Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-5085906-20130627191357/@comment-64.33.250.214-20140803123739

Misterbunnsy wrote: I don't want there to be a fully open-ended conclusion though. The point of MGS's story is linearity; that's why the double ending idea that was in MGS1 was not retained - because it created confusion. It worked well in that sense, but the other games always had the one ending.

You may be right about being able to decide how BB is perceived based on your behaviour. If you're more pacifistic and neutralise enemies non-lethally, he may not be portayed as a full villain. Although I think for some parts of the game, he'll have to be, because the clips from the E3 2014 trailer show him covered in blood and acting totally insane, so it can't be too open to player influence. This isn't like other Metal Gears. This is the game Boss transitions from hero to villain. It will be a tightrope act just to make that transition without contradicting previous depictions of the character. If you don't make him villainous enough, people wont believe Boss would be able to threaten the world with Metal Gear. If you make him too villainous, people will complain that someone as honorable as Boss wouldn't go so far.

There's a very delicate balance required to ease everyone into a major change like this. An open ending provides a way to reduce backlash if the conclusion isn't reached satisfactorily enough. Allowing players some leeway for their own interpretation. Not that Kojima will necessarily end it that way, but doing so could have its benefits. He'll most certainly have to leave some things up if MG1 isn't the next game in the timeline. If either Konami or Kojami want to leave room open for another game between then.

We have no context for the scene where Boss appears bloody. For all we know it's a dream sequence. We also don't know what the deal is with the horn. It appears larger in that scene than in the others, and there's a cross shape in the debris behind him. When the scene ends, we see the title and hear what sounds like a Geiger counter. Geiger counters are used to measure radiation. Kojima said he'd make nukes an option, but would discourage players from using them. So the scene could be an optional cutscene that's shown if the player decides to use a nuke.