for a guy with a reputation for film worship I don't think there's anyone in the business who is as great of a mechanical game designer as kojima, and this is him operating on all cylinders. traversal taken to its logical extreme with Mario level movement feel. The shared ownership you feel over the UCA with other random players made guys named like "FullMetal_Greg" and "Lucosis" placing perfectly laid ziplines and bridges them some of my favorite characters in the game. Seeing the same weirdly placed ladder at the beginning of the game in the same place at the end made me feel something no other game ever has.

This is kojima at his most earnest? Do ppl not like world-building anymore? Unlike the more heady MGS Geopolitical stuff this is a straightforward story of connection and love being able to defeat even the apocalypse. Also lots of great gags! Having to transport your first live person across Freaky Umbilical Cord Ghost territory to her true love only to get an unceremonious email later saying they got divorced and she went back home? Mads dressed as santa? BB clapping while you ride a zipline? The otter hat? Ppl treat kojima with way more seriousness than he's ever taken himself.

a game so compelling and emotionally resonant it made me like a CHVRCHES song