After doing some thinking about the 1UP Show's RSVP episode with Erik Wolpaw (the brilliant writer behind Psychonauts and Portal), and now that I'm starting to listen to Retronaut's podcast on Metal Gear, something came to mind.
In a few interviews (including the RSVP special), Eric stated that he essentially thought that Portal's story turned out so well because he stripped away as much as possible, leaving something that's easy to understand and is never overwhelming. Enter Metal Gear Solid. I was just thinking, would the Metal Gear games benefit from this approach as well? Or would they merely appear shallow and even sillier? Is the story to Metal Gear gripping simply because of its long-winded cinematics?
When it came out, attention was divided almost evenly at my school between Metal Gear Solid and Ocarina of Time, yet if you try to play them now, I would personally say that MGS is the only playable one of the two (the textures and the controller alone are enough to make me recoil in terror from Ocarina). I get sucked into the story every time and I get a meloncholy, yet triumphant feeling when I hear "The Best Is Yet To Come" at the end (the Otacon ending is my favorite, by the way).
But even I get tired of the epic codec conversations (I'm sure there are TONS of people who skip them). I suppose the Metal Gear team could leave the cinematics as they are and simply try to abbreviate and recapitulate the codec conversations. That would make the games better. Of this, I'm certain.
There's the rumor that Metal Gear Solid 4's cutscenes sometimes exceed 90 minutes. That's absurd, of course -- and if they don't let you pause and resume them, it's fucking criminal. Still, I am cautiously excited for MGS4. On one hand, the Solids have never disappointed me before and I've always gone into those with somewhat low expectations. Yet, I feel hesitant because I'm sure there's going to be an even better version of the game a year from now. I wisely held off on buying MGS2 and MGS3 so I could get the Substance and Subsistence versions. So what's next? Despite being a Japanese company, I hope Konami is wise enough to make any further enhancements to MGS4 downloadable content.
Also, what's the deal with Hideo Kojima saying that this is his last Metal Gear? (He's been saying this since Metal Gear Solid 2, for those not keeping track.) I'd like to see some specifics on this and read the actual quote. If he says it's the last Metal Gear Solid, I would believe that. So the Solid series ends. I wouldn't put that past him to be sneaky with the specifics like that. For all I know, after this we'll have a new Metal Gear series for consoles starring Raiden. Still, I'm sure he'd love to branch out and do something different while he possibly hands the Metal Gear reigns over to someone else.
In a few interviews (including the RSVP special), Eric stated that he essentially thought that Portal's story turned out so well because he stripped away as much as possible, leaving something that's easy to understand and is never overwhelming. Enter Metal Gear Solid. I was just thinking, would the Metal Gear games benefit from this approach as well? Or would they merely appear shallow and even sillier? Is the story to Metal Gear gripping simply because of its long-winded cinematics?
When it came out, attention was divided almost evenly at my school between Metal Gear Solid and Ocarina of Time, yet if you try to play them now, I would personally say that MGS is the only playable one of the two (the textures and the controller alone are enough to make me recoil in terror from Ocarina). I get sucked into the story every time and I get a meloncholy, yet triumphant feeling when I hear "The Best Is Yet To Come" at the end (the Otacon ending is my favorite, by the way).
But even I get tired of the epic codec conversations (I'm sure there are TONS of people who skip them). I suppose the Metal Gear team could leave the cinematics as they are and simply try to abbreviate and recapitulate the codec conversations. That would make the games better. Of this, I'm certain.
There's the rumor that Metal Gear Solid 4's cutscenes sometimes exceed 90 minutes. That's absurd, of course -- and if they don't let you pause and resume them, it's fucking criminal. Still, I am cautiously excited for MGS4. On one hand, the Solids have never disappointed me before and I've always gone into those with somewhat low expectations. Yet, I feel hesitant because I'm sure there's going to be an even better version of the game a year from now. I wisely held off on buying MGS2 and MGS3 so I could get the Substance and Subsistence versions. So what's next? Despite being a Japanese company, I hope Konami is wise enough to make any further enhancements to MGS4 downloadable content.
Also, what's the deal with Hideo Kojima saying that this is his last Metal Gear? (He's been saying this since Metal Gear Solid 2, for those not keeping track.) I'd like to see some specifics on this and read the actual quote. If he says it's the last Metal Gear Solid, I would believe that. So the Solid series ends. I wouldn't put that past him to be sneaky with the specifics like that. For all I know, after this we'll have a new Metal Gear series for consoles starring Raiden. Still, I'm sure he'd love to branch out and do something different while he possibly hands the Metal Gear reigns over to someone else.
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Confirmed: Epic codec conversations are gone in MGS4
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