I can't believe this is it. I can't believe this is what I've been waiting for all these years. I'm... disappointed. The gameplay is superb, best in the series even. But it required a big sacrifice.
This game. It's not... It's not a Metal Gear Solid game. This might sound a little extreme. Yes, it still has funny tapes. It still has funny gameplay mechanics. But it lost the most important part of Metal Gear, to me. It lost its personality. The game is too serious for its own good. I guess some people will be fine with this as the franchise has always been way very tongue-in-cheek, but that's what I liked so much about it.
This franchise has always had over the top villains, crazy good boss fights, a storyline that is both hilarious and emotional and it just all fit together, you know? It sounds like a messed up combination, but it worked just fine for Metal Gear Solid.
I appreciate Kojima finally perfected the gameplay to this. The game has tons of options. But the open world feels empty. And the missing link he promised us, the big question that would finally be solved after 28 years remains unsolved. People wanted to see Big Boss become a demon. People wanted Gray Fox to be here. People wanted a fallout between Big Boss and Kaz. Perhaps even ending with Solid Snake infiltrating Outer Heaven.
That's not to say you can't make an interesting story without the things I just listed, but that's not even the case. The story is very weak in this game. And with weak, I don't mean it doesn't make any sense like a lot of the MGS games. It's weak because it's just there. The game doesn't do much with it. There is very little personality. A lot of the characters are weak. Boss fights are disappointing and mostly not even there.
It's a great game, just not a great Metal Gear Solid game.