Question: Where does Ground Zeroes rank in the MGS series?

[starschwar]

It's very difficult to evaluate as its own beast. I'm convinced that the entirety of the main mission was meant to be a long, playable flashback during the helicopter ride to Mother Base after rescuing Kaz.

There's just a little bit of Phantom Pain gameplay polish that wasn't quite ready yet, so it can feel a bit awkward to play due to muscle memory, etc. And while I think that in many ways it signaled severe narrative missteps (too little dialogue, too many cassette tapes), it is still one of the better pieces of the overall MGSV storyline.

In some ways, I prefer it to Phantom Pain. No recruitment, base management, item development - just a good old fashioned infiltration mission in a large area with limited resources. And the "pseudo-historical missions" are more entertaining and have more variety (both in premise and ways they can be completed) than most of V's missions proper.

If taken as a standalone game (which it was sold as!), it's pretty low in my rankings. Above the MSX games, Portable Ops, but probably below the rest of the canon and maybe-canon titles. Either one notch above or below Phantom Pain, depending on my mood. It does not come close to 1-4, nor Peace Walker.