A game with so much ambition behind its themes and story that you cant help but appreciate its existence.
However I want to bring up the problems I did have with the game before I go into the good.
The characters are definitely the weakest part of the game, they are not awful but weaker than the 1st game. None of them really go through many personal character arcs but they still have some interesting interactions with each other, except for Raiden and Rose, their interactions were horrific and felt like a an awful rom com, luckily most of these interactions are optional and you only hear them when you save.
Speaking of Raiden, he is a fine protagonist, he starts of very naive and at time very stupid but him learning the reality of his situation was nice to see and gives him room for good growth.
Snakes appearences were fine too, most of the good stuff with him revolved around his dialogue and how he encourages Raiden and playing as him in the beginning was good and leaves some nice insight on whats to come.
Otacon was alright, you learn a bit more about him and he gets his own dramatic moment but it was a bit more on the weird side.
Everyone else is honestly not that great to the point where I dont have much to say about them, except Rose, I fucking hate her.
Even tho it lacks in character, it makes up for it with its story and themes. I was blown away with how it talked about its ideas and themes.
Although they can be seen as exposition dumps since it more codec conversation than a cinematic cutscene, what was said was incredible and almost terrifying with how much it reflects reality, with themes of censorship, free will, misinformation, and patriotism.
They are told in such a haunting way that the game pretty much predicted the future of the internet and to me that is insane, it almost feels like a warning, a warning we didn't listen to. Its honestly something that you need to see for yourself with how mind blowing it is.
Some parts of the story can be pretty convoluted but I heard that is the norm for metal gear and I plan to do my own digging to try and understand it better.
The gameplay was ok although at times can be very clunky with the gun aiming but luckily the 1st person camera is a huge help. I was dogshit at the small platforming segments, whether it be slipping on bird shit or just falling because the platforms are tight and the moving is super responsive causing me to fall but that is just me being bad.
The Emma Emmerich escort mission honestly wasn't the worst escort mission ever, like I was worried about the water part but the swimming controls are actually very good so it wasn't really a worry and luckily she doesn't move on her own, she will actually wait until you are ready to move.
The back tracking in the game did get annoying at times, worst one being when I had to go back and get the sniper rifle to take out some bombs that were far away.
The stealth was also fine too but there were some mechanics I didn't know about until looking it up like grabbing enemies, I dont know if they explained it and I already forgot or the game just straight up didn't tell me.
Overall an very good game with some strong and incredible themes, decent characters and fun gameplay to create something that is so relevant to our society, I cant get over that this game came out over 2 decades ago!
However I want to bring up the problems I did have with the game before I go into the good.
The characters are definitely the weakest part of the game, they are not awful but weaker than the 1st game. None of them really go through many personal character arcs but they still have some interesting interactions with each other, except for Raiden and Rose, their interactions were horrific and felt like a an awful rom com, luckily most of these interactions are optional and you only hear them when you save.
Speaking of Raiden, he is a fine protagonist, he starts of very naive and at time very stupid but him learning the reality of his situation was nice to see and gives him room for good growth.
Snakes appearences were fine too, most of the good stuff with him revolved around his dialogue and how he encourages Raiden and playing as him in the beginning was good and leaves some nice insight on whats to come.
Otacon was alright, you learn a bit more about him and he gets his own dramatic moment but it was a bit more on the weird side.
Everyone else is honestly not that great to the point where I dont have much to say about them, except Rose, I fucking hate her.
Even tho it lacks in character, it makes up for it with its story and themes. I was blown away with how it talked about its ideas and themes.
Although they can be seen as exposition dumps since it more codec conversation than a cinematic cutscene, what was said was incredible and almost terrifying with how much it reflects reality, with themes of censorship, free will, misinformation, and patriotism.
They are told in such a haunting way that the game pretty much predicted the future of the internet and to me that is insane, it almost feels like a warning, a warning we didn't listen to. Its honestly something that you need to see for yourself with how mind blowing it is.
Some parts of the story can be pretty convoluted but I heard that is the norm for metal gear and I plan to do my own digging to try and understand it better.
The gameplay was ok although at times can be very clunky with the gun aiming but luckily the 1st person camera is a huge help. I was dogshit at the small platforming segments, whether it be slipping on bird shit or just falling because the platforms are tight and the moving is super responsive causing me to fall but that is just me being bad.
The Emma Emmerich escort mission honestly wasn't the worst escort mission ever, like I was worried about the water part but the swimming controls are actually very good so it wasn't really a worry and luckily she doesn't move on her own, she will actually wait until you are ready to move.
The back tracking in the game did get annoying at times, worst one being when I had to go back and get the sniper rifle to take out some bombs that were far away.
The stealth was also fine too but there were some mechanics I didn't know about until looking it up like grabbing enemies, I dont know if they explained it and I already forgot or the game just straight up didn't tell me.
Overall an very good game with some strong and incredible themes, decent characters and fun gameplay to create something that is so relevant to our society, I cant get over that this game came out over 2 decades ago!