Every "best MGS" ranking I see puts 3 at the top and I need someone to explain to me what I'm missing because 2 is the one that's stuck with me way harder over the years.
Snake Eater is a great game, don't get me wrong, gorgeous for its time, The Boss fight is iconic, whatever. But MGS2's whole Raiden bait-and-switch and the entire back half where the game basically starts having a breakdown about the nature of information and legacy... that's Kojima doing something genuinely ahead of its time in a way that 3's more straightforward "cool spy movie" tone doesn't really attempt.
Replayed both back to back this month and 2 aged weirdly better as a piece of media even if 3 is the more "fun" playthrough moment to moment. curious if anyone else feels this way or if I'm just contrarian
The stuff with the AI and information control in the back third of 2 reads almost eerily prescient now given, like, the entire last decade of internet discourse. It's the kind of thing that would've felt like a weird tonal swerve back in 2001 and now just feels like Kojima was taking notes from twenty years in the future.
I also think people undersell how ballsy the Raiden swap actually was as a design decision, not just a narrative one. Building an entire marketing campaign around Snake and then pulling the rug within the first hour is the kind of thing no publisher would greenlight today, and it fundamentally changes how you engage with the rest of the game because you're constantly waiting for the game to pull something else on you.
3 is still great, the jungle survival stuff was genuinely innovative for its time and the Boss/Ocelot stuff is some of the best character writing in the series. I just think its reputation as "the objectively best one" has calcified past the point where people actually reconsider it, whereas 2 still gets treated like the weird stepchild of the franchise when it's honestly the most interesting entry to actually talk about.
What is the meaning of consciousness?
Snake Eater is GOAT. Howeva, I do concur with MG2 being the most memorable though. Naked Raiden was peak Kojima shit 🤣
I'll take a strawberry sundae and a pizza!
A contrarian you say Game Maniac ? I got you beat. Metal Gear Solid 4 is the best aka the cutscene king! 🤣
I will never sell this platform. You can reuse my gameplay VODs. Credit either
Jason's Video Games Source or https://www.youtube.com/@JasonsVideoGamesSource
You can't be serious 4?A contrarian you say Game Maniac ? I got you beat. Metal Gear Solid 4 is the best aka the cutscene king! 🤣
I'll take a strawberry sundae and a pizza!
It is. It's hard for me to explain why cause I know deep down it's not the best overall MGS. It's my conundrum.You can't be serious 4?A contrarian you say Game Maniac ? I got you beat. Metal Gear Solid 4 is the best aka the cutscene king! 🤣
I will never sell this platform. You can reuse my gameplay VODs. Credit either
Jason's Video Games Source or https://www.youtube.com/@JasonsVideoGamesSource
Metal Gear Solid 2 was memorable back in 2001 but I'll always take the OG Metal Gear Solid on PS as my #1.
No one else thinks 2 is the best one except me? 😭
What is the meaning of consciousness?
Just you my man. I will confess I only played some of 3 so I'm no MGS expert.No one else thinks 2 is the best one except me? 😭
Fast like a Ferrari 😎