Atari 50: The Anniversary Collection was my 2022 Game of the Year. What I had appreciated so much about that game was that it wasn't just a collection of data that people had grown to love, it was a collection of the human beings who had done so much to pioneer the games industry. In an age of layoffs, where creativity is under siege, here was a collection that respected its own. I'd long considered Digital Eclipse as the best of the best when it came to this, further impressing me with their Gold Master Series, a Criterion Collection-esque way of covering games in interactive documentaries. It occurred to me that not many important games will ever get this treatment.

20 years before Atari 50, Metal Gear Solid 2 got that treatment. But what sets this apart from Digital Eclipse's efforts is that Metal Gear Solid 2 got that treatment only a year after its launch. Karateka had to wait forty years. The result of this is that The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2 captures a glimpse of the active creative process, still fresh on the minds of those who had worked on the game. You see that through the images and videos of the development team, and there's so much to see here. It surprised me at how much they had documented the creative process for this game, what quickly becomes evident is that the team saw this game as important, and that what they were doing here was significant. They were right.

Just as MGS2 had taught, the creatives and artists of MGS2 wanted to pass on as much of the three years of hard work that they could have. It feels so miraculous that we have this about a game so significant and so soon after release. With Atari 50, it was miraculous that we were still able to hear from developers half a century later, but as time passes so does memory and so do people. There is something wonderful about reading about the people who made this game, to hear what it had meant for the people involved. Many of the developers had children during development. One of them, Makoto Sonoyama said "The theme of MGS2 'passing on to the future generation' overlapped with my life."

In no other game will I see explanations on how the technical nitty-gritty of how the game works, not like this. To see cut and experimental content so soon after release, to see just about everything that MGS2 had to offer. The team was so EXCITED about MGS2. They had every reason to be.

I never really understood these games where the horror is mostly present when you're NOT doing well. If you pay attention and are good at the game (I feel like I was, I mostly had perfect scores until the very end!) most of the horror is stuff you'll have to look up on YouTube. It seems common in this scene of games, what's up with that?

I'm fond of this game, though! The horror that is there is entertaining enough, there are some interesting ideas here. When you beat the game you get to see some developer artwork and commentary, and it's clear that this wasn't just some quick job to capitalize on what YouTubers would make a viral video on. It's funny, too. I also am realizing I'm a sucker for games that have interfaces that resemble older operating systems!