Have your thoughts on the series changed over the years?

[Departed]

Back in the day, I used to be really vocal about how much I didn't like MGS1 or much of MGS2, and how I flat out hated MGS4. If I'm honest, as time has gone on and newer games appeal to me less and less, I kind of have a whole new love for the entire MGS series. I have criticisms of every single game, some more so than others. But MGS is the one series where I can come back into any one game and just pick up and play. No fatiguing commitment like with most open world games, and no long stretches of following characters slowly and listening to them talk in-game because it's cheaper than doing cutscenes, despite what it does to a games' pace.

Collectively, I've just come to love the entire MGS series all over again.

Individually, I think the games I've come around to most are MGS1, Peace Walker and MGS4.

I used to say that MGS1 was my least favorite MGS game because I used to get so hung up on what I felt the game should've been, that I wasn't able to fully appreciate what it was. It's a game that has about 3 hours of in-game content, more like 2-ish if you ditched all the backtracking. And in that tie, you get some solid levels to sneak through, 11 unique boss encounters (13 if you include the ambush minibosses), some action set pieces and everything moving at a pretty brisk pace. I maintain the first half of MGS1 is much better than the second half but I honestly have fun with the tower rush because I blend run-n-gunning with my FAMAS with planting claymores behind me in a way that has a fun little rhythm to it. I don't like the boss fights against Wolf or the Hind, but most of the bosses are fun, some are downright amazing, and they come so fast that it keeps the game consistently feeling fresh.

For as much as I used to dunk on MGS4, it is a game I have a lot of fun with now. Utilizing Octo-Camo to sneak past enemies has such a gratifying feel to it, so does picking them off one by one. The boss fights lean into action more but they're still incredibly fun, well imagined bosses that are engaging to go up against. Yeah, Act 3 is obviously the weak point, but the tailing part is only about 10-15 minutes long, and still not as tedious as escorting Emma or the PAL sequence. I wish the game maintained its battlefield stealth, but what it has for the remainder of the game, to me at least, is still entertaining. 

What surprised me the most though is Peace Walker. It's honestly become one of my favorite Metal Gear games and I used to be really down on it for a lot of reasons. But what I realized is it's a game with a ton of content that's really replayable and just as gratifying to zero trace as it is to go guns blazing. I prefer human bosses and was disappointed by the lack of stealth in any of the boss fights but like the MGS4 fights, I can't deny that they're at least fun encounters. I think the games short burst nature works in its favor, but so does having some genuinely good level design that makes sneaking around and zero tracing feel so good. I also love the sheer variety of different levels the game has. From jungles, mountains, fortresses, plantations, military bases and underground facilities. There's a shocking amount of variety and it comes back to just feeling good to bypass enemies. But also having dozens of unique toys to play with for messing around with enemies too. Or having some fun bonus missions to mess around with it.

One thing that's always been consistent for me is the strength of any MGS games' writhing or story isn't what dictates my love of the games. They all fall under the same area for me in that regard, but I can appreciate the sincerity and earnestness in Kojima's stories and his themes. But when all is said and done, it's always gonna be the gameplay first that drives me and whatever the flaws of any MGS game, there isn't a single one where I'm just not having fun. It's a big part of why MGSV and MGS3 are my favorite games of all time and why I've replayed them so much, but when I look back on other games I've replayed dozens of times, the rest of this series is right behind them for just doing so much to keep me coming back decades later.

And with how much games of today feel like they need to either be these massive open worlds or more cinematic and character-focused to the point where gameplay is compromised for the sake of expanding on characters, I can appreciate MGS that much more for going out of its way to keep gameplay and story separate. So if you replay these games, you can skip all the cutscenes and just stick to the raw gameplay and just have a lot of fun with it. Especially since MGS has so much to offer in so short an amount of time usually.

That's my two cents at any rate. How have your guys' thoughts on these games shifted as the years have gone on?