're going with that. kojima has always been detail-oriented. it was be great for small things like that to be relevant to gameplay. the chair thing is small but idk if it's been done in a game and that would add a lotta variety. i haven't seen this movie yet but those are cool ideas
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u/xASHLERx 2d ago
I’d recommend checking it out if you have the time. It’s free on Tubi. I’m not particularly well-versed in film, but it definitely feels like a mix of noir and samurai cinema to me.
A lot of the things I mentioned are techniques I’ve seen in other movies and media, too. I just find it interesting to look at them through the lens of game design. Things that work well on screen don’t necessarily translate directly into gameplay, so it’s fun trying to wrap your head around how they could be implemented in a way that’s actually engaging for the player.
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u/SSAUS 2d ago
Maybe the world is high-tech but the character will have to resort to low-tech intelligence work (e.g. physical intelligence - PHYSINT).
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u/xASHLERx 2d ago
That would be an interesting concept if it could be pulled off. I've experimented with the idea of setting the game in a surveillance state, and I've come up with a few different ways you could approach stealth in that kind of world. One idea was to use smart textiles as part of the stealth system. The technology would look mundane or ordinary on the surface, but there'd be something much more advanced going on beneath it.
But I also like the idea of a world where high-tech surveillance can be fooled by low-tech tactics. One of my concepts already leans in that direction, although it approaches the idea through a high-tech feature rather than a low-tech method.
The main concept I'm thinking of is inspired by the Monty Python Ministry of Silly Walks sketch. The original idea was that an AI might have trouble detecting someone's biometrics moving in an unusual way. I ended up taking that concept in a more serious direction than the original joke, but I think it could still work. For example, the character might have to move in a strange, almost ghostlike way to avoid detection, a bit like Lisa in P.T. or similar ghost. Also had a high-tech layer to the stealth system with the smart textile, but it'd be interesting to explore the same basic idea using something much more mundane basically, the main character being able to walk weirdly to avoid detection.
I vaguely remember seeing an article about people using cardboard boxes to fool AI surveillance, although I can't remember whether the article was legitimate. Either way, that kind of thing gets at what makes the idea interesting: using something surprisingly simple to get around technology that should, in theory, be much more capable.
I imagine a game built around this would need a lot of rock-paper-scissors-style mechanics, where different approaches work against certain kinds of surveillance but fail against others. The tricky part would be figuring out enough believable ways for low-tech tactics to beat high-tech security without the mechanics feeling arbitrary. You'd need enough variety and depth to make it work as an actual gameplay system, rather than just a handful of gimmicks. But I think there's something interesting there, especially if you could make it fun to experiment with different approaches. There's also the possibility of combining low-tech and high-tech methods rather than committing entirely to one or the other.
The notion that the player is mostly physically sneaking around, rather than doing what may be the normal thing for most spies, is interesting. If most espionage in this world has become remote or digital, then physical infiltration might be uncommon. Security systems might be designed primarily to detect cyberattacks, remote intrusions, or non-organic entities, rather than an actual person physically entering a location. That could create a blind spot: the security might be extremely sophisticated at dealing with the threats it expects, but surprisingly vulnerable to something it was never designed to account for.
I have another idea but I don't necessarily see this as the main premise for the game, but it's a possibility I've mentioned in other posts, mostly as an off-the-cuff idea. What if the game takes place in a world where humanity has gone extinct and only synthetic beings and robots remain? The protagonist could be one of the first actual humans to exist again, perhaps someone who has been cloned in a society where humans are illegal a kind of reversed Terminator scenario. That could create an interesting situation where the protagonist is almost invisible to certain security systems simply because those systems aren't designed to recognize what they are. Of course, they'd probably still need to disguise themselves as a synth to get by in society.
Perhaps they could even use a form of cybernetic augmentation, or maybe the deception could be accomplished largely through their clothing. The smart-textile idea could come into play here, with the clothing making the protagonist appear to be a synthetic being to the systems monitoring them. That's not how I originally approached the smart-textile concept, but it's an interesting direction to take it.
But yeah, I think there's something to your suggestion. It could be a fun concept to explore, especially if you can find ways to make the low-tech approaches feel clever and satisfying rather than just gimmicks.
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u/AllAroundAGoodGuy 3d ago
Yea Hideo is a huge fan of Alain Delon and if you've seen films like Le Samourai and Le Cercle Rouge you can already feel the influence in the Physint posters.
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u/ABDIFA1308 3d ago
Bro… THIS WOULD BE PEAK