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Overall, this is an incredible game with an extremely interesting way of going about solving the mystery of the Obra Dinn. As you happen upon different threads and start pulling, you start to realize that even though you're following an overarching plot of the major events on the ship, you're quickly pulled into individual plotlines as you try to identify each character and what ultimately happens to them. You find yourself becoming invested in each scene, slowly starting to go from a very superficial view of just the victim to paying more attention to details the game has been hiding in plain sight from the beginning. It quickly becomes very satisfying to see the book filled out with everything you figured out, regardless of how you reached the outcome because of the plethora of ways to reach one solution. For the full time I was playing, I became fully immersed in the world and found it easy to start pulling at strings and following them without realizing how much time had passed. It's a pretty perfectly structured game that lets you unravel the mystery at your own pace and is presented in such a way that even the ultimately straightforward story is extremely interesting.
Dragon's Dogma II
2024
I REALLY like this game. I think the combat is a lot of fun and using it in both group skirmishes and big monster fights is a lot of fun and really engaging.
The main story is kinda whatever but I do enjoy it's format for quests. I found a lot of side quest rewarded exploration and investigation in a way that really resonated with me. I found myself more invested in the side characters quests and their arcs then whatever was going on in the main plot.
So here I am really having a good time, then boom. Dragonplague. My main city is a fucking ghost town. And I just feel so like defeated and discouraged. I had gone to the house in town that I EARNED to sleep. I had just returned from doing like 3 quest that took me all over and I just wanted to refill my Max health. There was a random NPC that I had JUST maxed the affinity for because I liked her. And now everyone in town is dead because of a ailment that isn't shown on character status or telegraphed in any explicit clear way. I just. Idk. Why?????
I like this game a lot, I just think the mechanic is ill natured and I hope there is some kind of change because I'd really like to come back one day and play more.
EDIT 03/31/24: After watching some of the post/end game stuff I think this game is sauce even despite the issues I had.
The main story is kinda whatever but I do enjoy it's format for quests. I found a lot of side quest rewarded exploration and investigation in a way that really resonated with me. I found myself more invested in the side characters quests and their arcs then whatever was going on in the main plot.
So here I am really having a good time, then boom. Dragonplague. My main city is a fucking ghost town. And I just feel so like defeated and discouraged. I had gone to the house in town that I EARNED to sleep. I had just returned from doing like 3 quest that took me all over and I just wanted to refill my Max health. There was a random NPC that I had JUST maxed the affinity for because I liked her. And now everyone in town is dead because of a ailment that isn't shown on character status or telegraphed in any explicit clear way. I just. Idk. Why?????
I like this game a lot, I just think the mechanic is ill natured and I hope there is some kind of change because I'd really like to come back one day and play more.
EDIT 03/31/24: After watching some of the post/end game stuff I think this game is sauce even despite the issues I had.
No Man's Sky
2016
There's an overwhelming amount of things to do in this game with simultaneously being not enough things to do. For as fun as the game can be at times, I often found myself without a sense of a goal or feeling any meaningful progression despite the immense amount of options for things I could do and gradually led to a lack of motivation to keep playing. The biggest offender was that finding better ships and multi-tools is effectively a random event, and it does not feel particularly rewarding to just happen upon them.
I had a lot of my thoughts put together for this game and then the ending happened. I am truly on Nomura's wild ride, and I'm having a good time, but it's more like Gene Wilder's Tunnel in Willy Wonka. I'm enraptured but a little scared
This is like if Monster Hunter World and Bayonetta 2 had a child that stayed with Final Fantasy XIV on the weekends.
This game is fucking awesome. Characters are super fun to play and its so easy to get invested in building them. The actual fights only get better and better. The story is such an awesome cinematic spectacle and full of tons of cool fights and scenes. There is a character within it with really really good character writing as well. Just.... PEAK SIR, IT'S PEAK!
This game is fucking awesome. Characters are super fun to play and its so easy to get invested in building them. The actual fights only get better and better. The story is such an awesome cinematic spectacle and full of tons of cool fights and scenes. There is a character within it with really really good character writing as well. Just.... PEAK SIR, IT'S PEAK!
Note: this will be mostly spoiler-free concerning the story. However, I will go a tadge in-depth concerning the combat and mechanics, as well as the characters you travel with.
I began playing the Like a Dragon series about a year ago. Starting with Yakuza 0, I sprinted through every game in the main series until I finally got to Gaiden in mid-December. I've been preparing. I feel an extreme emotional attachment to the characters and world. And it has finally come to a head in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.
First, I want to get the minigames and side content out of the way - it's top tier in the series. I played almost all of the side content in 0, Kiwami, Kiwami 2, and Yakuza 7. And, of those, I would pick Infinite Wealth's content every time. At first, I thought the substories were slightly weaker overall, but the stories told were longer and more meaningful. That is, until I got to Kiryu's substories. They take a pretty decent collection and elevate it to referential yet meaningful stories for Kiryu to experience. Not to mention, a lot of the stories have little specific minigames and experiences within the game that can't be otherwise accessed. Ichi's stunt film substories are specifically a standout.
These substories aren't even including all of the actual minigames though. Almost all of the sports games are back, including Darts or Pool. The karaoke in this game is unmatched, featuring the most songs in the franchise thus far. Can Quest and the new Crazy Delivery modes are as fun as they were, and the Delivery mode was specifically a standout. The Sicko Snap mode is hilarious and quick/easy fun. These minigames do a lot of heavy lifting to make the new locale fun and lively. Not to mention the Aloha Links, which make RANDOM NPCs INTERESTING, which is SUCH an achievement.
However, in terms of side content, the highlights of the game are the Bucket List/Life Links, the Drink Links/Bond Actions, and, of course, Dondoko Island. To speak quickly on Drink Links, these are far and away better than 7's. They have better stories, there are more of them, and the actual content relates to the main story better than they had before. The Bucket List is genuinely a highlight, and I found myself intensely interested in pointing at my screen for every reference to a previous game they made. This includes games I haven't even played yet. The Life Links are incredible, with characters returning that I never thought I would see again. And all of these things have an intense relation to combat, whether it gives a summon (poundmate), or if the drink links allow your teammates to help out and do more damage per turn.
But, of course, the king of side content is Dondoko Island (and the related Sujimon quests). Sujimon are so much better in this game. They have become a fully fleshed out (and well-written) story, with fun, pokemon-like gameplay. Their real use, however, is working on Dondoko, an animal crossing-like island. It's here where I was able to decorate and upgrade my own spot of land in the Pacific. The amount of depth in this minigame is actually incredible. It could have been a game all on its own, to a certain degree. It takes a lot of the fun and peaceful portions of Animal Crossing, and adds some story-based tension to up the stakes and entice the player to finish upgrading the island. I finished the island within 20ish hours, but I easily could spend a hundred just fine tuning my land and upgrading my house. There is so much content, and it alone guarantees a fun time if anyone is willing to make it through a very long portion of the game to get there.
I still intend to keep this review completely spoiler-free, but at this point, I'm going to talk about my feelings about the plot in this game. Feel free to skip this next paragraph if you want no prior thoughts about the plot.
Regardless, I generally really enjoyed the plot of this game. Like most of the games I would consider my favorite, this game does have a major flaw and I think it's the story in this entry. It's good. Great, even. But it does slightly suffer after coming off of Yakuza 7, which contains the only story to rival Yakuza 0 and Yakuza 4's (in my opinion). But these flaws are not devastating by any means. It's really just a very unevenly paced ending, with an emotional core that doesn't totally pay off by the end of the game. The new characters are a fantastic addition, and the opener to this game is incredible. In fact, the way this story weaves all the characters together is really well done and it ambitiously attempts to do way more than any other Yakuza game (maybe other than 5).
The game's storytelling is not confined to its plot, however. "Environmental storytelling" is honestly an overused phrase within the medium, and LAD8's use of it is mixed. The returning cities are mostly kept the same (from what I could find), which is almost disappointing when it comes to how many changes the maps go through inbetween entries. Honolulu, the new map, is probably even the best map that RGG has made. They've come a long way from the many, sadly mid maps they made for Yakuza 5. Consolidating into one really big and cohesive map does wonders for this game. I only brought up the fact that the phrase is overused because of how much it doesn't matter that RGG didn't change much. Yeah, it's somewhat disappointing, but this game is doing so much more with its premise that I cannot fault this small "oversight," if you can even call it that. Hell, I'm sure I missed certain things within the three explorable maps. I only bring this up at all for those who might really care about that storytelling - I know it was very cool when Kamurocho Hills came into existence, or the retroactive changes between 0 and Kiwami. Don't expect anything like that in this game.
In Yakuza 7, one of my biggest issues was with the combat. Again, I love that game to death, and a lot of the faults didn't matter to me in the end, but I can admit that the combat in that game tends to be rough.
None of that is present in this game.
The combat is sharp, smart, and engaging. Hell, adding the ability to move around solved nearly half of the issues. The inherited skill system is tons better, with more build options presented to the player. And, while yes it is disappointing that there are classes locked behind a paywall (not to mention NG+), as someone who preordered the deluxe edition the Footballer and Tennis Pro jobs are two of the most fun jobs. The amount of fun combinations you can make is stunning. The Tag Team and Special Attack animations are amazing again, with the Poundmates really getting more attention this time around. Additionally, Kiryu's Dragon job is rightfully the best job in the entire game, with so much versatility and fun.
Overall, through all the hemming and hawing about various different thing, it might be confusing as to why I would consider this my new favorite game of all time. A lot of this is definitely due to certain story beats and moments that I wouldn't spoil here. But in any case, as an overall package, I cannot believe how stunning this game is. I cannot wait for the next installment, even if I feel pretty sure that nothing will feel this ambitious for a long time. RGG outdid themselves, and I can't believe how amazing of a product this is. Before, I was sure that LAD/Yakuza 7 was going to be the lasting JRPG for RGG. Now I realize that this game is the one that deserves to be canonized into the JRPG hall of fame, sitting along big hitters like the FF or DQ series. Incredible work. I am so glad that I was able to work through all of the Yakuza games' ups and downs in order to get to this singular project. I don't have better words to give it.
I began playing the Like a Dragon series about a year ago. Starting with Yakuza 0, I sprinted through every game in the main series until I finally got to Gaiden in mid-December. I've been preparing. I feel an extreme emotional attachment to the characters and world. And it has finally come to a head in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.
First, I want to get the minigames and side content out of the way - it's top tier in the series. I played almost all of the side content in 0, Kiwami, Kiwami 2, and Yakuza 7. And, of those, I would pick Infinite Wealth's content every time. At first, I thought the substories were slightly weaker overall, but the stories told were longer and more meaningful. That is, until I got to Kiryu's substories. They take a pretty decent collection and elevate it to referential yet meaningful stories for Kiryu to experience. Not to mention, a lot of the stories have little specific minigames and experiences within the game that can't be otherwise accessed. Ichi's stunt film substories are specifically a standout.
These substories aren't even including all of the actual minigames though. Almost all of the sports games are back, including Darts or Pool. The karaoke in this game is unmatched, featuring the most songs in the franchise thus far. Can Quest and the new Crazy Delivery modes are as fun as they were, and the Delivery mode was specifically a standout. The Sicko Snap mode is hilarious and quick/easy fun. These minigames do a lot of heavy lifting to make the new locale fun and lively. Not to mention the Aloha Links, which make RANDOM NPCs INTERESTING, which is SUCH an achievement.
However, in terms of side content, the highlights of the game are the Bucket List/Life Links, the Drink Links/Bond Actions, and, of course, Dondoko Island. To speak quickly on Drink Links, these are far and away better than 7's. They have better stories, there are more of them, and the actual content relates to the main story better than they had before. The Bucket List is genuinely a highlight, and I found myself intensely interested in pointing at my screen for every reference to a previous game they made. This includes games I haven't even played yet. The Life Links are incredible, with characters returning that I never thought I would see again. And all of these things have an intense relation to combat, whether it gives a summon (poundmate), or if the drink links allow your teammates to help out and do more damage per turn.
But, of course, the king of side content is Dondoko Island (and the related Sujimon quests). Sujimon are so much better in this game. They have become a fully fleshed out (and well-written) story, with fun, pokemon-like gameplay. Their real use, however, is working on Dondoko, an animal crossing-like island. It's here where I was able to decorate and upgrade my own spot of land in the Pacific. The amount of depth in this minigame is actually incredible. It could have been a game all on its own, to a certain degree. It takes a lot of the fun and peaceful portions of Animal Crossing, and adds some story-based tension to up the stakes and entice the player to finish upgrading the island. I finished the island within 20ish hours, but I easily could spend a hundred just fine tuning my land and upgrading my house. There is so much content, and it alone guarantees a fun time if anyone is willing to make it through a very long portion of the game to get there.
I still intend to keep this review completely spoiler-free, but at this point, I'm going to talk about my feelings about the plot in this game. Feel free to skip this next paragraph if you want no prior thoughts about the plot.
Regardless, I generally really enjoyed the plot of this game. Like most of the games I would consider my favorite, this game does have a major flaw and I think it's the story in this entry. It's good. Great, even. But it does slightly suffer after coming off of Yakuza 7, which contains the only story to rival Yakuza 0 and Yakuza 4's (in my opinion). But these flaws are not devastating by any means. It's really just a very unevenly paced ending, with an emotional core that doesn't totally pay off by the end of the game. The new characters are a fantastic addition, and the opener to this game is incredible. In fact, the way this story weaves all the characters together is really well done and it ambitiously attempts to do way more than any other Yakuza game (maybe other than 5).
The game's storytelling is not confined to its plot, however. "Environmental storytelling" is honestly an overused phrase within the medium, and LAD8's use of it is mixed. The returning cities are mostly kept the same (from what I could find), which is almost disappointing when it comes to how many changes the maps go through inbetween entries. Honolulu, the new map, is probably even the best map that RGG has made. They've come a long way from the many, sadly mid maps they made for Yakuza 5. Consolidating into one really big and cohesive map does wonders for this game. I only brought up the fact that the phrase is overused because of how much it doesn't matter that RGG didn't change much. Yeah, it's somewhat disappointing, but this game is doing so much more with its premise that I cannot fault this small "oversight," if you can even call it that. Hell, I'm sure I missed certain things within the three explorable maps. I only bring this up at all for those who might really care about that storytelling - I know it was very cool when Kamurocho Hills came into existence, or the retroactive changes between 0 and Kiwami. Don't expect anything like that in this game.
In Yakuza 7, one of my biggest issues was with the combat. Again, I love that game to death, and a lot of the faults didn't matter to me in the end, but I can admit that the combat in that game tends to be rough.
None of that is present in this game.
The combat is sharp, smart, and engaging. Hell, adding the ability to move around solved nearly half of the issues. The inherited skill system is tons better, with more build options presented to the player. And, while yes it is disappointing that there are classes locked behind a paywall (not to mention NG+), as someone who preordered the deluxe edition the Footballer and Tennis Pro jobs are two of the most fun jobs. The amount of fun combinations you can make is stunning. The Tag Team and Special Attack animations are amazing again, with the Poundmates really getting more attention this time around. Additionally, Kiryu's Dragon job is rightfully the best job in the entire game, with so much versatility and fun.
Overall, through all the hemming and hawing about various different thing, it might be confusing as to why I would consider this my new favorite game of all time. A lot of this is definitely due to certain story beats and moments that I wouldn't spoil here. But in any case, as an overall package, I cannot believe how stunning this game is. I cannot wait for the next installment, even if I feel pretty sure that nothing will feel this ambitious for a long time. RGG outdid themselves, and I can't believe how amazing of a product this is. Before, I was sure that LAD/Yakuza 7 was going to be the lasting JRPG for RGG. Now I realize that this game is the one that deserves to be canonized into the JRPG hall of fame, sitting along big hitters like the FF or DQ series. Incredible work. I am so glad that I was able to work through all of the Yakuza games' ups and downs in order to get to this singular project. I don't have better words to give it.
I clocked a very solid 60 hours into Granblue Fantasy Relink. The game is amazing in so many ways. The story is really well done, and actually engaging despite only experiencing a bit of the world of Granblue through Versus. I did experience some bugs - an ugly crashing one made me repeat the Chapter 8 boss two or three times - but otherwise it was a very fun and seamless experience.
But the story wasn't why I bought the game. No, it felt like a bonus to the excellence that was the post-game. I was promised an action RPG with MMO-like mechanics, and I was provided that on a varying scale, but an otherwise very fun one. A lot of the extra bosses are throwaways, with no unique mechanics. However, the bosses with actual mechanics that felt interesting to fight made the "struggle" all worth it. I won't spoil those bosses, but regearing and retooling my build was exorbitantly fun during this process.
Sigils are fun to pull for, weapons are interesting, and build variety feels good. The 'messiness' of fights and variety of build options means that "optimal" is hard to find in a game like this. Some might like this, some might not. For me it felt like a double-edged sword, where it felt like I wasn't stressed about building correctly, but I never felt secure in my build. It also admittedly felt like making after fight adjustments didn't always do something - sometimes it was just stat changes/increases over time that would help with a fight.
Coming from FFXIV Savage raiding, the game is great. It definitely doesn't reach that difficulty. The hardest it gets is maybe an Extreme Trial. But those clears feel incredibly satisfying, and the character variety along with engaging gameplay made this a very, very fun time. I hope that they decide to release more DLC/expansions past May, and that their roadmap extends.
But the story wasn't why I bought the game. No, it felt like a bonus to the excellence that was the post-game. I was promised an action RPG with MMO-like mechanics, and I was provided that on a varying scale, but an otherwise very fun one. A lot of the extra bosses are throwaways, with no unique mechanics. However, the bosses with actual mechanics that felt interesting to fight made the "struggle" all worth it. I won't spoil those bosses, but regearing and retooling my build was exorbitantly fun during this process.
Sigils are fun to pull for, weapons are interesting, and build variety feels good. The 'messiness' of fights and variety of build options means that "optimal" is hard to find in a game like this. Some might like this, some might not. For me it felt like a double-edged sword, where it felt like I wasn't stressed about building correctly, but I never felt secure in my build. It also admittedly felt like making after fight adjustments didn't always do something - sometimes it was just stat changes/increases over time that would help with a fight.
Coming from FFXIV Savage raiding, the game is great. It definitely doesn't reach that difficulty. The hardest it gets is maybe an Extreme Trial. But those clears feel incredibly satisfying, and the character variety along with engaging gameplay made this a very, very fun time. I hope that they decide to release more DLC/expansions past May, and that their roadmap extends.
Palworld
2024
I have played a decent chunk of this game and overall I really love what they're doing. I don't think it's perfect, but I do really love it.
Some things I love:
-Really love meeting new creatures in the wild, so magical in those encounters
-How apart of everything Pals can be. They are more than just battling partners but also apart of exploration and maintaining a base. The passives they have make choosing who you have more than having just oh these are the strong ones, but much more in-depth in how you want to play it
- I really like the designs of the Pals, say what you will I think they are cool
-Boss fights are really fun and I really enjoy them both as single player challenged and multiplayer raid boss typa things. Would love maybe more depth to them but also fine as is for now honestly
Things that I have a problem with/hope they improve
-I wish that the primary method of gaining experience wasn't just catching Pals. I do get why it is that way, catching Pals is integral to many of the games current mechanics. But it ends up feeling they are funneling the player into certain actions without giving options in progression. If I want to just fight monsters with my favorite Pals and grow that way, I would appreciate that. As it is now though I would always be out paced by the catch-a-holic. So I hope that progression becomes less linear or rewarding of other styles of play.
-Base building is slightly jank rn, and this is more of an early access thing. Just Pal pathing and what not can get pretty bad and what should be a pretty sound self sufficient base become something you have to micromanage or work around which can be frustrating or tedious.
-Pal catching rates are nonsensical or inconsistent sometimes?? I would just like to see a fine tuning of it I think. I'm not even sure how to articulate why I find it so vexing
I probably haven't thought of everything that I've been sitting on, but I do want to say that I like this game and i really hope to see it grow into something better than I think it already is. With it being early access there is always room for change and improvement.
Some things I love:
-Really love meeting new creatures in the wild, so magical in those encounters
-How apart of everything Pals can be. They are more than just battling partners but also apart of exploration and maintaining a base. The passives they have make choosing who you have more than having just oh these are the strong ones, but much more in-depth in how you want to play it
- I really like the designs of the Pals, say what you will I think they are cool
-Boss fights are really fun and I really enjoy them both as single player challenged and multiplayer raid boss typa things. Would love maybe more depth to them but also fine as is for now honestly
Things that I have a problem with/hope they improve
-I wish that the primary method of gaining experience wasn't just catching Pals. I do get why it is that way, catching Pals is integral to many of the games current mechanics. But it ends up feeling they are funneling the player into certain actions without giving options in progression. If I want to just fight monsters with my favorite Pals and grow that way, I would appreciate that. As it is now though I would always be out paced by the catch-a-holic. So I hope that progression becomes less linear or rewarding of other styles of play.
-Base building is slightly jank rn, and this is more of an early access thing. Just Pal pathing and what not can get pretty bad and what should be a pretty sound self sufficient base become something you have to micromanage or work around which can be frustrating or tedious.
-Pal catching rates are nonsensical or inconsistent sometimes?? I would just like to see a fine tuning of it I think. I'm not even sure how to articulate why I find it so vexing
I probably haven't thought of everything that I've been sitting on, but I do want to say that I like this game and i really hope to see it grow into something better than I think it already is. With it being early access there is always room for change and improvement.
This review contains spoilers
The Man Who Sold The World and The Man Who Saved It: A Short Retrospective on The Metal Gear Franchise
Note: this review covers my thoughts and feelings about the entire Metal Gear Franchise. Please skip to the bottom for my thoughts on just MGSV. Spoilers for each game follow.
Metal Gear
On December 23rd, 2023, I sat down and opened Metal Gear for the NES. Yes, the NES version, and not the MSX version. By today's standards, it's not a good game. The environments are bland, the combat is clunky, and the inventory systems are frustrating at best - debilitating at worst.
Despite this, it did two things that immediately kept me on the line: for one, the game is actually interesting. It's finishable. Not to come off as a Gen Z-er that can't play old games, but if I'm being honest Metal Gear is supremely accessible for what it is and when it came out. The video-gamey name of Big Boss and the interesting appearance of Gray Fox are chuckle worthy at a glance, and it creates a really unique tone that stays all the way throughout the series until (I'd argue) Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.
The other thing that Metal Gear does that creates its appeal is actually in conjunction with Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. It's the birth(s) of the stealth gameplay system.
^not the first but you know what I mean.
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
In Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, it seems to be played off as a
fun, slightly bullshit revival when Big Boss is revealed to be alive. But, it never mattered because these are NES era games. Hell, I welcomed it. Despite my frustration with Metal Gear, I really do think that Big Boss was interesting, even though I never knew anything about him. It even wasn't until later on in this series that I realized how important these events are.
On its own, though, this game is actually really decent. I can fully see why these games became a phenomenon when it comes to this game, despite its clunky backtracking and flawed UX/design philosophy.
Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid is finally a turning point in quality though - while there are many conventions established before this game, they're all solidified by this entry. The codec calls, the saving, the fourth wall breaks, the actually excellent stealth - it's all perfect. Moments like Psycho Mantis' boss fight, or the end credits scene are stand out moments to an already great game with inventive boss fights and wonderful level design. I do take most issue with the final boss sequence, which is honestly pretty frustrating because everything else is so good. But as an entry in the franchise, it's evident why almost every game that followed carried the SOLID subtitle.
There are a few negatives that have been carried through the series thus far, though. By this point in the series, the very genes of the series include incessant backtracking, frustrating combat (even in Solid, at times), difficult menu-ing, and despite some interesting stories, the characters sometimes feel flat.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty changes everything. It's impossible to put into words what makes this game special even among the series' entries. I can say with certainty that this is its best entry, in my opinion. The ending in particular is possibly one of the best, albeit indulgent, hours of gaming created thus far.
I am fully aware of the disdain for Raiden at this point. I unequivocally disagree with this general take. His tragic story felt very new and fresh for the series. While I liked Solid Snake, I knew that there was very little they could do to make him interesting at that point. Making him a side character, honestly, was one of the best options. He's characterized through Raiden, who's juggling conversations with "Rose" and "The Colonel" alongside completing his mission. The map design almost mirroring a Resident Evil type game with its comfortable, samey, yet easy to backtrack and explore design was a huge plus. This is especially true retrospectively. Again, the series exemplifies incredible boss design and it boasts possibly the best story in the franchise.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater feels like the next turning point in design philosophy. I almost would split the franchise in three parts - this game is the beginning of the second part. This is the beginning of the linear, mission-based gameplay. This game also contains possibly one of the best video game OSTs in the medium, alongside, again, an incredible story. (Getting a little repetitive, right?) Playing as Big Boss was an extremely interesting experience, especially knowing what he was to become later in the series' timeline. The End, The Sorrow, and The Fear are three of the series best boss fights, and the franchise as a whole has another tone setter in this game.
However, this game also marks a turning point in its intended audience. This, of course, is not necessarily a bad thing. However, it becomes more evident from this point on that Kojima and Konami were developing for Western audiences more and more.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots continues that trend from the very beginning of the game. This game contains a new difficulty selection - the difference between Solid Normal and Naked Normal. A Western Normal, and an Eastern Normal. It mirrors an addition in Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 3 - the European Extreme - but this time, more and more players can engage with a difficulty select that mirrors Western audiences' capabilities with shooters. It's also more possible than before to play Metal Gear Solid 4 loud rather than quiet.
This game, from my understanding now, was not well received on launch. I think I can see why that was the case. Mission 3's tailing mission, Old Snake's addition and rationale for existence, and the cutscene lengths are especially unique to this entry. And yet, it finally feels like an ending to the franchise. And if I'm honest, it's a damn good ending. The twists are good, the last boss is amazing and mirrors everything great and bad about the franchise. It embraces it all. That's really Metal Gear Solid 4's strength.
The franchise could have just stopped there. I could have stopped playing the games and be happy the rest of my life knowing that the series ended there.
Both fortunately, and unfortunately -
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is my least favorite game in the series. Remember how I said that this franchise can be split into three parts? We're now fully in the last part. I'll save most of my main criticisms for this game when I get to Metal Gear Solid V, but there are so many things I fundamentally disagree with when it comes to the game philosophy going forward.
Reaching back into the franchise's roots, the game features plenty of misguided, absurd, and non-explanatory functionality especially surrounding its base building systems and Metal Gear Zeke building. It also features an absurdly convoluted secret ending sequence, which, to be open, I couldn't get! It's too hard! and literally every website has a different explanation on how to get it, and none of them worked. The gameplay mirrors Metal Gear Solid 3, but a lot of this game is part of the new push towards Fulton Gaming, or otherwise kidnapping the enemy for more base building. This is an art in and of itself, and it's a boring one.
Additionally, the time sink for this game, a PSP game, is abhorrent. It's really cool for those looking for a game to play long term, but as someone who played only the singleplayer functionality, it doesn't work. Metal Gear Zeke building also relies on repeated boss fights, which checks one of my gaming cardinal sin boxes.
Lastly, the story of this game is extremely lackluster, and the cutscene design is very hard to look at. This game also includes some really uncomfortable moments during cutscenes, such as being able to x-ray some characters' clothes.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
I don't feel the need to say a lot about this game - it's been talked to death in the past three years. But I do have some criticisms that people don't typically talk about from what I usually see.
For one, the stealth in Metal Gear Rising is abhorrent if not nonexistent. The movement is way too clunky to do minute movements for stealth actions, and none of it works that way. Secondly, going into the game, I was happy to see more Raiden and in a role that people really like him in. But I realized pretty quickly that Raiden really has no personal attachment to the events transpiring like he does in 2 (and kinda 4). It's slightly disappointing. Lastly, the game lacks enemy variety and that is probably its biggest issue.
Again, I loved the game, but anything I could say about it has already been said a lot, very recently. As a side note: after playing Metal Gear Solid 4, it's really strange to know that people play this game standalone. The story doesn't work standalone lol. It is so necessary to play 4.
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Alright. Finally. The ending of the entire franchise.
Let's get the comparisons to the previous entries out of the way. This game has very little in common with anything else going on in this franchise. The fun little UI bits during cutscenes, the fourth wall breaks, the hard hitting story, the lovable and flawed characters - GONE. None of it is here. The game has replaced all of the style of the series with gameplay. Luckily, this means there is so much gameplay. So much. But I can't help but miss a lot of what makes these games so good. Tongue is no longer in cheek.
The gameplay in this entry is revolutionary. I kept thinking about how this style hasn't really been emulated again - the stealth/open world combo worked incredibly well. Items and development and hell, even the side ops in the combined open areas were so well designed. I think that some of the game gets a little, a tadge, a smidgen repetitive. But every time I felt that way, I switched up my style. I picked a new weapon, a new arm, a new buddy. Boom - new game. It feels so good to experiment.
I did about 150 of the 157ish side ops in the game. Similar to Peace Walker, these did not feel important, but the gameplay does genuinely make them work in this format. It was lowkey strange to see "important side ops" (why not make them main missions???) but the nonimportant ones were decent encounters to tackle.
However, what the game gets so, so wrong are the boss fights. Sahelanthropus is a pushover. The Skulls are exceedingly difficult. Quiet is fun, but it's one of the only, very very short instances of great boss design. It's disappointing.
The game does not have a particular take on killing or going non-lethal, which felt really out of place. I did mostly non-lethal, and the only real indications for these things are the shrapnel and the codenames you receive. It's another disappointing part of the game.
Metal Gear Solid V's story gets really close to being great. I would probably say it's just good. Maybe just decent. There's not a whole lot of it. And had I stuck with just the first credit roll, the one after Chapter 31, it's bad. The twist(s) after are really good, and the way it recontextualizes the original games (where are the remakes!!) is incredible. Really what sucks is the prevailing theme that this Boss is just a terrible person. He's an antagonist in the franchise for a reason. So is Ocelot. It genuinely is hard to play as Big Boss sometimes, even during cutscenes. There are many, many uncomfortable torture scenes, some filled with gore and other impossible-to-look-at scenarios. I have a pretty good stomach for these things and yet this game pushed my buttons.
This brings me to probably the most conflicting and confusing part of Metal Gear Solid V - the game is cruel. It's weirdly cruel. I had this thought many, many times throughout the game. The torture scenes are one thing, but even then this game generally just seems to have a disposition towards making the player do more and more difficult things for no real reason. The sickness in the game is tragic but the game never makes you feel the weight of the losses in a meaningful way. Even the ashes scene is very short lived and doesn't actually account for anyone in the first wave of the sickness. We stopped Skull Face from unleashing his language disease throughout the world and I don't feel like a hero. You're not supposed to. It's intentional, and yet I feel bad. The strong feelings the game elicits out of me are worth the discussion for sure, and it feels intentional to feel this way, but I'm not a fan of this decision. This is especially true knowing that Kojima goes to Death Stranding next, a game build on love and connection - these games are night and day. So strange.
I have a lot more I could say on each game I mentioned. But I don't want to bloat this retrospective up. I played every game within a month, and I would need more reflection on each anyways. I know that 2 is my favorite, but 4 is the one I want to replay the most. V feels like such a black sheep, and it's not even the worst game in the franchise. If you've made it this far, you've most likely already played these games, but if you haven't, please do give them a try. Even V and Peace Walker. I knew going in that this was a massive hole in my library, and I feel changed after this series in a way that I couldn't explain in words. It's too bad that V feels this way, but the main universe and vision that Kojima and crew had when making these games is so unique and wonderful and grounded and real and fantasy. This dichotomy is what made this series such an amazing experience.
I wanted to write this retrospective on the whole series but focus on V (this is the V page and all) but I do have a lot more thoughts on each game. Feel free to pick my brain (especially about V, 4 or 2 smile) or criticize my takes in the comments. Can't wait for Death Stranding 2 and OD. Thanks all.
Note: this review covers my thoughts and feelings about the entire Metal Gear Franchise. Please skip to the bottom for my thoughts on just MGSV. Spoilers for each game follow.
Metal Gear
On December 23rd, 2023, I sat down and opened Metal Gear for the NES. Yes, the NES version, and not the MSX version. By today's standards, it's not a good game. The environments are bland, the combat is clunky, and the inventory systems are frustrating at best - debilitating at worst.
Despite this, it did two things that immediately kept me on the line: for one, the game is actually interesting. It's finishable. Not to come off as a Gen Z-er that can't play old games, but if I'm being honest Metal Gear is supremely accessible for what it is and when it came out. The video-gamey name of Big Boss and the interesting appearance of Gray Fox are chuckle worthy at a glance, and it creates a really unique tone that stays all the way throughout the series until (I'd argue) Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.
The other thing that Metal Gear does that creates its appeal is actually in conjunction with Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. It's the birth(s) of the stealth gameplay system.
^not the first but you know what I mean.
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
In Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, it seems to be played off as a
fun, slightly bullshit revival when Big Boss is revealed to be alive. But, it never mattered because these are NES era games. Hell, I welcomed it. Despite my frustration with Metal Gear, I really do think that Big Boss was interesting, even though I never knew anything about him. It even wasn't until later on in this series that I realized how important these events are.
On its own, though, this game is actually really decent. I can fully see why these games became a phenomenon when it comes to this game, despite its clunky backtracking and flawed UX/design philosophy.
Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid is finally a turning point in quality though - while there are many conventions established before this game, they're all solidified by this entry. The codec calls, the saving, the fourth wall breaks, the actually excellent stealth - it's all perfect. Moments like Psycho Mantis' boss fight, or the end credits scene are stand out moments to an already great game with inventive boss fights and wonderful level design. I do take most issue with the final boss sequence, which is honestly pretty frustrating because everything else is so good. But as an entry in the franchise, it's evident why almost every game that followed carried the SOLID subtitle.
There are a few negatives that have been carried through the series thus far, though. By this point in the series, the very genes of the series include incessant backtracking, frustrating combat (even in Solid, at times), difficult menu-ing, and despite some interesting stories, the characters sometimes feel flat.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty changes everything. It's impossible to put into words what makes this game special even among the series' entries. I can say with certainty that this is its best entry, in my opinion. The ending in particular is possibly one of the best, albeit indulgent, hours of gaming created thus far.
I am fully aware of the disdain for Raiden at this point. I unequivocally disagree with this general take. His tragic story felt very new and fresh for the series. While I liked Solid Snake, I knew that there was very little they could do to make him interesting at that point. Making him a side character, honestly, was one of the best options. He's characterized through Raiden, who's juggling conversations with "Rose" and "The Colonel" alongside completing his mission. The map design almost mirroring a Resident Evil type game with its comfortable, samey, yet easy to backtrack and explore design was a huge plus. This is especially true retrospectively. Again, the series exemplifies incredible boss design and it boasts possibly the best story in the franchise.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater feels like the next turning point in design philosophy. I almost would split the franchise in three parts - this game is the beginning of the second part. This is the beginning of the linear, mission-based gameplay. This game also contains possibly one of the best video game OSTs in the medium, alongside, again, an incredible story. (Getting a little repetitive, right?) Playing as Big Boss was an extremely interesting experience, especially knowing what he was to become later in the series' timeline. The End, The Sorrow, and The Fear are three of the series best boss fights, and the franchise as a whole has another tone setter in this game.
However, this game also marks a turning point in its intended audience. This, of course, is not necessarily a bad thing. However, it becomes more evident from this point on that Kojima and Konami were developing for Western audiences more and more.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots continues that trend from the very beginning of the game. This game contains a new difficulty selection - the difference between Solid Normal and Naked Normal. A Western Normal, and an Eastern Normal. It mirrors an addition in Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 3 - the European Extreme - but this time, more and more players can engage with a difficulty select that mirrors Western audiences' capabilities with shooters. It's also more possible than before to play Metal Gear Solid 4 loud rather than quiet.
This game, from my understanding now, was not well received on launch. I think I can see why that was the case. Mission 3's tailing mission, Old Snake's addition and rationale for existence, and the cutscene lengths are especially unique to this entry. And yet, it finally feels like an ending to the franchise. And if I'm honest, it's a damn good ending. The twists are good, the last boss is amazing and mirrors everything great and bad about the franchise. It embraces it all. That's really Metal Gear Solid 4's strength.
The franchise could have just stopped there. I could have stopped playing the games and be happy the rest of my life knowing that the series ended there.
Both fortunately, and unfortunately -
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is my least favorite game in the series. Remember how I said that this franchise can be split into three parts? We're now fully in the last part. I'll save most of my main criticisms for this game when I get to Metal Gear Solid V, but there are so many things I fundamentally disagree with when it comes to the game philosophy going forward.
Reaching back into the franchise's roots, the game features plenty of misguided, absurd, and non-explanatory functionality especially surrounding its base building systems and Metal Gear Zeke building. It also features an absurdly convoluted secret ending sequence, which, to be open, I couldn't get! It's too hard! and literally every website has a different explanation on how to get it, and none of them worked. The gameplay mirrors Metal Gear Solid 3, but a lot of this game is part of the new push towards Fulton Gaming, or otherwise kidnapping the enemy for more base building. This is an art in and of itself, and it's a boring one.
Additionally, the time sink for this game, a PSP game, is abhorrent. It's really cool for those looking for a game to play long term, but as someone who played only the singleplayer functionality, it doesn't work. Metal Gear Zeke building also relies on repeated boss fights, which checks one of my gaming cardinal sin boxes.
Lastly, the story of this game is extremely lackluster, and the cutscene design is very hard to look at. This game also includes some really uncomfortable moments during cutscenes, such as being able to x-ray some characters' clothes.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
I don't feel the need to say a lot about this game - it's been talked to death in the past three years. But I do have some criticisms that people don't typically talk about from what I usually see.
For one, the stealth in Metal Gear Rising is abhorrent if not nonexistent. The movement is way too clunky to do minute movements for stealth actions, and none of it works that way. Secondly, going into the game, I was happy to see more Raiden and in a role that people really like him in. But I realized pretty quickly that Raiden really has no personal attachment to the events transpiring like he does in 2 (and kinda 4). It's slightly disappointing. Lastly, the game lacks enemy variety and that is probably its biggest issue.
Again, I loved the game, but anything I could say about it has already been said a lot, very recently. As a side note: after playing Metal Gear Solid 4, it's really strange to know that people play this game standalone. The story doesn't work standalone lol. It is so necessary to play 4.
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Alright. Finally. The ending of the entire franchise.
Let's get the comparisons to the previous entries out of the way. This game has very little in common with anything else going on in this franchise. The fun little UI bits during cutscenes, the fourth wall breaks, the hard hitting story, the lovable and flawed characters - GONE. None of it is here. The game has replaced all of the style of the series with gameplay. Luckily, this means there is so much gameplay. So much. But I can't help but miss a lot of what makes these games so good. Tongue is no longer in cheek.
The gameplay in this entry is revolutionary. I kept thinking about how this style hasn't really been emulated again - the stealth/open world combo worked incredibly well. Items and development and hell, even the side ops in the combined open areas were so well designed. I think that some of the game gets a little, a tadge, a smidgen repetitive. But every time I felt that way, I switched up my style. I picked a new weapon, a new arm, a new buddy. Boom - new game. It feels so good to experiment.
I did about 150 of the 157ish side ops in the game. Similar to Peace Walker, these did not feel important, but the gameplay does genuinely make them work in this format. It was lowkey strange to see "important side ops" (why not make them main missions???) but the nonimportant ones were decent encounters to tackle.
However, what the game gets so, so wrong are the boss fights. Sahelanthropus is a pushover. The Skulls are exceedingly difficult. Quiet is fun, but it's one of the only, very very short instances of great boss design. It's disappointing.
The game does not have a particular take on killing or going non-lethal, which felt really out of place. I did mostly non-lethal, and the only real indications for these things are the shrapnel and the codenames you receive. It's another disappointing part of the game.
Metal Gear Solid V's story gets really close to being great. I would probably say it's just good. Maybe just decent. There's not a whole lot of it. And had I stuck with just the first credit roll, the one after Chapter 31, it's bad. The twist(s) after are really good, and the way it recontextualizes the original games (where are the remakes!!) is incredible. Really what sucks is the prevailing theme that this Boss is just a terrible person. He's an antagonist in the franchise for a reason. So is Ocelot. It genuinely is hard to play as Big Boss sometimes, even during cutscenes. There are many, many uncomfortable torture scenes, some filled with gore and other impossible-to-look-at scenarios. I have a pretty good stomach for these things and yet this game pushed my buttons.
This brings me to probably the most conflicting and confusing part of Metal Gear Solid V - the game is cruel. It's weirdly cruel. I had this thought many, many times throughout the game. The torture scenes are one thing, but even then this game generally just seems to have a disposition towards making the player do more and more difficult things for no real reason. The sickness in the game is tragic but the game never makes you feel the weight of the losses in a meaningful way. Even the ashes scene is very short lived and doesn't actually account for anyone in the first wave of the sickness. We stopped Skull Face from unleashing his language disease throughout the world and I don't feel like a hero. You're not supposed to. It's intentional, and yet I feel bad. The strong feelings the game elicits out of me are worth the discussion for sure, and it feels intentional to feel this way, but I'm not a fan of this decision. This is especially true knowing that Kojima goes to Death Stranding next, a game build on love and connection - these games are night and day. So strange.
I have a lot more I could say on each game I mentioned. But I don't want to bloat this retrospective up. I played every game within a month, and I would need more reflection on each anyways. I know that 2 is my favorite, but 4 is the one I want to replay the most. V feels like such a black sheep, and it's not even the worst game in the franchise. If you've made it this far, you've most likely already played these games, but if you haven't, please do give them a try. Even V and Peace Walker. I knew going in that this was a massive hole in my library, and I feel changed after this series in a way that I couldn't explain in words. It's too bad that V feels this way, but the main universe and vision that Kojima and crew had when making these games is so unique and wonderful and grounded and real and fantasy. This dichotomy is what made this series such an amazing experience.
I wanted to write this retrospective on the whole series but focus on V (this is the V page and all) but I do have a lot more thoughts on each game. Feel free to pick my brain (especially about V, 4 or 2 smile) or criticize my takes in the comments. Can't wait for Death Stranding 2 and OD. Thanks all.
Indivisible
2019
I would die for Razmi and Team Idiot.
The games combat is super cool and really fun to mess with, I just think there are a few annoying enemies and all enemies are kinda damage sponges. The story and character writing is perfect tho and kept me in it for every second of it.
The games combat is super cool and really fun to mess with, I just think there are a few annoying enemies and all enemies are kinda damage sponges. The story and character writing is perfect tho and kept me in it for every second of it.
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