Fotheringay
Member
You can say the same thing about the codec conversations in the previous games (I find a lot of them boring). It really depends on if you like the language concept or not. I really like it.
Kojima's always been poor at writing expository dialogue, but in previous games the repetition was usually within the framework of the main story, not additional information sources that only those invested in the story will seek out. By sidelining so much of the story to these optional tapes, it feels like they got caught playing both sides. I lost count of how many times someone felt the need to repeat that "THE WOLBACHIA TURN ALL THE PARASITES TO FEMALE, AND FEMALES CANNOT COPULATE". Okay okay I get it, I'm invested in this story enough to not forget what you've said over and over, now is there anything actually new in here? Couple that with the possibility of weird pacing issues, where you'll listen to a tape or see an optional cutscene, and then a main story plotline immediately repeats, or acts in contradiction with what you just witnessed, and it makes for an even more frustrating experience than hearing Snake repeat "METAL GEAR?" for the 40th time.