Just a little retrospective I wrote.
It is super interesting to me that there was a time when you could have a giant twist like this: a hugely successful prior game setting the stage for Solid Snake being a main character, then the ‘rug pull’ of making the following sequel feature someone else.
As I’ve read elsewhere in some comments, this kind of twist couldn’t really work today, with the immediacy of social media covering every facet of everything.
From the typical action star Snake to the over-confident Raiden, the shift was a big one for Metal Gear Solid 2.
But good lord was that leap in graphics a giant one for just a few short years!
I just wrote up a little look back at how/why it was done, and since I’ve got a terrible cold/sore throat, it was an effort. If you’ve got some nostalgia for MGS2, you might enjoy this one. And my question to you here, is were you there for this? Playing the intro on the tanker as Snake, settling in to what you thought would be a Snake-filled game, then finding out Raiden was the focus? Was it a shock?
Anyway, as ever:
Sort of, I’d argue it’s better accomplished. I don’t hate venom, he’s basically the same character. In mgs2 people signed up for more solid snake, which was even blatantly communicated as what you were getting in the demo of the game and all marketing materials. It’s a question of expectation. Even aside from the character, the tanker chapter is leagues in quality above the rest of the game.
It’s not the I hate mgs2, I think it’s actually really neat and interesting, but when you’re doing a rug pull off that nature it’s easy for people to be disappointed.