I'm going to replay...well, at least some of the Metal Gear Solid series

Starting fresh tonight, lads.

My PS3 has unfortunately stopped working, so I'm only currently able to play the Metal Gear Solid games available on modern systems. I wanted to play them in timeline order, but the broken PS3 has stopped that plan. I've purchased the Master Collection Volume 1 for Switch, which will let me play MGS 1, 2, and 3. I have Twin Snakes on GameCube, but I think I'd rather play the original MGS instead.

I'll stop with those three games for now. The only two main MGS games unavailable to me are MGS4 and Peace Walker. I have MGSV on my PS4, but I won't skip those other two games just to get there. I'm hoping they announce Master Collection Volume 2 at the Tokyo Game Show later this month...but I doubt they will.

It's been years since I've played this series, so here we go.

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I hope you play VR Missions - I loved it; and ESPECIALLY the expansion VR pack they added to MGS2 Subsistence

you ever done a foxhound run?

I'm not sure I'll play the VR missions, I'll probably just head straight through each game.

I don't think I've ever done a Foxhound run either, but I did do everything needed to get a Platinum trophy for MGS3 back in 2011.

I've just defeated the first boss of MGS1. So far, I'm very impressed with the quality of the voice acting and the very cinematic characteristics of the cutscenes. None of the other MGS games leaned into being as movie-like as this one did.

The concept that Solid Snake is being purposely misled by his superiors is made a lot more obvious than I remembered. I always thought it was a huge revelation, but this time it's so clear that it's hard to see it as a spoiler at all.

The graphics leave a lot to be desired. I get that this is a hardware complaint more than anything, the fact Sony was able to make a console capable of 3D gaming in like 1995 is actually a big accomplishment, but PS1 games are really tough to look back on, even more so than N64 games (which the N64 was clearly the console with far better graphics). Still, character models are good enough, as are their animations. Also, the Switch version looks a bit better than I remember the PS3 digital version looking.

Aiming is a huge pain. The first boss fight feels a big silly when you can't even see where you're aiming. Again, an issue with the hardware more than anything. I'm kind of glad I'm not playing them in timeline order, since this would be really tough to play right after enjoying the great controls of MGSV.

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I've just defeated the third boss, Grey Fox . It's really nice how fast paced the game is, it never seems to get dull. I know that the next boss has always caused me trouble, we'll see if that happens this time.

The throwback references to Metal Gear 1 and 2 are interesting, given that very few people ever played them when this came out. I get that Hideo Kojima was continuing a story he already established, but it's just funny how Metal Gear Solid is considered by almost everyone to be the first real installment in the series. The Zelda series is obviously not even close to being as plot driven, so it was rare for even a subtle reference to be made to previous series, never mind expanding on direct events from previous entries.

One thing that does have me confused is the repeated use of the phrase "currently existing technology". I've never known what they're even talking about with that phrase, and searching it online shows I'm not alone. The best explanation is that it's a poorly worded translation for "civilian market technology", rather than advanced tech not available on the market.

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maybe they mean cuz it's fictional technology

Metal Gear Ac!d deserves a remaster

I've defeated Psycho Mantis and completed the first Sniper Wolf boss fight .

This section contained the first serious amount of backtracking in the game. It's still a bit tedious, but not as bad as I remembered. A silver lining of it is that it gives me plenty of time to restock on rations and other items.

The controls are still the main problem with this game. Sometimes when sneaking up on enemies to choke them out, the game alerts the guard without giving you a chance. Also, the aiming controls, especially the first person aiming in the Sniper Wolf boss fight are horrible.

The voice acting and general story telling is pretty great, though. This is as enjoyable to replay as ever.

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I'm nearly finished the game. I've made it to the point where you input PAL codes into the computers. I've just input the first PAL codes.

The game mostly holds up as it progresses, although there are some things that are getting stale. There are a lot of "gotcha" moments in this game that just feel cheap. In the cargo elevator, there are mines near the platform that you can't detect since the radar is out. The only way to know they're there is to be damaged by them. Not cool.

Aiming with the PSG in this game has that very annoying sloppy aim effect. Solid Snake is supposed to be genetically optimized and yet he has a serious case of tremors apparently. It makes the required use of this really frustrating. I know you can find an item to help prevent the tremors, but I hadn't found any at the points that it would actually have been helpful.

That said, the game's story has a lot of heart. The narrative Metal Gear Solid provides more than makes up for the outdating control mechanics.

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I've finished Metal Gear Solid 1 finally!

The game was great from start to finish. The plot seems to layer on itself a bit too much, though. The revelation that Solid and Liquid Snake are the sons of Big Boss and also are twins is foundational to the entire premise of the series and yet it's revealed in a very nonchalant way. The implication that dominant genes are inherentoly superior to recessive based on their increased presentation in offspring is a nonsensical point for Liquid Sn I ake to be obsessed with, as is his ramblings to provide soldiers a new world order in which they have a place "like they did in the Cold War", which also makes no sense given the real world social push back against those that served in Vietnam. I kind of wish I kept a notepad handy for pointing out logical inconsistencies like this, because there were a lot, too much to keep track of really.

The ideas are certainly there for a good story, but the execution of the story needed a lot of work. Overall, the game is fun and interesting enough for me to not really care. Gameplay wise, the controls are very dated but sneaking around is as fun as it always has been. My biggest gameplay issue is that there often are "gotcha" tricks that seem unfair, like the hidden claymores I mentioned in my last comment.

I'm going to start MGS2 right away and likely finish the Tanker Chapter before I go to bed tonight.

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Also, I had the most BS game over during the Rex fight:

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Mgs 2 might be my favorite of the mainline series (mgs1-5).

Are you gonna play rising?

Which ending did you get?

green_dragon posted...

Mgs 2 might be my favorite of the mainline series (mgs1-5).

Are you gonna play rising?

Nope, never played it before and it's generally not considered canon.

MrMelodramatic posted...

Which ending did you get?

Meryl, of course! I don't know why anyone would give up during the interorogation and get the Otacon ending .

I've been super busy this past week, but I've made progress in Metal Gear Solid 2. I finished the Tanker chapter and I'm very shortly into the Plant chapter.

The controls and graphics are such a massive step up from MGS1. First person aiming is without a doubt the most essential update. The increased ways to manoeuvre add a lot to the gameplay.

This was the first game to cement Ocelot as being a major antagonist. It's great to see them build on the post credits conversation between Ocelot and Solidus to make the central plot of this game .

Iroquois Pliskin is a very interesting character to introduce, despite it being obvious to the player who he is. I'm not sure that the plot point of Solid Snake supposedly being dead really lands in any way, nor has it yet played out as being consequential at all, but it does add a bit of world building and depth.

One thing I've noticed is the stark personality change that Solid Snake has had. He doesn't really seem like the same Solid Snake in MGS1. It's hard to place exactly how his personality has changed, but it's noticable.

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Had a bit of time in the past few days to play more MGS2. I'm on my way to Strut 2.

It's funny playing this game knowing the plot of the entire series. It's clear that a lot of details were very specifically chosen, including why the voice acting for the Colonel is so wooden. I feel that storytelling is one of this series' greatest strengths, and the added understanding that comes from replaying games is a very interesting way of adding replayability.

I'm still noticing inconsistencies in character personalities. Like I mentioned before, Solid Snake hardly seems like his MGS1 self. Colonel Campbell's differences are explained in the plot, so they get a pass. Ocelot is mostly the same but the nature of his true allegiance is made much more obvious in this one .

Raiden isn't really a very interesting character, despite the background character building they do with his conversations with Rose. I know that kind of ends up being the point of the character, but the experience itself tends to suffer for it.

On the gameplay side, there has been a severe amount of backtracking in this game, even more so than in MGS1. Some of the backtracking, including where I am now in the game, which is needing to locate a PSG1 to enter Strut 2 , is a purposeful throwback to MGS1, but it just doesn't translate to being a particularly fun experience.

Still, MGS2 remains an interesting game with great gameplay and a very deep and intriguing story. I'm hoping to make some decent progress this week.

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Out of the main gameplay setpieces, I say MGS2 is the best... while of the more regular gameplay MGS5 is the best.

Are you going to play Ground Zeroes, or just jump directly to Phantom Pain?

Lokarin posted...

Out of the main gameplay setpieces, I say MGS2 is the best... while of the more regular gameplay MGS5 is the best.

The story is something I've really grown to appreciate. It's very unsettling just how accurate Kojima was in 2001 to what we see in the 2020s.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Are you going to play Ground Zeroes, or just jump directly to Phantom Pain?

I'll play the main mission of Ground Zeroes, it doesn't take long. I'm still stuck without being able to play MGS4 or Peace Walker until Master Collection Volume 2 releases, which is likely at least a year away. Honestly I was strongly expecting them to announce it at the Tokyo Game Show, but they said nothing other than they're "working on it".

Small update: I defeated the Harrier boss fight (which was amazing, best boss in the series so far). Then I got a game over moments later from slipping on seagull poop.

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Lots of progress, nearly finished the game. I'm just about to board Arsenal Gear .

The section immediately after the Harrier boss fight was the most annoying part of the game. Lots of "gotcha" game overs, the seagull poop was only the beginning. There's also a part where you need to cartwheel jump over a gap but the camera angle makes it hard to see exactly where you're pointed, so I got a game over from that.

The swimming section wasn't as bad as I remembered. The Vamp boss fight started very easy and then became just frustrating. I'm not a fan of old game mechanics where you clearly have hit the enemy and yet no damage registers, and this is particularly annoying during the Vamp fight (and yes, I know you can't damage him with the auto lock feature, but even first person aiming sometimes does nothing to him).

Emma is a great character. Despite being introduced so late in the game, she has a good amount of motive developed. It's a huge shame she isn't around for longer to really allow her character time to have a bigger impact . Missions where you escort a slow follower are usually awful in games, but MGS2 manages to make this section reasonably fun. It's probably because she isn't a huge hindrance to your progression, just enough to make it clear that she needs you help.

Otacon and Emma's final conversation before her passing is absolutely heartbreaking. This is much more emotional than the hamfisted Stockholm Syndrome remorse Otacon felt for Sniper Wolf when she passed in MGS1. However, the backstory Otacon gives afterwards for leaving his family is really strange to the point of being out of place both for the game and for Otacon's character.

I'm likely going to finish this game this evening. Then I can start one of my favourite games of all time, MGS3!

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I finished Metal Gear Solid 2. Wow, what a mind melter of a story that game has.

The game's plot really comes to a head in its final hour. The very concept of reality falls apart, forming one of the game's main themes. What is real? Does whether or not something is "real" even matter? Are truth and real synonyms or can one exist without the other?

The deeply insightful dialogues regarding the role AI has in society is insanely prophetic. This game was released in 2001, and yet it's so accurate to what we've actually seen in the past 10 years that it's easy to forget that this isn't a modern commentary. Having it be based in 2009 was a bit premature, but these issues actually faced the world within a few years of that. Do we allow people to stew in their half truth ponds, perpetuating a version of reality that suits their palate? Do we strive to seek a more just and absolute truth? Who gets to be the arbiter of that reality?

There are few video games that come even close to being as good as MGS2 is in regards to posing intriguing social commentary. That said, the story has some flaws.

Solidus Snake's rationale for his actions was to implant his mark on the history books. Did he not already do that by literally being the President? He wants freedom restored to the people, but the plot is so vague about this that it's hard to see exactly what details Solidus really wants. Similarly, Fortune wants to take over control of Arsenal Gear for some reason? The entire backstory of Dead Cell needed a bit more clarification.

Then, of course, is Ocelot. I know that a lot of his motives get answered in MGS4, but his wildcard chaotic persona doesn't seem to have much reason beyond serving as a convenient way of furthering the plot right now. At this point, at very least, he's shown himself to be a quadruple agent, and that list just keeps growing as the series goes on .

I feel like I need to write down in a mind web all the interconnected pieces of this plot and the motives and allegiances of the characters just to even make basic sense of it. It's almost too much. The central themes of genes, information, truth, reality, and legacy are ones that resonate the strongest. What a strange experience.

I might get around to starting MGS3 tomorrow. This is the last Metal Gear game I can play in release order...and the only other Metal Gear game I have access to playing is MGSV, which I'm not sure I want to jump to. This topic will inevitably have to be paused until Master Collection Volume 2 launches, which is probably a year or more away. Ugh.

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I've started MGS3 and completed the Virtuous Mission.

This has always been my favourite game in the series (it's the only game I ever earned a Platinum trophy on PS3 for), but it's been at least a decade since I've played through it. I'm finding myself being much more critical of it than I ever have.

The first issue I have is just the extreme amounts of exposition delivered in the cutscenes and codec calls. It's about 30 minutes of cutscenes before you even start playing the game, which is ridiculous. In all playthroughs after the first time I ever played it, I always skipped these cutscenes (which really helps) but I want to rewatch them for the first time in ages. Unfortunately, they really aren't worth it. The ideological banter between Naked Snake and The Boss is notably much less profound or thoughtful than the majority of what was discussed in MGS1 and especially MGS2. I'm not sure if they were just trying to paint Naked Snake as being extremely naive or if they were trying to give him basic viewpoints in order to better explain his seemingly one dimensional villain views as Big Boss in the 1990s but either way it really seems cheesy and basic rather than interesting or profound.

The second issue is that the camera controls kind of conflict with the gameplay. This version has the Subsistence controls which allow you to switch between classic overhead view and the more modern camera control view, but neither really seem to work well to give you an idea of your surroundings. I feel more blind in this game compared to MGS1 and MGS2. The lack of a Soliton radar system might be what's making me feel this way. I'm sure I'll get over it.

That said, the game feels like a huge step up from MGS2 in terms of gameplay. Enemies seem smarter than they were in the previous games. Character model graphics are incredible for a PS2 game, probably the best in that entire console generation (although background textures certainly could have used an improvement, especially the bricks on the factory in Rassvet). The environment/setting is much more interesting as well. Naked Snake definitely has a personality that is unique from Solid Snake, and they do a reasonable job of making that clear without going overboard on making it obvious. I've been familiar with this game for so long that I can't even remember whether or not it was obvious that Naked Snake is Big Boss, but I imagine it was .

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My first time playing MGS1 was the most fun I've had in the series, but it's the one I enjoy replaying the least

I've just defeated The Pain. That was probably the worst boss fight in the series so far. His wasp gimmick really doesn't play out very well, and the wasp armour he gains is just annoying to blow away with a grenade.

Prior to this, the Ocelot duel was really fun . Definitely a great throwback in many ways to MGS1. Also, I liked how the cave section gradually let your vision adjust to the darkness. I have to admit that I got a bit lost in the cave either way, I used to know exactly where to go in the cave, even in total darkness. I've obviously gotten a bit rusty.

The Snake Eater mission is so far much better than the Virtuous Mission. I'm a bit confused by some of the story elements though. I've never been thoroughly convinced that the entire premise of taking out The Boss was a convincing proof that the US wasn't involved in the events of the Virtuous Mission. Also, Eva not knowing the secret code that Snake was told should have been an immediate red flag and ended her involvement in the mission. I guess her attractiveness was supposed to be the reason that Snake let it go, but Naked Snake is so overwhelmingly oblivious compared to Solid Snake that it doesn't really seem plausible.

Some of Eva's dialogue makes no sense, either. There's a line she says that implies that Volgin chose her (instead of Adam) to meet with Snake, but one of the main objectives of the mission is to take down Volgin....so why would he be aware of it?

There's a strange amount of charm that this game has that lets it get away with nonsensical plot points, and weak boss fights. It's hard to place exactly what it is. MGS3 is phenomenal, but these glaring gaps could be fixed to make it so much better.

On a final note, I really like the ability to scavenge for food. The codec conversations with Paramedic about the food you find are always entertaining. The inclusion of Calorie Mate is so funny, and a few years ago I bought a real Calorie Mate to try out for myself. I still have the box for it! I remember it being very dry (I needed a tall glass of water to finish it) but it was pretty tasty.

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I think every single fight in the game has both intentional and unintentional cheese.

I wish Calorie Mates were real outside of Japan/online retialers.

I've defeated The Fear and The End. Even more importantly, I've conquered "the ladder".

A lot of my impressions have remained the same. MGS3 definitely has a more simplistic story compared to its predecessors. Cutscenes have a very awkward, socially unrealistic feel to them. Volgin and The Boss act like sitting ducks complaining about the progress that they hear Snake is making, and Sokolov is given virtually zero character development. That said, the characters are generally more enjoyable in MGS3 than previous games. I find myself very entertained calling Major Zero, Paramedic, Sigint, and Eva for advice throughout the game; I never really bothered to call characters in the other games as much. Paramedic is particularly interesting because she provides a lot of informative tips about food that you capture.

The Fear was a pretty plain boss battle. I didn't have to move from the starting location, the Thermal Goggles made him very easy to follow in first person mode, and the whole boss battle was over in about 30 seconds.

The End was one of the most fascinating battles in the series. I know that you can skip this battle by taking him out earlier in the game, but I wanted to get his incredible Moss camo and his weapon (which you get by using the tranquilizer on him), as well as experience this boss fight again . This battle embraces everything about the series, both the stealth action as well as the combat. I figured out in the first minute of the battle that the sun glare helps you determine his location which made the boss much more bearable than iI remembered it being. It's very annoying that he can replenish his stamina, though, which made using only the tranquilizer much more tedious (although I made good use of the cig spray after sneaking up on him to reduce his stamina, too).

One new complaint I have is just how much health Snake has. In MGS1, getting spotted by guards was a near instant game over. In MGS2, you had a fighting chance. In MGS3, I think you pretty much would have to put the controller down and walk away in order to get a game over. I'm playing on normal mode, which feels much easier than normal mode in the other games.

Still, I'm fully engrossed in this game. Despite its less complex plotline, something about this game's premise just works, and really well. I'm also very happy with the very little amount of backtracking that needs to be done.

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Relatively small update, I've defeated The Fury and arrived at Groznyj Grad.

There was a noticeable difficult spike after the ladder in the last post. I was spotted in nearly every area on the mountain, and the enemies seem to infinitely spawn. This is nice to have the later parts of the game actually feel tougher than the earlier parts, I'm not sure either of the other two games felt like that.

I like Eva's character a lot, but the romance attempts seem awkward and out of place. I get that Snake is purposely avoidant with her, but the whole thing seems like it doesn't accomplish much. I think I remember there's a plot significance to it later on, though.

The Fury wasn't a good boss, and was an even worse character. He's like the forgotten member of The Cobras. He's also clearly more insane than the others. The battle itself combines stealth and action, but the flames are too overbearing. I almost got a game over here, but it wouldn't have really felt fair since flames sometimes aren't fully visible or something and you take damage (and get stunned, preventing you from performing any action) even when you thought you were in a safe spot. The graphics in this part are also horrible, you can barely even tell what's going on.

The Cobras aren't nearly as interesting as the enemy groups in MGS1 and MGS2, and those aren't even steep competition. The only thing that saves The Cobras is their background history with The Boss and World War II. I really wish they expanded on this way more. We don't even really get to see the faces of The Pain or The Fury. Maybe there are some codec calls I've missed about them, I don't know.

I'm just starting the Groznyj Grad part now. I need to review how to get the Sneaking Suit here, because from what I remember, it's easy to miss.

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I've infiltrated Groznyj Grad, completed the escape section, and defeated the Volgin hand to hand battle, which was actually one of the better boss battles, and very rewarding to complete with just CQC . It's the home stretch to the end of the game now.

The Major Raikov bit was funny, but almost too much of an over the top reference to MGS2. I was very lucky with where I found him, he was right at the bottom of the stairs that lead to the locker room, and no guards or scientists were around. I remember being annoyed at this part in the past due to finding Raikov far away from where you need to take him. I wonder if the remake allows you to carry unconscious Raikov the same way you can carry enemies in MGSV, that would make it a lot quicker than the slow walking that this version has.

Sokolov showed a bit more character development than I remembered him having. He became a more pragmatic and confident scientist by this point, less worried about his fate and more concerned with his family. I'm not really sure what the point of pretending "Tatyana" is his lover, other than giving another layer to her cover story .

The plot is coming together in a more coherent way than it started. Volgin has detailed a lot of his plans and his motivation. The faith he has in The Boss joining with him is strikingly naive, though.

I might actually finish this game this evening, I think there's only about an hour or two left.

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I finished Metal Gear Solid 3 late yesterday evening, and I was too tired to type anything up.

MGS3 is an excellent game, but not the near perfect masterpiece I remembered it being. It's funny how our tastes change as time goes on. The ending of the game is definitely its greatest moment, being perhaps the most bittersweet ending of any video game I've ever played.

The mission to defeat The Boss became a bit more convincing as a justification to prove the innocence of the US as the final plot points came in. I had forgotten that The Boss is literally the last remaining daughter of any of the Philosophers, and hence her significance goes beyond her prowess as a soldier . I also had completely forgotten that Eva was raised in an international school for raising agents of the Philosophers, and that The Boss was a teacher at one of those schools .

What I can't help but wonder is why The Cobras got dragged into all this. The Boss spoke about how The Cobras were a united force during World War II, but split apart following the war to return to their countries, which became enemies as the times did, and therefore so did they. Given the truth behind The Boss's mission, why bother getting them involved? She literally just allowed them to be destroyed for nothing. I guess the revelation that she defeated The Sorrow despite him being the father of her son might be a way for the game to show that she no longer has any care for her old unit, but...that doesn't really make much sense. Her message was that the times dictate our enemies in relative terms, but that she believed that the world should see itself as one.

Similarly, The Boss secretly being the first person to ever go to space doesn't make much sense as if that had been what happened, the US wouldn't have let the Soviets take all the glory with Gagarin . Maybe it was because she mentioned that there was no shielding from the effects of cosmic rays at that point, so there were concerns about publicizing the ethics of that mission? But why, when shielding from cosmic rays couldn't possibly be the biggest challenge behind sending someone to space . Really, they didn't need to be so over the top with it, her point would have come across the same if she had gone to space after others already had . This isn't a huge deal, but it just struck me as being a really pointless thing to have.

Gameplay wise, the final two hours of the game were pretty good, but the motorcycle segments long overstayed their welcome. The final boss battle was very cinematic, but the CQC controls during it really feel awkward, like you're just taking a chance of whether or not it'll work. Maybe that was the point, though.

Despite my long criticisms, MGS3 is an amazing game. I'm not sure I think it's the best in the series anymore. The jungle gameplay is better than the indoor infiltration gameplay of its predecessors, but the boss battles were very hit or miss.

I'd love to continue to MGS4, but...my PS3 isn't working, and Konami is taking forever with Master Collection Volume 2. I wouldn't even be surprised if Volume 2 isn't made available on the Switch when it finally releases. It's likely at least a full year away. So unless I can repair my PS3 (I'll try this evening), this is the end of this topic. I look forward to doing a Part 2 to this eventually!

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Quick update...I caved. I looked at my PS3 game collection and it bothered me that I'd not get a chance to play them again. I bought a used 120GB PS3 Slim on eBay for $120 CAD, which I'm not crazy about, but Master Collection Volume 2 would have cost somewhere around $80 CAD anyway.

It should arrive in about 2 or 3 weeks, but the Canada Post rotating strike is still going, so I won't be surprised if it takes longer. I'll try to keep this topic alive until then.

The new PS3 shipped today finally. Likely a week away.

I took apart my old PS3 because my Metal Gear Solid HD Collection (which I'll need for Peace Walker) was in the disc drive. The original PS3 doesn't have a manual disc ejection feature so I had to literally open up the console and take apart the disc drive to retrieve the disc.

The new PS3 arrived today, seems to work well so far. My old PS3 only had 40GB of hard drive space, this one is a Slim model that has 120GB. That extra space allows me to do a full install of MGS4, which will be very nice to reduce install times between the chapters. I'm starting MGS4 right away.

The install screen is wild, though. The audacity of giving a health warning about viewing your TV while Solid Snake is chain smoking.

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For all we know that's an intentional Kojima joke

It almost certainly was intentional, yeah. Definitely has Kojima energy.

I've finished the first Act of MGS4, and just started Act 2. The game makes it very clear that it's trying to tie together all three of the previous games. It's almost absurd just how many characters and references have come up already.

Solid Snake's personality seems to have shifted back to being more similar to his MGS1 personality, just more jaded, likely due to the stress of accelerated aging. He's not as ideological or energetic as he was in MGS2, which felt like a noticeable deviation from his personality in MGS1.

The plot is very heavy in this game. It's almost too much to keep track of at times. As jaded as Snake seems, coupled with his history with Foxdie in MGS1, it makes very little sense for him to so easily accept the new nanomachine injection from Drebin, simply to allow him to access Drebin's services. I guess maybe the implication is that his mission to find Liquid is of such high importance that it's worth the risk, but...I'm really not buying it.

The controls are definitely more modern feeling in this game. It's great to be able to crouch walk. One issue I'm having with the controls is that you stop aiming whenever you take damage, it feels very MGS1 in that way. Maybe the game is just trying to encourage you to take cover or avoid combat altogether (it is a stealth game of course).

The graphics really haven't aged well. I've reached a point where PS3 games have this weird middle ground between the simplistic PS2 graphics (which looked great in MGS2 and 3, almost like the simplistic graphics were an art direction of their own) and more modern realistic graphics. Character models have an almost grotesque quality to them. Snake, Liquid, and Vamp are the three characters I find most unappealing in their design. Otacon looks normal enough though, as does Roy Campbell.

I'm finding it hard to have much of substance to say about this. The gameplay is decent, it has a linear progression similar to MGS3. There's just so much story happening at once that it's hard to focus on what the purpose is. The lack of focus really is the biggest issue I have with this game. Snake didn't really utilize his opportunity at the end of Act 1 to deal with Liquid, and then Liquid took over the SOP system which Snake naively joined minutes earlier by trusting Drebin, rendering him useless . I also still don't really understand what Meryl's Foxhound unit was even trying to accomplish, they just felt like a convenient way to reference old characters and introduce a new segment of gameplay . Maybe these things will get more clear as I continue to play through it.

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TBF: MGS4 is the only one I haven't played due to console exclusivity... that and Acid (I heard Acid is good)

I'm about 20 minutes into Act 3 now.

Sneaking around has been a technical improvement in this game compared to previous entries. Enemies are very short sighted though, which makes it incredibly easy to deal with them. I'm playing on the Solid Normal difficulty, which is the second highest difficulty available, and it really isn't showing much challenge. I had one game over at the end of Act 2 from a Gekko that I guess I got a bit too close to, which didn't feel fair (although not frustrating, unlike a lot of the "gotcha" moments in MGS1 and MGS2).

Combat is a bit too easy. Snake takes a lot of damage, and you can recover health by laying down or kneeling. I appreciate the choice the game provides between stealth and combat, but I wish it was balanced a bit better, as combat makes things easier at least 90% of the time. Virtually all of Act 2 involved combat even though the game tries to tell you to be stealthy.

As heavy as the plot is, I'm really enjoying the cutscenes (even though they are extremely long, with the one coming up at the end of Act 3 literally holding the world record for longest video game cutscene from what I remember, I think it's about 80 minutes or something). There is a substantial amount of thought that was put into creating such a deeply layered plot that ties together so many previous concepts from other games in the series. Even very obscure characters like Dr. Madnar have come up and earned important roles in the plot. The explanation for the weird seizures Snake has was a bit disappointing, given that it apparently is the overwhelming mental load of emotions and trauma that were suppressed by his nanomachines, including the first generation ones Naomi Hunter gave him in MGS1, and not just the new ones from Drebin . It's clear that this is being exploited by Ocelot somehow, not sure exactly the mechanism by which he has control of the system, and I'm also not sure why Naomi was discussing this as being Ocelot's goal as if he hasn't already achieved a level of success with it by when he used it to control the PMCs and Snake in Act 1 and 2 , it's just disappointing that the reason given for this was so... disconnected from the physical symptoms they've shown.

One thing the game has sort of brought up but refuses to answer is why some people have Patriot name clearance (instead of saying La Le Lu Le Lo) and others don't. This was something MGS2 introduced but didn't expand on at all, and is now something MGS4 has actively acknowledged twice but still doesn't answer. What makes someone with name clearance special?

The BB Corps are really uninteresting and honestly very cringy. They're so over the top in personality and cookie cutter in their designs that their background stories are hard to care about. The boss battle against Laughing Octopus was decent and had some creative moments but this game still has shown that boss battles are a bit of a weakness of this franchise outside of a few exceptions.

Act 3 has been the weakest one yet, although I am only 20 minutes into it. The task of following a person through the streets of "Europe" (why they're only referring to to settings as the entire continent in each Act, I still have no idea) has already overstayed its welcome. I can't remember much of the rest of this Act's gameplay so I'll have to see if my opinion of this Act changes.

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Brief update: the cutscene with Eva (Big Mama) in the middle of Act 3 was phenomenal. This was the first cutscene that presented a very convincing connection between all the games in the series, detailing the formation of the Patriots, the rift between Big Boss and Zero, the purpose of Outer Heaven, and the collaborative efforts of Eva and Ocelot to avenge Big Boss and destroy the Patriots .

One thing that honestly felt like a translation error was near the end of that cutscene when Eva goes off on a tangent about the resistance members in her unit, referring to them as "children" despite the fact they are obviously all middle aged men . If it isn't a translation error then it must have been a last minute change to character animations and models. Many of these people are literally balding and have beards .

Starting Act 4 now. The cutscene at the end of Act 3 was almost as long as I remembered, it ended up being about 60 minutes from when gameplay ended to when it began again.

The remainder of Act 3 wasn't really much better than the first part of it. I think it might have explained how Ocelot had control over the SOP system, in that Ocelot reveals that GW wasn't actually destroyed in MGS2 and that it's under his control . I guess having the remains of Big Boss (so they think) allowed access to parts of the system they couldn't access before, and therefore the Guns of the Patriots plan was able to come together . At least, I think that's what I need to make of this all. The plot is so convoluted that it's hard to even keep track of what's really happening. I wish they'd show things happening more than tell, but I am enjoying a lot of the background lore being revealed.

I'm not really sure what the point is behind having Raiden joining with Snake and Otacon, he's not doing anything except recovering and complaining about how he thinks he has no future . I can't even remember if anything significant happens beyond that.

The MGS1 throwback gameplay was a really nice touch. The main theme of MGS1 playing as you arrive at the ruins of Shadow Moses was very sweet. I'll actually admit it almost made me choke up hearing the echoes of the old codec calls from MGS1 as I walked around the Heliport.

I know I'm about 75% done the game now. I might finish this within the next day or two.

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I've finished Metal Gear Solid 4.

Act 4 was very nostalgic. The attention to detail they put into Shadow Moses Island being so identical to how it was in MGS1 is very admirable . I'm still absolutely not a fan of the BB Corps, they added pretty much nothing to the story at all and weren't interesting either. It's almost like they were trying to make a point about how horrible war is, and yet they went so over the top with their background stories that it just felt like an insensitive caricature.

The Metal Gear Rex part was really cool and a lot of fun. It's shameless fan service but it was so good so I can look past how ridiculous it was.

The final Act was pretty quick. The boss battle was the best in this game, but still nothing great. The microwave hallway is probably the most iconic thing from this game and is every bit as stressful as I remembered.

The final cutscene with Big Boss was incredible. It ties up so many loose ends and gives the greatest moment of reconciliation in the entire series. His passing on the grave of The Boss while Solid Snake lights his final cigar for him was really bittersweet. I'm not sure if his interpretation of The Boss's will was properly accurate in the end, as he implies that The Boss wanted the world to stay the same and for people to respect the will of others. I'd argue her will was that humanity needed to see themselves as being united rather than different, and that loyalty to our values is our greatest virtue.

Ultimately, MGS4 is a game of ups and downs. The gameplay was a big improvement over its predecessors. However it's story lacks focus as well as anything to make it unique or distinct. It mostly just exists to tie together the other entries, which is fine, but it makes it hard to remember the game as a stand alone title. Part of me wants to rank it as the weakest entry in the series so far, but another part of me wants to like the game more than that. It's not a bad game by any means at all. It's just forgettable and awkward.

I finished the game and was conferred the title of Eagle. I'll switch to Peace Walker in the next few days. Only it and MGSV remain. I haven't played Peace Walker in almost as long as MGS4, well over 10 years.

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I guess despite the fact that I haven't played any of the rest of the series I'll still be interested to hear an opinion on MGSV from someone who is/has played the rest of the games. I have only played V and it's one of the games I feel the most ambivalent about in recent years. The gameplay shifts from amazing to garbage and back at the drop of a hat and the fact that the game doesn't have a proper ending and instead just rehashes old missions with a slight twist and god tier enemy AI is what kept me from even finishing it.

And it convinced me that I don't need to play any of the other games in the series because the story is batshit crazy and completely incoherent. I'm a bit perplexed as to why so many people consider Kojima a genius because if I didn't know anything about who made the games my assessment of the story would be that it was either written by a preteen with ADHD who doesn't really know how to write and just wants to cram as many cool, disparate ideas into one plot without consideration for how they fit together tonally, or that it was written by someone who is actually clinically insane.

Yeah, MGSV has a poorly made story. The potential that game had was huge, but poor decisions made by both Kojima and Konami resulted in the final game being incomplete. Kojima has a habit of putting nonsensical things in the game but never explaining it or revisiting it. Remember the fire whale at the start of MGSV? Was it even real? Was its purpose seriously to just spell out the Moby Dick reference with Ahab/Ishmael/Pequod even more than it already had been, with no other real significance at all?

The core gameplay was outstanding but the mission objectives were uninteresting and often tedious. Making it open world was probably a mistake. That said, I'm excited to finish the series with that game. I enjoyed it a lot the first time through back in 2015 but I am curious to see how replaying it affects my perception. MGS4 would have been a better game to end with (as it was my original plan before deciding to suck it up and buy a new PS3) as it really just exists to tie up a lot of loose ends

I've started Peace Walker. It's really good so far, I remember spending a lot of time with this game in 2012 but I remember very little about the plot or the levels. I think MGSV mostly erased my memory of this game, since it was so similar to Peace Walker.

The game looks surprisingly good for a PSP game. Snake controls extremely well, they finally mastered a comfortable control scheme. The only problem is that you can't move while laying down, which even the tutorial purposely draws your attention to.

Snake is much more jaded in this than he was in MGS3. The betrayal he felt at the end of MGS3 still motivates him in this, despite being 10 years later . The voice acting for Snake seems a bit too gruff, though. I remember reading years ago that David Hayter was instructed to do a gruff voice for this, which he felt might have been from someone other than Kojima, and thus led Kojima to seek to replace him with a Hollywood voice actor in MGSV. Absolutely ridiculous if true, but I will agree his voice is a bit ridiculous in this one, almost out of place. I say that as a big fan, nothing against David Hayter at all.

The plot has been interesting so far. The revolutionaries that join with you add an interesting dynamic to Snake's mission. Their leader, Amanda, had a great plot set up with the conflict she has with Chico as well as her desire to avenge her father. The name Amanda just doesn't seem to fit her, though. Seems too ordinary or something.

I already defeated the first semi-boss, the LAV and its team . I utilized a trick that I remember learning after suffering through that boss back in 2012, as it and many other bosses in this game just seem to take a ton of hits to defeat. I used smoke grenades to hide and then take down the team unit and Fulton them away, and repeated this until the team was gone without being spotted. This also let me capture the LAV and bring it back to Mother Base .

The system of building Mother Base is great in this, too. It feels more simple than MGSV's system, which actually is a good thing. I just wish there was an easier way to sort your staff. You can auto assign staff, but only if they're in the waiting room. Reassigning staff seems to done on a one by one basis. Also, while I like the concept of the Mess Hall unit for Mother Base, it really just seems to exist to stall your development of other units, as you need to grow your Mess Hall in order to keep food levels at or above 100%. I know a higher Mess Hall level allows you to develop better food, but right now early on the unit just feels like a drain on the others.

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