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[Opto]

Ground Zeroes really shouldn't have breached the subject matter it did because it pretty much all went out the window. TPP Skull Face was depicted as a pulpy villain but after his actions in GZ it feels disjointed

 

[Chariot]

In 45 get behind the material container. Nothing ever pierced that baby.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

In 45 get behind the material container. Nothing ever pierced that baby.

Material container is my BFF

 

[Not Spaceghost]

Ground Zeroes really shouldn't have breached the subject matter it did because it pretty much all went out the window. TPP Skull Face was depicted as a pulpy villain but after his actions in GZ it feels disjointed

It just dawned on me that GZ while a smaller scope had a way more fleshed out story and had 10x better side missions.

 

[Resilient]

Material container is my BFF

Material container + rocket launcher = win

If you scrub'd out on Mission 45 and cried foul I have no sympathy, you can just call in a rocket launcher and your Battle Dress (which should be developed by that point to Defense 2) and win teh internet bitcoin warz.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Pequod makes a really good distraction, too

 

[Nif]

The trick to the quiet mission is to realize that the enemy spawns in waves and that Quiet is doing a lot of damage and progressing the waves fairly quickly. Save a non-tank, tell her to stand down, do just enough damage to the vehicle so it stops moving but isn't on fire (you'll have to get a feel for how many rockets this takes. With the multi missile lock on launcher, one shot), get yourself settled for the next wave. I found that decoys help tremendously against the large tanks. They're slow to fire, so make a wall across the palace away from yourself to keep them occupied. You'll get lots of decoys during supply drops. Also helps to plant them partially behind some cover.

It's still hard with all of this knowledge, but less frustrating.

 

[Toxi]

I like how Skullface gives his speech about freeing the world from the english language in english.

And then awkwardly stares at Snake for a couple minutes while Sins of the Father plays.

 

[Vigilant Gambit]

Gotta say, everything involving Quiet in MGS is just terrible--even ignoring the 'shame' stuff, she poisons everything she touches. Not even Snake could resist it, getting poisoned because he saw through his blind spot and defended himself with the wrong arm. I don't even think she has a circulatory system, how could a snake bite even hurt her? C'mon, Boss!


That mission is badly designed and counter to everything else in the game. The thing is, in the final phase of the battle there are two tanks, with one arriving before and one after the helicopter, that are essentially super tanks. These two super tanks have super-cannons that one-shot Snake from any angle; further, their cannons are the only weapons (I know of) capable of piercing cover or obstacles like walls. This means that it's impossible to take cover from them as you fight--you have to let Quiet grab their attention as you sit far away, hidden, or else risk an instant game over when they get a decent shot off. It took me forever to get through that mission.

I thought he would've pulled out his silenced sidearm and just shot it real quick. I thought that scene was weird, too.

But as for the fight, I know the "super" tanks. I killed the helicopter with the Killer Bee by hiding behind the house and popping out long enough to lock on and fire before reloading and repeating. When the tanks showed up, I switched back to the GRUM 11 and did the same thing, except from the front room. The tanks would fire at me even though I was safely in the room, so I would wait to hear a shot hit the outer wall, then duck out, fire a rocket, duck back in, reload, and wait for the next shot. That finally got me the win after 20+ tries.

What really sucks is finding out that getting Quiet back after she leaves is actually impossible. I thought the whole point of that mission was to get her back. It was the last story-related thing I had left before I was gonna concentrate on side ops and playing for score. I even have the damn strategy guide. I knew Quiet would leave. I just didn't know it would be permanent because I knew there was a mission to get her back. Fuck.

That's the one thing that's messed with me the most about this game. I really liked her, both as a character and as a combat buddy. Thinking about how useless she becomes when soldiers rock helmets makes it a little easy to get over the loss of her, though.


As for some of the other discussions I've seen, it's interesting to see you guys debate the certainty of some events, like the shit Huey did. I have the strategy guide, and it devotes quite a few pages to summing up the story. Huey straight up did all the shit he was accused of. Lack of direct evidence or no, at least the strategy guide seems to pick a side. Or should we treat it as another set of people interpreting the events of the game, despite their official involvement with Kojipro over the years?

I like how Skullface gives his speech about freeing the world from the english language in english.

It's because he got infected with god knows how many vocal cord parasites over the years. The only strain he knows for certain he isn't infected with is the English one.

 

[AAMARMO]

Interesting issued 1979?

Also the tape

 

[Prototype]

A game with a theme of language and both its biggest stars hardly speak at all. It's so Kojima in the Kojima-est sort of way.

 

[Vigilant Gambit]

My fan theory is that it's not a numbered entry in the series at all.

Kojima's grand plan with MGSV was to finally succeed at not making a Metal Gear Solid game. He has said that the V is not pronounced as a 5 because it stands for victory. It's also because this isn't a true entry in the series in any way.

-The Gameplay is almost totally different than previous entries
-There are no boss battles, something the series is known for
-The story goes through great lengths to accomplish nothing within the greater narrative, nothing you do within the game matters, you aren't Snake or Big Boss, none of the side characters are ever mentioned in any other entries, you barely learn anything new, Liquids origin is skipped over/thrown aside out of nowhere, Psycho Mantis has no new character development. Nothing that was teased really happens in the game.
-David Hayter is gone as are most of the previous MGS cast.
-No Codec and the tapes have nowhere near the same effect, almost none of the trademark silliness MGS is known for

I had to write this down somewhere. I know it's not real.

I disagree. Every MGS game has been an evolution in some way. Maybe less of an evolution with each successive game, but an evolution nonetheless.

MGS2 added first-person combat and a ton of the "little" things that add up to an insane game (like shooting out lights and radios).

MGS 3 had the camo index system.

MGS 4... had some pretty open-ended levels, and an improvement on the camo index system. Also a new system to replace the soliton radar.

MGS V has full free-roam and AI buddies.

MGS V also has boss battles. Kojima refers to them as such in the strategy guide, though he notes that unlike previous MGS games, most of them are optional. You can simply run away or otherwise complete your objective. When the Skulls jump you after you retrieve the Killer Bee, for example, if you simply GTFO, you can complete that mission while skipping the boss fight.

As for your point about the story, I think a lot of what you're saying ignores the tapes. Assuming the third child is Psycho Mantis, MGS V pretty much explains his origin story in detail. Yes, your character is a phantom, but the shit he does matters.

I have to agree with you about the rest, though. Aside from Huey, I don't recognize the other voices. And the only silly stuff in the game is the Hamburger tapes, and maybe some of the posters.

Also the tape

That Operation is the name of Snake's mission in Metal Gear. Also, that noise you hear when V puts that tape in (which is apparently something that looks like an MSX?) is the noise the MSX makes when you load a save file.

I think kojima is missing the writing portion to be considered an auteur. He has people help him write, and the end result often is a disjointed mess because of clashing styles, taking input from others and pandering to cosplayers. He's a brilliant game designer but he bends to much to the whim of fans and those around him for me to consider him an auteur.

I disagree. AAA titles like MGS V are simply too big for anyone to single-handedly be in charge of any massive feature. If Kojima was responsible for not only coming up with the plot of the game, but also writing every single line of dialogue for every character, he wouldn't have time to do anything else, and he has his hands in pretty much every decision-making aspect of the game.

Kojima wrote, directed, produced, and designed the game. That is a shit-ton of hats to be wearing. The producer one, I think, is key. That role means he ultimately makes the decisions about what gets cut and what ends up on the disc.

 

[Golnei]

I didn't realise how short Big Boss was...

 

[The Dear Leader]

I didn't realise how short Big Boss was...

Some of it has to do with his bad posture.

EDIT: I'm watching an X-Files episode that talks about Ahab, Ishmael and Moby Dick a lot. ILLUMANURTY CONFIRMED.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

I didn't realise how short Big Boss was...

I love this picture so much because it's the only time we see any indication of Venom knowing and having a good working relationship with Boss, or any indication of his character during his time at MSF at all.

At least, I always assumed that to be V on the right.

 

[Chariot]

I didn't realise how short Big Boss was...

Well, in his line of work it's of advantage to be of small size. Better to hide and get inside narrow openings. It would be mote puzzled if he were big. Tiny Boss Best Boss.

 

[The Dear Leader]

I love this picture so much because it's the only time we see any indication of Venom knowing and having a good working relationship with Boss, or any indication of his character during his time at MSF at all.

At least, I always assumed that to be V on the right.

It is I believe, I also like how it says ME on his vest lol.

 

[Surface of Me]

I didn't realise how short Big Boss was...

Venom is clearly taller than BB.


Would people really think he grew some inches in the coma?

 

[Chariot]

Venom is clearly taller than BB.


Would people really think he grew some inches in the coma?

People didn't seehim for 9 years, your not having an exact memory of his height to catch the small difference.

 

[hiphoptherobot]

So it just dawned on me that Kojima hinted at the medic/ boss surprise from the very beginning with his Joakim character switcheroo at the Video game awards. Sorry if this has been brought up a thousand times but it just now clicked with me as I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep.

 

[Golnei]

Would people really think he grew some inches in the coma?

The actual Venom model has the same proportions as Big Boss, so maybe part of the reason V had to be kept in an induced coma for so long was the result of healing resectioned bones?

People didn't seehim for 9 years, your not having an exact memory of his height to catch the small difference.

Ocelot and Miller would both know him intimately enough to tell the difference, but the former was in on it and the latter is implied to be at least partially blind in TPP.

Notably, Volgin does realise he's not Big Boss once he gets a closer look at him; though he really should have at least tried to use the same method to identify him as in MGS3.

 

[Vigilant Gambit]

What bothers me most about the twist is that there was no lead up. You're just back to playing the epilogue again. Theres no big boss hits his head and comes to this realization, or big boss has intel of a doppleganger half way around the world, or miller questioning if he is the real big boss, since Eli doesn't share the same genes.

Miller was in on it, as was Ocelot. When he finds out, he gets pissed off at Big Boss for, essentially, cutting him out of the dream that they were supposed to realize together.

Well my questions are being things such as why they didn't wake Venom up years ago since he would keep the legend alive while Big Boss was in a coma, how Solid Snake never recognized Venom as not the real big boss.

You don't simply 'wake' someone up from a coma. That's not how that works.

And the only people that knew the truth about Venom Snake were Venom himself, Zero (who orchestrated it), Ocelot, and Miller, but since they all used hypnosis of some form or another, it didn't matter that they knew. IIRC the "Doublethink" tape explains this.

its hit or miss on what you can climb on, what you can't and when Snake will decide to slide down a 2 foot boulder.

A-fucking-men.

Yes. I was planning on replaying missions after I had a 100% completion, but losing Quiet killed my interest in replaying anything. And I'm not starting a new save file now that I finally have everything developed (I'm not going through that grind again) I hope they patch her back into the game or something.

I'm in the same boat. I was all psyched to go hard on side ops, optional missions, and getting high scores or trying out all the different ways to play the game, but damn it, I got way too used to having Quiet on board. If you look at her on the way to a drop point, she turns and gives you a nod. Not to mention all the antics she gets up to when her Bond is maxed out.

"She still wanted revenge on some level" is such nonsense. I feel like V could've said "hey, burning you back then was all Ishmael, not me. Remember the other dude in the hospital room?" And she might've had an "oh shit you're right, kill these parasites real quick so we can conversate" moment.

But Kojima just had to do it. I didn't care when Aerith died, but I imagine it must've felt something like this for the people who experienced it before it became one of those super-well-known spoilers.

 

[Chariot]

Ocelot and Miller would both know him intimately enough to tell the difference, but the former was in on it and the latter is implied to be at least partially blind in TPP.

Notably, Volgin does realise he's not Big Boss once he gets a closer look at him; though he really should have at least tried to use the same method to identify him as in MGS3.

Why would they catch something like a few centimeters in height?

 

[TetraGenesis]

As for the bolded, if it had been handled better Quiet's story was excellent. In many ways she was the best thing about the game.

The main story beats:
1. She's a Cipher assassin, sent to kill BB, but fails and is essentially burned alive. (Note: Interesting set-up for a character, she potential motivations for various actions regarding Skullface and BB/Venom already)
2. Skullface uses magic (parasites) to make her into a superhuman, and sends her back to kill BB (who's now actually Venom).
3. She tries to snipe Venom but fails again. However he spares her life. (Note: this kind of important moment between two characters setting up a dynamic relationship essentially NEVER happens in this game other than now.) This obviously sets up a conflict as her mission is still to kill him.
4. There is intrigue at her reluctance to talk. Venom decides to keep her around but acknowledges he might have to kill her. (Now we know both characters might kill the other, but both have reasons not to. Venom because he's a nice guy and would like info on Cipher, Quiet because her life has been saved.)
5. As the parasite thing comes to light, it becomes clear that Quiet is infected, and this is why she does not speak. The early intrigue successfully resolved in a way that makes sense.
6. Due to the last point, she could kill them all with words (clever plot by Skullface here) but is choosing not to. A noble sacrifice, which is obviously because she refuses to kill Venom because of him sparing her life. The assassin is reforming. Scene with Code Talker where she finally speaks confirms this.
7. Various cutscenes as well as the ingame missions show her bond with Venom growing, and them making an awesome team. The relationship grows. The player, too, grows attached to her.
8. The virus mutates leading to disaster, and it becomes clear to Quiet that she is still a threat. She leaves. Again, a noble decision, but one they can't let stand as she's dangerous. Something needs to be done. She's promptly captured for whatever reason.
9. Venom goes after her and it's unsure whether he'll kill or save her. (Well, it's supposed to be.) They save each other's lives in an epic showdown.
10. Venom is fatally wounded and the only thing that can save him is a medivac. The medivac only speaks English. This is the perfect culmination of the entire arc - All of the above points, from her original mission, to the infection, to her relationship with boss, mean you can see the gears turning as she struggles with the idea of sacrificing herself.
11. She does, and in doing so removes the threat of the virus and essentially ends her own life, for reasons that make complete sense and were shown step by step through the game. The player, like Venom, is left with the pain of losing her. The plot arc leaves no threads hanging.

THAT is reasonable storytelling. THAT worked. Each beat made sense and they were spread out properly. Now, seeing her frolick with Boss in the rain but be tortured by him 5 minutes later after a sideop is why I'm saying it's not perfect. The most fully realised character in the game being used mostly for ridiculous fanservice is why it's not perfect. But it was the best part of the entire story. Sometimes it felt like the entire game was about Quiet, to be honest.

This post is perfection. Everything about it.

 

[PHOTOSHOP]

discover something new about this game everyday

 

[Chariot]

discover something new about this game everyday

Holy crap what is that.

 

[Vigilant Gambit]

Holy crap what is that.

Fully-charged, max upgraded stun arm shot?

This post is perfection. Everything about it.

Quiet's death is the sole reason why I mostly gave up on MGS V after finishing it.

 

[Chinner]

I didn't realise how short Big Boss was...

they're all wearing boots, mang.

 

[Chariot]

Fully-charged, max upgraded stun arm shot?

Ohhh! I never used that thing. This is amazing.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

discover something new about this game everyday

The rain transformed

 

[Golnei]

Why would they catch something like a few centimeters in height?

If you think you can fool me, you're sorely mistaken.
I know the boss better than anyone else...

they're all wearing boots, mang.

Doesn't the GZ/PW suit have a similarly-sized heel built into it, though?

From this angle, they look about the same size as the ones on Miller's boots.

 

[dmshaposv]

I think kojima is missing the writing portion to be considered an auteur. He has people help him write, and the end result often is a disjointed mess because of clashing styles, taking input from others and pandering to cosplayers. He's a brilliant game designer but he bends to much to the whim of fans and those around him for me to consider him an auteur.

Kojima is a goddamn shit writer. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

But how many AAA games can you name that seem like they were influenced and made by a single person? only kojima. He has David Bowie and Joy Division thrown in just because he can.

So in that sense he is an auteur of the video game world. He does and gets what HE wants.

 

[Xanathus]

I just noticed something super dumb about the twist. At the very beginning where the doctor asks you for your name and birthday, you're supposed to enter in your (Medic's) name. But at that point Medic is supposed to be hypnotized or whatever into thinking that he's Big Boss, so why would he respond with his real name? The real name is even used for the fake passport given to Big Boss so obviously that's meant to be Medic's real name. Also how do you hypnotize visual memories into someone who's in a coma.

 

[Jangowuzhere]

I just noticed something super dumb about the twist. At the very beginning where the doctor asks you for your name and birthday, you're supposed to enter in your (Medic's) name. But at that point Medic is supposed to be hypnotized or whatever into thinking that he's Big Boss, so why would he respond with his real name? The real name is even used for the fake passport given to Big Boss so obviously that's meant to be Medic's real name. Also how do you hypnotize visual memories into someone who's in a coma.

Venom never says the name out loud. Also, it's done on different menu separate from the game cutscene. We can assume that Venom is saying he's Big Boss, and the player is simply inputing their own name and BD.

It just serves as a lead in to the meta ending, you're thinking way too hard on it.

 

[LurkerPrime]

I just noticed something super dumb about the twist. At the very beginning where the doctor asks you for your name and birthday, you're supposed to enter in your (Medic's) name. But at that point Medic is supposed to be hypnotized or whatever into thinking that he's Big Boss, so why would he respond with his real name? The real name is even used for the fake passport given to Big Boss so obviously that's meant to be Medic's real name. Also how do you hypnotize visual memories into someone who's in a coma.

It's so badly stuffed in there that I'd assume they needed it for Metal Gear Online. "Here's your new face! Whoops, your face reverted back--nevermind that, I'm being murdered!"

They don't show Quiet's face in the first playthrough do they? They certainly avoided the "What about him?" scene. It's all misdirection.

 

[PedroPanache]

I just noticed something super dumb about the twist. At the very beginning where the doctor asks you for your name and birthday, you're supposed to enter in your (Medic's) name. But at that point Medic is supposed to be hypnotized or whatever into thinking that he's Big Boss, so why would he respond with his real name? The real name is even used for the fake passport given to Big Boss so obviously that's meant to be Medic's real name. Also how do you hypnotize visual memories into someone who's in a coma.

His cybernetic arm was filled with the memories of Big Boss, so once that was attached it leaked into his bloodstream and overwrote his real memories of being a medic. Then from outer-space, a spotty man bought him back to life with his cosmic dust. He took him to a magic cloud where Mother Nature gave him special powers. That medic became Super Ted! Or Big Boss! I really don't know any more. I may have confused the lore with an 80s cartoon.

 

[SJRB]

I just noticed something super dumb about the twist. At the very beginning where the doctor asks you for your name and birthday, you're supposed to enter in your (Medic's) name. But at that point Medic is supposed to be hypnotized or whatever into thinking that he's Big Boss, so why would he respond with his real name? The real name is even used for the fake passport given to Big Boss so obviously that's meant to be Medic's real name. Also how do you hypnotize visual memories into someone who's in a coma.

The same reason you're asked to fill in your name and birthday for Raiden in MGS2 - because it's meta as fuck. There's nothing dumb about it. Raiden casts away the dogtags and finally accepts his own identity in the finale of MGS2. There is an intricate role for the player in the plot.

A similar thing happens in MGSV. Remember that in the end you, as the player, are also Big Boss. You've played as Big Boss, made choices as Big Boss, but [similar to the medic] you are not Big Boss. You are you.

 

[Mr. RHC]

Mission 45 is my personal conclusion to this game, storywise!

 

[JayEH]

You don't simply 'wake' someone up from a coma. That's not how that works.

And the only people that knew the truth about Venom Snake were Venom himself, Zero (who orchestrated it), Ocelot, and Miller, but since they all used hypnosis of some form or another, it didn't matter that they knew. IIRC the "Doublethink" tape explains this.

Venom was in an artificially induced coma and woken up once Big Boss did. It wasn't a coincidence they both woke up at the same time.

 

[Ill Saint]

After almost 3 weeks of solid playtime, it's time to shelve The Phantom Pain.

My lasting impression is that the game seemed to punish and take away far more than it gave back me as a gamer.

In the end, this didn't leave me feeling particularly good about my overall experience. Lots of grind, repetition, waiting around for arbitrary timers, and some significant frustration for rather minimal payoff, sense of achievement or accomplishment. Not to mention that there was so little conclusion or closer to story threads and characters that in the end it all felt quite hollow and empty.

The final kick in the teeth was playing through Quiet's conclusion and realising that she's gone for good and I have no way of getting her back unless I start a new game. Like others, this has killed my desire to keep playing post true ending. I don't think I will ever be going back and playing through this game from scratch.

Is there any point in doing the EXTREME and SUBSISTENCE missions? I'd rather spare myself the agony if there's little reward.

 

[Prototype]

As for the bolded, if it had been handled better Quiet's story was excellent. In many ways she was the best thing about the game.

The main story beats:
1. She's a Cipher assassin, sent to kill BB, but fails and is essentially burned alive. (Note: Interesting set-up for a character, she potential motivations for various actions regarding Skullface and BB/Venom already)
2. Skullface uses magic (parasites) to make her into a superhuman, and sends her back to kill BB (who's now actually Venom).
3. She tries to snipe Venom but fails again. However he spares her life. (Note: this kind of important moment between two characters setting up a dynamic relationship essentially NEVER happens in this game other than now.) This obviously sets up a conflict as her mission is still to kill him.
4. There is intrigue at her reluctance to talk. Venom decides to keep her around but acknowledges he might have to kill her. (Now we know both characters might kill the other, but both have reasons not to. Venom because he's a nice guy and would like info on Cipher, Quiet because her life has been saved.)
5. As the parasite thing comes to light, it becomes clear that Quiet is infected, and this is why she does not speak. The early intrigue successfully resolved in a way that makes sense.
6. Due to the last point, she could kill them all with words (clever plot by Skullface here) but is choosing not to. A noble sacrifice, which is obviously because she refuses to kill Venom because of him sparing her life. The assassin is reforming. Scene with Code Talker where she finally speaks confirms this.
7. Various cutscenes as well as the ingame missions show her bond with Venom growing, and them making an awesome team. The relationship grows. The player, too, grows attached to her.
8. The virus mutates leading to disaster, and it becomes clear to Quiet that she is still a threat. She leaves. Again, a noble decision, but one they can't let stand as she's dangerous. Something needs to be done. She's promptly captured for whatever reason.
9. Venom goes after her and it's unsure whether he'll kill or save her. (Well, it's supposed to be.) They save each other's lives in an epic showdown.
10. Venom is fatally wounded and the only thing that can save him is a medivac. The medivac only speaks English. This is the perfect culmination of the entire arc - All of the above points, from her original mission, to the infection, to her relationship with boss, mean you can see the gears turning as she struggles with the idea of sacrificing herself.
11. She does, and in doing so removes the threat of the virus and essentially ends her own life, for reasons that make complete sense and were shown step by step through the game. The player, like Venom, is left with the pain of losing her. The plot arc leaves no threads hanging.

THAT is reasonable storytelling. THAT worked. Each beat made sense and they were spread out properly. Now, seeing her frolick with Boss in the rain but be tortured by him 5 minutes later after a sideop is why I'm saying it's not perfect. The most fully realised character in the game being used mostly for ridiculous fanservice is why it's not perfect. But it was the best part of the entire story. Sometimes it felt like the entire game was about Quiet, to be honest.

Quoting this so I can find it later.

Will read again/10

 

[WordsintheWater]

Interesting issued 1979?

Also the tape

This isn't really relevant to what you posted, but it reminded me of something. Being from Cyprus the voice actors that spoke the Cypriot dialect did a very good job. Pretty surreal seeing that attention to detail put in there from the territories that they spoke of and such. Kudos on Kojima for going into something like that, that only a few people would notice.

 

[Drencrom]

discover something new about this game everyday

Fully upgrading my stun arm ASAP

 

[Palpable]

I didn't realise how short Big Boss was...

It's his posture. He's like 5'11" or 6'0" tall. So no, he isn't short.

 

[SomTervo]

These past few pages are so negative. What did everyone LIKE about the story?

I actually found Kid Mantis to be one of my favorite parts of the story. A super powerful psychic who gets fiddle'd by others because he's an innocent kid. They made Volgin coming back seem plausible. Mantis' story arc with crashing the plane when V woke up was really interesting (this is being talked about on the radio the second time V wakes up if you listen). He looks way cooler than than any other character sans Ponytail Snake. Him bonding with Eli was a nice touch. I loved how he took on the visual characteristics of the people he was channeling at the time.

As for the bolded, if it had been handled better Quiet's story was excellent. In many ways she was the best thing about the game.

The main story beats:
1. She's a Cipher assassin, sent to kill BB, but fails and is essentially burned alive. (Note: Interesting set-up for a character, she potential motivations for various actions regarding Skullface and BB/Venom already)
2. Skullface uses magic (parasites) to make her into a superhuman, and sends her back to kill BB (who's now actually Venom).
3. She tries to snipe Venom but fails again. However he spares her life. (Note: this kind of important moment between two characters setting up a dynamic relationship essentially NEVER happens in this game other than now.) This obviously sets up a conflict as her mission is still to kill him.
4. There is intrigue at her reluctance to talk. Venom decides to keep her around but acknowledges he might have to kill her. (Now we know both characters might kill the other, but both have reasons not to. Venom because he's a nice guy and would like info on Cipher, Quiet because her life has been saved.)
5. As the parasite thing comes to light, it becomes clear that Quiet is infected, and this is why she does not speak. The early intrigue successfully resolved in a way that makes sense.
6. Due to the last point, she could kill them all with words (clever plot by Skullface here) but is choosing not to. A noble sacrifice, which is obviously because she refuses to kill Venom because of him sparing her life. The assassin is reforming. Scene with Code Talker where she finally speaks confirms this.
7. Various cutscenes as well as the ingame missions show her bond with Venom growing, and them making an awesome team. The relationship grows. The player, too, grows attached to her.
8. The virus mutates leading to disaster, and it becomes clear to Quiet that she is still a threat. She leaves. Again, a noble decision, but one they can't let stand as she's dangerous. Something needs to be done. She's promptly captured for whatever reason.
9. Venom goes after her and it's unsure whether he'll kill or save her. (Well, it's supposed to be.) They save each other's lives in an epic showdown.
10. Venom is fatally wounded and the only thing that can save him is a medivac. The medivac only speaks English. This is the perfect culmination of the entire arc - All of the above points, from her original mission, to the infection, to her relationship with boss, mean you can see the gears turning as she struggles with the idea of sacrificing herself.
11. She does, and in doing so removes the threat of the virus and essentially ends her own life, for reasons that make complete sense and were shown step by step through the game. The player, like Venom, is left with the pain of losing her. The plot arc leaves no threads hanging.

THAT is reasonable storytelling. THAT worked. Each beat made sense and they were spread out properly. Now, seeing her frolick with Boss in the rain but be tortured by him 5 minutes later after a sideop is why I'm saying it's not perfect. The most fully realised character in the game being used mostly for ridiculous fanservice is why it's not perfect. But it was the best part of the entire story. Sometimes it felt like the entire game was about Quiet, to be honest.

Wow. Yeah, definitely. Nailed it.

For the record, I also really liked the Parasite stuff and how it tied to MGS3, I really liked Psycho Mantis's brilliantly written and downplayed backstory, I really liked Zero's scenes in the final tapes, I fucking loved during The Truth when we suddenly knew that Ishmael was the real Snake - and suddenly all his dialogue made sense. 'You're pretty good.' 'It's always good to patch up your wounds while hiding from the enemy.' 'Aren't you forgetting something? *Takes cigar*'.

I really liked MGSV's story. Of course, I can't deny it had some big problems. But I really liked it.

Kojima is a goddamn shit writer. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

But how many AAA games can you name that seem like they were influenced and made by a single person? only kojima. He has David Bowie and Joy Division thrown in just because he can.

So in that sense he is an auteur of the video game world. He does and gets what HE wants.

He's a great visionary - but not a good writer. Especially not when he forces localisers to stay literally true to his Japanese script - which is where so much of the bad tone and dialogue comes from.

Still, I forgive him for most of that because of the visionary aspect.

The actual Venom model has the same proportions as Big Boss, so maybe part of the reason V had to be kept in an induced coma for so long was the result of healing resectioned bones?


Ocelot and Miller would both know him intimately enough to tell the difference, but the former was in on it and the latter is implied to be at least partially blind in TPP.

Notably, Volgin does realise he's not Big Boss once he gets a closer look at him; though he really should have at least tried to use the same method to identify him as in MGS3.

Shit, so that's what happened in that scene! Now it all makes sense. That's some well-written shit!

I think Ocelot's self-hypnotism and Kaz's partial blindness explains why they might not realise.

 

[Glitchesarecool]

Thinking about how useless she becomes when soldiers rock helmets makes it a little easy to get over the loss of her, though.

Just equip her last sniper rifle if the mission has helmeted guys?

 

[EarsOfASnake]

Have I missed something? What happened to Chico?

 

[Chariot]

Have I missed something? What happened to Chico?

He died, travelled back in time within hell, had sex with his mother and took over the soul of his not yet born daughter and went off to serve XOF and kill Big Boss in the Hospital.

 

[Sumio Mondo]

From what I recall around that time, Ryan Payton proposed the retcon idea to Kojima for the MGS3 codec squad being the Patriots during MGS4's development, and Kojima thought it was clever and rolled with it.

Between that and helping make Shenmue 3 happen (by proposing the Kickstarter idea to Yu Suzuki), I both love and hate Ryan Payton at the same time. :/

 

[SolVanderlyn]

He died, travelled back in time within hell, had sex with his mother and took over the soul of his not yet born daughter and went off to serve XOF and kill Big Boss in the Hospital.