Curiosity should never cease, as it is reality itself that is comprised of questions.


So many questions***

Even though I wrapped up Metal Gear Solid 3 (MGS3) yesterday, does not mean I am done with the title just yet. As I made mention in that article, too, there is something about the first runthrough that has a unique perspective to it, solidifying the experience as one of raw intent. To take a moment to clear the air here, however, I do desire to clarify that this is neither my first actual time playing through Snake Eater, and that to further make distinct which game I am playing through, it would in fact be the remake, Delta, that just came out a couple of months ago. The original and rerelease are largely the same experience, as the gaming masses cant seemingly stop reminding us about, so I often will use the names Delta and Snake Eater interchangeably, or just refer to it as MGS3. With that out of the way, we may recommence discussing the post-game, in all of its marvelous rapture.

With the citation in mind that I thoroughly enjoy exploring the metagame intuitively so, and as a result, leading me to being competitive in breaking down the systems a game has to offer, I often times find myself getting down on some speedrunning as well, games like MGS3 are an absolute thrill to play due to this. Once one has recently taken the time to enjoy the entertaining dialogue, fun characterizations, and engaging story elements the MGS universe is known for, feeling comfortable skipping all of it is where the real fun begins. This is due to the fact that the underlying mechanics of MGS are surprisingly mindful in execution, and make for a genuinely compelling stealth endeavor. One may easily forget this reality, as more times than not, Kojima has you sat down for a codecs conversation or a cutscene, and sometimes, has you oscillating between the two, at lengths of anywhere between several minutes and several dozen minutes a pop, thusly interrupting the core gameplay loop. As I type that out now, and the consideration of just how much talking and visual storytelling that goes on in the MGS games there is, I think a potentially interesting article would be exploring what would constitute a “core gameplay loop” for MGS, based on time allocations in contrast to common activities interacted with, and maybe even taking that concept and applying it to other games for interestingly surprising results, too. At least, all of that seems worth imagining a follow up on, but I digress to the matter at hand.

Like most Friday nights, I didn’t have much time to play MGS3 before I had to sit down and crank this article out as fast as possible, but I knew that if nothing else, I would be able to finish the entirety of Virtuous Mission, that is the “intro” (see: tutorial) portion of the game quicksmart this time through. This is due to the already mentioned fact that, since I’ve already enjoyed all of the meaty narrative bits on my first go around, I’m going to be skipping every non-gameplay related section, which is going to shave what is likely to be 80% of my overall time off of my previous completion clock in, which was eight and a half hours. I’ll even be doing it on a harder difficulty, further cementing just how amazingly fast one can perform speedruns in MGS, and not necessarily due to their insanely talented or well practiced means: the story and conversation focuses in MGS are vastly domineering in their implementation, and taking them out of the mix lets the delicious stealth gameplay just ooze with a come hither mentality, scrumptious and for the taking.

In my case, I was quite the fan of the MGS series as a youngster, so the muscle memory is still there on some level, even if the memories of gamplay aren’t (a true irony), so sitting back down with some of the games in their more expeditious modes of playing, come far easier than most trials and efforts of splendiferous exertion within the realm Though I will take this moment now to shed light on the fact that I am aware Virtuous Mission isn’t necessarily the most demanding of game introductions. Having said that, being able to sit down, and blast through it on hard first time, with no fail states triggered, and a mere 7 minutes on the clock by sections end, was a thoroughly gratifying experience, and has me jazzed to see the rest of the game in a similar fashion. Just to give one an idea of how much time I saved in this speedrunning process, I want to say I had more than an hour on the clock my first go through of Virtuous Mission, so the time saving is considerable, to say the least.

Though I’m being queerly cavalier with this assertion, and there are likely a myriad of ways the notion I am about to put forth may only act as a sweeping generalization, and not necessarily rigid law on the metaphysical matter, I am inclined to posit that the games I’ve enjoyed that are better examples of design, and or the titles that just excel in offering players a lot more than their contemporaries, are titles that do possess a majestic metagame, which ends up equating to playing the same game in a variety of different ways. This is certainly one of the reasons I think the original Super Mario was such a hit, and that was in relation to the fact that a green as grass novice could find an immense amount of satisfaction, same as a chiseled vet could, in both of their separate approaches in playing the game, but for entirely different reasons. This multi-tiered approach to game design, in being able to service players of multiple skill levels, is essential in my opinion, in creating a compelling sense of identity in the realm of strength for video game standards of quality, and helps to truly cement any singular experience as one of the better examples of the more comprehensively cultivated metaphysical realities others should similarly strive to replicate.

With all that said, I am about out of time. I look forward to catching up tomorrow, about my continued foray into the realm relating to a metaphorical speed eating competition involving snakes.

And remember: the best way to enjoy humble pie is by sharing it with others.

~Pashford

(***Buckshot Glizzy is my porn name)