Unlike many players, this game's core gameplay loop had me hooked from the beginning. I loved just traversing the environment on foot or by bike, holding my breath as I nervously tried to sneak past enemies, etc. As the game progressed, I got deep into building up infrastructure that would allow me to carry packages all over the network easily and without risk of being attacked. I ended up spending hours maxing out my rating with every single settlement. So, needless to say, I had fun with the game.

The writing is standard Kojima, which is to say not standard at all. I really love the way it explored its central themes of isolation and connection, life and death, etc. The way it plays on the ambiguity of the word "strand" is legitimately poetic and especially impressive for someone whose first language isn't English. All that said, the story kind of gets folded in on itself and the mythology becomes so convoluted that it becomes difficult to tell what the game is trying to say. Again, though, that's classic Kojima.

All in all, I'm delighted that the AAA space has room for games like this, and I eagerly await the next offering from one of gaming's great geniuses.