“This is good... isn't it?“

Goddamn. This is probably the most ambitious game I have ever played. It’s so incredibly overwhelming, attempting to do the impossible by wrapping up over three games worth of plot points left unanswered that fans have been clamouring to get answered now for years.

Not every question that was answered needed to be, but a lot of the answers given here were great, even if they would have been better left alone. The biggest example of this is with Raiden, as I personally felt that his arc was completed in MGS2 and that it would have been better to not have him show up again whatsoever. Of course, this game doesn’t do that, but I'm not necessarily mad with how Raiden was dealt with in this either. I think his arc, while unnecessary, was great. It was a good direction for his character to go in, and yes, it can seem like a rehash of 2 at times, but I'd rather that than them completely butchering it and going against his arc from 2. The story, while falling apart near the end and getting a little full of itself, was great. I have my problems with it, but I don’t know if I'd call it a mistake.

There is so much to love here. The cutscenes are some of the best I've ever seen in a game, the final boss is easily one of the best in gaming history, and the gameplay is the best it’s ever been in the series yet, thanks to the long-awaited addition of the crouch walk and the fascinating evolution of MGS3’s camo system with the OctoCamo. It isn’t a perfect game, but it’s definitely not a mistake either, and I love it.

"No victory, no defeat. The survivor will carry on the fight."

Finally playing this after years of being told that it's a must-play for any gamer was almost surreal. I couldn't believe that it was finally time. Coming off of 2, it did take me a while to get used to the controls, but once I did, it was smooth sailing from there.

The gameplay improves upon almost everything from MGS2, and it was a pleasant experience that had me going back for more immediately after the game had finished because it was just that fun. Unfortunately, though, I do have to admit that I didn't connect to the majority of the story nearly as much as I did with Sons of Liberty. It isn't by any means a bad story; it's great. I was just personally a lot more emotionally invested in Raiden's story throughout the game than I was with Big Boss's. The last hour of the game is nothing short of phenomenal, and that entire chunk is definitely my favourite thing about the story. The story is a lot less complex than Sons of Liberty, and while I do prefer 2 for being more ambitious, I think it works brilliantly for the story that Kojima is trying to tell here, and I wouldn't change much about it.

The game does have a few problems, including, of course, the extremely annoying escorting section (need I say more?) as well as the overly-long bike chase (which coincidentally happens right next to each other). I can forgive these for two reasons, though. The first being that many game developers around this time decided to have an escort mission in their game. And two, the rest of the game is just so damn good.

In all honesty, I'm still a little stunned by how this game has somehow managed to live up to my ridiculous expectations that have been built up over the years. To all those people who have practically begged me to play this for many years, yeah, this game is actually pretty good.

"Life isn’t just about passing on your genes. We can leave behind much more than just DNA. Through speech, music, literature and movies... what we’ve seen, heard, felt anger, joy and sorrow, these are the things I will pass on. That’s what I live for. We need to pass the torch, and let our children read our messy and sad history by its light. We have the magic of the digital age to do that with. The human race will probably come to an end some time, and new species may rule over this planet. Earth may not be forever, but we still have the responsibility to leave what trace of life we can. Building the future and keeping the past alive are one in the same thing."

I played this game at the perfect time in my life. Having trouble finding the words to explain how I feel about this but i’m hoping i’ll be able to whenever I decide to replay it down the line, which probably won’t take long. I don’t think i’ve fell in love with a game quite as fast as I have with this though.

"I think at any time, any place, people can fall in love with each other. But if you love someone, you have to be able to protect them."

Metal Gear Solid is a game that surprised me by how well it held up. Of course, many people have said this already, but, a lot of the time, for other games, it isn’t true. Thankfully, this is one of the few cases in which it actually does hold up well. The story is simple but engaging, thanks to some fantastic characters. And the gameplay, while it took me a long time to get used to, was pretty fun when I learned how everything worked.

Apart from the dated mechanics, there were some small things holding this back from a masterpiece, such as the near-hour-long backtracking at the end and the lack of context for certain objectives (the back of the CD case is a great example of this).

Other than that, though, this was a great game. One that I can see enjoying a lot more whenever I decide to replay it. I definitely understand the hype. I look forward to starting two right away.

Not perfect, but still pretty good. Invasions is really disappointing and pretty bare bones, and the story, while being great for a good 70% of it, eventually just ends up being annoying by the end of it. But, at least this has gameplay so good that I never want to play MK11 again. Hoping lots more content gets added later on, cause it has potential to be one of the best Mortal Kombat games of all time. Just a shame that it’ll take a few years to reach that point as the state that it’s in currently, while still great at points, is pretty disappointing. Guess we’ll see.