IGN: Every Hideo Kojima Game, Ranked

IbizaPocholo

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman


With the release of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, director Hideo Kojima enters his fourth decade in game development as a director. While the celebrated "auteur" has spent the majority of his career so far working on the Metal Gear Solid series, Death Stranding 2 sees him expanding upon his newest universe, where he both introduces new concepts and revisits some of his most enduring ideas.

With a truly staggering list of credits in his impressive resume, there's no better time to revisit every genre-defying adventure Kojima has taken us on. Here is every Kojima game that he directed or designed, ranked from worst to best by IGN's staff.
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  • Kojima's early graphic adventure games, like Policenauts and Snatcher, are noted for their cinematic, film-inspired stories but lack the gameplay innovations he would later become famous for.
  • Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is ranked as the "least favorite Metal Gear game." While it provides a spectacular conclusion to Solid Snake's story, it's heavily criticized for its self-indulgent, record-breakingly long cutscenes that sideline gameplay.
  • Death Stranding, Kojima's first post-Konami project, is praised for its prophetic story about human disconnection, which became highly relevant after its release. Its gameplay is a unique departure, focusing on traversal and connecting a fractured world.
  • The PSP title Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is highlighted as a full-fledged canonical entry that introduced core mechanics like base-building and soldier recruitment, which became foundational for MGSV.
  • Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is considered the best-playing game in the series due to its open-world design and deep, flexible stealth-action mechanics. However, its narrative is considered fragmented and incomplete, famously missing its final story mission.
  • The playable teaser, P.T., for the canceled Silent Hills is hailed as a masterclass in horror design and one of the most terrifying gaming experiences ever made, despite being just a short, delisted demo.
  • Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty is celebrated as a massive technical leap with prescient themes of misinformation and conspiracy, even though its protagonist switch from Solid Snake to Raiden was initially controversial.
  • Considered one of the greatest games of all time, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is praised for its brilliant fusion of stealth gameplay with survival elements in a jungle setting, all wrapped in an emotional, James Bond-inspired story.
  • The original Metal Gear Solid is ranked as Kojima's masterpiece. It revolutionized cinematic storytelling in video games and is remembered for its iconic characters and innovative, fourth-wall-breaking gameplay, such as the Psycho Mantis boss fight.
 
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I agree with 4 being the worse game not just in the series, but one of the worst PS3 games.

Mgs 1 is the best mgs by a mile.

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Dunno about Policenauts since I haven't played that one, but Snatcher deserves to be higher on that list.
 
Idgaf bout ign AI generated list, but the defacto list is:
MGS2
MGS1 = MGS3
MGS4
Death Stranding
Zone of the Enders 1&2
MGS5
Peace Walker
Everything Else
 
It's crazy we never got an official US release of Policenauts, especially since Konami is going through their back catalog. Snatcher + Policenauts needs a re-release, desperately.
 
Metal Gear Solid 4 should be dead last. It's the worst game he's ever made.

Policenauts and Snatcher should be much higher on the list. They are truly great adventure games.

Metal Gear and MG2 for MSX are games I think are remembered more for their significance than for their quality. They haven't held up and feel borderline unplayable today. Metal Gear Solid took all of their best ideas and perfected them.

Peace Walker is only really useful from a story pov in order to understand MGSV. There are some interesting ideas that V expanded on, like the base building, but the actual stealth gameplay felt barebones.
 
diffusionx said:
Snatcher + Policenauts needs a re-release, desperately.
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Yeah! PC and S2 ports with mouse controls and maybe other consoles with gyro or even just the stick.

Best way to play them right now is emulating the Sega CD version on a Nintendo Wii. Being able to use the wiimote on those shooting sections was pretty neat imo.
 
The bar I go to every couple weeks randomly has a PS1 classic on one of the tables so I have been playing through MGS1 on Hard without radar, saving the game, and then returning to continue when I revisit. I think the bartender thinks I'm uh "special" lol
 
It's hard to stomach the MGS4 hate, and for the record it's not the best but Sony Konami or whoever being stubborn with its exclusivity hurts it, MGS4 is more than ok it's a 10/10 on some sites but it isn't for everyone, you're monitoring snakes fatigue levels, you're "old" snake, the captivating villains in Vamp, the beautiful beasts, you get Ocelot, MGS4 has a healthy amount of gameplay, action and a sense of urgency that the other Kojima games don't have in death stranding you're arguably a delivery driver with no sense of urgency, haha.
 
EverydayBeast said:
It's hard to stomach the MGS4 hate, and for the record it's not the best but Sony Konami or whoever being stubborn with its exclusivity hurts it, MGS4 is more than ok it's a 10/10 on some sites but it isn't for everyone, you're monitoring snakes fatigue levels, you're "old" snake, the captivating villains in Vamp, the beautiful beasts, you get Ocelot, MGS4 has a healthy amount of gameplay, action and a sense of urgency that the other Kojima games don't have in death stranding you're arguably a delivery driver with no sense of urgency, haha.
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I get why MGS4 is so polarizing. To be clear, I flippin' love it, but it's a strange duck. It's all over the place.
  • The first chapter really delivers on the promise of the game's promotional materials. You are hiding in a war zone and it's phenomenal.
  • The second chapter plays more like MGS3. So, if you really wanted the MGS4 that was advertised, it's gone now for the rest of the game.
  • The third chapter is something entirely different with a large emphasis on stealth. It's great, but slows the pace to a crawl.
  • The fourth chapter is pure nostalgia bait. Playing it was one of the greatest gaming moments of my life, but that's very much to do with having played MGS when I did. The gameplay in this one is also radically different from the previous chapters.
  • The fifth chapter, again, introduces a new approach to gameplay. It's the most like the first chapter if the first chapter threw sneaking out of the window.
The game just refuses to let you get comfortable. It's always trying something different while also delivering an overly verbose and ridiculous story with absolute earnestness.

Look, it's pure concentrated Kojima and I'm there for it. But if you aren't completely sold on the Kojima-ness of it all, I could see how it would be, like, the worst experience ever.
 
MGS3 > MGS = MGS2 > MGS 4 > MGS 5
MGS5 was actually the only part in the series that I played through by forcing myself to play...
 
1.MGS
2. MGS5
2. MGS3
3. Metal Gear NES
4. MGS 2
5. Death Stranding Never played
6. Zone of Enders
7. MGS 2 DEMO
8. MGS4
 
Arsic said:
Idgaf bout ign AI generated list, but the defacto list is:
MGS2
MGS1 = MGS3
MGS4
Death Stranding
Zone of the Enders 1&2
MGS5
Peace Walker
Everything Else
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For myself I swap MGS1 at 1 followed by 3 and then 2 but this is still a good order.
Best thing is that they are all damn great.
 
EverydayBeast said:
It's hard to stomach the MGS4 hate, and for the record it's not the best but Sony Konami or whoever being stubborn with its exclusivity hurts it, MGS4 is more than ok it's a 10/10 on some sites but it isn't for everyone, you're monitoring snakes fatigue levels, you're "old" snake, the captivating villains in Vamp, the beautiful beasts, you get Ocelot, MGS4 has a healthy amount of gameplay, action and a sense of urgency that the other Kojima games don't have in death stranding you're arguably a delivery driver with no sense of urgency, haha.
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Jesus with the port beg in every thread here ...
 
Metal Gear on ps1 was ok, mainly for it being quite unique even though I hated the control scheme with a passion. Metal Gear 3 was surpringly good for a non fan of the series too. The P.T teaser was the best thing attached to him, probably because he didn't have that much input on it.

I find Kojima to be an overrated hack though. I can't for the life of understand why people think he is a gaming God or some genius. His writing is so bad and nonsensical, has plot twist after plot twist for the sake of it and they make no sense. Absolutely drags every single story on far too long and his games out stay their welcome. His game's story are weeb-filled shite but with Western style graphics. Crazy how much people and media, especially Geoff "ram it down my throat Kojima" Keighley worship this guy. Truly awful.
 
MGS2 is his magnum opus and he has never even come near the genius that is that game.

Multi-layered masterpiece, insane attention to detail both in gameplay and especially in narrative.
 
SJRB said:
MGS2 is his magnum opus and he has never even come near the genius that is that game.

Multi-layered masterpiece, insane attention to detail both in gameplay and especially in narrative.
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I have a similar opinion. I think as a whole MGS3 may be a more rounded game where everything comes together. Storywise MGS2 is unbeaten.
 
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Its 1, 3, 2.

V is very underrated though. It's not a "Metal Gear" game as such but has some of the very best gameplay in the entire series.
 
SweetTooth said:
Still a port beg
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Can you play MGS4 on PS4/PS5? It's not exactly adding anything to Sony consoles right now...

Very few people have ancient PS3 hardware (I do) or know how to emulate console. MGS Collection Volume 2 can't come soon enough.
 
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TintoConCasera said:
Yeah! PC and S2 ports with mouse controls and maybe other consoles with gyro or even just the stick.

Best way to play them right now is emulating the Sega CD version on a Nintendo Wii. Being able to use the wiimote on those shooting sections was pretty neat imo.
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I've got them on a Pi and play with a SNES controller. It's doable, but I bet a wiimote feels really nice!
 
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