10-04-2025, 01:15 AM
If I had to guess, I'd say that the Chapter 3 title card was just something left over really early in development. Most datamined games will have a lot of unused animation files, models, sprites, textures, VA lines, etc. that never get used. Or something that becomes obsolete. One option could be that the missions were ordered or structured differently at one point in development to necessitate breaking things up differently.
From a screenwriting angle, the main story always felt like Chapter 1 and the epilogue felt like Chapter 2. Since the first, second and third act all falls under that first chapter. Mission 51, to me, was something that felt more like the ZEKE fight in PW, which never came about because of whatever was going on between Konami and Kojima at the time. Why they'd be labeled that way will always baffle me.
That said, a hypothetical third chapter would've been perfect for DLC disconnected from the main story completely. Like going around other regions or self-contained areas to resolve conflicts and spread "peace" the Diamond Dogs way. In my case, with bullets and balloons.
From a screenwriting angle, the main story always felt like Chapter 1 and the epilogue felt like Chapter 2. Since the first, second and third act all falls under that first chapter. Mission 51, to me, was something that felt more like the ZEKE fight in PW, which never came about because of whatever was going on between Konami and Kojima at the time. Why they'd be labeled that way will always baffle me.
That said, a hypothetical third chapter would've been perfect for DLC disconnected from the main story completely. Like going around other regions or self-contained areas to resolve conflicts and spread "peace" the Diamond Dogs way. In my case, with bullets and balloons.