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Anyone else feel that MGS4 is quite depressing?

I should replay this game before MGSV. It had tons of iconic moments and the gameplay was fun to play around with. But yes, depressed is a good way to describe its story. It ended on a perhaps too happy note considering what it set out for. The intro with Snake with the rebel forces as the Love Theme plays is chilling.
 
yep, i played it 2 weeks ago

i also remember how kojima was complaining a lot back then

"old snake represents me"

"im tired with all this"

yadda yadaa

really depressing game
Wait, maybe MGS4 is based on what just happened to Kojima? He knew it was soon to happen but he put it in Video game form.
 
Ultimately, if you're going to reflect on combat, death and obsolescence the tone is going to be sombre and chilly. There were a few laughs along the way but ultimately the tone fit the thematics.

Kojima I think veers between fetish obsession with combat and "cool" and the realities and horror of war, with MGS IV I think overall he simply veered more to the reflective side.

Still, overall happy endings of sorts all round after a long, hard journey no?
 
That would have been better, but it in no was excuses giving Solid Snake a moustache.

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Why would anyone pick 4 except for attempting to blow up the franchise?

Okay you've sold me. 3 there is fucking gorgeous.
 
I appreciated it having a different tone to it's peers of the time, as a stand alone game I can see that it could come across as depressing though. The important thing with MGS 4 is to take in to account the time it was made and all the baggage it carried with it from a decade (decade plus if you include the msx games) past. It was a huge deal to see the end of the various characters story after all this time.
 
It was depressing as fuck from start to end, and the ending (before credits) was just icing on this sad pile of cake. People dancing and celebrating while the guy who they should be thanking for it is
sitting at the Boss' grave with a gun in his mouth, about to end his life
 
If you're invested in the characters, parts of MGS4 are tragic. Snake is just put through an emotional and physical wringer the entire game.

Finds out that he has a year left to live, has to see the shock and pity of every friend or love interest that hasn't seen him recently at his physical state (including stripping naked in front of Naomi), has to deal with a love interest marrying someone else, finds out he doesn't have a year to live - he has 6 months - and will become a walking talking WMD killing everyone he comes into contact with, not to mention the attempted suicide and microwave sequence.

Rough stuff.

I actually teared up at a few points:

  1. Snake's embarrassment when he meets Meryl again
  2. Crawling through the microwave (something about having to physically get him through it, and the button being less and less responsive, hammered this home)
  3. "Snake... had a hard life"
 
Old Snake is such an amazing character.

Same here.

Me too, that one scene with him and Meryl could have been handled better but other than that I didn't mind him at all and it was actually pretty cool to see a side character like him be given a bigger role like that.

On a side note, probably just me but the very first time I saw him take off his mask he really looked like a young Snake to me for some reason. I was like "holy shit, a new clone?!" lol.
 
That would have been better, but it in no was excuses giving Solid Snake a moustache.

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Why would anyone pick 4 except for attempting to blow up the franchise?

1. Cool. But it doesn't get across the whole accelerated aging thing.
2. Meh. Wannabe Big Boss.
3. I like this a lot, but again, beards are for Big Boss, right?
4. The best. Fits the game.

Anyway, it would've been cool to be able to unlock all of these for use in new game plus.
 
It would have been depressing had Kojima kept with the original ending. Yeah it sucks seeing him being broken down and still fighting. But that ending just throws that away I feel.

I'm actually going to play 4 again soon. So maybe my opinion will change.
 
I think the whole thing is a depressing antiwar game. I mean the whole thing. The stories Drebin 893 says about B&B corps. The state of Snake. What they've done to Raiden. Depressing is meant to be the theme of the game.
 
It's one of the most amazing games to play through. Yes, the story is depressing. That was the intention and Kojima succeeded in conveying that to the player.
 
GAF voted it GOTY in 2008. Then later, when given a few years to reflect on this choice voted it GOTY for 2008 AGAIN, when given the opportunity to vote for a new retroactive GOTY.

The game is divisive, but a lot of people here love it, and that hurts my soul.

Haha... I found the 2012 2008 GOTY thread. Someone should make a new 2008 GOTY voting thread every four years. It's our version of the presidential election.
 
Endgame spoilers
Big Boss's death might have been depressing, but it also took somewhere around 20 minutes for him to die. At a certain point I just kind of wanted him to keel over, but nope, strained talking for 20 minutes.
But yes, it's intentionally depressing.

Holy shit. I completely forgot (MGS4 Spoilers)
that Big Boss died at the end of this game. Jesus Christ it has been so long
 
The dude fought all his life and had to go through his last mission basically in old age while pumping himself with drugs to keep going and getting half his face burned off.

I really don't have a problem with him living the last few months of his life in peace instead of shooting himself. As someone that lived through a life like that, Snake should be stronger than resorting to suicide.

He was going to kill himself to prevent the Foxdie within him that made him a walking biological weapon from killing countless more. Big Boss informed him that the Foxdie shot he received in the game (from Drebin) nullified it and he was able to live out a peaceful life.

The mood of the game was evident from the start. "War has changed" was said in a very sad tone. Also, it was promoted with Snake having a gun in his mouth and you could tell that whatever he was about to go through, it would be terrible.

Snake's story is tragic and I wonder if that's a cause of the disconnect of this game with gamers. Sad movies are sometimes considered epic but a lot of folks do not enjoy them as much as summer blockbusters, Empire Strikes Back is a great example of this. I know that when I watch movies about people's lives, I love seeing their raise to greatness but their fall from grace is usually difficult and this game is all about Snake's demise as he's trying one last time to finish off Liquid Ocelot. Considering we saw Solid Snakes rise from MG and MG2 over to MG Solid and Solid 2, I feel that we, as gamers, felt for this character. Made MGS4 harder for those who wanted to see him raise to greatness again rather than fall down like an old man.

I love MGS4, excellent game.
 
Old people are notoriously underrepresented in gaming. We've talked a lot about women being represented in video games, but old people rarely star in their own game.

Same with ugly people. or fat people. they are rarely the main playable character. I love the diversity provided by old Snake. Old broken man. That was something we rarely saw in gaming.
Look at all the characters who just grow a beard and go bald. :/
 
That's what Kojima is aiming for IMO. Regardless if it was his last MGS.

No matter the outcome, Old Snake is going to die.
Then Big Boss' final moments too..

GAF voted it GOTY in 2008. Then later, when given a few years to reflect on this choice voted it GOTY for 2008 AGAIN, when given the opportunity to vote for a new retroactive GOTY.

The game is divisive, but a lot of people here love it, and that hurts my soul.

Who cares about your soul. Watch it gaf vote it 2008 GotY for the 3rd time.
 
I never knew hate for MGS4 was a thing until GAF. All of the stories have been crazy over the top, which is why I love them in the first place.

I think "depressing" is a little harsh. I think the story and resolution are meant to be a little bittersweet.

I'm 99% positive if you read haters posts in the official OT when released they probably loved it. Just too lazy to do the research. But game got multiple 10's and was rather loved a lot from what remember. Most of the hate comes from they story anyways which i can understand a little bit. But it's far from the worst stories ever, especially when majority of games today don't even have a decent story.
 
Me too, that one scene with him and Meryl could have been handled better but other than that I didn't mind him at all and it was actually pretty cool to see a side character like him be given a bigger role like that.

A side character whose defining character trait is constantly shitting his own pants. Johnny is a fucking joke and That Scene only succeeded in dragging Meryl down to his stupid shitty level.

They should've given his role to a new character and made that frustrating idiot you follow around through Act 3 be Johnny.
 
A side character whose defining character trait is constantly shitting his own pants. Johnny is a fucking joke and That Scene only succeeded in dragging Meryl down to his stupid shitty level.

They should've given his role to a new character and made that frustrating idiot you follow around through Act 3 be Johnny.

Dunno, I found it pretty cool how you had this soldier that wasn't enhanced like the others on his team and trying his very best to keep up.

From the wiki:

During Liquid Ocelot's Insurrection, his entire body was often covered with wearable computers. Using a wrist-mounted keyboard and a goggle monitor, he specialized in scouting, patrolling, record keeping, data analysis, explosives, and traps. He became proficient in these areas in an attempt to match the skills of his nanomachine-enhanced teammates, though he would later admit that he never came close to doing so. Johnny suffered from irritable bowel syndrome and, due to his lack of nanomachines, also consumed local water without normal nanomachine filtration.

To me, as a big fan of the series, it was much cooler to see him get the role he did instead of some brand new character and his connection with Meryl due to what happened in MGS1 was hilariously great.
 
A side character whose defining character trait is constantly shitting his own pants. Johnny is a fucking joke and That Scene only succeeded in dragging Meryl down to his stupid shitty level.
He wasn't dragging down Meryl to his level, he was setting setting up a specific series of circumstances that would eventually land the two of them in space.

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...after he went by his unofficial middle name of "Dave", of course.
 
Very. Which also why I am hesitant to get back to it, eventhough I want to replay it. Generally, most MGS games end on a somber note, however, MGS4 takes the top next to MGS3.
 
That would have been better, but it in no was excuses giving Solid Snake a moustache.

1204770422395.jpg


Why would anyone pick 4 except for attempting to blow up the franchise?

When ever I see this, I always remember that alot of people don't realize that Solid Snake only had a beard ONCE - MGS2 - and even then, it wasn't a full beard. Everyone seems to remember Solid Snake as he was seen in Super Smash Bros Brawl (where they DID give him a full beard).
 
He wanted to end the story with Snake and Otacon being executed for their crimes iirc, his team was against it.

What crimes? That sounds like an awful ending. I think the ending we got was absolutely perfect.

The game was already sad enough. It ended on a great note.
 
What crimes? That sounds like an awful ending. I think the ending we got was absolutely perfect.

The game was already sad enough. It ended on a great note.

Well they were working against the government, from the wikis:

Kojima's initial ending for the MGS4 would entail Snake and Otacon turning themselves in for breaking the law, and subsequently convicted and executed. This was avoided after negative feedback from the development team.

In the original draft of Metal Gear Solid 4, the ending had Solid Snake and Otacon turning themselves in for the crimes they committed, and executed. Most of the staff vetoed this ending, so it was not used.

And yeah I agree, the ending we got was better.
 
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