Not at all! I always thought Kojima's stories were always the same. The only thing that people criticized was Raiden, but Metal Gear Solid 3 got the game back on track. It was one of my favorite last-gen games, maybe even one of my favorite games of all time. And MGS 3: Subsistence only took it to another level, a very high level.

Even though MGS 2 was criticized, the gameplay was still Metal Gear-"Solid," if you know what I mean.So no, MGS was always about the gameplay for me, and every version delivered, especially the third one.

ASK_Story

Yes I absolutely agree that the gameplay has been solid throughout the entire series and has never skipped a beat as far as I'm concerned, but don't sell MGS short. There is far more to the allure of MGS than just how fun it is to play (in the times you actually get a chance to control it of course). There is a lot of emotion in it's cinematics, deep connection the player feels for it's characters, and an atmosphere that sucks you in and makes you believe that these characters and the crisis at hand are real and important to you as well as the game world's inhabitants.

MGS without dialogue, cinematics, and script......... well it's certainly not MGS.

(EDIT) Did my spaces disappear due to some technical issue, or is it just me?

Meh, I think the quirky nature of the story line is what makes MGS....MGS.DarKre

For a lot of people (me included), the MGS series just never managed to capture the magic of MGS1 going into it's sequels.

For awhile I theorized that this might have quite a bit to do with quality of the English translation, or lack thereof, in the games post-MGS1. The characters, the dialogue ....... something just seemed off in MGS2, and to some extent, in MGS3 as well. I just could not find myself getting into the characters or being terribly interested in what any of them had to say. They just did'nt sound very natural I suppose. At least not on the same level as they did in the first MGS.

Here is an interview I think every MGS fan needs to hear. It's slightly depressing to think that the MGS sequels could've been so much more enjoyable than they were if not for clashing egos and opportunistic writers. I've always felt that Kojima was not quite the "genius" that so many make him out to be, and despite how many artistic pictures he takes with glasses on, finger on chin, staring into the camera like he's in deep thought, It's always been quite apparent to me that the true stars of the show were those writing the script for the English translation. Making the characters seem more real than just sticking to a direct translation of what is ultimately a ridiculous script when left untouched.

It pretty much confirmed my beliefs when Jeremy Blaustein (the subject of this particular podcast) said "I tried to write that script as best I could, but they still snuck some things past me. Do you think love can bloom on the battlefield? Do you really believe I wanted that in the game?"

Given that the line "Do you think love can bloom on the battlefield?" is the most out of place line in all of MGS1, and to this day elicits snickers from me and my friends when we reminisce about it, I tend to believe the original would've been that much better if Blaustein had been given more creative freedom. Obviously, he lost all control after MGS1, and the disappointing sequels are the by product of this.

I'm sure there will be tons of MGS fans in here calling this guy a whiner, proclaiming Kojima a genius, and saying things like " the MGS sequels were every bit as good as the first ........ if not better!", but please try and be open-minded when you listen to this interview.

To think that if this guy could've kept editing the script, we very likely would've beenspared such trash as "Liquid is an arm now!", and the crotch-grabbing President.

http://www.metalgearsolid.org/show_news.php?id=1218

Well in all fairness, the guy did make one of the best games of all time, and quite possibly the best game to ever appear in it's genre. Ninja Theory made .......... Kung Fu Chaos.

As far as I'm concerned, he can say whatever the heck he wants about Heavenly Sword.