Most reviews penalize this game because of value. Was the price inflated upon release? Sure, but prices go down over time, and Ground Zeroes got coupled with The Phantom Pain in a full MGSV combo pack, as predicted. The price is no longer a talking point. I wasn't pleased with what felt like a swindle, but it was a combination of multiple factors. One, I was excited to play MGSV, and I assumed this was the game in its entirety upon starting to play it (I didn't purchase the game with my own money) and obviously didn't get that, and two, I was not as immersed in the world of Metal Gear Solid to be able to maximize my experience.

Nowadays I really frown upon people referring to this as a demo, even if functionally it may appear to serve that purpose. If this is a demo, it is the most elaborate demo ever devised, and the density of character study and world planning that culminates just in this one mission really makes this feel like it'd be the highlight of any other AAA game. It's certainly more immersive from the getgo, with a huge arena of traversal too, and the climax is so impeccably paced that you had the sense that Kojima never feared any raising of expectations, high as they already may have been.

Perhaps if The Phantom Pain turned out to be mediocre, then people would have reappraised this, but that's not a worthy sacrifice to make. We're better off with it being their loss instead.