I don't know how much luck I'd have with a discussion about tactical espionage action on a magical girl forum, but I'm going to ramble a bit and see if it can spark up a conversation.

I can't say I was one of those kids who grew up playing the games, but I decided to start playing all the games about a year back in preparation for The Phantom Pain which just came out last week. I had a few misconceptions about the franchise but all of them were blown away fairly quickly when I really started getting into the games.

I hadn't yet decided whether I wanted to play the games in release order or where they fit chronologically in the timeline, so I started off with Snake Eater since it's where the story starts. And also because it was $10 on the PSN store. I was absolutely terrible at the game, but I was having so much fun with it and I was so captivated by the story that I wanted to beat it. And that I did. Both story and gameplay wise, Snake Eater is still my favourite.

I decided by this point that I didn't want to just catch up on the the important games (Snake Eater, Peace Walker and Ground Zeroes) that precede TPP chronologically. I wanted the whole picture. So I immediately went out and bought the original Metal Gear Solid. It took me a while to wrap my head around the 'retro' control scheme, but once I did I really found myself getting invested in the game. The game design is fantastic and even if it doesn't really hold up it's clear to see why this was such a big deal back in its time. But what really amazed me about the first game in particular is the way that it managed to effectively tell an incredibly emotional story with powerful anti war themes when the cast is all 32 bit blobs with no eyes that barely resemble human beings. Not to mention the voice acting is fantastic. And not just by the incredibly low standards set by English dubbed Japanese games from that era.

Next up I played Metal Gear Solid 2 which was a direct follow up to the first game. This is where things started to get complicated. The gameplay itself isn't hugely different from the first game but a whole ton of welcome new features do a great job of spicing things up. The story on the other hand is confusing to say the least. I still think it's a fantastic game with a lot of emotional scenes and some oddly relevant themes about Internet censorship. But there's only so much talk about conspiracy theories I could take. Also the cliffhanger ending created more questions that it answers. Again, fantastic game, but not as good as the others in my eyes. 

I'd already played Metal Gear Solid 3, so next up was Metal Gear Solid 4. While Peace Walker and MGSV expanded on what was already said, this comes several years after MGS2 and is effectively where everything comes to an end. And honestly, I couldn't think of a better way to close off the franchise. All the loose ends are tied up, there's a whole ton of references to the the old games (My favourite is the level where you re-visit Shadow Moses) and the gameplay is stellar. The cutscene to gameplay ratio might be off-putting for some, but I was so invested in the story at the point that I actually enjoyed those super long cutscenes. No other game series has done that to me.

Next up I played Peace Walker which I believe is a criminally underrated game and one of the best in the series. Despite being created with the limitations of the PSP in mind, Peace Walker was actually the biggest Metal Gear game up to that point. It traded a linear 10-20 hour long cinematic experience with top of the line graphics for a much more open ended episodic approach that told its story through comic book style cutscenes and introduced a lot of gameplay mechanics which would later be expanded upon in MGSV. Most notably the fulton extraction system where you tie a balloon to a guy and he'll magically fly back to your base because... well, it's Metal Gear. It doesn't need an explanation. Even though the comic book style takes some getting used to, the story is still just as emotional and well written as I expected from Metal Gear.

Not a lot to talk about with Ground Zeroes. It's a decent prologue to The Phantom Pain and a good tech demo for the Fox Engine but very light on content and not really worth the price of entry unless you're a huge Metal Gear fanatic like I am.

And that brings us to the present day where recently The Phantom Pain has came out. Which, needless to say, I bought on day one. It's very much an 'east meets west' sort of situation with traditional elements of the Metal Gear games being mixed with elements similar to what you'd see in a game like Far Cry or Red Dead Redemption. It's a bizzare yet oddly entertaining cocktail. Unfortunately some 'internal struggles' between the game's creator Hideo Kojima and Konami meant that some vital story elements were either regulated to cassette tapes for optional listening or cut completely. Not to mention some of the missions can get a bit repetitive. But the fact that the game is still great in spite of such big issues is a testament to just how much it does right.

Well, that was a mouthful. Anyone else got any Metal Gear related experiences they want to share?

You've found a fellow mother base fan comrade.

My story stems a lot of time back, I was still in school and it was Ps2 and Gamecube. At breaks, I had a friend of mine who was incredibly experienced eith the franchise and another who just had played up to "The Sons of Liberty". I wouldh ear their stories about playing the game in high difficulty, getting some Camo, fighting against a guy named "Vamp." and the emotional fights against The Boss in MGS3. Though, I would not comment, I had to admit I was curious abou it, one day they told me: "There is a remix, the twin snakes coming for gamecube. you should get it and see the awesomness of the franchise."

As a gamer, I had my own values, never to be decieved by hype, never let others tell you what is a game or what games you should have, but in this ase they made me a good recommendation, so I decided to rent it...

Holy Rex!

It was Amazing! I got hooked up. Dodge the guards, I did try to gon a killing spree and that didn't end well. Foxdie, ect ect. Shadow Moses was so enjoyable that I still remember every sensation, Raven's dying dialogue, the battle against Rex, Psychomantis...When I got the chance I bought it and I still keep it intact.

On weekends I'd go to the friend who recommended me the twin snakes and play MGS 2 and 3 but only for moments before the entire group arrived and wanted to play smash. So I couldn't understand the whole story. I had wanted to play, but I had a gamecube and later a wii, so no can do.

Fast Forward to when the Ps3 had just launched. Everyone was on the hype, however not getting to me as I had found nothing interesting on the Ps3 save for gundam, WHEN I SAW IT by accident. Metal gear sold IV: The Guns of the patriots. I decided to check the trailers and I was...Mother of Rex. I HAD TO GET IT. Not because of the hype, But I felt the same feeling when playing the twin snakes a long time ago. Luckily I had a family trip to US got the game and other sweet games I had longed for. I did not, in the least regret it.

What a great experience! Now you could slice the guard's throats and CQC was at full, even better than MGS3. The end with big boss gave the feels as he died in between the same flowers as the boss.

1 year ago I was looking for Metal gear solid Hd collection and found it. The sons of liberty proved fun but the time with the sword was too short. Snake Eater was an emotional trip, the betrayal of the boss, Jack's regret, and finally killing his own mentor, mother and rolemodel. Such FEELS. wow.

For the Peace Walker I got hooked up, creating your own base, getting men, and playing over and over to get the best. I remember I was against the guards in the base and against a helicopter when the game starst playing "When Heavens divide." and that scene WAS EPIC. I was like, Kojima you sure know how to do an epic fight.

I want to play the Phantom pain and when more games come out, I will get a PS4 and play it.

Such a good franchise. Kojima finally said goodbye. But they are a series of masterpieces.

Story wise The Phantom Pain is a bit disappointing. But gameplay wise it's like Peace Walker times a million with no crappy PSP technology holding it back.

I highly recommend getting one of the next gen consoles if you want to play The Phantom Pain. A game that good looking in full HD running consistently at 60 frames per second doesn't come very often. Especially on consoles.