Snake! I just played and beat PS1 Metal Gear Solid on PS1 for the first time

Nique · 10-08-2016, 03:15 AM

It was kind of a strange experience! Many scenes are features of the game are so much a part of the vernacular of gaming that I am already familiar with, that I was able to tap into the game in a way that I wouldn't have when it first came out. I did play through the first couple scenes on a playstation demo disc back in the day multiple times, but that was as far as I ever got.

That said, figuring out (ok, Googling) how to beat various bosses was still an interesting challenge, and I enjoyed myself thoroughly!

I was kind of thrown by how good the story is at the beginning of the game, and then how bizarre it gets - Liquid posing as Snake's mentor becuase, uh, reasons? Fox-Hound terrorists going along with the weird ransom demand instead of like, getting paid, and also they always fight Snake on these bizarre "fair" terms for honor or something? Also, what was at least somewhat subtle dialogue transforms into hamfisted Stuart Smalley-style affirmations. And then there's a big message about nuclear weapons that feels sort of weird?

I guess I would have probably found it all much more subversive and edgy when I was 15. Playing it now, I get this sense that they mashed up the MGS mythos with a bunch of Bond villans and other spy tropes. Which, actually, I would say is still an improvement over the vast majority of spy films.

---------- Post added at 12:15 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:12 AM ----------

EDIT: Also, Snake, w t f is up with your user name?

Solid Snake · 10-08-2016, 08:13 PM

Yeah, the Mods have had fun changing everyone's usernames lately on whims. At least I'm no longer "Embarrassing Wall of Text from Five Years Ago."

Anyway, all the Metal Gear Solid games get pretty wacky. It's basically a geopolitical thriller in the style of something like James Bond or Mission Impossible but with hordes of B-movie style subplots and plot-twists and wackiness and insanity. Coincidentally, the big message about nuclear weapons is actually what Kojima considers to be the heart of Metal Gear; Psycho Mantis 'reading minds' and Liquid's ranting about genetics and all the rest of the insanity is the fluff.

Coincidentally, Metal Gear Solid 3, which arguably relies least upon the B-movie shenanigans and doesn't indulge Kojima's crazy imagination quite as much, is objectively the best the series because it's more constrained and subdued in its presentation. The original Metal Gear Solid is a close second, but it also benefits a lot from nostalgia because for many people like myself, it wasn't just our first Metal Gear title, it was also the first narrative-driven 3D game with movie-style cutscenes we experienced. It opened up lots of new possibilities for the medium of videogames.

Foxhound always fights Snake on 'fair terms' early on because they're ordered to -- they want Snake to 'win' (but still feel like he's being opposed by the full might of Foxhound and 'lucky' to be 'winning') because they need him to inadvertently activate the nukes for plot reasons. Characters like Psycho Mantis, Sniper Wolf and Raven weren't supposed to let themselves die in the process of challenging him, but A: Foxdie was bound to infect and kill everyone (including even Snake eventually, but not Ocelot) anyway, and B: they all had their own personal reasons to accept death. By contrast, Ocelot had no intentions of dying as he had his own part to play in double-crossing virtually everyone, so he did what everyone else was supposed to do, which was challenge Snake just enough so Snake felt he was being opposed, then retreat before Snake (or the Ninja, for that matter) could kill 'em.

Nique · 10-21-2016, 01:17 AM

Idea for MGS remake: A version where you play as Otacon and just have to find, like, the best hiding places.

10-08-2016, 08:13 PM	#2
Solid Snake Erotic Esquire Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 5,563	Yeah, the Mods have had fun changing everyone's usernames lately on whims. At least I'm no longer "Embarrassing Wall of Text from Five Years Ago." Anyway, all the Metal Gear Solid games get pretty wacky. It's basically a geopolitical thriller in the style of something like James Bond or Mission Impossible but with hordes of B-movie style subplots and plot-twists and wackiness and insanity. Coincidentally, the big message about nuclear weapons is actually what Kojima considers to be the heart of Metal Gear; Psycho Mantis 'reading minds' and Liquid's ranting about genetics and all the rest of the insanity is the fluff. Coincidentally, Metal Gear Solid 3, which arguably relies least upon the B-movie shenanigans and doesn't indulge Kojima's crazy imagination quite as much, is objectively the best the series because it's more constrained and subdued in its presentation. The original Metal Gear Solid is a close second, but it also benefits a lot from nostalgia because for many people like myself, it wasn't just our first Metal Gear title, it was also the first narrative-driven 3D game with movie-style cutscenes we experienced. It opened up lots of new possibilities for the medium of videogames. Foxhound always fights Snake on 'fair terms' early on because they're ordered to -- they want Snake to 'win' (but still feel like he's being opposed by the full might of Foxhound and 'lucky' to be 'winning') because they need him to inadvertently activate the nukes for plot reasons. Characters like Psycho Mantis, Sniper Wolf and Raven weren't supposed to let themselves die in the process of challenging him, but A: Foxdie was bound to infect and kill everyone (including even Snake eventually, but not Ocelot) anyway, and B: they all had their own personal reasons to accept death. By contrast, Ocelot had no intentions of dying as he had his own part to play in double-crossing virtually everyone, so he did what everyone else was supposed to do, which was challenge Snake just enough so Snake felt he was being opposed, then retreat before Snake (or the Ninja, for that matter) could kill 'em. __________________ *WARNING:* Snek's all up in this thread. Be prepared to read massive walls of text.