I went into this haveing played Every mainline metal gear game (including the 2d games) except MGS1, (unless you count Twin Snakes) MGS5 & Peace Walker (if that counts as a mainline game) so I went into this as a fan of the series but ended up slighly dissapointed. The story is about as good as the rest of the series, just lacking the nostalgia I have for 2 & 3, and was the main thing that kept comig back until I finished the game. The gameplay however often felt tedious, with stealth not really mattering after the first 2-3 areas of the game. It plays like a 3D version of Metal Gear 2 (inluding many sections from that game redone in this one), but unfortunatly it does not work as well as it did in 2D. The last half in particular was a chore, I don't think there was a single boss fight I liked (except maybe one fist fight towards the end). It's hard to judge this from a true first play point of view do to my familiarity with the game from osmosis, I don't know how I would feel about the Psycho Mantis fight if I did not know excactly how to deal with him. I wanted to play the game twice to get both endings but every tedious boss fight, and the too long backtracking section towards the end convinced to stick with just the one playtrough.
I am glad to have finally played it and looking forward to getting back into the ones I grew up with.

Summary: Great Story and tedious gameplay sections. Overall felt like a streamlined 3D remake of MG2 with a bigger focus on story.