"You've got it all wrong. You were the Lightning in that rain. You can still Shine through the Darkness."

I wanted to open this review with my favourite quote in the entire mgs franchise. Even though game have too many damn fanservicey moments to the point it becomes bothersome, I really admire it's dedication to go with a bang for solid snake's last journey.

This sentence is actually enough to convey what I think about this game, but of course I will add more detailed thoughts.

this game's trailer is actually the first time I had met with mgs when watching a game show at tv. I already told this on my mgs1 review but I wanted to rephrase here again. I also thought this game franchise related to something like xmen somehow because they were showing a cutscene about a old man that manages to down entire army without doing anything while doing a finger gun pose on a boat. Now, knowing the context, it's actually funny to look back on it.

Anyway, years later when I was searching about best ps1 games then I came across to mgs name again and then got the mgs legacy edition for ps3 immediately and started from there to here. So what did I think?

Gameplay
Gameplay feels smooth as a butter, you have millions of moves, easier camouflage system, better cqc system, lots of new weapons, even a remote robot to control. Heck Yeah! To the point I can confidently say that this game is the better than mgs3 in gameplay.

Also level design is peak mgs. You have lots of alternate routes now! More than any past mgs games! Use ladders to get from the rooftops or use ventilation pipes to slip past everyone, or use buildings in the environment to stay away from open areas etc.

It's too bad that this is the least punishing mgs game tho. I understand that it's about infiltration at war. But still, alert status is so generous in this game that, you can play the entire game like a call of duty game, like just run and gun no one can stop you(at least for the normal difficulty). To the point you can lead the resistance army if you play your cards right and can become a pmc leader somehow. Because of that I am pretty sure lots of people that played this game didn't take advantage of alternate routes and thought this game is just a bland cod copycat and that's just sad. Not just that, this game have 3 times more setpiece action moments then mgs3. This also doesn't help for it's reputation either.

I am not the biggest fan of cutsceney setpiece moments. But I still enjoyed really a lot with exploring every level to their last corner and had a great time myself, so I think gameplay is on the positive side.

Story(Warning I put Some spoilers)
Story is both emotional, hearbreaking and exciting. Also both confusing, unnecessarily too twist heavy and too much fanservicey.

This game's story is about teaming everyone we can find to learn about what Ocelot is trying to do and stop him once and for all while solid fights his biggest opponent. His deteriorating health.
It looks simple at surface, but mini stories adding onto it is what makes it slowly goes haywire to the point super confusing

When the first screen came in and when I saw the old snake. I felt sad and emotional but also praised Kojima. Not all writers have the decency to actually age their million years old characters. Also I loved this incarnation even more to the point for me: He is the best Snake.

In mgs1 he is nothing more than a confused soldier, in mgs2 he is a cool looking hero that saves the day. In this one he is a mentor to everyone. He knows his time is limited so he does his best to wake up everyone from their messy life problems and motivates to take the gun and continue fighting.

I also loved the returning mgs1 cast a lot. Everyone aged now and learned The reality. They learned what it means to just get thrown to the wayside after their mission done. Meryl, Colonel, Naomi, Mei Ling. Not just that they are thrown in this never ending Ocelot's war with each passing day. While they are fighting both Ocelot's soldiers and the reality, we are the one that pushes them for one last mission to get them up to their feet and for me this the greatest strength of this tile. One. Last. Push.

Get. Back. On. Your. Feet. One. More. Time.

Another thing I loved is ongoing comradery between Hal and Snake. Also Snake and Raiden. Watching them motivate each other to continue on is nothing but pure heartwarming.

Also I love Sunny. I love Sunny. I love Sunny. She is just a pure kid between all the grumpy old guys and her struggle with them to communicate is really fun to watch.

But I didn't enjoy how Raiden's relationship with Rose went to fire after mgs2 or how the ai fight affected his mental health not shown. I assume they were hiding this for planned mgs rising's first planned version. But unfortunely that thing turned into a straight kill the bad guys kinda storyline somehow. So... I am not happy about this situation.

I also didn't enjoy the Beauty and the beast unit. I liked the premise, I don't have a problem with that. They are supposed to be puppets of war that lost their emotions in the way just to get used for this meaningless war. But why they are just a meaningless versions of the previous mgs bosses? Why they are not their own characters? I don't get this. This feels like really unneccessary pandering to fans and feels like a missed oppurtunity to make them their own strong characters. Also why the heck it's implied that Psycho mantis is also with them? I really really disliked that. Why do you resurrect your character for no damn reason? To take them less seriously with more fanservice??

Also why Johnny the fart guy is back? Like seriously why? Also Kojima expected us to take him seriously while half of the cutscenes he is in, he is busy with just stumbling while everyone do their job. If you want us to take a dumb character seriously then you make him slowly more intelligent rather than suddenly doing that in the end in my opinion.

Also there is the infamous retcon of course. The mgs3 cast behind the ai work. I feel like this is a last minute addition rather than a considered one. Because mgs3 ended with the call with the Cia director just like the first mgs's end where Ocelot talks with the president. So that means first consideration was cia director to become the force behind the ai work. But I guess mgs portable ops wasted that oppurtunity so Kojima did a last minute addition because of that. Of course it's not a good twist and just like Raiden's sudden turn, this comes from nowhere because there is no build up to go on with. But also I always felt like people take this point a bit too much. All mgs games have retcons in their own way tbh. Mgs1 had the sudden unlogical clone conspiracy, mgs2 had the sudden impossible perfect brother thingy, mgs3 change the snake's villainy. Not just that, we don't know anything about the mgs3 cast other than they like movies and also they care about the mission. So that means they probably maybe changed after that. My problem isn't with the twist. It's with again, not showing why that happened. But even if I disliked the twist I don't think it suddenly "destroyed the whole mgs franchise" just because this twist exists like most of you.

But I loved, I loved, I loved everything with Ocelot. He brings everything full circle and finishes the mgs right there and there. The perfect finale. The ending point. It's just perfect ending. So because of this even tho this game have it's downs, it's ups are more on the positive side for me.

I would want to have less in your face fanservicey moments and less sudden twists but all in all I liked this game. Because of it's downs I don't think this is the best mgs. But ups are really strong that this make this game a perfect mgs ending. Nothing more and nothing less.

It's sad that this franchise didn't end here tho.

Yes, there are too many cutscenes and the game game is waaay too short. However, this is one of the most enthralling, strange, and meta-textually HUGE video games ever made. For ever five really odd moments there is one spectacularly profound one. Really benefits from following three of the greatest games of all time, and yet it somehow holds its own as a series of short (and one feature length) films. Feels like a breaking point for Kojima's storytelling capabilities, because MGSV and DS are so distinctly in a different era after this, I doubt they'd have been the same if this wasn't out of his system. Either way, I absolutely love this ridiculous game.

"I'm no hero. Never was, never will be."

How is it, that in the year 2023, this is still only playable on the PS3?! I would love to replay a remastered version of this...I completed it in what feels like a lifetime ago, when the PS3 and blu-ray discs were still fairly new...

This was an incredibly emotional send-off to the MGS franchise. There were so many great moments & payoffs to the entire series that elevated MGS4 for me. A few of which, that I won't spoil here, I will never forget...

This game was truly a nostalgic experience, especially if you were an MGS fan, and played this entry on release. The music really had a weight and finality to it...

MGS4 - Love Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGf2b1H91JA

Be warned though - this game has some looooong cutscenes, even for MGS standards! You will have to be prepared to strap yourself in for some "Hideo Kojima cinema" in this one. But that ending and epilogue are so worth it...

esse definitivamente é o metal gear mais grandioso de todos (tendo em vista que o 5 não foi finalizado), é difícil descrever tudo que senti com esse jogo, eu esperava que ele fosse ser ótimo mas me surpreendi agora que ele é o meu favorito da franquia e um dos melhores que eu já joguei. É uma pena que esse jogo seja exclusivo de PS3 e isso me obrigou a jogar pelo RPCS3 (meu PC virou uma panela de pressão mas valeu a pena). A história desse jogo é gozante de tão boa e o jeito que ele finaliza o arco de TODOS os personagens é simplesmente perfeito, acho que é difícil falar algum defeito desse jogo sensacional. Por favor que esse jogo venha na Master Collection Vol 2 e mais pessoas tenham acesso a essa obra prima, sem ter que passar pelo que eu sofri com esse emulador do caralho

Nota 10/10 tem como nao

Minha relação de amor e ódio com esse jogo é MUITO forte. Por um lado a história é incrível, uma das melhores representações do conceito de família que cerca a franquia, mas do outro toda a parte de gameplay é sem graça e mal feita.

O combate é genuinamente bom, mas a execução dele é nojentíssima. Os inimigos só sabem bloquear o TEMPO INTEIRO e pra piorar o dano do Kiryu é ridículo de pequeno e acaba prolongando as lutas ainda mais.

Explorar as cidades, diferente dos últimos 2 jogos, não da prazer algum; tudo é sem vida, tudo é sem graça, Okinawa não tem nem metade do charme de Kamurocho, e Kamurocho em si não chega nem perto das suas versões anteriores, ambas não apresentam o mínimo de incentivo para serem exploradas e parecem completamente vazias.

JOGAR esse jogo é um tédio enorme e não é uma experiência agradável, não chegando a ser ruim mas também estando longe de ser bom, tudo envolvendo a gameplay dele é medíocre. Mas como eu falei no início a história aqui é o ponto forte e realmente carrega ele do início ao fim. Ver o Kiryu cuidando das crianças e do orfanato depois de tudo que ele passou e virando a figura paterna que o Kazama foi pra ele é reconfortante demais, a família Ryudo inteira é muito carismática e eles funcionam muito bem como personagens coadjuvantes. O Mine, por mais que inexistente por grande parte do jogo, acaba brilhando e sendo o destaque principal do final; o encontro com ele e a sua conclusão foram executados primorosamente, se ele tivesse mais presença no restante do jogo ele com certeza estaria no mesmo nível do Nishiki ou até mesmo do Ryuji. E pra finalizar a reta final desse jogo é simplesmente SURREAL, os 3 últimos capítulos são realmente o ponto mais forte do jogo inteiro onde tudo finalmente começa a colidir e engrenar de vez, facilmente um dos melhores finais da franquia.

Mesmo sendo um jogo bem divisivo e morno por grande parte da sua duração, eu não consigo evitar de sentir apreço por ele, se a gameplay fosse mais divertida e menos maçante eu realmente acho que ele estaria no mesmo nível, ou talvez até acima dos seus predecessores. Um remake estilo os primeiros Kiwami ajeitando o funcionamento do combate e melhorando como as cidades são faria um bem enorme pra ele, mas visto que isso já é um remaster é quase impossível imaginar a RGG Studio fazendo isso, e infelizmente só resta aceitar esta como a sua versão definitiva.