Board Thread:Metal Gear Solid V/@comment-109.193.182.64-20150909104238/@comment-86.45.17.40-20150914151303

I think it's telling that MGSV is being hailed as easily the best in the series by reviewers and commentators who have repeatedly criticized previous entries in the series for being too "story-focused". Personally, I love stories in video games. I think video games provide a uniquely enthralling medium via which the most intricate of stories can be told and experienced. The story of the Metal Gear series is easily my favorite in video games, with the Legacy Of Kain series following afterwards. When I think of Metal Gear, I think of the stories of characters like The Boss, Ocelot and Solidus which captured my imagination when I first experienced them and always kept me wholly entertained. To be honest, I also felt that MGS4, though not lacking in "story content", was lacking in knock-out characters. The tribute band of The Beauty And The Beast unit was a cheap substitute for any of their precursors, in my opinion. Whereas MGS4 had the excuse of a lot of interesting characters being dead (which is fragile at best considering that we are talking about fiction and who really cares if something unbelievable happens as long as it is done correctly and is entertaining), MGSV literally has no excuse. In the canon, I think the 1980s and 1990s are the most exciting time as so many great characters are both alive and active. It is maddening to think that MGSV somehow managed to fail to take advantage of this fact.

As I read of people's complaints about MGSV's story, it does seem bizarrely coincidental that the game is subtitled "The Phantom Pain". The metaphor is both visceral and beautifully executed. In my opinion, there are two possibilities: 1) this is deliberate and the story is not over; and 2) this is deliberate and the subtitle is an ironic joke on the series' more tradional fans. It could also be a quirky twist of fate, but surely Kojima is too long in the tooth to fail to foresee such an obvious and potent metaphorical connection.

All-in-all, if this is the end of "true" Metal Gear, colour me disappointed. The Les Enfants Terribles project sent shivers down my spine. Everything about Solidus Snake set my imagination on fire. The creation and perfect execution of the character of The Boss birthed in me limitless admiration for a female character for the first time in "teen-male" fiction. The overarching allusions and oblique references to The Patriots made me reflect on the power structures of the real world and on how we ourselves don't really know who holds the ultimate "power" in our world. The postmodern overtones throughout the series contributed to my gradual awakening as a fervent advocate of all things postmodern. With this backdrop, I wanted something more, something grander, something jaw-dropping. The 1984 coincidence, which I had overlooked, is a cruel glimpse at what might have been, for those of us with fecund imaginations are more than capable of satisfying ourselves by creating our own mythos. Don't get me wrong - I am thankful for Kojima for enriching my life with his fantastic creations. I just feel sad that he has let himself down and let the Metal Gear series down by concluding the story with a story which feels unworthy and incomplete.

(The gameplay in MGSV is undoubtedly the finest that the series has ever exhibited. The graphics, too, are nonpareil. In some ways, this is even more maddening, because it seems that the most dependable aspect of the series has failed just when the stars had aligned and everything else had fallen right.)