Board Thread:Metal Gear Solid V/@comment-86.45.17.40-20150902022025

Since Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain was originally announced, I was one of those who paid no heed to the people saying that the player character was not Big Boss. I was one of those people who scoffed at the apparent lack of logic being employed by those who dared to suggest that Kojima would have the player play as someone other than Big Boss in a game about Big Boss' descent into villainy. How wrong I was. To be honest, the twist even gives an iota of credence to the "Chico = Quiet" people, as they had at least nailed down the idea of one person completely changing their appearance to become another person.

I genuinely have no reaction to the twist. I find it numbing. There is some evidence to suggest that the second ending is not the final ending, and I hope that that turns out to be the case. If it is not, I am unsure of how the dialogue leak can be explained. I think the chances are rather low.

In many ways, I think this conclusion of the Metal Gear Solid series has been unworthy. Not the game, which is excellent in many regards, but the atmosphere surrounding the game. Konami's public abandonment of Kojima. The expunging of Kojima's ownership from the promotional material of the game. The nature of this twist if it turns out to be the final ending of the game. It feels incomplete. (Not the game, but the resolution of the story.) It feels as if the Kojima-Konami split was about the size of the game, that Kojima wanted to delay the release date to increase the scope of the game whereas Konami could not wait any longer than now and decided to push forward with the release regardless of Kojima's feelings. (Perhaps Konami's finances demanded such a course of action?) It makes me think of MGS2's "Grand Game Plan". All of the material that was cut out to suit the publisher's demands. It is sad. An artist (even a terrible one) should be given the space to create. I would have gladly waited another six months or even a year to allow Kojima to put the finishing touches on his creation. I hope I am wrong and that the Kojima-Konami spat was about something else. (I also hope that Kojima remakes all of the Metal Gear games he was not given full artistic license to create so that all of the games reflect his orginal ideas for them wholly.)

I wonder what Kojima will do next. Now seems like the most suitable time to leave the Metal Gear series and create something new. That said, if the Konami split is final, does he even have any choice if Konami retain ownership of the publishing rights to the Metal Gear series? It will be interesting to see what Kojima does next. I find it very odd that one minute Kojima is the darling of Konami garnering masses of attention to both MGSV and to Silent Hills, and the next minute he is some prodigal son being exiled for his intransigence. It is odd. I am unfamiliar with the corporate structure of Konami, but I have a feeling that it reflects a radical shift in the balance of power of the board of directors away from a focus on "hard-core" gaming to something else entirely, which is very sad. I find it very difficult to believe that the Kojima-Konami spat had no impact on the development of MGSV. As I said above, it seems most logical to me to assume that it was MGSV's development itself that was the cause of the spat.

Anyway, enough of these ramblings. Much love and many kind blessings to everyone and I hope everyone enjoys the game. Who knows, perhaps Kojima wasn't joking when he suggested that the game could be too big for a normal person to complete? (Here's hoping that that suggestion refers to the main story arc and not to anything "optional".) (A final thought: perhaps the "paid" nature of the online modes was the cause of the Kojima-Konami spat? Kojima has never struck me as someone sympathetic towards the use of microtransactions.) 