They're both good games, but they're both flawed in different ways. MGS V is a good game that drowns under open world busywork and repetition. Dragon Age 3 has similar problems. The logistics of MGS V make no sense at all. You blow the shit out of a base, and then 5 hours later, Miller sends you back to that "super hardened" base that currently has no working air radar or communication systems, to rescue a cookie cutter prisoner who will definitely help in the fight against Skull Face. This central plot mechanic was likely taken from Far Cry 2, where you roam around Africa doing random jobs as part of a quest to kind The Jackal.
It also suffers from Kojima's arguably misguided attempt to reproduce the style of George Miller, while also being obsessed with the idea of leaving a massive hole in the narrative for players to insert themselves. MGS V is a good game. I must point that out. It isn't "half finished". Snake barely speaks because Kojima has a hard-on for the Mad Max films where Mad Max barely speaks, the story is thin, and Max is a side character in his own films. MGSV is a game that doesn't respect the player's time. It requires huge investment for thin narrative rewards. Now the acting is superb and the production values are great, but the game has the fundamental problem of being too Japanese. Grinding+Putting the most important story points in an obscure epilogue is a frustratingly Japanese design trait.
MGS4 is a bloated game. It has an awkward ratio of cutscenes to gameplay. The story is really not very good. At all. I would go so far to say that Ocelot's scheme in MGS4 was probably the most retarded thing in the entire series, even if it did foreshadow Venom Snake. The game wallows in melodrama and feels excessively scripted moment to moment. It is, however, a decent game. It's well made for the most part. It provides closure to the Metal Gear Saga.
Of course then there's Peace Walker, which is a superior game to both MGS4 and MGS V. It is the real Metal Gear Solid 5, and was called Metal Gear Solid 5 during development. It balances narrative and gameplay and pacing far more effectively than MGS V. I consider the bosses in MGS V to be a terrible idea both narratively and structurally. Peace Walker abandoned human bosses, something that Phantom Pain continues. It is a stupid design trope to introduce a character, make you kill them, and then have a melodramatic cutscene about the boss.
It also suffers from Kojima's arguably misguided attempt to reproduce the style of George Miller, while also being obsessed with the idea of leaving a massive hole in the narrative for players to insert themselves. MGS V is a good game. I must point that out. It isn't "half finished". Snake barely speaks because Kojima has a hard-on for the Mad Max films where Mad Max barely speaks, the story is thin, and Max is a side character in his own films. MGSV is a game that doesn't respect the player's time. It requires huge investment for thin narrative rewards. Now the acting is superb and the production values are great, but the game has the fundamental problem of being too Japanese. Grinding+Putting the most important story points in an obscure epilogue is a frustratingly Japanese design trait.
MGS4 is a bloated game. It has an awkward ratio of cutscenes to gameplay. The story is really not very good. At all. I would go so far to say that Ocelot's scheme in MGS4 was probably the most retarded thing in the entire series, even if it did foreshadow Venom Snake. The game wallows in melodrama and feels excessively scripted moment to moment. It is, however, a decent game. It's well made for the most part. It provides closure to the Metal Gear Saga.
Of course then there's Peace Walker, which is a superior game to both MGS4 and MGS V. It is the real Metal Gear Solid 5, and was called Metal Gear Solid 5 during development. It balances narrative and gameplay and pacing far more effectively than MGS V. I consider the bosses in MGS V to be a terrible idea both narratively and structurally. Peace Walker abandoned human bosses, something that Phantom Pain continues. It is a stupid design trope to introduce a character, make you kill them, and then have a melodramatic cutscene about the boss.
