So. I've beaten the game, seen the true ending (honestly most *gripping* part of the game, just dripping with trademarked Kojima tricks) and I have to say, this Metal Gear has an awful narrative in comparison to other Metal Gear games.
I find it odd that the game seemed to have no *real* conclusion, but that's not the only thing I find odd about this installment. Where's the THEME?
See, here's the thing. The game lost sight of it's "THEME(s)". In Metal Gear, each canon installment in the series has had a THEME that's really important because allcaps.
In Metal Gear Solid the THEME was GENE. It was all about biological determinism, is Snake any more than a weapon bred for war? His father was a super soldier and he was bred to be one, too.
In MGS2: Sons of Liberty, the THEME was MEME, the "element of human behaviors that are not passed on genetically" if Solid Snake was a genetic clone of Big Boss, then the S3 plan was put in place to turn Raiden into a memetic clone of Solid Snake. Or rather, that was the "proof of concept" for the S3 plan, which we later found out was put in place to control memetic information in order to guide the progress of human culture.
"The memes, Jack!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3pLDrZQTf8
In MGS3: Snake Eater, the THEME was SCENE. The best way we can illustrate this theme is by pointing at The Boss (The most... well, Boss female character in video games.) The theme stipulates that nothing is set in stone and everything will change over time, our greatest enemies will become our best friends and out best friends will put a knife in our back somewhere down the line. EVA falls in love only to cause heartbreak, Naked Snake is forced to kill The Boss in a scene he cannot control. By the end of the game, Snake's perspective on life changed completely due to the nature of his experiences.
In MGS4: Guns of the Patriots, the THEME is SENSE, our understanding of the world that is lost when we die. I always thought this was a bad word to sum up MGS4, but I'll state it as the general consensus seems to be from the fanbase and Kojima. Misunderstanding is prominent within the story of MGS4. Snake attempts and fails to understand Naomi's actions, Zero attempts and fails to understand The Boss's will, JD attempts and fails once again to understand Zero's will. In all of these cases the original desire of the individual is questioned and deliberately left unclear and the burden is placed on the audience to answer these questions.
The main THEME of Peace Walker is PEACE, I've not played Peace Walker more than once so I won't try to get into explaining the theme, but it's a Cuban Missile Crisis story so Nuclear Deterrence as a means of maintaining peace is questioned heavily by the villain, Hot Coldman. If someone more familiar with Peace Walker wants to extrapolate the meaning then go right ahead.
MGSV is dual-THEME'd, RACE & REVENGE. Kojima had stated that the REVENGE that was to be present wouldn't be the typical vengeance between two people, but a never ending cycle of killing between RACEs.
Now, where is that theme? I've looked through the entire game, not seeing that brought up anywhere outside of Skull Face's plan but that idea is not fully explored Snake doesn't even bother trying to offer a contrarian view to Skull Face like the protagonists did in every other Metal Gear. Not only does the narrative not have an ending, but the story lost sight of itself before it truly began.
Seriously, I don't know if this was Konami's fuckup or Kojima's but this story was thoroughly disappointing.
I find it odd that the game seemed to have no *real* conclusion, but that's not the only thing I find odd about this installment. Where's the THEME?
See, here's the thing. The game lost sight of it's "THEME(s)". In Metal Gear, each canon installment in the series has had a THEME that's really important because allcaps.
In Metal Gear Solid the THEME was GENE. It was all about biological determinism, is Snake any more than a weapon bred for war? His father was a super soldier and he was bred to be one, too.
In MGS2: Sons of Liberty, the THEME was MEME, the "element of human behaviors that are not passed on genetically" if Solid Snake was a genetic clone of Big Boss, then the S3 plan was put in place to turn Raiden into a memetic clone of Solid Snake. Or rather, that was the "proof of concept" for the S3 plan, which we later found out was put in place to control memetic information in order to guide the progress of human culture.
"The memes, Jack!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3pLDrZQTf8
In MGS3: Snake Eater, the THEME was SCENE. The best way we can illustrate this theme is by pointing at The Boss (The most... well, Boss female character in video games.) The theme stipulates that nothing is set in stone and everything will change over time, our greatest enemies will become our best friends and out best friends will put a knife in our back somewhere down the line. EVA falls in love only to cause heartbreak, Naked Snake is forced to kill The Boss in a scene he cannot control. By the end of the game, Snake's perspective on life changed completely due to the nature of his experiences.
In MGS4: Guns of the Patriots, the THEME is SENSE, our understanding of the world that is lost when we die. I always thought this was a bad word to sum up MGS4, but I'll state it as the general consensus seems to be from the fanbase and Kojima. Misunderstanding is prominent within the story of MGS4. Snake attempts and fails to understand Naomi's actions, Zero attempts and fails to understand The Boss's will, JD attempts and fails once again to understand Zero's will. In all of these cases the original desire of the individual is questioned and deliberately left unclear and the burden is placed on the audience to answer these questions.
The main THEME of Peace Walker is PEACE, I've not played Peace Walker more than once so I won't try to get into explaining the theme, but it's a Cuban Missile Crisis story so Nuclear Deterrence as a means of maintaining peace is questioned heavily by the villain, Hot Coldman. If someone more familiar with Peace Walker wants to extrapolate the meaning then go right ahead.
MGSV is dual-THEME'd, RACE & REVENGE. Kojima had stated that the REVENGE that was to be present wouldn't be the typical vengeance between two people, but a never ending cycle of killing between RACEs.
Now, where is that theme? I've looked through the entire game, not seeing that brought up anywhere outside of Skull Face's plan but that idea is not fully explored Snake doesn't even bother trying to offer a contrarian view to Skull Face like the protagonists did in every other Metal Gear. Not only does the narrative not have an ending, but the story lost sight of itself before it truly began.
Seriously, I don't know if this was Konami's fuckup or Kojima's but this story was thoroughly disappointing.