Which is the best main line Metal Gear Solid game?

@uninspiredcup:

Ghost Babel plays similarly to Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, but with the addition of MGS1's cover mechanic. But yeah, the GBC hardware that Ghost Babel was running on was very limited, more so than the MSX2 hardware that Metal Gear 1 & 2 ran on.

@asnakeneverdies:

The Metal Gear canon starts like this:

1. Metal Gear (MG1) - MSX
2. Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (MG2:SS) - MSX
3. Metal Gear Solid (MGS1) - PS1
4. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (MGS2) - PS2

The NES MG1 is not canon, due to how much it changed the gameplay and story of the original MSX MG1. Ghost Babel is also not canon, due to taking place in an alternate timeline set after MG1... though there is a fan-theory that Ghost Babel is a virtual simulation that "Jack" (a.k.a. Raiden) played some time before MGS2.

MG2:SS was a massive improvement over MG1, but MG2:SS was never officially released in the West for over a decade (up until its inclusion in MGS3 Subsistence). But because MG2:SS didn't release in the West, Kojima took the liberty of repeating many of the gameplay and plot elements of MG2:SS in its sequel MGS1. In other words, MGS1 wasn't as big a leap as many gamers thought.

Also, you can't really separate the two MSX games from the Solid series, as MG1 and MG2:SS are central to the entire series: MGS1 is a direct sequel to MG2:SS, while MGS 3 & 5 are prequels to MG1. In other words, the MSX games are what tie the whole MGS series together.

@Jag85: Gee, thanks Wikipedia! ?

MGS1 - 9.6/10 (revolutionary, brilliant)

MGS2 - 9.6/10 (amazing visuals, great trolling)

MGS3 - 9.1/10 (flawed controls, but brilliant setting)

MGS4 - 9.7/10 (one of my favorite games of all time)

MGS5 - 6/10 (trash, disgrace, horrible, killed the franchise for me)

Haven't played a single one. My vote goes to the one with the most and best gameplay. There's lots of cinematics in that series.. Doubt I'd have the patience to play through any of them.

@Litchie: Methinks this discussion's exclusively meant for user accounts that have experienced all of the mainline games in their entirety. However, it's nice of you to go out of your way to raise awareness on your circumstances, Litchie. I suppose it should be mandatory, like with sex offenders.

"Hi, I'm Litchie, and I'm a registered cultural offender." ?

Litchie

Hey, I was bored. Found a thread in which I could complain about cinematics in games, and maybe get some extra enjoyment out of it from replies of butthurt MG fanboys in the process. Seems to be working..

The problem with previous Metal Gear Solid is "more writing is better writing syndrome". Everything starts well and then vampires, ghosts, crying beauties, cyborg ninjas appear out of nowhere. MGS V also features fictional elements but they are toned down and grounded in reality. Not to mention cinematography has greatly improved. Where snake used to say "Otacon, What the... What the hell is this place. What the hell is going on. Who are these people etc", now he just makes a single facial expression and from that everything becomes clear what he's really thinking. It also got rid of "Jack let's talk about our relationship (while bullets fly around you)" moments and became more consistent in its approach. Villains like Man on Fire and Psycho Mantis are shown overpowered and their small roles are executed well. Sometimes less is more, and that's what makes MGSV's plot better in my eyes. Not to mention tiny little details like body movement of drivers when they're riding a car and taking you and skull face to your destination. Everything feels real including car physics. Nothing feels weightless. As for gameplay, it's best without a doubt.

@Litchie: You're a horrible person, Litchie. I changed you to the Devil Emoji. It serves you right! ?

:(

Metal Gear Solid 2 blew my mind the most, so that one

I personally put MGS 2 as my favorite. I enjoyed 1-4 immensely, but 2 holds a very special place in my memory.

2 was a better game without a doubt but 1 was most memorable for me. VR missions was great as well.

The first 3 are my favorite.

I voted for the first one.

I'll take 5 over 3.

1 is the best in the series followed by 2 while 4 being the worse.

3 I felt the mechanics/camera were outdated.

4 was a movie.

5 was a incomplete mess but still fun.

MGS1>2>5>3>>>>>4

But it has a scientific explanation as to why Quiet has to dress like a slut.

It bothered me quite a bit before playing but frankly Quite's role is not that big and I barely visited her hence never got rain cutscene. Later you could unlock costumes for her as well. It was a bit silly but little "explanation" and her small role didn't bother me. In fact I started liking her in Act 2. I took D Dog on missions 90% of the time.

It was abit much, even by video game titty standards.

From the Metal Gear Solid 3 opening, casting of Death Stranding (multiple cast members from Daniel Craig movies), it seems what Hideo Kojima is going for was the video game equivalent of a Bond girl.

To a degree he's been successful, probably the most effective is The Boss, which is the least sexualized female character, funnily enough. Likewise with James Bond, Tracy (On Her Majesties Secret Service) is generally considered the best, because she has more going on than the typical tits with a face.

The most "Bond girl" character in the series was Eva in MGS3. She's the classic femme-fatale spy character you see in '60s Bond movies.

It's worth remembering that Bond girls were both villains and anti-heroes.

To be honest, many of the early Bond girls are quite bad, as per the period. The most well known, Honey Ryder in the original Dr.No, could be removed and literally have no effect on the movie. The two exceptions to this however are Pussy Galore (a villain eventually anti-hero) and Fiona Volpe who's a straight up villain for Spectre and probably the best character in Thunderball.

Eva prostituting herself to the main villain, teaming up with Snake is reminiscent of Camille Montes in Quantum of Solace.

Boss is closer to Octopussy who is a powerful female in her own right working in collusion with the villains but it ultimately good. Arguably also an amalgamation of Vesper who is forced to work Spectre secretly, sacrificing herself. Albeit here with a samurai duel.

Wow, I'm surprised by the lack of love for MGS 2. I loved MGS 2.

Not surprising really given the misdirection change to an effeminate character and polarizing story Some love it. Some hate it. Metal Gear Solid 3 is more of a crowd pleaser.

@SolidGame_basic: Sons of Liberty features one of the greatest technological leaps in video game history, both graphically and mechanically, only surpassed by the likes of Super Mario 64. However, despite such improvements, it's the hardest and least environmentally varied of the Metal Gear Solid games.

mgs2 or mgs3, mgs3 or mgs2. it depends on the time of the year. right now i think mgs2, or maybe...

I'm not surprised at all. MGS2 was the most polarizing and divisive game of the series. The gameplay is a finely-tuned masterpiece, better than both its predecessor (MGS1) and successor (MGS3). But it's the story that was divisive, as it wasn't a conventional crowd-pleaser like MGS1 (or MGS3) that fans were expecting, but instead turned out to be an unconventional postmodern deconstruction. The themes it was dealing with were just too ahead-of-its-time, from social media and internet memes to fake news and alternative facts, concepts that were virtually unheard of back then, making it confusing for players back in the early 2000s yet not-so-confusing today. But MGS2's story has been pretty influential, evident in games from Killer 7 and BioShock to Portal and Spec Ops: The Line, as well as some comics and movies like Captain America: The Winter Soldier (which is almost like a simplified crowd-pleaser version of MGS2, along with some MGS1).

MGS3>MGS1>MGS2>MGS4>MGS5 (would have been higher on the list had they actually completed the game)

2=1,5,3,4 overall

4 is 2nd best for story though, only behind 2.

Can't choose, played 10 plus times each except MGSV, i did not like the story of that one. Other aspects from the game are great though.

Cool. I don't see much love given to PW and I really like that game.