Have been excited to play this game for years. I felt a little bit disappointed in the first couple hours but it quickly picked up and by the end I was absolutely on board, sign me up for MGS2 immediately. The last couple hours/final boss in particular are an easy 10/10 and definitely improve the earlier parts with the knowledge of the story they add.
The presentation is absurd for the time, with the best voice acting of the era and fantastic cutscene direction, and the way the gameplay integrates into the story is genuinely unlike anything else.
Speaking of that gameplay, it's................ not good, but I've played worse for sure. Only really frustrated me in one section, and overall, it's intentionally a little primitive. Not a huge detractor at all.