Sagacyte's BG corner

WARNING: This post will talk about a small detail pertaining Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. It's not particularly spoilerish since it doesn't deal with the story... directly. If you have already started playing TPP and done at least one mission then you probably know what I'm talking about. It's really not that big of a deal but if you'd rather go into the game completely oblivious to everything... you have been warned.

I am thoroughly enjoying TPP. No, really, I am. However I do have a minor gripe with the game, and it pertains to the way the game is structured. Sort of.

"But Saga... if it's so minor, why even bother with a blog post?"

Well, blame Blaugust! It's fun to write and share ideas. It's like chatting about the game with a friend!

Last warning for my spoiler-wary friends!

Starring

TPP follows an structure similar to Peace Walker in that instead of being one huge progressive adventure (like previous MGS games) it is split in missions. Every time you undertake one of these missions it becomes like a stand-alone endeavor, happening in a section of the bigger world map (or at least one of them, since I am still in Afghanistan).

So what is the issue? Kojima has made so every mission is like an episode of a TV show: every one of them begins and ends with credits. The beginning displays the names of the "actors" that will participate (the character's names, not their actual voice actors) and the end shows the same, but in a more traditional way (black screen with white text).

The thing is that this means that at the start of every episode you're told who is gonna appear... and that is potentially spoilerish. A certain early mission has you going to retrieve a weapon for the US from the Soviets. So far they're the standard enemy that you find so no big news there. However, the credits clearly state that Skull Face and the Skull Unit will appear - ruining a potential surprise, since you know they're gonna show up sooner or later.

"Whoa... that's it? That's your gripe?"

Yeah. That's it. It's a minimal detail but it irks me a bit. That's not to say that the game doesn't have the capacity to surprise.

Surprise! (SPOILER)

Spoiler: show

In fact, just last night I was surprised in the coolest way possible. I was doing a side-op - a non-crucial story mission. I was heading towards a certain point in the map and in the middle of the road I was surprised by a sniper flash. What was a random encounter with an enemy sniper turned out to be much more, for this was no mere sniper but the famous Quiet.

It was the best encounter I've had so far - a proper boss battle. I won't go into the awesome details but the fact that a boss battle triggered during a side op, and because I happened to pass by a certain area, caught me off guard. It was a hell of a moment!

Kids in America (END SPOILERS)

I still progress through the game. My next missions require missiles, something I haven't developed yet; I need to recruit more soldiers for Mother Base.

SNEAKY TIME!

Game on!

- Sagacyte

They played us like a damn fiddle!