As someone who had only played the first MGS, The Phantom Pain deserves its score.

[Lant_War]

I played the first MGS waaaay back when MGS2 launched. I honestly don't remember much besides the backtracking, the cool bosses and generally the "movie-like" feel of it but since my understanding of English was really limited I didn't get too attached to the characters.

So with MGSV, the lack of story didn't really annoy me at all. The cutscenes were really cool and very short, and not caring about anyone let me just enjoy the extremely amazing super impressive gameplay.

The freedom this game gives you is just insane. I could both bomb the shit out of everyone or carefully utilize every gadget to infiltrate without ever being seen. Or pull a Rambo and go throwing grenades. Or snipe everyone from far away. You get my point.

Look, I get why the game's story being unfinished might've been disappointing for someone that's been following the series for a long time, but if you look at it on its own merits it's kinda like Breath of the Wild with the amount of freedom to approach missions. The story is just there to put you in cool situations, and that's the point.

 

[Deleted member 54320]

That game left me feeling really, really down after I had played it. I was looking forward to this game for years and as a fan, the story was the ultimate left down.

Although it's cool to see that you got a kick out of it since you wasn't carrying around the same baggage as every other fan.

 

[Camisado]

Great game, terrible metal gear game.

 

[honest_ry]

It one of the best games this generation.

 

[stersauce]

Great game, terrible metal gear game.

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yeeeaaaahhhh, after all these years this is basically how i feel. it's one of the best sandbox games out, but woof everything else around it

 

[Hollywood Duo]

My biggest problem wasn't the story it was how boring the open world was.

 

[Greatest Ever]

Right, but further disappointment still holds from how barely any of the levels other than Camp Omega hold up to Ground Zeroes (...is that the name of the GZ level lol). The world is useless too.

 

[Jawmuncher]

What it lacked in story it made up for in gameplay. I'll take what MGSV offers over another cutscene fest like 4 again.

 

[RROCKMAN]

Good MGS game. Story didn't bother me too too much since I never took the plot of these ganes too seriously.

The twist with BB did perfectly explain why Master Miller hated him so much and that was enough for me.

 

[Crushed]

I'd almost agree if even the missions themselves didn't start to feel super repetitive, or if they didn't have to take place in an open world that's really just a bunch of outposts with nothing between them.

 

[Thrill_house]

Gameplay wise? Best MGS. Story was a damn mess though. Amazing stealth game...cant same about the narrative sadly.

 

[MarcelRguez]

I still think the open world itself shouldn't exist, and I can't help but think how amazing the game would be if it had the same structure as Peace Walker/Ground Zeroes.

 

[BDS]

MGSV is an incredible game from a gameplay standpoint, it's the unfinished story that's frustrating.

 

[Mesoian]

Great game, terrible metal gear game.

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That's the one.

Imagine if John Wick 4 was the best romantic comedy of all time. It'd still be a great movie, but it'd be a terrible John Wick movie.

 

[Big G]

From a series where I've found the cutscene-to-gameplay ratio to be excessive at times, MGSV was refreshing in that it's a gameplay showpiece. It's one of the best games I've played this generation, and would probably be my GOTG if the game wasn't released unfinished.

 

[Kerotan]

Obviously I wish chapter 2 was fully fleshed out and chapter 3 finished but it was still awesome.

Best case scenario would have been chapter 2 fully finished with the same endings and then chapter 3 left as a later DLC similar to ground zeroes. Pity it didn't work out.

 

[TransEuropaExpress]

What it lacked in story it made up for in gameplay. I'll take what MGSV offers over another cutscene fest like 4 again.

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This. I thought MGS4 really played the formula out hard to the point I didn't care anymore.

Avoided MGS5 for years and when I finally tried it, I ended up spending like 200 hours on it and it became my favorite MGS after the original. The open world wasn't a great choice I think but it's an utterly fantastic game even in spite of that for my money.

 

[Village]

That game is still one of the best tps/stealth games in the history of video games. Strait up, full stop. It is in credible that no one the heck else has done a game that touched this shit.

The story is also unfinished and strange, and quiet's entire everything is a problem

 

[Lowrys]

Shame that tranq + fulton was the most efficient and effective way to do 99% of the game.

 

[Deleted member 41520]

Great game, terrible metal gear game.

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Pretty much this

Shame that tranq + fulton was the most efficient and effective way to do 99% of the game.

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But not necessarily the most fun

 

[Zafir]

The gameplay was fantastic but the story was just, blergh. Also Quiet is still inexcusable.

 

[Cathcart]

Best game in the series by far, basically ruined the rest of the games for me. Turns out locking Kojima in an office on another floor of the building while someone else puts actual gameplay into the game was just what the series needed.

 

[Lant_War]

The gameplay was fantastic but the story was just, blergh. Also Quiet is still inexcusable.

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But were you ashamed of your words and deeds?

 

[Transistor]

Great game, terrible metal gear game.

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This is actually a really good way to put it. It's a wonderful open world stealth sandbox game, but damn if it ain't a Metal Gear

 

[KillLaCam]

One of the best stealth games ever. I definitely said "that's it?" in the end of the story, but the gameplay was so good that it wasn't a huge deal

 

[Steeped in a Sea of Games]

I dunno, as a long time fan who started the series on nes metal gear, I pretty much loved everything about the game. Yeah, it's not perfect, but still my most remembered game of the last 5 years.

 

[Deimos]

Great game, terrible metal gear game.

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.

 

[luther manhole]

I dunno, as a long time fan who started the series on nes metal gear, I pretty much loved everything about the game. Yeah, it's not perfect, but still my most remembered game of the last 5 years.

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same. all 5 mainline games are 10/10's for me.

 

[Molto]

I didn't even mind the story. Actually preferred it over the bloated nonsense in MGS4, like honestly who needs 2 hour long cutscenes? They literally had save points IN THE MIDDLE OF CUTSCENES...GTFO
The gameplay in V is still peak of the stealth genre, and the way they incorporated stealth in an open world game is brilliant. Yeah it's dissapointing the ending is unfinished, but by the time I got to that ending I already had roughly 80 hours of gameplay. I was already satisfied by that point.

 

[Butch]

Well, as a long time fan of the series I think it deserves the scores too. Tactical espionage action refined to its best.

 

[Komo]

Honestly wasn't that fun.

 

[NightShift]

As someone who was super disappointed by MGSV, it still deserved the great scores it got. I do consider it to be the best stealth game ever made and it feels like it's going to hold onto that for a long time now that stealth focused games seem to be dying out.

 

[ActWan]

Yeah it didn't match my hype at all, yeah it didn't have a lot of classic MGS stuff, still it's one of my all time favs and deserves every bit of praise it gets IMO.

 

[MetalGear?]

It sure does.

 

[BeaconofTruth]

I like it a lot, borderline love it with the right mods. But it's plenty disappointing on the gameplay side.

No difficulty settings
No good boss fights
Regen health
All those fucking timers on upgrades
Side ops being universally trash
The open world itself being whatever

It has great outposts and strong core set of systems, probably still my 2nd or 3rd favorite metal gear, but it should be some S tier master work with how good the core systems are and how kojimas dumbass story finally gets the fuck out of the way.

 

[Prine]

Mechanically the best representation of its genre.

 

[shaneo632]

I still maintain it's the most disappointing 9/10 I've ever played. World-class gameplay systems but holy shit did the story and characters feel lacklustre.

 

[dabri]

The demo was way better than the game proper

 

[Deleted member 19218]

My biggest problem wasn't the story it was how boring the open world was.

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Part of me wonders if that is intentional. Someone made a great topic about how Death Stranding features what looks to be true open environments where you could walk for miles with nothing special happening and that this gives off a unique atmosphere that is not felt in other games like Skyrim when you know you're always next to some outpost or something.

 

[mute]

Yes, a game does look better if you overlook the worst parts.

 

[andresmoros]

The fulton mechanics is one of my favorite things this generation. This game could have been the best this generation with a more fleshed out story and one more locale, that had more indoors infiltration missions.

 

[Lant_War]

Yes, a game does look better if you overlook the worst parts.

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Alternatively, a game looks better if you can appreciate what they were going for. If I play a Mario game and then give it a 2/10 because the story is super basic, there's no character development or interesting events everyone's gonna (rightly) think I'm an idiot.

 

[Spinluck]

Fantastic game that could've used a bit more time in the oven weed out some of the content and fluff.

Wish the gameplay loop was more rewarding separate from the Motherbase stuff.

 

[No Depth]

Great toolset. Poor sandbox.

I wasn't a fan of the repeated missions, samey environs, lack of personality in the world. Ground Zeroes was just a demo but that little environment has more to uncover and plumb than much of the stagnant landscape of TPP.

But yes, lots of silly ways to sneak or kill or kidnap guards. But that isn't enough for it to deserve a win.

 

[Bakercat]

Good gameplay and shit story for a game in a series where the story is most expected. Its a good game, but bad Metal Gear Solid game.

 

[Ravelle]

Bad story but one of the best gameplay mechanics.

I got like 200+ hours clocked because messing around blowing up camps with bonkers weapons was just too fun, I did almost every subtask imaginable, every alternate challenge level and almost got the platinum if it wasn't for that Quiet tank fulton extraction subtask.

 

[Kage Maru]

What it lacked in story it made up for in gameplay. I'll take what MGSV offers over another cutscene fest like 4 again.

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This. I was ultimately let down by MGS4 after all the hype. The linear levels and LONG cut scenes hurt the game for me. MGSV had issues but the gameplay loop was amazing.

 

[TylersProphecy]

I cant help but imagine a universe where konami let kojima finish mgs5 before they gave him the boot. It hurts more than silent hills even because you have a game that feels at least 50% done and you're mind fills in the gaps of what could have been. I cant believe they cut you chasing down eli...even if the game is "done", it either makes mgs5 noncannon or the story of metal gear itself incomplete. Its fucked up, and I bitterly love this stupid game.

If interdimensional Amazon ever becomes a thing, mgs5 complete edition is the first product I'm buying.

Edit: Even incomplete, I did enjoy 5 more than 4 though. On second thought though, im sure 4 had plenty of content cut also, so maybe I shouldn't be so hard on it.

 

[mute]

Alternatively, a game looks better if you can appreciate what they were going for. If I play a Mario game and then give it a 2/10 because the story is super basic, there's no character development or interesting events everyone's gonna (rightly) think I'm an idiot.

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There is zero expectation for a narrative going into a Mario platformer though.

Should I be giving MGSV bonus points for the Chapter 3 youtube video that laid out how it was supposed to finish? No, the game is what it is. A mechanically excellent game with a lot of other issues that drag it down.

 

[Techno]

Great game, terrible metal gear game.

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This.

Had so much potential.