Have your thoughts on the series changed over the years?

[Bread]

Honestly, I need to do a replay of the series. I don't think I've played through any MGS games since V came out in 2015. But I don't think my thoughts on any of the individual games have changed since I first played them. 1 = brilliant, 2 = very good, 3 = GOATed, 4 = excellent, V = disappointment.

Whether any of these games stand the test of time from my perspective remains to be seen, these games were still all relatively young when I last played them.

[TomRL101]

It's so good to see the Departed again. One of the best MGSF members. I had a lot of respect for your essays on MGSV.

Ngl my opinion has remained solid for the ten years I've been off the forum. 2 and 3 are the best, V is up there, and 4 is weaker than those three. However, there have been two changes.

First one is small. Every time I play MGS2, I think "This is the time I get sick of Kojima's writing and realize that it's not that smart and groundbreaking", and every single time I'm blown away. The game just gives you so many interesting ideas to chew on. I love it. It's overwhelming. The game has got stronger with every playthrough for over twenty years now. 3 however, continues to deflate a bit more every time. The game ties the ideas in very elegantly, but there is overall not as much to think about. It's more of an emotional punch, which naturally gets weaker with each playthrough. The awkwardness of using the mechanics turns me away from having fun and experimenting with them too(That's where Delta comes in). Also, we all know that the tranquilizer is the most op weapon ever in a video game. So I've finally decided that 2 is the strongest of the two. It's the best Metal Gear. It was tough to decide because they're so different.

The second change is pretty massive. I just realized that MGS1 is literally a piece of shit. It's weak in every respect. Every single one. Most of these can't be hand-waved away with age either. Good writing is eternal. Good level design is eternal. The only thing that holds up from MGS1 is the music and atmosphere. I wrote a document on how to fix MGS1. If only I knew how to mod old games.

I do still love MGS1 though.

[vjolt95]

I was very opinionated about Metal Gear in my youth, naturally that fades with time. It is pretty funny to think that I used to be frustrated that people got confused between the snakes. 
In general the silhouette of my opinions has remained mostly sturdy, though, my appreciation of the games and ranking... hm. 
I've become more easily frustrated by relatively minor things; for example some of the clunky sections of Metal Gear 2 have taken it from my favorite spot down several notches. (Oh please give us a remake with a beautiful handsome and cool Frank  )
MGS3 I've only become more fond of, and in part that waxes as my opinion of 2 wanes a little. As I've matured I've found myself a little frustrated with how people understand MGS2 as this 'visionary, high-art, prescient' piece, which feels overly-wanky as much as I like the game. I'm still quite fond of all of them (except for TPP  ) in their own ways unique to each.

[Sonofsolidsnake]

For me metal gear solid 1 is my favourite game of all time and mgs 3 is my second favourite of the franchise although there’s not much in it between the 2 for me. These 2 have stayed the same over the years but I feel like I’ve grown to appreciate the gameplay and story of mgs2 more than I did at the time.

[DANMATUS]

What a great thread, here comes my two cents:

MGS1:
Pure nostalgia. Never understood it much as a kid and it scared the shit out of me, specially the music before Psycho Mantis and Psycho Mantis himself. This has a special place in my heart though, never get tired of running through it. There is also something about the codec calls here that puts a smile on my face everytime, again, could be nostalgia.

MGS2:
Nostalgia 2.0. I have so many fond memories playing through this with my cousin. By today its still one of my favorites, specially now when I'm older and can see the prediction it made with its story.

MGS3:
This is one of those games that I want to love as much as MGS1 and 2 but I just can't for some reason. Is it the jungle theme? Is it cause I didnt grow up with it? I have no idea but it's a cool game with weird ass bosses and I do run through it from time to time but I dont master it at all.

MGS4:
God do I love MGS4, act 3, not so much. I just love the throwbacks to MGS1 in this game, the bb corpse and their backstory, the fighting choreographics, the war economy story, the cinematics, lore-heavyness, the music (specially love theme), new characters like Drebin, the menu and all the random items (weapons, items, customization, solid eye, mk1,2,3, face camos, ipod), the info-text about the items in the L1-viewer, the flow of gameplay (minus the fps drops) .. there are just so much I love about this game. This is the game I pick up when im extra tired and dont feel like gaming so much but still wanna do something MGS related. I pop a big bag of popcorn and play for 5 min and then get ready cause I know there is a 15+ min cutscene incoming.

MGS5:
I love the grindyness and open world of this and the amount of options you have when infiltrating. Ive always liked the quick-small-mission approach or do a side-op when you just wanna play a little and dont have time to sit through a story mission. New characters and seeing old characters upbringing was also very cool, not a big fan of the hospital intro though, creepy as hell and its a long one.

MGSPW:
Much like MGS5, I love the grindyness and repeating missions. I do have a PSP i do transfarring with so for me its perfect to keep farming while visiting the mother in law and such. The amount of lore here is also awesome with the tapes and who doesnt love Kaz.

[Silent Assassin]

Not to a huge extent. Some of the stuff I found endearing back then, I see as cringe but I still love the series. Played a major role in my gaming "career".