Which ending do you prefer?

[NateDog]

TFW you leave your soul mate behind at an exploding military base to escape with some woman who you then won't see for 9 years because you're busy journeying the world with said soul mate destroying Metal Gears and raising a child together.

Hey now let's be fair here to Snake. He didn't not get to see Meryl for years because he was hanging with Otacon, he abandoned her long before that himself.

[MGWSpike]

The Otacon ending. The cutscene on top of REX when Snake realizes he couldn't save Meryl is truly poignant.
The characters feel too happy during the Meryl ending, considering what previously happened.

Besides, Western players won't get the Policenauts references in the Meryl ending (AU Meryl had a partner named Dave who wore an orange lifejacket) since that game was never officially released in the West.

[starschwar]

Ignoring canon and continuity and all that: The Otacon ending is way better. The Meryl ending is too standard, too normal, too predictable. Snake failing to save "the girl" (who's hardly a damsel) - because he was right about his own self-deprecation. He was not the legend he was made out to be. She saw a hero, he warned her he'd let her down - and does. And still beats himself up for it. I believe that's also the only ending that reveals that Campbell is her biological father - Snake has failed one of the few friends he has, even more than he had imagined to begin with. And the significance of Otacon giving Snake the stealth camo device has greater meaning. Otacon used it, not merely to avoid detection, but to hide from himself and his weaknesses and failures. For the guy whose first impression is pissing himself to now offer his high-tech security blanket to the seasoned covert operative is quite the gut-punch.

Back in the day - when the "trilogy' box set for PS2 came out, I convinced a buddy of mine to try the series that way. While he was first getting into Sons of Liberty, he thought the way Campbell (he didn't know about the AI twist yet) talked so coldly about Snake implied that Meryl had indeed died and blamed Snake for it. It was a legitimate interpretation under the circumstances.

I wonder - if things had gone differently, if MGS4 wasn't designed to be the ending, would Kojima have kept Meryl's fate ambiguous?

[Tricerius]

Meryl. Otacon's ending obviously hits harder and has some things going for it, but it's hard to pick the ending which gets a character killed, when the alternative just... Doesn't, and doesn't really sacrifice anything in the process. It is the avoidable nature of her death what gives it a meaningless aspect, which is at odds with the intent; you're supposed to care about Meryl dying. 

I also find it unfathomable that Snake would submit, especially with him knowing that it'd be getting someone else killed. It's just not in his character. Her death is a consequence of the player's failing, not his, which does detract from it for me because Snake is his own character at the end of the day. Uncharacteristic decisions that lack a proper justification tend to cheapen the decision itself.

It'd have been preferable had there been more of a dilemma, or if there had been more to her dying to justify it. But as is, the question hinges on whether you care to smash the button or prefer the stealth suit. Both valid to the player, but not relevant to the story itself. One which I think has plenty of suffering and tragedy to go about to really necessitate throwing Meryl's death on Snake's consciousness, but that's just me.

[ballisticola]

Just to mention that Meryl's ending was always canon before MGS4. In The Darkness of Shadow Moses outright says she survived.

[Roger]

At the time, I did feel bummed out that I couldn't save Meryl. And frankly, I'll be honest. I didn't try as hard as I could have. But seeing her show up in MGS4 was relieving but also a bit annoying. Why wasn't she involved in some way in MGS2? Or mentioned at all? Aside from the Darkness of Shadow Moses. It felt far more compelling for the Otacon ending to be the canon ending based on how MGS2 lacked any mention of her.

[Caribou]

The Meryl ending. It requires more from the player and is the canon one, after all

[BigBrother]

There is something to be said that there is something to be said for the Otacon ending. I don't think it's canon, but at the same time I think it's preferable. You get to see a side of Snake that you just don't, so it's quite a special scene.

[Jassassino]

Otacon every time. You gonna sit here and tell me those two gay dads living together nomad dedicating their lives to 'philanthropy', adopting a daughter and teaching a pretty boy cyborg ninja how to live as his true self don't deserve to ride off into the sunset together?

[BigBrother]

There is something to be said that there is something to be said for the Otacon ending. I don't think it's canon, but at the same time I think it's preferable. You get to see a side of Snake that you just don't, so it's quite a special scene.

Jfc this post was awfully written, sorry! But yeah, was trying to say that even though the Otacon ending isn't canon it's "preferable" due to it giving an extra dimension to a character who can be quite closed. Especially seeing him navigate his immediate guilt over Meryl's death; Snake is very matter of fact about horrendous topics, but it's very....human.