Finished Peace Walker (first ending), and then watched the real ending online.
Yeesh. I don't expect good storytelling from Kojima since MGS4, but I was at least expecting something interesting. For the most part it was just a cliche video game plot.
The character of The Boss didn't need further exploration at all, and (naturally) Kojima only made her intentions more convoluted with this game.
Not to mention making Big Boss's intentions more convoluted too. I thought his whole inspiration for Soldiers Without Borders was The Boss. So in the first ending where she effectively goes pacifist, and Big Boss effectively "lets go" of the Boss, you'd think this would mean he'd also let go of SWB, right? The happy inspiring ending seems to imply as much, and it seems that Kojima forgot that oh right, Big Boss is supposed to be super into being a soldier. And so Koj clumsily came up with a convoluted explanation that only plays out in the title card conversation: well actually, the Boss's rejection of soldier ideology only inspires BB even more to create Outer Heaven! Because...because the Boss's (okay, a 1:1 A.I. facsimile of the Boss's mind; please pretend that this makes sense) rejection of being a soldier is a rejection of Big Boss, and Big Boss is like a scorned lover who needs to spite his former object of affection!
And then there's the real ending, which seems to only exist in order to tie into the nonsense that MGS4 created. Oh, and of course to introduce yet another character flip, because Paz is apparently an Oscar-winning actress much like Ocelot. Great storytelling Kojima; keep rewriting characters for no reason.
Also, I think Kojima really backed himself into a corner with the final plot twist (which, fucking Kojima, is yet another character flip). I thought BB and Kaz were homies, but apparently they're not, so...how am I supposed to view their interactions in MGSV? Why should I care about Kaz losing limbs or wanting revenge if he's just an asshole double-agent?
Oh well. At least the gameplay was pretty fun. And the Donna Burke song is good.
Next up, Rising! My first Platinum game. This should be fun.