Metal Gear Solid V - The Phantom Pain

[Ruki]

 

Hidden Content

I did think that...then they had thing DNA test amd they were all "He's not your kid/clone."

And Apsham

Yeah, I dislike the lack of a proper ending. And having to go through the whole opening mission again was a pain in the ass because it's just so slow and doesn't have the same effect as the first time around. But I DID enjoy getting to see Quiet again. And I like the explanation that the Boss you kill in the first Metal Gear was the fake.

Overall? Fantastic gameplay, a very good first act (with some minor complaints, mostly Skullface just kinda being there), a less than stellar second act, and a kind of weak ending. While not the perfect way for the MGS series to end, it is acceptable.

 

[Liam]

So, if I've not been a huge fan of MGS games since MGS 1 and 2, is this really worth having a look at? The reviews do make it sound awesome.

[Bobfoc]

I would say so, given that the story isn't all that important when it comes to understanding this one. The gameplay is considerably different from the ones you've played, although it does retain some of the series' conventional quirks. Bear in mind that it's a long game, but I'm around halfway through and still enjoy playing around in the game world, which is quite unusual for me.

[Benji]

So, if I've not been a huge fan of MGS games since MGS 1 and 2, is this really worth having a look at? The reviews do make it sound awesome.

It's relatively self-contained, and anything you don't understand we can explain or you can Google (latter at risk of spoilers  ).

[Liam]

So, if I've not been a huge fan of MGS games since MGS 1 and 2, is this really worth having a look at? The reviews do make it sound awesome.

It's relatively self-contained, and anything you don't understand we can explain or you can Google (latter at risk of spoilers  ).

I watched an IGN review of it - it does look really cool.

I've got £28 or so of CEX vouchers and am going to trade in Handsome Collection of Borderlands - gives me enough to pick it up.

[Benji]

I literally only realised yesterday that the name Diamond Dogs is another reference to David Bowie >_>

[Bobfoc]

I've just reached the point at which FOBs are unlocked. How vital is it that I use them? I normally play offline because it takes away the annoying load times on the iDroid, but that means that I can't access my FOB content. I'd much rather just ignore the whole thing and get on with the game offline if it doesn't make much of a difference.

[Liam]

I purchased it. The prologue felt like it took a long while. First storming of an outpost was good fun though.

[Ruki]

I've just reached the point at which FOBs are unlocked. How vital is it that I use them? I normally play offline because it takes away the annoying load times on the iDroid, but that means that I can't access my FOB content. I'd much rather just ignore the whole thing and get on with the game offline if it doesn't make much of a difference.

I never used the FOBs and I was fine.

[Bobfoc]

Excellent. I'll gladly ignore them from now on.

[apsham]

I never touched them myself either, much preferred the better loading times.

[Benji]

Yeah, I think the only time I did it was to get the achievement, then I turned it off. I have no interest in it at all.

One tip I will say for anyone starting - make researching the best fulton extractions your priority, because they make a lot of missions significantly easier.

[Liam]

2 hours ago, Benji The Friendly Ghost said:

Yeah, I think the only time I did it was to get the achievement, then I turned it off. I have no interest in it at all.

One tip I will say for anyone starting - make researching the best fulton extractions your priority, because they make a lot of missions significantly easier.

I will bear this in mind, even though it literally means nothing to me at the moment >_>

I did the first part of the first mission. I suck at stealth as always, but I did feel that at least I wasn't really punished for that in this game.

[DavidMarrio]

48 minutes ago, Big Hairy Man Face said:

I will bear this in mind, even though it literally means nothing to me at the moment >_>

I did the first part of the first mission. I suck at stealth as always, but I did feel that at least I wasn't really punished for that in this game.

Yeh it's better this metal gear in terms of having multiple options to do a mission. 

You'll get better with stealth over time. Sometimes you can do stealth missions really quick other times I've spent like 2 hours on the mission 

[Kaney]

I can't believe it's taken to mission 40 to find out how fun it is too eliminate entire units by rocket punching them in the ass.

[Kaney]

I just finished the last main mission. Really don't know what to think about the ending.

So there's two Big Bosses? And NONE of them are voiced by Hayter? :( I dislike that they said the fake one went on to be Solid Snakes original foe, then the real one was the bad guy in the sequel. Does no one notice the horn? Or that he's somehow regrown his arm?

I hate that Eli rebels and escapes with Sehalanthropus but....no follow up? The game was built up to be about how Big Boss goes evil but it's not even about him? And he doesn't even do anything really? Lamesauce. I actually completely forgot about Skull face, he was that crap. They made a big deal about him being someone from Big Boss' past when Ground Zeros was released.

The story was all over the place even for MGS and the quarantine outbreak stuff was so tedious. I really enjoyed the game for what it was, it was an excellent fun game but it didn't really feel like a Metal Gear game. Taking enemies by Fulton extraction is great fun but it kind of rids the need to be stealthy. It's all worth it for the rocket punch though.

[TKz]

Spoilers below... my spoiler code doesn't seem to work...

 

 

The follow up with Eli was cut from the game due to time constraints and probably because Konami were falling the fuck apart by the end of development. And Big Boss never went evil is kind of the twist. When you play as Snake to take him out in Metal Gear, you're working for the Patriots, who Boss is trying to take out. Well, Boss goes extreme to do it, but technically he's still fighting the Patriots. And yeah, the tease of Ghost Face didn't pay off. Saying it was someone from Boss' past set up the idea of him being a reveal, but instead it's just "He's a dude that's been working behind the scenes with you this whole time!

Have you listened to the post-game tapes? They're all pretty crazy revealing.

I don't disagree that there's ton of stuff that's missing and kind of left up to you to figure out, but if you've followed the Metal Gear story, it's a pretty fascinating addition to the story. It still blows my mind that Zero was pretty much never that evil.

I think my problems with the game are the lack of interesting boss characters and not having a proper final antagonist. And I'm not even sure that Eli or Salhenthrapos really would've worked for me as that in the end, if they'd been included.

At the end of the day, it was an amazing game with some pretty great story beats, but any Metal Gear game that doesn't end with a fist fight on top of a Metal Gear is clearly missing some key elements to what makes a Metal Gear game.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 4, 2015 by TKzo Amore

[Benji]

I read somewhere someone described it as "a quality AAA game, just not a quality Metal Gear game", seemed like a fair assessment to me. But yeah, if you haven't listened to the tapes then do that, there's some major story and revelations in there.

[Ruki]

8 hours ago, Benji The Friendly Ghost said:

I read somewhere someone described it as "a quality AAA game, just not a quality Metal Gear game", seemed like a fair assessment to me. But yeah, if you haven't listened to the tapes then do that, there's some major story and revelations in there.

I would agree with that.

 

Also, what were said in the tapes? By the time I was done the game I was tired and didn't want to listen to 10+ tapes that are 5+ minutes long.

[Benji]

17 hours ago, Ruki said:

I would agree with that.

 

Also, what were said in the tapes? By the time I was done the game I was tired and didn't want to listen to 10+ tapes that are 5+ minutes long.

Can't really summarise it myself, a fair bit of stuff that adds in context. Can probably pick it up by reading Wiki pages for characters. I only listened because I wanted the trophy for 300 developed weapons and had time to waste, but they were very good.