MGS V: Phantom Pain

[drahkon]

And blimey this is how all big releases should be launched

 

Despite the online stuff being fucked up the first few days, I have to agree.

 

With this, I just keep going and going.

 

Tell me about it Have played for 7 hours today.

 

Currently sitting at 21% completion and 22 hours played. Think I'll easily reach the 100 hour mark with the singleplayer alone.

 

Not sure if I dabble with FOB stuff (haven't unlocked it, yet). Maybe I'll enjoy it, maybe not. Even if not...singleplayer has got me hooked and I can't wait to do all kinds of crazy shit when I've unlocked everything. Dat Stealth Camo in the development list...will be a long journey until I can develop it, but I'm already giddy with excitement

 

And in October Metal Gear Online will launch...I really hope it will be good...

 

 

Just did some missions with Quiet as my buddy. She's awesome :awesome: Looks good, can handle a gun and doesn't talk. A man's dream. :p

[Happenstance]

It's a weird game. On the one hand, yes this is how big releases should be launched, running smoothly etc. on the other hand, the more you play of it the more you'll start to realise that content was cut to actually get this game out, some of it pretty significant. It's not the perfect release.

[drahkon]

I must be the only one who isn't annoyed or disappointed by the "lack" of cutscenes/story.

So far I've listened to a lot of tapes during base management and it's been great.

 

I don't think long cutscenes would work with Phantom Pain. But that's just me it seems.

[Happenstance]

You'll see what I mean the more you play, especially the back half. There is one important story mission that we know was cut because they put a video of it on the CE edition. I'm not talking about how the game is light on story/cutscenes.

[drahkon]

Ah I see. It's probably Konami's fault.

 

Well, there will be ways to obtain information that was cut from the game, so I won't really mind.

 

 

I hope that Kojima will continue to make games on his own. Launch a Kickstarter or something.

[RedShell]

I must be the only one who isn't annoyed or disappointed by the "lack" of cutscenes/story.

So far I've listened to a lot of tapes during base management and it's been great.

 

I don't think long cutscenes would work with Phantom Pain. But that's just me it seems.

Nope:

 

As someone that has no interest in the story whatsoever, I can confirm that the game is still incredibly entertaining.

I'm not at all annoyed or disappointed by that either.

In fact, this is the best MG game I've ever played as a result of cutscenes/story being toned down.

 

Obviously still enjoying that stuff as and when it appears though, some of it has been really cool. But glad the focus is very much on gameplay this time.

 

Anyway, got a few more missions done tonight and have just unlocked the FOB stuff. :awesome:

 

Kinda confused by it though...

 

Bought my first FOB (and last seeing as you need to actually purchase additional ones

) but I don't quite understand the setup. Is it now possible for other players to steal my resources and crew from Mother Base, or is that stuff always safe?

Also, I did the training mission where you infiltrate your own FOB, but was still only given the choice of playing as Snake or other random soldier characters. Is there no way to use the custom character you create at the start of the game?

BTW, how awesome is mission 20!?

 

Loved the creepiness of that area, and the boss battle was rad too. :awesome: It also really made me laugh when Snake was told to "get the fuck out of there!" I was like, no shit?

 

[Jimbob]

Just completed mission 12 by complete accident, as i was heading to complete a side quest. Was quite enjoyable, a bit of a challenge but all through very fun. Have hardly done main missions, been focussing on side stuff and gathering resources to upgrade the base. Been sending the crew out to do missions, so been raking in the money.

 

And, i got myself a missle carrier and a tank within a few hours of each other.

[drahkon]

 

No words.

[Hero-of-Time]

I must be the only one who isn't annoyed or disappointed by the "lack" of cutscenes/story.

So far I've listened to a lot of tapes during base management and it's been great.

 

I don't think long cutscenes would work with Phantom Pain. But that's just me it seems.

 

I would have liked a few more but I think the tapes fill in the story gaps very nicely. As I mentioned earlier, the cutscenes that you do get really have some weight to them.

 

Peace Walker introduced the cassette tapes over cutscenes ( possibly due to hardware limitations ) switch and it worked really well for that game. I guess they decided to just carry it on in here, as well.

 

I think it finds a happy middle ground for fans and newcomers. For fans, they can sit and listen to all the tapes and get a broader picture of what is going on in the story. For people not invested in the story, they can simply enjoy the gameplay without having to sit through long cutscenes, which are probably explaining stuff they don't really care about.

 

In terms of the later story feeling rushed, apart from the cut episode, I think everything else felt fine. Again, it felt very much like Peace Walker in the way that it had you do certain things to get the true ending. The Phantom Pain really is a grander version of that game.

 

 

Loved the creepiness of that area, and the boss battle was rad too. :awesome: It also really made me laugh when Snake was told to "get the fuck out of there!" I was like, no shit?

 

I was trying to head for the door before he had said a word.

[Happenstance]

In terms of the later story feeling rushed, apart from the cut episode, I think everything else felt fine. Again, it felt very much like Peace Walker in the way that it had you do certain things to get the true ending. The Phantom Pain really is a grander version of that game.

 

You dont think the end mission came out of absolutely nowhere?

[Hero-of-Time]

You dont think the end mission came out of absolutely nowhere?

 

A bit but not to the extent where it felt it was a rush to finish the game.

 

I mean Quiet went off, you went and rescued her, she saved your life and then we get the big reveal.

 

 

Had the cut mission been implemented I think it would have flowed a little smoother, but that depends on where abouts in the story/missions it would have been placed.

 

In sales news...

 

‘Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain’ lands Konami their first No1 of the year.

 

It also marks the series’ return to the top of the All Formats chart for the first time since 2008. It’s a new week 1 high for the series beating the opening week sales of ‘Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty’ by just under 37%. It’s enough to put it at 3rd place in terms of first week sales in 2015 (behind Batman: Arkham Knight & The Witcher III: Wild Hunt). PS4 takes a commanding 72% share over Xbox One which has 22%, while PS3 edges to a 3% share over Xbox 360 with just 2%.

[drahkon]

Making a habit of looking away when the pre-mission credits are shown so I won't get spoiled.

I don't think they are bad, though...knowing what to expect (especially in the case of Skulls) but not knowing when shit goes down is kinda cool.

 

But not knowing at all what to expect is much better. Case in point:

 

Extract that truck. Sounds easy enough.

 

But then Skulls showed up. Wasn't prepared AT ALL. Decided to let Quiet do some damage, however those bastards attacked her so much she had to pull back and is now in sickbay on Mother Base

I was genuinely gutted...and angry so I decided to go all out. Jumped into the armored vehicle and tried to kill those fucking Skulls. They were too tough and fast, though...didn't stand much of a chance. However, I managed to kill one of them.

 

In the end I had to escape via chopper...no other choice.

 

Now I'll have to wait for Quiet to get better.

 

[Hero-of-Time]

Extract that truck. Sounds easy enough.

 

But then Skulls showed up. Wasn't prepared AT ALL. Decided to let Quiet do some damage, however those bastards attacked her so much she had to pull back and is now in sickbay on Mother Base

I was genuinely gutted...and angry so I decided to go all out. Jumped into the armored vehicle and tried to kill those fucking Skulls. They were too tough and fast, though...didn't stand much of a chance. However, I managed to kill one of them.

 

In the end I had to escape via chopper...no other choice.

 

Now I'll have to wait for Quiet to get better.

 

This is always why I carry a rocket launcher for my second primary. If it hits the fan then i'm always prepared.

[Happenstance]

I mean Quiet went off, you went and rescued her, she saved your life and then we get the big reveal.

 

Yeah my main point is why do we get that big reveal then? Absolutely nothing leads up to it and theres no real explanation why its happening now. The ending of a game needs more than just Venom Snake walking into a room to listen to a tape that we have no context for.

 

[RedShell]

Making a habit of looking away when the pre-mission credits are shown so I won't get spoiled.

I don't think they are bad, though...knowing what to expect (especially in the case of Skulls) but not knowing when shit goes down is kinda cool.

 

But not knowing at all what to expect is much better. Case in point:

 

Extract that truck. Sounds easy enough.

 

But then Skulls showed up. Wasn't prepared AT ALL. Decided to let Quiet do some damage, however those bastards attacked her so much she had to pull back and is now in sickbay on Mother Base

I was genuinely gutted...and angry so I decided to go all out. Jumped into the armored vehicle and tried to kill those fucking Skulls. They were too tough and fast, though...didn't stand much of a chance. However, I managed to kill one of them.

 

In the end I had to escape via chopper...no other choice.

 

Now I'll have to wait for Quiet to get better.

That mission was a right bitch because of those guys.

It's cool being surprised by stuff like that, but not so cool if you're only equipped with a pea shooter.

 

This is always why I carry a rocket launcher for my second primary. If it hits the fan then i'm always prepared.

This is another area I could improve on, as I've developed all of these great weapons and gear, but pretty much only ever take the tranq gun and machine gun with me on missions, to try and keep the GMP cost down.

 

Have managed (somehow) to get the first 20 missions done like this, but it's clearly not going to cut it anymore.

Not sure why I've been doing that either, as I've got loads of GMP, and it's only been making missions more difficult than they needed to be.

 

Speaking of weapons, did you or @Happenstance build/use the...

 

Water pistol?

I had a lot of fun messing around with that one. It's entertaining shooting Quiet with it too.

 

Are there any more funny weapons like that to unlock?

BTW, seeing as you've both finished the main game, how would you rate the difficulty of the missions after 20, and especially the last few?

Also, do you know if it's possible to find and capture all of the different wildlife at any point during the game, or do some of them only become available later on?

 

I'm really into that aspect of the game, but seem to be encountering the same animals all the time now, despite only being at around 50% completion for those.

[Happenstance]

Speaking of weapons, did you or @Happenstance build/use the...

 

Water pistol?

I had a lot of fun messing around with that one. It's entertaining shooting Quiet with it too.

 

Are there any more funny weapons like that to unlock?

 

I only unlocked the water pistol after completing the game. Its definitely helpful to take out electronics without having the loud explosions but I dont think I could ever have used up the slot from my tranq pistol.

 

[Hero-of-Time]

Water pistol?

I had a lot of fun messing around with that one. It's entertaining shooting Quiet with it too.

 

Are there any more funny weapons like that to unlock?

 

 

BTW, seeing as you've both finished the main game, how would you rate the difficulty of the missions after 20, and especially the last few?

Also, do you know if it's possible to find and capture all of the different wildlife at any point during the game, or do some of them only become available later on?

 

I'm really into that aspect of the game, but seem to be encountering the same animals all the time now, despite only being at around 50% completion for those.

 

Yeah, its hilarious.

 

I was in a party with a mate of mine last night who was using it against the Man on Fire. It didn't go very well.

 

 

Last night I unlocked the Worm Hole Fulton system.

 

Not my pic but this is what it does.

 

 

 

The difficulty doesn't really ramp up that much. You do get a few missions that....

are repeats of previous missions but the difficulty is ramped up due to not being able to use any of your own weapons, enemies are tougher or not being able to be spotted at all.

 

 

As for the animals, some can only be caught by upgrading your cages, doing special missions or at certain times and locations. I done a mission yesterday that required me to capture an animal. This unlocked...

 

a new arm upgrade which allows me to do a rocket punch and is based on Jeuty from the ZoE games.

 

[RedShell]

I only unlocked the water pistol after completing the game. Its definitely helpful to take out electronics without having the loud explosions but I dont think I could ever have used up the slot from my tranq pistol.

Wow, I never even twigged it could be used for that! Genius. :awesome:

 

Do any electronics you disable stay damaged permanently? I've obviously taken out a few with explosives and the machine gun before, but can't remember if they get fixed up or not.

 

If not I can see myself sacrificing the tranq gun to do a few water pistol sabotage missions.

 

 

[Happenstance]

Im never quite sure how long damage etc lasts for in the open world, I might test that out tonight.

 

Also, Kojima was posting about this combination of weapons/buddies that I also want to try. I'll put it in spoilers but it should be safe enough.

 

If you choose the Walker Gear as your buddy and also one of the shields then when you are riding it you are basically invincible, at least from bullet fire.

 

[RedShell]

The difficulty doesn't really ramp up that much. You do get a few missions that....

are repeats of previous missions but the difficulty is ramped up due to not being able to use any of your own weapons, enemies are tougher or not being able to be spotted at all.

Ah crap.

This is the most worrying to me. Does not being spotted at all include the moments when enemies just catch a glance of you or are suspicious, and that little white flare appears on the screen?

 

[Hero-of-Time]

Ah crap.

This is the most worrying to me. Does not being spotted at all include the moments when enemies just catch a glance of you or are suspicious, and that little white flare appears on the screen?

 

I'm not sure as I have yet to attempt it. You don't actually have to do any of these variations to move on with the game though.

[Happenstance]

Ah crap.

This is the most worrying to me. Does not being spotted at all include the moments when enemies just catch a glance of you or are suspicious, and that little white flare appears on the screen?

 

Its when an alarm is sounded. As long as you stop them before that you dont fail.

 

[RedShell]

I'm not sure as I have yet to attempt it. You don't actually have to do any of these variations to move on with the game though.

Phew! Good to know.

 

Also, Kojima was posting about this combination of weapons/buddies that I also want to try. I'll put it in spoilers but it should be safe enough.

 

If you choose the Walker Gear as your buddy and also one of the shields then when you are riding it you are basically invincible, at least from bullet fire.

That sounds awesome. :awesome:

Only ever used that buddy one time, but now that I've got max bond with the rest will check it out again.

[drahkon]

Had to use D-Dog as a buddy for a couple of side-ops. He's amazing.

 

Will stick with Quiet for now, though. Unlocked the "Cover" command which helped me immensely during one mission.

 

 

What's the deal with some side-ops being available to complete even though they are marked as completed?

[Hero-of-Time]

What's the deal with some side-ops being available to complete even though they are marked as completed?

 

I'm assuming its for extra points and recruitment opportunities.