A Response to Samuel Roberts's Article "Why MGS5's ending is one perfect moment in a bad story"

Hey Guys, it's been a while since I mentioned anything about The Phantom Pain. First, I loved the game. It's easily a competitor for Game of the Year! I even gave the game a high score on my review of it. However, I did not give it a perfect score due to the story. Although I may not be a big fan of the story, I would not say it is bad.

I stumbled upon this article and have a mixed response to it. If you want to check out Samuel Robert's article, be sure to click here. If you did not already guess it, but this post will contain spoilers for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Please, do not read on if you plan on playing the game and/or are currently playing the game.

As my usual response posts, I will be breaking down some key quotes made in the article. I will not just be focusing on quotes that I disagree with, but this article does have some valid points that I need to address. Anyways, let me get started,

• "As someone who's followed the series very closely since the original Metal Gear Solid, though, I find so many of the creative decisions behind the story baffling in tone, approach and content". He does have a good point here, but I would not say that there is a complete loss of creativity is this game. A vocal parasite that effects the English language? That sounds pretty unique to me. However, I did feel that this game really did lack a lot of what made the previous entries in the franchise's story so good. 
• "Like a lot of observers I was onto this from the start of MGSV's story. In my review-in-progress piece in September, I called this version of Snake 'an anonymous action hero' and ‘an empty vessel'". If you're confused as to what he was talking about in the first part of the quote, he was talking about how most people were already aware of the fact that you were not playing as Big Boss. If you went into the game without knowing that you were not playing as Big Boss, then you would have already caught on to the fact that Big Boss really lacked in character in the Phantom Pain. Seriously, I think Big Boss had like 5 or 10 minutes worth of dialogue in the entire game. Why the decision was made for Big Boss to remain silent is beyond me, but I think it had something to due with the fact that this is not the real Big Boss.
• "Having lost nine years of his life to a coma, he then gives up his own identity to assume that of his ally for his protection, through both hypnotherapy and plastic surgery, then builds an entire army and forges relationships on an entirely false premise". The Medic is essentially a nobody. Mr. Roberts even addresses this later in the article. If anything, it really makes you want to feel bad for him since everything the Medic did means nothing since most people saw him as Big Boss including himself.
• "But the story feels deliberately unfinished—Quiet, Huey and Eli (Liquid Snake) all just vanish in various ways throughout chapter two, stripping more and more of Metal Gear’s lore away from The Phantom Pain". Honestly, the game does feel unfinished. Chapter 3 must have been cut from the main game because Chapter 2 was just painful to play through. Personally, I felt it was just filler at that point. There really was no closure to the game, but I feel there is as future DLC that will give this game a proper closing. 

In the grand scheme of things, Metal Gear Solid V is a great game. However, it is easily the worst game in the series in terms of story. Honestly, I do not feel the "ending" was great either. When I found out I wasn't playing as Big Boss, I felt so cheated. At the same time, it was still a genius ending as it was Kojima's way of giving the ol' tip of the hat to fans of the series.

We can't help but feel bad for the medic since his story is pretty tragic. Although we are not playing as the real Big Boss, it does not take away from core gameplay. As I said before, the story isn't bad in terms of video games in general, but I would say it's bad in terms of Metal Gear standards.

Till Next Time!!

Metal Gear Solid V's Reviews are Insane!

Hey Guys, if you didn't already know reviews of Metal Gear Solid V have been releasing yesterday. We already knew the game was going to be good, but "good" is a big understatement to describe this game. Just look at these scores...

I swear I didn't edit this. You can check this out right here on VG247

I'm positive that we all expected this game to be good, but apparently not THIS good. However, it seems reviews happen to criticize the same thing which is the story. I've seen that most of them are mixed. IGN believes it to be "sparse" while GameSpot says that it has a rather weak conclusion. Apparently, there is also this paywall that GameSpot was talking about for the multiplayer, but I don't really think it should be a concern until the multiplayer portion of this game releases.

Should the game receive a 10 even though the story may not be as good? Honestly, I really don't think it matters. Critics universally loved the gameplay! There is just so much content in this game that it really doesn't matter that the story may not be that good. How would we know there is a lot of content? The game is way too long to complete before actually releasing it on September 1st. Seriously, I bet most reviewers wouldn't be able to finish it in time if they received their review copies three days before the game releases.

If anything, more games should have early reviews like this! Think about that for a second. If critics got to release early reviews for games, then people would know whether to buy it or not. Pre-orders for this game are going to rise for this game! I don't even know if I'll have time to review this game seeing how long it's going to be. However, it should be safe to say that this game is worth full price.

Before I end this, these reviews were coming from the PS4. I don't know anything about the last-gen versions of the game, but there really is no reason for anybody who doesn't have a current-gen console to buy this game.
Till Next Time!!

Is Mad Max releasing on a bad day?

Hey Guys, sorry that I haven't posted anything in a couple of days. I honestly was a pretty busy for the past couple of days and nothing new was going on in the gaming news. However, there was more news of Mad Max that was rising up. However, this is a game that I want to talk about but not about its gameplay.

I want to talk about its release date since it's releasing on the same day as Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Before I go on, I want to mention that I don't hate this game or the movie franchises. Most people were first introduced to Mad Max from the newer movie that released a while ago.

However, that's what is making me mad! People are only interested in this game because of how good of a movie Mad Max: Fury Road was! When this game was first released, were people even paying attention? Don't people realize that movie-license games are almost always terrible!?

I'm not saying the game is terrible since it didn't release yet. However, I do see where the hype is coming from due to all these features that are coming to it. Just recently, there was this multiple choice trailer that released. You can check it out here,

I recommend that you do watch the full trailer is on YouTube since it is "interactive". You'll know what I mean by "interactive" once you watch the trailer yourself. Anyways, now I'm just digressing.

However, are people actually going to buy this over The Phantom Pain? Seriously, just let that question sink in for a bit. This game is pretty much guaranteed to be good due to the fact that Metal Gear Sold V: Ground Zeroes released back in 2014. Even though the game's price was ridiculous, the gameplay was amazing and the Fox Engine is just breathtaking!

If you haven't played Ground Zeroes, then you are missing out on an amazing experience. I don't know how people haven't played it since it was free on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. That's another factor that will come into play when Mad Max and Metal Gear Solid V releases!

Metal Gear Solid V is coming to both last-gen consoles and current-gen consoles while Mad Max is releasing on only current-gen consoles. Despite the fact that the Phantom Pain is meant to be played on current-gen consoles, it actually still looks pretty good on last-gen consoles. Additionally, the game is only $49 on current-gen consoles!

Want more? Metal Gear Solid V's story is said to be so long that "players will start complaining that they can't clear the game". This was said by Hideo Kojima himself. The article itself is old, but you can check it out here. Seriously, it's obvious that the Phantom Pain will have more content and replay value than Mad Max.

With all this being said, there is no way that Mad Max will sell as well due to the fact that the Phantom Pain is just on a different level.
Till Next Time!!

Kojima's name removed from The Phantom Pain's Box Art

Hey Guys, with Kojima Productions officially disbanded means that Konami has pretty much disowned anything having to do with Hideo Kojima. Want some proof? Konami has been reported to tell interviewers not to even mention Kojima's name as if he's some kind of evil being. Want even further proof? They removed his name from his own game. Take a look,

Image provided by IGN. I added in the circles to highlight where Kojima's name and his studio used to be

I actually find this really funny to say the least. Konami is trying really hard to get rid of any trace of Kojima. They even got rid Kojima Productions from their own website. This is just a childish move from such a good company.

Well, Konami used to be good company, but now that they officially got rid of Kojima they are pretty much over with. They are still going through and adding microtransactions into the game. What is wrong with you Konami? Once you transition into the mobile gaming market, you are pretty much over with. Nobody including myself is going to want to purchase games from a company that booted one of the greatest video game designers to ever live and canceled the highly anticipated Silent Hills.

I'm sorry Konami. However, you're just going to get knocked out of the market.
Till Next Time!!