This review contains spoilers
Metal Gear Solid V is what I can only call a shattered masterpiece. Only by combining Peace Walker, Ground Zeroes, and The Phantom Pain, does Metal Gear Solid V live up to its predecessors. Most of the story elements are lost in Codec Tapes, the emotional base of the story lies solely in playing Peace Walker, which is only available on PSP and PS3. The entire thirst for revenge the story wants you to have lies in playing Peace Walker and then Ground Zeroes. None of The Phantom Pain's story elements work without playing those two games. Even the gameplay itself is shattered. Most of the pretty good stealth locations are broken across the empty maps. The bulk of the story and lore happens at the very end of the game, but not in the way it is done in past games. Rather than being slowly unraveled, spiraling down the rabbit hole, the game just dumps the tapes on you after a certain point.
The Phantom Pain is not Metal Gear Solid V. It is only a piece of it. From a story perspective, Metal Gear Solid V is often seen as the worst by far, but that is because people are only viewing the second act of a story. Peace Walker is not "optional". It is just as integral as any other game in the series. The choice to not number it was the biggest piece of damage done to the reputation of Metal Gear Solid V.
The voice actor for Snake was the worst part for me. The reason of "having a more serious tone" does nothing for me because it doesn't feel anymore serious than the previous games. It definitely takes itself more seriously than those games did, but ultimately, it was likely for a foothold into Hollywood. I still think Hayter should've had some kind of role in this game, as it's very clear he can more than handle more serious tones, as seen in Metal Gear Solid 4. The entire ending sequence with Jack Snake monologuing didn't hit as hard as it could've because it still doesn't feel like Snake. It still feels like his phantom talking. Kiefer Sutherland just didn't really fit his role, as much as I truly wanted him to.
Easily the best performance in Metal Gear Solid V was Robin Atkin Downes as Kazuhira Miller. He was able to capture so many different tones and balance so many different emotions with just his voice alone.
The Phantom Pain is not Metal Gear Solid V. It is only a piece of it. From a story perspective, Metal Gear Solid V is often seen as the worst by far, but that is because people are only viewing the second act of a story. Peace Walker is not "optional". It is just as integral as any other game in the series. The choice to not number it was the biggest piece of damage done to the reputation of Metal Gear Solid V.
The voice actor for Snake was the worst part for me. The reason of "having a more serious tone" does nothing for me because it doesn't feel anymore serious than the previous games. It definitely takes itself more seriously than those games did, but ultimately, it was likely for a foothold into Hollywood. I still think Hayter should've had some kind of role in this game, as it's very clear he can more than handle more serious tones, as seen in Metal Gear Solid 4. The entire ending sequence with Jack Snake monologuing didn't hit as hard as it could've because it still doesn't feel like Snake. It still feels like his phantom talking. Kiefer Sutherland just didn't really fit his role, as much as I truly wanted him to.
Easily the best performance in Metal Gear Solid V was Robin Atkin Downes as Kazuhira Miller. He was able to capture so many different tones and balance so many different emotions with just his voice alone.