Board 8 > Rate the VG Story Day 26: Metal Gear Solid

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Todays game is Metal Gear Solid, that is the first one. How would you rate the story on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest?
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Previous Results:
Outer Wilds - 9.82 (19 votes)
Omori - 9.6 (5 votes)
Nier Automata - 9.25 (31 votes)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty 8.72 (27 votes)
Disco Elysium - 8.58 (12 votes)
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 8.35 (18 votes)
Final Fantasy X - 8.28 (50 votes)
The Last of Us - 8.21 (31 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - 8.13 (37 votes)
Life is Strange - 7.91 (29 votes)
*Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair - 7.65 (24 votes)*
Bioshock - 7.6 (22 votes)
Celeste - 7.5 (23 votes)
Tales of the Abyss - 7.34 (27 votes)
Super Paper Mario - 7.14 (18 votes)
Dark Souls - 6.86 (19 votes)
Chrono Cross - 6.77 (15 votes)
Death Stranding - 6.73 (13 votes)
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc - 6.62 (25 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice For All - 6.43 (26 votes)
Professor Layton and the Curious Village - 6.1 (13 votes)
Final Fantasy IV - 5.62 (27 votes)
Uncharted: Drakes Fortune - 5.41 (26 votes)
Final Fantasy XIII - 4.77 (24 votes)
Fallout 4 - 4.39 (14 votes)

You can still rate previous days games if you missed them, just write <game name> <rating>. If you want to change your rating you can just specify that you are changing your rating. Nominations for future days are also welcome, nominate as many games as you like and I will get to all of them.

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7

Nominate: Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes


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I've only played Twin Snakes so I'm not sure if I can rate this one. Are the stories substantially different?

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10/10 I don't care!

9

Flawed in numerous ways but memorable as hell

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Kenri posted...

I've only played Twin Snakes so I'm not sure if I can rate this one. Are the stories substantially different?

The content, no. The presentation, extremely

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I am going to say judge what you think is the best version. They are the same in terms of story so get one topic.

Also, 5.5. It was good at the time but is very dated and some parts were always silly.

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8.5

Real great characters.
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yeah this is a 10/10 from me

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9/10

Snake has a character arc akin to Squall's here, which is great, and he has so many memorable one-liners. FOXHOUND still might be the greatest collection of villains in any video game. The strength of MGS1 is in its characters, and it excels there. It has some silly plot beats, but I don't even regard that as a negative, really. It's part of the charm.

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9.5

Been a long time since I played MGS1 but my intuition says it's still special

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9.5
Fantastic

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9
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8.5/10

Really great but misses the top for reasons that I don't really have a fantastic explanation for. I don't really have any issue with the story but it also just doesn't quite grab me enough to make it all the way.
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8.5

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No rating for this one but...

Goodbye Despair: 8.5

8/10
Feels weird giving it the same score as I think I did mgs2. Don't think it hits the heights of mgs2 but I have some issues with the sillyness in mgs2 that made me mark it down a bit, don't really have that with mgs1.

9

Tbh most of the flaws come across as a feature to me. Seriously thinking it's a close 10 but I don't really like decimals. And it doesn't "feel" like a 10 despite how well structured and ambitious it is. But maybe that's more because of what it doesn't have than anything done wrong in the game itself.

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9/10

I want to say this was the first game to truly get me into storytelling in video games, or at least the first one I paid genuine attention to. MGS pushed new boundaries in both cinematography and voice acting; I'm always astounded on how expertly crafted everything looks & sounds here and if it was the developer's goal to create a Hollywood movie experience inside a video game, they succeeded in spades. The game's themes, especially the way it derides nuclear byproducts & pontificates on politics and human warfare, are strongly potent without the admittedly pompous preaching and posturing that hangs over the future of the series like a teetering anvil. There's real restraint here and an air of authority with documentary-like clips, and so when the game decides it wants to go crazy and let loose, it earns it with one of the most memorable villain ensembles in fiction, over-the-top sci-fi cheese that shows its influences without copying, and a bombastic finale that's unlike anything else on the PS1. You can't talk about the MGS' story without mentioning the fourth-wall breaks; actively involving the player, MGS dabbles in psychological horror directly placing you as the protagonist, you as Snake, two-sides of the same coin. Small player choices, a CODEC frequency hidden on the game box, and deep hidden Easter eggs make you wonder what is real and what isn't at integral points in the game, thus crafting a game's story and world that is totally immersive and almost impossible to separate from the real world. One gripe: CODEC calls are not engaging, at least not here and not anymore; too many of the game's jaw-dropping twists happen in said calls but unfortunately you might be asleep before they get to said reveal (fuck, the Miller is Liquid one is so cool though, it's my one exception). They are too static and although the characterization and voice acting is all there, it all ends up feeling like an exposition dump you can be hard pressed to care about sometimes.

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6

This is more or less the quintessential Kojima story and the baseline for what his games tend to be like: overly expository, tonally all over the place, but also full of neat ideas and surprisingly emotionally engaging once in a while. The fight with Psycho Mantis and Gray Fox's arc are the highlights and Otacon does a nice job anchoring the story in actual human feelings, but a lot of the moment-to-moment dialog and storytelling is really boring and most of the characters are kind of one-dimensional, even Snake.

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Evillordexdeath posted...

most of the characters are kind of one-dimensional, even Snake.

One-dimensional?!

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9

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10/10

Never did get the true ending on this one though

LeonhartFour posted...

One-dimensional?!

Yes, Snake, one-dimensional. It's a criticism people use for fictional characters they consider poorly written. Sniper Wolf studied this literary technique extensively at the University of Duhok, so be sure to practice your emoting before you challenge her.

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Evillordexdeath posted...

It's a criticism people use for fictional characters they consider poorly written.

Poorly written?!

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One gripe: CODEC calls are not engaging, at least not here and not anymore; too many of the game's jaw-dropping twists happen in said calls but unfortunately you might be asleep before they get to said reveal (fuck, the Miller is Liquid one is so cool though, it's my one exception). They are too static and although the characterization and voice acting is all there, it all ends up feeling like an exposition dump you can be hard pressed to care about sometimes.

One reason I'd enjoy playing an actually competent remake of this is because all the stuff with Naomi later in the game etc could be like, actual scenes. Start with the codec call, then after a certain line, cut to a scene actually showing what happens. At the moment certain points play like a radio drama, and there was a kind of charm to that, but that could definitely stand to improve.

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9

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9.5

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10

My love for this game is eternal. It blew my mind back when it came out. It was like playing through an amazing action movie with mind blowing storyline and a solid cast and of course one of the best main characters ever created in any kind of media.

It is still my favorite game and my favorite story in the MGS series. I have replayed this game probably over a 100 times (and that is not an exaggeration). This is an easy 10 from me.

UltimaterializerX posted...

Snake actually is pretty one dimensional in the original. Its kind of jarring when you go back and play it after 2 and 4. Dudes just an insufferable prick to people, and not always in the cold badass way. His dialogue after the Mantis fight in particular is super tryhard edgelord. Its like, bro, shes only saying thanks.

The Squall comp is actually perfect, but you dont really see the character get over the arc until 2. In FF8, Squall gets there in disc 3. In MGS, you basically have to wait until the sequel.

This is wrong on literally every account. How is it being a prick when you are literally on a solo mission to stop a nuclear strike and save as many people as you can? How is it being a try hard when you are giving advice to a rookie who just got possessed and almost blew her own brains out? On no but that is so elitist and pretentious? Well this was coming from the killer of the world's greatest soldier on two accounts. God forbid he says some line that makes him look cool in front of a some one second guessing herself.

10/10

The first three MGS stories are all easy 10s in my book. Every time I replayed them as a teenager, I never skipped through any scenes. That's saying something.

MGS1 has such tight plot, iconic characters, and that cold, isolated atmosphere on Shadow Moses. It hasn't aged perfectly, but compared to the PS1 gameplay (ugh...) the storyline is a fine wine.

EDIT: Basing my story rating on Twin Snakes btw.

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LeonhartFour posted...

Snake has a character arc akin to Squall's here, which is great, and he has so many memorable one-liners. FOXHOUND still might be the greatest collection of villains in any video game. The strength of MGS1 is in its characters, and it excels there. It has some silly plot beats, but I don't even regard that as a negative, really. It's part of the charm.

Damn, never made that connection between MGS1 Snake and Squall, but it's spot-on.

Agreed on FOXHOUND villains as well. Each is memorable, including Decoy Octopus, who we don't even get to fight. MGS1 has a Batman-caliber rogues gallery.

UltimaterializerX posted...

Snake actually is pretty one dimensional in the original. Its kind of jarring when you go back and play it after 2 and 4. Dudes just an insufferable prick to people, and not always in the cold badass way. His dialogue after the Mantis fight in particular is super tryhard edgelord. Its like, bro, shes only saying thanks.

The Squall comp is actually perfect, but you dont really see the character get over the arc until 2. In FF8, Squall gets there in disc 3. In MGS, you basically have to wait until the sequel.

Disagree here on Snake. Snake completes an arc at the end when he reveals his name David to Meryl. No longer does he insist on being called only by his "battlefield" name. That's a clear sign of him being humanized.

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6.5

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9.5

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