The combat in this one doesn’t have much depth but man is it fun. Just messing around with blade mode and seeing how many things you can cut in half is way more fun than it should be, and being able to heal yourself by cutting enemies precisely is super satisfying. The bosses are where this combat system shines, each one makes you use the free blade system in different ways, and their designs and characters make them incredibly memorable, which is complemented by the phenomenal soundtrack that ramps up when you get to the final stage of the fight. The only thing about the general gameplay that I really dislike is when they try to get you to be stealthy, but there’s nothing stopping you from just fighting everyone most of the time. In regards to the story, I’ve never played a mainline Metal Gear game so I didn’t really care much about the connections to the world or the commentary, but it has such a fun level of campiness that you’d expect from a platinum game. It’s the definition of mindless fun, but it’s not the best platinum game.