Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

[Ziming]

I've only played up to the Honeybee mission.

Anyone else notice that the guy in the hospital was voiced by Keifer? Solid Snake maybe?

[OL]

I've only played up to the Honeybee mission.

Anyone else notice that the guy in the hospital was voiced by Keifer? Solid Snake maybe?

I thought it was kind of evident that it was Big Boss himself. A hallucination caused by the shrapnel in his brain. He was actually doing everything himself, he just imagined it as someone else. It's why the guy just disappears from the ambulance.

[redline]

I've only played up to the Honeybee mission.

Anyone else notice that the guy in the hospital was voiced by Keifer? Solid Snake maybe?

I thought it was kind of evident that it was Big Boss himself. A hallucination caused by the shrapnel in his brain. He was actually doing everything himself, he just imagined it as someone else. It's why the guy just disappears from the ambulance.

i agree. if i remember correctly in the hospital big boss asks "who are you" and that guy says " you've been talking to yourself... ive been watching over you for 9 years"

how long to beat has it down as taking roughly 50hours to complete the Main game + Extras. going to try and put some work in and get this game done over the next 4 days.

http://howlongtobeat.com/game.php?id=5918

[Shibiryo]

I forgot MGSV TPP is on last gen too.

[redline]

Just found out something cool while playing mgsV. Your Idroid has a speaker setting, so if you find any tapes in game you can use them against the enemy . I found 2 so far, one tape of a guy in a toilet and one in Russian where someone says "enemy dead" ... Tried out the "enemy dead" one when they attacked me and it stopped them hunting me down

[Henry Spencer]

^You can also set your music tapes to your helicopter so it plays music when it picks you up. It's rather hilarious to be in some intense scenario like blowing up a base with C4 then run off to get on your chopper blaring out Aha - Take On Me.

I also find it extremely cool how the enemies adapt to your play style - if you keep using the sniper rifle and head shotting everyone from a distance they will start wearing helmets the next time you go out on the field, if you keep doing missions at night, then enemies will wear night vision goggles, if you go in there shotgunning everyone they will wear full heavy body armour, if you use smoke grenades frequently then enemies will wear gas masks and so on and so forth, so be careful with spamming any kind of tactics, since the enemies do adapt to what you are doing. Never really seen any games do that before, it's so cool.

Also: YOU DESTROYED THEIR ANTI-AIR RADAR?
HE'S COMING TOO, HUH?

Shut up, Miller. Just...shut up.

[Thief]

Only 10 missions into the game but first impressions are not very good. It feels like I started out the game with filler/side-quests. I've been playing it all day and I'm so bored. Every mission is exactly the same and incredibly easy and there's hardly any motivation to continue playing -- the scenarios/settings in other Metal Gear games were always so interesting but in this one there's nothing going on. Afghanistan is so boring... an outpost here... and an outpost there... some of it looks pretty but the overall level design is just so boring. Also, micro-managing Mother Base was annoying in Peace Walker and it's annoying here -- plus, I don't want to do some MMO-like gathering shit to get these dumb resources dammit.

Cassette tapes were an interesting idea but they were not handled well at all in The Phantom Pain. Snake does not say more than one or two words in them, so it feels like I'm just being lectured about some dumb history lesson (instead of two characters interacting with one another -- like in the codec calls in previous games). I listen to all the tapes, and I'm bored every single time as Kaz lectures about boring shit and Snake just sits there saying nothing.

The pacing in this game feels exactly like a fucking bad open-world game, like GTA or Red Dead Redemption, in which the story is just sprinkled around while I have to fuck around with pointless missions. Everything feels aimless. I'm not having any fun and want to stop playing this game, which really really sucks, because Metal Gear is one of my favorite franchises and I was very much looking forward to this game. Haven't been this disappointed in a long time, the mechanics are nice, but the game itself is horribly boring and uninteresting. Fuck. I hate that I hate this game.

[amiga1200]

enjoy it!
you paid for it!
no, seriously, force yourself, or it's a waste of spondoolie$, not that it's my biz!

[OL]

Honestly not sure what you were expecting out of it, Thief. It was clear from the start that this was going to be a much more expansive experience than before, being open-world and all. I personally went into it expecting to be patient with it. Seemed obvious from the start that that was the way to go. The personality is certainly different compared to what the series has always been before, and yeah, I am disappointed that Snake is such a mute, but none of that has lessened the fun I've had so far. I'm taking my time with it (as I was expecting to), and I'm having a blast.
And the level design is amazing. I've personally never played an open-world game that's been designed so meticulously with stealth in mind. Not sure what you've done so far, but the Honey Bee mission and the initial fight against Quiet are ridiculously well-put-together. I'd actually call the Quiet fight one of the greatest boss battles in the entire series so far, and it's precisely because of the level design.
In fact, I think that's the test I'd set for you: get to the Quiet boss battle, finish it, exfiltrate, and if none of that plus the following cutscenes keeps you hooked... then I'd call it a lost cause for you. I just finished that stuff, and I can't wait to play more. Hell, I can't wait to play the same thing over again and see what other tactics I can pull off. That feels like half the appeal for much of the game altogether: experimenting with different approaches and methods. Sure, it might get boring if you're just doing the same things over and over, but there's so much room for getting creative that I really would blame a lack of fun on the person playing. It's just that open-ended.

Anyway, what did you guys make your avatars look like? The character creation is surprisingly fantastic. I assume its only purpose is to make you look different to attacking players in FOB missions, but it's fun to play around with regardless. Gonna try more variations later on, try out a few existing characters. The only problem with it is the limited hair choices. I mean seriously, you can either have hair or have a shaved head. Kind of a pathetic list of choices, but I feel like they might patch more in later.
As it is, I made my guy look like Agent 47. Actually looks like an even better character model than his look from the new Hitman game.



And cool little detail; when Snake is sitting in the chopper and it's dark outside, if you click the right stick and look at the right window, Snake's reflection will look like your avatar. Incredible level of detail, something so easy to miss.

[Riku Rose]

Only 10 missions into the game but first impressions are not very good. It feels like I started out the game with filler/side-quests. I've been playing it all day and I'm so bored. Every mission is exactly the same and incredibly easy and there's hardly any motivation to continue playing -- the scenarios/settings in other Metal Gear games were always so interesting but in this one there's nothing going on. Afghanistan is so boring... an outpost here... and an outpost there... some of it looks pretty but the overall level design is just so boring. Also, micro-managing Mother Base was annoying in Peace Walker and it's annoying here -- plus, I don't want to do some MMO-like gathering shit to get these dumb resources dammit.

Cassette tapes were an interesting idea but they were not handled well at all in The Phantom Pain. Snake does not say more than one or two words in them, so it feels like I'm just being lectured about some dumb history lesson (instead of two characters interacting with one another -- like in the codec calls in previous games). I listen to all the tapes, and I'm bored every single time as Kaz lectures about boring shit and Snake just sits there saying nothing.

The pacing in this game feels exactly like a fucking bad open-world game, like GTA or Red Dead Redemption, in which the story is just sprinkled around while I have to fuck around with pointless missions. Everything feels aimless. I'm not having any fun and want to stop playing this game, which really really sucks, because Metal Gear is one of my favorite franchises and I was very much looking forward to this game. Haven't been this disappointed in a long time, the mechanics are nice, but the game itself is horribly boring and uninteresting. Fuck. I hate that I hate this game.

I'm really enjoying the game but I have to say I preferred the closed off sections of the earlier games. I love sitting outside a base and scouting it so I can plan my way in but I don't enjoy having to ride my horse for 3 minutes before each mission. I don't understand why the Russians keep sending people to the same bases though as there is one I've killed everyone in it about 3 times now and they keep sending more guys every couple of days. I have to say I preferred the Codec calls as most of these tapes feel like 90% filler with some essential story sprinkled in. They probably would be a lot more interesting if there was some back and forth between the characters.

Last night I just did the Quiet fight and I've been playing for about 10 hours and have no plan to stop anytime soon. I really do wonder where the story is going to go as I still feel like I've barely scratched the surface.

[Thief]

I'm actually enjoying myself now with this game. I still think the narrative is a little lacking, but if I think of it as a much and improved Peace-Walker, then I seem to have a lot more fun. I've warmed up to the Afghanistan locations and I'm actually having fun doing all the side-ops missions, et cetera. Riding around on my horse and blasting 80s music. It definitely has the best gameplay out of any of the Metal Gear games (except for Metal Gear 2 of course :P), but I think it could have been so much more. Waiting to see what the story has in store for me, but even if it's horrible, I'll still manage to enjoy myself I think. Sorry I was so negative about it... it's just that I expected a little bit more out of a Metal Gear game in terms of narrative relevance, but I'll take it for what it is.

But OL, as for I should have expected this type of game, I don't really think I should have -- it was never made clear that the missions would be largely inconsequential merely because it was an open-world (and I don't think it had to be this way at all). Given past Metal Gear titles as well (Including Ground Zeroes), I think I was right in assuming that the game would at least have an overarching focus (more than just "build an empire again"). Heck, I even thought rescuing Kaz would play a bigger role, but instead I can do it in 5 minutes. Anyway, it's a fun game by gameplay standards, so I'm going to enjoy it all the same, just wishing and hoping for more. I was just a little frustrated by initial disappointments to truly enjoy myself but I am starting to now.

[Henry Spencer]

I'm probably the furthest on from you guys, geez, that Quiet fight seems like forever ago now. Just had another boss battle against a certain someone, it was like fighting The Terminator, just relentless and unstoppable. Really intense and the cutscenes before it were just...man, this is the darkest game Kojima has done in some time (it is his most gruesome game since Snatcher), just wait until you see that scene. Disturbing.

The storytelling is sparse, especially for a Kojima game, but what little is there is brilliant. The story goes to some very dark places. And the tapes get a lot better the further in you get.

Guys, you absolutely need to do something first though, don't know if any of you have completed the "Wandering Soldier" side op, but it's imperative that you do, since it unlocks a big part of the storyline and cutscenes. After you complete it, go to the Medical Platform and find a door where you're prompted to press a button and enter inside. Blows my mind that Kojima put something like this to the side as not imperative for the player to do.

[amiga1200]

^^ hideo for ya!
in fact, i couldn't beat psycho mantis on the psx game of MGS, unless i had another pad plugged into 2UP socket.
(you'll know what i refer to)
....
got a long way to go myself, not even completed MGS2 (substance = xbx, sons of liberty on ps2) and barely seen what snake eater has to offer.
...
mgs games i have, a pittence really.
1, mgs with VR/special missions. psx
2, mgs 2 sons of liberty. ps2
3, mgs 2 substance. xbx/ps2 (afaik, substance is SOL, but with more. as you guys are metal gear wreck-heads, please confirm, or deny, thanks.)
4, mgs 3 snake eater. ps2.
...
that's it.
looking at some ps3 torrents at BCG, but i'm an uploader, not a downloader, when i have too many retails on prior systems to shake a stick at. (with credentials and fuckall status, good for throwing a spanner in the uppities gearboxes)
[edit]
typo.

[Kenny]

Finally got my hands on it.

It's alright so far. I actually don't mind it being a more expansive Peace Walker game but man, I'm not sure about alot of the creative decisions Kojima made. I know the series is known for being crazy but it was crazy with a purpose. Things got way TOO crazy in the intro to the point where it felt like random shit was being thrown just for the sake of it with a generic fire boss popping in and out.

I also don't like the fact they replaced Patric Zimmerman as Ocelot. It made sense in MGS3 but since we're getting closer to the age he was in MGS1, to change his voice entirely doesn't work. Hopefully there's an explanation for that. As for Kiefer as Venom Snake and saying very little, i'm okay with that. Big Boss is supposed to be a different person from Solid, Solidus, and Liquid. Clones are not supposed to be exactly the same anyway in a real world context.

As for the open world itself, it's fun but VERY empty. Look at Red Dead Redemption. That's a real open desert world with things happening here and there between missions. Very little like that happens in this game. That's not very good, tbh. Even Windwaker had shit in between sailing from island to island, even if they were too few and far in between as well.

Apparently the story gets even crazier later on. Not sure if i'm looking forward to it given MGS4 and that intro. MGS1 seems like the only entry in the Solid series that got it right.

[OL]

Guys, you absolutely need to do something first though, don't know if any of you have completed the "Wandering Soldier" side op, but it's imperative that you do, since it unlocks a big part of the storyline and cutscenes. After you complete it, go to the Medical Platform and find a door where you're prompted to press a button and enter inside. Blows my mind that Kojima put something like this to the side as not imperative for the player to do.

Yeah, I've been going back periodically. Only just now did the "Wandering Soldier 2" side-op and realized that those were what I had to do to actually progress with it.
On the subject of it being a side-story though, I'm getting the feeling that it's because

it's all in his head. I mean, unless they're suddenly trying to tell us that Ground Zeroes was some kind of murky flashback that Boss wasn't remembering quite clearly, then the whole deal with her being alive must be a psychological thing.

Pretty crazy either way.

EDIT:

I know the series is known for being crazy but it was crazy with a purpose. Things got way TOO crazy in the intro to the point where it felt like random shit was being thrown just for the sake of it with a generic fire boss popping in and out.

As a writer yourself, I'm kind of surprised that you didn't immediately pick up on everything in the intro being foreshadowing and suggestion of things that will show up later. None of it seemed like it was just for the hell of it to me; it seemed more like a preview of things to come. I like that kind of storytelling actually; drop tons of insanity right at the start, then slow it back down so you can work up to it again later. Provides a hook.
On that note, I actually really liked the fire guy. Not so generic from where I'm standing. Weird kind of revelation when you finally see him close enough to realize that all the protrusions on him are actually bullets. Cool design element. Plus, I have to wonder how much of the craziness surrounding him

was actually the work of Psycho Mantis? Seems like a really interesting duo.