Metal Gear Solid Legacy Collection

Alrighty. So I finished MGS1 yesterday and I guess I had fun. I think what saves it was the absurd but entertaining story(the highlights being Snake having to save a weeaboo scientist from a cyborg ninja, and all that crazy super soldier BS) and interesting characters. What unfortunately falters a bit was the core gameplay itself.

Whenever you had to do stealth segments, it was mostly good(although the wall-hugging controls are a bit unresponsive) and there were a few items and gimmicks along the way to keep things fresh and not too simple, but when Snake actually has to defend himself, it becomes a clunky mess. The shooting mechanics are laughable, the physical attacks are not that much better, and a few boss fights overstay their welcome while others are downright lousy from the get go.

The backtracking is also pretty terrible. At one point in the game, a sniper rifle is required for an easy but slightly irritating fight and you have to go all the way back to near the beginning of the game to fetch it. Fortunately, I could shorten the trip a little with a few handy tools. However, near the very end, you have to go through even more backtracking, and there aren't any shortcuts there. What's worse is you have to do it more than one time, so you'll be going back and forth from the final area to the beginning of the second disc, complete with long ass elevator trips, all for the sake of some stupid key cards(and the result of all your hard work is HILARIOUS). It's scary to think that the original Metal Gear 2 is supposed to have worse backtracking than this. Snake could've at least just put the last card between his ass cheeks and save us a lot of trouble trying to warm it in some blast furnace.

At least there's a few twists involving some of the characters Snake speaks to through his codec during all that backtracking, so at least you'll have a few conversations and developments going on while you're busy going back and forth for those stupid cards.

All in all, it's a mildly fun game, but it really stumbles a lot. Compared to many other ps1 games jumping into the 3D gaming pool back in the day, it fairs better than most, but it really needed a bit more care and tweaking for some of the core mechanics, and chewing out some of the fat and removing a good deal of backtracking would've made things less tedious. I assume that the remake for the Gamecube fixed a lot of these issues, but that's not the version we got in this collection, so oh well.

On to MGS2 which hopefully kicks things up a notch.

You'd appreciate the gameplay a lot more if you did a Big Boss run (highest difficulty, no alerts, no kills, etc.). Combat is clunky because you're supposed to figure how to avoid it.
No mention of Sniper Wolf? I'm disappointed.

Golden Boy wrote:

You'd appreciate the gameplay a lot more if you did a Big Boss run (highest difficulty, no alerts, no kills, etc.). Combat is clunky because you're supposed to figure how to avoid it.

I was specifically referring the points when Snake actually had to fight. I just wish I wasn't relegated to using some specific grenade or something during those segments because shooting or hitting back was that much worse of an option and guaranteed to get you hurt.

I don't think I got caught a lot during sections where you can avoid enemies. When I did actually get spotted, it would usually be only like one or two guys, so I wouldn't have much trouble incapacitating them. The game's lenient in that regard when it comes to enemy counts in rooms where stealth is an option. A funny trick I liked was getting the dog to mark my cardboard boxes so wolves wouldn't attack me during the backtracking because of their scent.

Golden Boy wrote:

No mention of Sniper Wolf? I'm disappointed.

Um, she can fabulously take gun and missile shots to the face and still look beautiful in death?

lol, I hated the keycard parts too...every time i replayed it, I was dreading the moment I hate to go through that all again..

Good work using guides Sora.

If you're referring to that dog trick, I didn't actually use a guide. It was just something I picked up while taking a peak on some forums and just happened to find that secret at one time, I swear. It's not like I really needed it or anything since there are so few wolves and they're slow anyway(hell, I already progressed past that point once before I saved and had to start all over from the beginning of the cave when I reloaded the next day).

I did need to look up for some itty bitty help on that Psycho Mantis gimmick, though. I thought it was just them showing off the rumble feature at the time or something(and it's not like it's the only time that the game tries to call your attention to all that vibrating either). I never really got a clear indication that the game wanted me to switch the controller to player 2. Then again, I did neglect the codec a widdle at that point, maybe if I fiddled with it more, one of the gang would've just spelled it out for moi... Overall, though, there's hardly a need for any guide such as this. Aside from the Mantis thing, everything was pretty straight forward. The stealth segments are easy and simple enough due to the low enemy count, progression is quite linear, and you pretty much get the patterns of boss battles down quickly(which is why their large health bars make some of them a bit tedious seeing as you'll be doing the same pattern over and over until they're dealt with).

Anyway, MGS2's shaping up to be somewhat better and more smoother. It's still hard to get used to the gun mechanics but at least we have first person mode for some precision now, even if the controls are still a bit wonky. It's really only an issue during mandatory gun fights, though. Outside of that, I try my hardest to just get by using stealth. Speaking of which, I like how much has been expanded upon it, and now it's actually a bit challenging at times too. Also, Harry Gregson-Williams being the soundtrack's composer is pretty neat, we're really going all Hollywood now, huh?

I slipped on bird shit too.

Busted

Pfft, as if you figured that part out on your own. I'm sure humanity isn't going to fall apart just for looking up one small thing for some silly gimmick.

Although, if it does, it's Kojima's fault.

Ah, geez. There's always something. I just disabled most of those control units of the Shell 1 and 2 connection bridge, but apparently I need the sniper rifle for one attatched to that cypher. Guess who didn't check out Strut F with their new fancy level 3 access card? Is it possible that one could get really lucky and actually manage to get the shot and feel like a true boss(a big boss if you will) and be one step further on the path to enlightenment!?

It should say in your guide.

Man, you guys are really taking this Mantis thing to heart. Did I cross some boundary I wasn't meant to cross?

Always use the codec if you're stuck.  It will eventually tell you what to do.  There's never been a reason to use guides in MGS and its the reason its one of the best games.  

Also sooner or later you'll need the sniper rifle.  Don't use the darkside.

Protip don't look at forums of games that are really old, the whole place will be filled with spoilers.

Superbuu3 wrote:

Always use the codec if you're stuck.  It will eventually tell you what to do.  There's never been a reason to use guides in MGS and its the reason its one of the best games.

I honestly only ever really looked up help for that Psycho gimmick in the first one(not even in an actual guide, it was also a forum post, so there was no accidental spoiling of anything). And considering I probably would've otherwise just kept checking the codec till it flat out said "change the fucking controller, you moron," it's not really that big of a deal. You'd just be getting the same answer from a different source. It was just a one off thing and I never needed any help before or after that.

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Also sooner or later you'll need the sniper rifle.  Don't use the darkside.

Already way past that point ages ago. I don't think it's even possible to shoot the last control unit on the cypher without it. It moves around too much. So, I trudged all the way back and got it as well as some other crap in the same area and then moved on.

If you use too many guides Snake appears under your bed and beats the living shit out of you. I know its true because some guy on the internet said it.

It must have been Liquid. Snake wouldn't do that. He's a sensitive, deep, delicate flower hidden beneath a gruff exterior.

SOK wrote:

It must have been Liquid. Snake wouldn't do that. He's a sensitive, deep, delicate flower hidden beneath a gruff exterior.

I don't think we played the same game.

Look into those eyes. There is a beautiful, flawed, complicated human being within.

Anyway, what is with that soap-operatic sub-plot going on in the save menu? Before that fight against a vampire(TACTICAL. ESPIONAGE. ACTION), I went to save and then this whole melodrama started about how Rose is all hurt because she and Raiden never once slept together after having sex, and that he stays up till after dark and leaves in the morning because he's afraid of the night for some reason. Then she goes on about how he never lets her into his room which is apparently almost empty save for a desk and bed, and that he lost his shit and raised his hand against her(for the "first time" as she puts it, so I guess he's hit her multiple times) when she broke into it one day.

It was the second most perplexing and unexpected thing I ran into the game today. The first being the president grabbing Raiden's junk because he thought he was a chick. Sick bastard.

Anyway, I'm up to some sniper rifle segment where I have to protect Otacon's sister, who literally pissed herself when Raiden first met her, similar to when her brother did the same in MGS1 during his introduction.

2014 the year that Sora was reborn as SOK and came out.

Raiden's mentality was once the fun part was over he didn't see the point in Rose, because she's one of the worst fictional women in anything ever.

Superbuu3 wrote:

2014 the year that Sora was reborn as SOK and came out.

Silence! You just can't see what I see when I look into Snake's eyes. You're jealous! JEALOUS!

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Raiden's mentality was once the fun part was over he didn't see the point in Rose, because she's one of the worst fictional women in anything ever.

That is a given, but the question is why was all that even in this? I didn't ask to hear all that in my tactical espionage actioning. All I wanted to do was save! Instead I find out that his nagging, dense girlfriend is also a battered psycho who can't stop coming back for more, adding a new layer of disturbance to her annoying attempts to get closer to Raiden.

I should get back to MGS3 at some point.

Sora, all of that stuff is just flavor Kojima added tot ry and make some of the more common stuff seem interesting, although he handles it very badly with Rose. It happens again in MGS3, but they do a better job with the person who handles the saving and the conversations you with them, it also leads to some pretty funny revelations about Snake.

isn't Rose in MGS4 with booby jiggles?

Yeah, but she's kind of a non-character. Like you can hit her up with the Codec and all, but she doesn't have a lot of interesting things to say, nor is it anything offensive, she's just kind of there.

Baal wrote:

Sora, all of that stuff is just flavor Kojima added tot ry and make some of the more common stuff seem interesting

Good grief, Baal, anyone can see that. I was being facetious because it's the kind of borderline soap-operatic moment that you'd never expect going into a game like this. When you open up the codec for some conversations, you'd expect a casual humorous chat or a little bit of an actual intriguing backstory brought up. Then this hilarious and cheesy moment involving those two's private life pops up and it's so awkward and melodramatic.