Are the MGS games supposed to be connected?

I've just started playing The Phantom Pain. I'm pretty up to date with the MGS 'lore' but so far, I have never heard of any of the characters or organisations that are being mentioned in this one.

Cipher, Paz, Zero, XOF... They're all talked about as if they've been in the series for ages but I have no clue who any of them are...

You have to play 3 and Peace Walker in order to understand these people.

From what I've gathered the plot is so convoluted you need a masters degree in MGS to truly understand it. Even people that have played all the MGS games, when trying to explain the overarching plot of the entire series, kind of go "Ummmm, yeah so....hmmm. OK so you have this guy...ummm, wait, no. Let's see, to understand you have to go back to...no, that's not right".

But that is what you have to expect from a failed movie director or whatever Kojima wanted to be originally.

With that said, MGSV is the only MGS game I've played and I did not find myself hamstrung by not knowing the plot of the other games. Would have I enjoyed it more if I did know the plot? Maybe; I'm sure there would have been some "AHA!" moments, but for the most part I didn't find myself asking unanswered questions. And if I did need to know who someone was, there is the MGS wiki or whatever resource you like.

Great game, wish I played the other ones.

Paz is from Peace Walker. Zero is the leader of the patriots which is also known as Cipher (so Cipher can refer to both Zero and the illuminati like organisation). XOF only appear in MGS5

Just Google the ending, the game is a boring grind that makes no sense story-wise. I wished I had done the same when the credits rolled.

If you really have been playing the other games you should know how Paz & Zero are. Everything else was created for this entry. You wouldn't have heard of them before.

Also, of course these games are connected. 30+ years of story here. C'mon now.

Actually, if you wanna go back to the lore, there's 100 years of story here. Giant MGSV strategy guide has huge (amazing) section in back of book on it. Some eye-opening stuff there that will just make you go: "Goddamn!"

It is not easy and there a large amount of long rambling about minor points.