Since this is just the full version of V its is a more full experience but I really do wish the TPP part of the game took more from GZ in terms of atmosphere and gameplay considering the open world aspect and lack of major indoor military installations made the game feel a bit foreign. Lack of cutscenes also dragged the game down but still a solid mgs title and Ill take this over PW any fucking day.
The man who sold the world, sold the complete game to the Abyss and that left me with a Phantom Pain.
Replay was nice
Finish ground zeroes and the prologue of phantom pain. So far shit going crazy, and I’m all for it. The stealth has become even better than before
100/100 Points
I finished the game but the game is unfinished. But what is finished was top tier stealth gameplay.
100/10
Everytime i listen to "The man who sold the world" i get the urge to pick this game back up again, play a couple missions, get frustrated, and then shelf it again. What is wrong with me?
one of the goats
Best gameplay in the series, but the new structure along with fatigue playing the series back to back kicked in and I put it on the shelf. Will be back soon though because I did enjoy what I played.
Some of the best sandbox stealth gameplay I've experienced to this day. Could have been a perfect game with a more complete ending.
This review contains spoilers
This is the first metal gear I played. I just saw it and I wanted to try it. It was a really fun game the gun gameplay is really cool. And I like the freedom and creativity it gives you. That was how I felt back then. Even though this is my least favourite metal gear. I liked it well enough to want to play all the games. And weirdly enough in hindsight it fits I started with this.
Negatives:
-Big boss has no personality. I headcanon it being because he's just venom. But he still could have had something different not just have nothing.
-The game just lacks personality in general. It has it in gameplay but in the story it's so bland. Ocelot, Mantis, and even fucking Liquid Snake all have so little personality it hurts to watch.
-Clash of clans wait 2 days for a weapon upgrade
-The fanservice got even worst somehow I hate quiet.
-The game gets repetitive, missions start feeling the same, only like 3 bosses, And a main antagonist somehow worst than volgin.
I want to end the metal gear series with the positives:
-I really like what they did with master miller. He's amazing here probably the best character in this game.
-I like the idea of Venom snake because even in metal gear 1 big boss acts different than in metal gear 2. This twist makes that make sense and I love that. I just wish he had that easily angered personality with a mix of stupidity in this game. That would have even worked well with miller and ocelot if they kept his personality. Wasted potential there.
-I love the Last cutscene. After finishing rising I came back to this game just to play the last mission. In this cutscene the actual big boss talks a lot, and that continues in the post game recordings. And then it just ends at the beginning. It all just makes sense. Both that it ends at the start of metal gear 1. And also because this is the first one I played. Easily my favourite series of all time.
Negatives:
-Big boss has no personality. I headcanon it being because he's just venom. But he still could have had something different not just have nothing.
-The game just lacks personality in general. It has it in gameplay but in the story it's so bland. Ocelot, Mantis, and even fucking Liquid Snake all have so little personality it hurts to watch.
-Clash of clans wait 2 days for a weapon upgrade
-The fanservice got even worst somehow I hate quiet.
-The game gets repetitive, missions start feeling the same, only like 3 bosses, And a main antagonist somehow worst than volgin.
I want to end the metal gear series with the positives:
-I really like what they did with master miller. He's amazing here probably the best character in this game.
-I like the idea of Venom snake because even in metal gear 1 big boss acts different than in metal gear 2. This twist makes that make sense and I love that. I just wish he had that easily angered personality with a mix of stupidity in this game. That would have even worked well with miller and ocelot if they kept his personality. Wasted potential there.
-I love the Last cutscene. After finishing rising I came back to this game just to play the last mission. In this cutscene the actual big boss talks a lot, and that continues in the post game recordings. And then it just ends at the beginning. It all just makes sense. Both that it ends at the start of metal gear 1. And also because this is the first one I played. Easily my favourite series of all time.
This review contains spoilers
Metal Gear Solid V is what I can only call a shattered masterpiece. Only by combining Peace Walker, Ground Zeroes, and The Phantom Pain, does Metal Gear Solid V live up to its predecessors. Most of the story elements are lost in Codec Tapes, the emotional base of the story lies solely in playing Peace Walker, which is only available on PSP and PS3. The entire thirst for revenge the story wants you to have lies in playing Peace Walker and then Ground Zeroes. None of The Phantom Pain's story elements work without playing those two games. Even the gameplay itself is shattered. Most of the pretty good stealth locations are broken across the empty maps. The bulk of the story and lore happens at the very end of the game, but not in the way it is done in past games. Rather than being slowly unraveled, spiraling down the rabbit hole, the game just dumps the tapes on you after a certain point.
The Phantom Pain is not Metal Gear Solid V. It is only a piece of it. From a story perspective, Metal Gear Solid V is often seen as the worst by far, but that is because people are only viewing the second act of a story. Peace Walker is not "optional". It is just as integral as any other game in the series. The choice to not number it was the biggest piece of damage done to the reputation of Metal Gear Solid V.
The voice actor for Snake was the worst part for me. The reason of "having a more serious tone" does nothing for me because it doesn't feel anymore serious than the previous games. It definitely takes itself more seriously than those games did, but ultimately, it was likely for a foothold into Hollywood. I still think Hayter should've had some kind of role in this game, as it's very clear he can more than handle more serious tones, as seen in Metal Gear Solid 4. The entire ending sequence with Jack Snake monologuing didn't hit as hard as it could've because it still doesn't feel like Snake. It still feels like his phantom talking. Kiefer Sutherland just didn't really fit his role, as much as I truly wanted him to.
Easily the best performance in Metal Gear Solid V was Robin Atkin Downes as Kazuhira Miller. He was able to capture so many different tones and balance so many different emotions with just his voice alone.
The Phantom Pain is not Metal Gear Solid V. It is only a piece of it. From a story perspective, Metal Gear Solid V is often seen as the worst by far, but that is because people are only viewing the second act of a story. Peace Walker is not "optional". It is just as integral as any other game in the series. The choice to not number it was the biggest piece of damage done to the reputation of Metal Gear Solid V.
The voice actor for Snake was the worst part for me. The reason of "having a more serious tone" does nothing for me because it doesn't feel anymore serious than the previous games. It definitely takes itself more seriously than those games did, but ultimately, it was likely for a foothold into Hollywood. I still think Hayter should've had some kind of role in this game, as it's very clear he can more than handle more serious tones, as seen in Metal Gear Solid 4. The entire ending sequence with Jack Snake monologuing didn't hit as hard as it could've because it still doesn't feel like Snake. It still feels like his phantom talking. Kiefer Sutherland just didn't really fit his role, as much as I truly wanted him to.
Easily the best performance in Metal Gear Solid V was Robin Atkin Downes as Kazuhira Miller. He was able to capture so many different tones and balance so many different emotions with just his voice alone.
honey, i’m home
This review contains spoilers
This is one of the most complex games to reviews since there are so many different avenues to examine it from. I guess it's important to start out with the basics.
First, the gameplay. Metal Gear Solid 5 is indeed what everyone has called it: one of the best stealth games ever, providing the peak of what the genre has to offer. The amount of player freedom, the choices of lethal vs. nonlethal play along with chaos vs stealth, and the massive arsenal of tools at your disposal are all facets of the gameplay that make it stand out as one of the most fun, addictive, and pristine gameplay loops out there. Personally, I found doing everything Nonlethal (except for that one... mission) and Stealthy was more fun than doing things Lethal and Loud as it made capturing outposts, recruiting soldiers to Mother Base, and completing the Main and Side Ops incredibly rewarding. And honestly, the controls are pitch-perfect.
Speaking of Mother Base, while the base itself doesn't have much to offer, the pure satisfaction from growing it through building new platforms and recruiting the best S Rank soldiers you can find is the true goal.
The Buddy System is also an excellent system with each companion having their own unique abilities with D-Horse who arguably is the least useful companion aside from alleviating wandering the open world slowly, D-Walker that can be customized for offensive and defensive combat, D-Dog who can stun, distract, wound, or kill enemies on command, and Quiet who can serve as extremely useful sniping power and covering fire. D-Dog and Quiet ended up being my favorite Buddies to use because of their fun endlessly helpful mechanics. (Also, as a side note, yes, Quiet is shamelessly objectified despite what Kojima has said otherwise. The excuse for her objectification with her only able to breath through her skin and photosynthesis is such a thinly-veiled justification and by the game, you just can't buy it anymore. So yes, Quiet's appearance did not have to be this way and I'm sorry if I'm wrong for pointing it out in the first place. Thankfully, the game allows you to give her two fully-clothed uniforms which are SO MUCH more fitting for her.)
Secondly, the story. Yes, there's no doubt that it's one of the main issues with Metal Gear Solid 5. It's definitely the weakest story in the main series with unfinished plot threads such as Eli/Liquid Snake and hijacking Sahelanthropus, underdeveloped ideas such as Skull Face and his agenda (I thought he was incredibly underwhelming compared to every other antagonist), and forced and contrived concepts such as Psycho Mantis and the Man on Fire. In particular to this last aspect, both characters feel like fan-service in the wrong way in comparison to Metal Gear Solid 4 which was fan-service done right and to its most extreme.
There's also the major plot twist with Venom Snake not actually being Big Boss which initially seemed like a sudden and half-baked twist, but after thinking about it after fully completing the game, I actually grew to accept and even like it. It felt like Hideo Kojima truly said goodbye to the series and his fans by saying that we are or can become a legendary soldier in the world.
Regardless, Metal Gear Solid 5 IS the weakest story, but to quote the words from Max Derrat on YouTube, "a poor Metal Gear Solid story is still better than most."
Lastly, the production of this game itself. It's hardly a secret that the troubles between Hideo Kojima and Konami resulted in Metal Gear Solid 5 being compromised, to say the least. With the discoveries of a lost Chapter 51: Kingdom of the Flies, the existence of repeated missions, and the somewhat rushed ending, it's really saddening and disheartening to see the last true Metal Gear game be like this. I have nothing but sympathy for Kojima and his team with what they went through and Konami should forever remain ashamed of themselves for prohibiting the man's ideal vision and for betraying the trust of their fans through Metal Gear Solid 5 and its treatment towards their other IPs.
And for those that argue that the game being incomplete strengthens its themes of loss, revenge, and phantom pain, I thoroughly understand that sentiment.
However, you can explore those themes of incompleteness while also providing a complete experience at the same time. Konami just shot themselves before they could do that.
Despite the controversies surrounding this game, I had a lot of fun with it and I'm grateful for my time with it. Welp, that's all! Time for Metal Gear 1!
First, the gameplay. Metal Gear Solid 5 is indeed what everyone has called it: one of the best stealth games ever, providing the peak of what the genre has to offer. The amount of player freedom, the choices of lethal vs. nonlethal play along with chaos vs stealth, and the massive arsenal of tools at your disposal are all facets of the gameplay that make it stand out as one of the most fun, addictive, and pristine gameplay loops out there. Personally, I found doing everything Nonlethal (except for that one... mission) and Stealthy was more fun than doing things Lethal and Loud as it made capturing outposts, recruiting soldiers to Mother Base, and completing the Main and Side Ops incredibly rewarding. And honestly, the controls are pitch-perfect.
Speaking of Mother Base, while the base itself doesn't have much to offer, the pure satisfaction from growing it through building new platforms and recruiting the best S Rank soldiers you can find is the true goal.
The Buddy System is also an excellent system with each companion having their own unique abilities with D-Horse who arguably is the least useful companion aside from alleviating wandering the open world slowly, D-Walker that can be customized for offensive and defensive combat, D-Dog who can stun, distract, wound, or kill enemies on command, and Quiet who can serve as extremely useful sniping power and covering fire. D-Dog and Quiet ended up being my favorite Buddies to use because of their fun endlessly helpful mechanics. (Also, as a side note, yes, Quiet is shamelessly objectified despite what Kojima has said otherwise. The excuse for her objectification with her only able to breath through her skin and photosynthesis is such a thinly-veiled justification and by the game, you just can't buy it anymore. So yes, Quiet's appearance did not have to be this way and I'm sorry if I'm wrong for pointing it out in the first place. Thankfully, the game allows you to give her two fully-clothed uniforms which are SO MUCH more fitting for her.)
Secondly, the story. Yes, there's no doubt that it's one of the main issues with Metal Gear Solid 5. It's definitely the weakest story in the main series with unfinished plot threads such as Eli/Liquid Snake and hijacking Sahelanthropus, underdeveloped ideas such as Skull Face and his agenda (I thought he was incredibly underwhelming compared to every other antagonist), and forced and contrived concepts such as Psycho Mantis and the Man on Fire. In particular to this last aspect, both characters feel like fan-service in the wrong way in comparison to Metal Gear Solid 4 which was fan-service done right and to its most extreme.
There's also the major plot twist with Venom Snake not actually being Big Boss which initially seemed like a sudden and half-baked twist, but after thinking about it after fully completing the game, I actually grew to accept and even like it. It felt like Hideo Kojima truly said goodbye to the series and his fans by saying that we are or can become a legendary soldier in the world.
Regardless, Metal Gear Solid 5 IS the weakest story, but to quote the words from Max Derrat on YouTube, "a poor Metal Gear Solid story is still better than most."
Lastly, the production of this game itself. It's hardly a secret that the troubles between Hideo Kojima and Konami resulted in Metal Gear Solid 5 being compromised, to say the least. With the discoveries of a lost Chapter 51: Kingdom of the Flies, the existence of repeated missions, and the somewhat rushed ending, it's really saddening and disheartening to see the last true Metal Gear game be like this. I have nothing but sympathy for Kojima and his team with what they went through and Konami should forever remain ashamed of themselves for prohibiting the man's ideal vision and for betraying the trust of their fans through Metal Gear Solid 5 and its treatment towards their other IPs.
And for those that argue that the game being incomplete strengthens its themes of loss, revenge, and phantom pain, I thoroughly understand that sentiment.
However, you can explore those themes of incompleteness while also providing a complete experience at the same time. Konami just shot themselves before they could do that.
Despite the controversies surrounding this game, I had a lot of fun with it and I'm grateful for my time with it. Welp, that's all! Time for Metal Gear 1!
Um dos jogos da minha vida e o primeiro que fiz questão de platinar de tão bom que é, isso pq é incompleto, se esse jogo fosse completo, puta merda kkkkkk... não platinei o Ground Zeroes(ainda)
A inconclusão perfeita
The balls of Konami to explicitly call this "The Definitive Package" knowing they sold Ground Zeroes separately is astounding. If you want an excellent introduction to MGS5 that isn't the 1 hour crawling simulator in the hospital, this is the way to go. At the time of writing, I have yet to finish Phantom Pain, but based off of what I have already experienced, this is the first Metal Gear game where I have truly enjoyed the gameplay, enough so that I want to delve back in to the earlier games with a new set of eyes.
Excellent jeu avec d'excellente mécanique de stealth. L'histoire est intéressante, malgré le fait qu'il y aille certains moments moins intéressants et un manque de cutscene évidents.
The base mechanics are great but the game is way too long while not feeling complete. I miss linear levels
Eu sei que a narrativa é bem mid, mas falando do mundo e sua gameplay, é uma perfeição sem palavras.
Peak gaming im snake fr fr
Ground Zeroes sets up a lot of narrative and themes that The Phantom Pain gleefully ignores, which makes me dislike them both. The thesis works a lot better in MGS2 than in MGSV. There's so much needless cruelty. Great gameplay, though.
One of my favorite games of all time
The climax still didn't get made but I should just shut up and enjoy Quiet's butt.
LOVED the first half, but once that halfway point hit I did start to get a little bored doing similar stuff. As fun as the sandbox style is, it felt like I subconsciously developed an optimal style and did it the most. Still a great game overall.
A beautiful unfinished mess, one of my favorite games of all time. Amazing gameplay and “story.”
This review contains spoilers
Mission 43 changes a person. Fuck you Konami.
Gameplay = 9/10, music and visuals = 9/10, story? 2/10. Overall 6.5/10 I don't think I buy the whole Kojima is one of the greatest story tellers. It's poor, fan-serviced filled game, with a couple memorable/funny moments, but it is not one of the greatest games of all time. It's gameplay however, is so good that I can ignore that and play it only for that and nothing else.
"Big Boss can go to Hell... I'll make the phantom and his sons stronger to send him there. For that, I'll keep playing my role."
Probably the most theory heavy game out there and, sure, you could say "Well, fans make up the theories to cope for the incomplete story line!! 🤓" But, we're talking about A Hideo Kojima Game here, they are almost made specifically for the fan theories and heavy speculation, given how complex and cryptic this series and Kojima is as a person, half of the fan theories I wouldn't even be surprised if they were actually real, but I digress.
Why I bring up theories is because I feel like they are what complete the game for me, not Konami or Kojima, but the blank spaces that are hinted towards, even in Ground Zeroes, that really makes you think about not just Venom Snake as a character, but the course of events throughout the whole game. There are so many subtle innuendos through the story that if you blink, you almost miss it, in classic Kojima fashion too. But, yeah, sure, Chapter 3 would have been nice, where did Sahelanthropus go? What happened to Eli? To be fair, at least one of these questions can be answered if you have a history with the franchise and where in fact you know that Eli is literally Liquid Snake, I guess you can really make the rest up and come to your own conclusions? Maybe I'm reaching a bit here in an attempt to defend this game for some of it's flaws, but to me, the missing chapter isn't that huge of a deal when you see what it's about, everything else felt like it was somewhat wrapped up and left up for interpretation, so...
But that's what I loved about this game, interpretation and the aforementioned theories, it just makes the game that much more eerie and interesting. For example, I've seen a lot of complaints towards the game's ending twist, people either felt betrayed or thought it was just shock value, where in both cases I can see where those people are coming from, but personally, I think it's one of Kojima's most ambitious twists, up there with Metal Gear Solid 2, and probably one of the most ambitious twists in gaming and to say that it... comes out of nowhere? I really don't understand that take, did we play the same game? Did we not see The Boss' AI pod literally refer to Venom as not Jack??? Why did Volgin back off??? There are SO many subtle references leading up to the twists that any other fan would kind of question themselves about these strange, unexplained occurances, it's like Kojima is almost feeding you the spoilers before you get to them, hiding in plain sight.
In any case, there is one glaring flaw this game does admittely have... where the fuck are the codec calls? Is half of this game's story really told through casette tapes? You will miss out on a lot of things if you don't listen to them, such as Venom literally being responsible for having a village wiped off the face of the map, that's never even mentioned by the characters outside of those tapes, it leads a lot of room for exposition that was needed tremendously, because otherwise, most people wouldn't even understand what the fuck is going on. And, look, I get the reasoning for removing codecs, it does sort of interrupt the flow of gameplay in the older games and to be fair, this game itself has a lot of content already, the story is pretty long, just imagine how much longer it would have been with all those codecs and extended plot exposition? But, it still would have been nice to have a few of the very, very important ones and honestly I see their exclusion more of a "we don't have the budget for this" than "think of the gameplay", very much one of the aspects I agree is incomplete due to either time constraints or Kojima blowing the game's budget on other things.
Gameplay wise, though, this is probably the best in the series. Perfecty blending stealth with action, there is no correct way to go about things (unless absolutely required), you can tackle your objectives with different approaches. Take the classic Metal Gear route or take Venom Snake to his full potential and put that rocket or stun bionic arm to work and fuck their shit up. FOX Engine really was a godsend and it is a shame how hard it is to work with and even moreso that it had to be abandoned, but all these years later, it's aged so well and I'm intrigued to see what they come up with next for the MGS3 Delta remake.
A pretty choppy review, but a revised one in retrospect to how I feel about the game now having played the whole series months later, a new found appreciation for this game and what it's trying to do that just makes it much better.
Probably the most theory heavy game out there and, sure, you could say "Well, fans make up the theories to cope for the incomplete story line!! 🤓" But, we're talking about A Hideo Kojima Game here, they are almost made specifically for the fan theories and heavy speculation, given how complex and cryptic this series and Kojima is as a person, half of the fan theories I wouldn't even be surprised if they were actually real, but I digress.
Why I bring up theories is because I feel like they are what complete the game for me, not Konami or Kojima, but the blank spaces that are hinted towards, even in Ground Zeroes, that really makes you think about not just Venom Snake as a character, but the course of events throughout the whole game. There are so many subtle innuendos through the story that if you blink, you almost miss it, in classic Kojima fashion too. But, yeah, sure, Chapter 3 would have been nice, where did Sahelanthropus go? What happened to Eli? To be fair, at least one of these questions can be answered if you have a history with the franchise and where in fact you know that Eli is literally Liquid Snake, I guess you can really make the rest up and come to your own conclusions? Maybe I'm reaching a bit here in an attempt to defend this game for some of it's flaws, but to me, the missing chapter isn't that huge of a deal when you see what it's about, everything else felt like it was somewhat wrapped up and left up for interpretation, so...
But that's what I loved about this game, interpretation and the aforementioned theories, it just makes the game that much more eerie and interesting. For example, I've seen a lot of complaints towards the game's ending twist, people either felt betrayed or thought it was just shock value, where in both cases I can see where those people are coming from, but personally, I think it's one of Kojima's most ambitious twists, up there with Metal Gear Solid 2, and probably one of the most ambitious twists in gaming and to say that it... comes out of nowhere? I really don't understand that take, did we play the same game? Did we not see The Boss' AI pod literally refer to Venom as not Jack??? Why did Volgin back off??? There are SO many subtle references leading up to the twists that any other fan would kind of question themselves about these strange, unexplained occurances, it's like Kojima is almost feeding you the spoilers before you get to them, hiding in plain sight.
In any case, there is one glaring flaw this game does admittely have... where the fuck are the codec calls? Is half of this game's story really told through casette tapes? You will miss out on a lot of things if you don't listen to them, such as Venom literally being responsible for having a village wiped off the face of the map, that's never even mentioned by the characters outside of those tapes, it leads a lot of room for exposition that was needed tremendously, because otherwise, most people wouldn't even understand what the fuck is going on. And, look, I get the reasoning for removing codecs, it does sort of interrupt the flow of gameplay in the older games and to be fair, this game itself has a lot of content already, the story is pretty long, just imagine how much longer it would have been with all those codecs and extended plot exposition? But, it still would have been nice to have a few of the very, very important ones and honestly I see their exclusion more of a "we don't have the budget for this" than "think of the gameplay", very much one of the aspects I agree is incomplete due to either time constraints or Kojima blowing the game's budget on other things.
Gameplay wise, though, this is probably the best in the series. Perfecty blending stealth with action, there is no correct way to go about things (unless absolutely required), you can tackle your objectives with different approaches. Take the classic Metal Gear route or take Venom Snake to his full potential and put that rocket or stun bionic arm to work and fuck their shit up. FOX Engine really was a godsend and it is a shame how hard it is to work with and even moreso that it had to be abandoned, but all these years later, it's aged so well and I'm intrigued to see what they come up with next for the MGS3 Delta remake.
A pretty choppy review, but a revised one in retrospect to how I feel about the game now having played the whole series months later, a new found appreciation for this game and what it's trying to do that just makes it much better.