Which ending do you prefer?

[Dirty Duck]

With MGS2 it seemed as if the Otacon ending was canon but MGS4 dashed that eventually. So really it’s sort of down to personal preference? And what’s yours?

I’ve always preferred the Otacon ending. I feel like it makes the story more impactful and ties Otacon and Snake together in tragedy. Plus their exchange on the snowmobile is better.

[NateDog]

Otacon if I had to pick. The idea that Snake would just leave him there to be bombed just doesn't sit right with me, especially given the rapport they've built up over the course of the Shadow Moses incident.

[black king]

Like Nate, I don't feel like Snake would want to leave Otacon behind. Then again I also don't think he'd submit to Ocelot either.

I like the ending scene with Otacon more, especially since he plays a much bigger role going forward than Meryl. Plus stealth > Bandana

[hollyberry]

I prefer Otacons ending too. I just feel the Meryl ending is too Hollywood cheesy to the best of my memory. But it’s so in keeping with Kojimas Hollywood boner themes.
Overall I just love Snake and Otacons relationship, it was amazing in 4, the secret handshake in 2? Peak cinema.

[Wayno]

While I agree with everyone that the relationship between Snake and Hal is fantastic and a highlight of the series, and Meryl is just fine, tbh. I prefer the Meryl ending. It's not that I overly care Meryl could have died canonically it's just there's something that doesn't sit right with me about Snake submitting to Ocelot.

Also, outside of MGS1, there's nothing I recall where Ocelot would basically want to torture someone to death or whatever he does with Meryl for his own gratification.

[BigBrother]

I think I agree - I prefer the Meryl ending - but I don't think submitting to Ocelot is in Snake's make up (especially when paired with how he just keeps going at the end of MGS4). Snake would die before he gave up. This said, every time I play through the option where Snake does give up it my heart breaks a little when he's blaming himself. It's an insight into Snake's inner world that we don't see a lot of; especially amidst the 'I don't like to waste bullets' bravado that he uses as a front for the majority of the time.

[Gene]

I prefer the Otacon ending personally and feel it should have been the canon ending regardless of whether you submit to the torture or not. I think maybe it would have been better if you received a bit of a debuff for submitting but could carry on as normal if you made it through, but I'm perhaps looking back through the gaze of modern gaming rather than seeing it as it was at the time.

I definitely agree that submitting to the torture doesn't fit Solid Snake's character, but Meryl dying definitely adds to the bond that Snake and Otacon created in that it's an extra bit of trauma they both share and build a great friendship off the back of rather than 'yo dude I know you left me to die for this chick, but I'm alive, do you wanna blow some metal gears up?'

Not to say I disliked Meryl's character, but if she didn't appear in MGS4 it wouldn't have been the end of the world.

[Dirty Duck]

Was there ever an agreed upon retcon as to how she is back in MGS4? Or did it just imply Meryl ending is canon? I don't really remember the consensus.

I understand the points about not wanting to think of Snake as the kind of person who would throw in the towel but at the same time would Snake leave Otacon behind? I feel like Snake is a shell of a man at the start of MGS1-a hidden away misanthrope who thinks very lowly of himself-and the events of that game are character development that lead him to being the wise mentor he is in MGS2. His failing Merly who admired him in the same way Raiden does informs his character massively. In the same way that him eventually crawling through the microwave in MGS4 would show growth if he'd not endured in MGS1 and had carried that shame.

[BigBrother]

The Meryl ending is definitely canon - it's referenced at the beginning of the Tanker that Snake got the optic camo through Mei Ling, and I also took the scene with the bandana in the Big Shell as another pointer. Iirc it's referenced that the Colonel made arrangements for survivors to be rescued from Shadow Moses, which is how Otacon got out - I don't think Snake would've left him to die. I also recall Otacon volunteering to sacrifice himself to open the security doors remotely...

In regards to Meryl in MGS4 and how she's like that....nanomachines bruv. Christ was MGS4 a mess from a story, narrative and character perspective...

[Dirty Duck]

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.