Does MGSV pick up again?

So I'm finally playing MGSV since it was free on PS Plus. Call me crazy, but the only MGS game I completed before this one (not counting Ground Zeroes) is 4 and I loved it. Sure, I didn't really understand the context of what was going on, but I had a blast with it back in like 2009 when there was nothing to play on the PS3. I've played bits of 2 and 3 and intend to someday play through the series but for now, I'm playing 5.

The game starts off with the most cinematic sequence I've maybe ever played through with hospital scene, then I'm dumped in the middle of Afghanistan and told to do a bunch of busy work missions. The game has great gameplay and I love picking up those 80's cassettes but the stealth infiltration has gotten old already and I'm only like 15 hours in. I do all the missions they give me plus the side ops stuff but it's all feeling so repetitive.

So my question is, does the game ever reach the heights of the opening again in terms of storytelling and presentation or is it more of the same? And yes, I'm well aware that it's an unfinished game because of the Konami/Kojima feud.

The story is really good, and it keeps opening up with each main mission. Great cinematics in each.

You do not need to stick to stealth in this game. Once you have geared up, you can just roll over enemy with grenade launchers, LMGs and bazookas and so on.

But you have to work for it. Building the mother base is very big part of the game, and if you want heavy armour, for example, and better quality guns, you have to gather resources for hours around the map, and keep fultoning troopers to your base.

You can try completing the game with basic gear, of course, and just ignore Base building, but I dont really see it working.

All units in mother base, from intel to support, play big role in supporting you in the field, so that too makes it important to keep developing your mother base.

But yeah. The fact that you need to keep gathering those resources makes the game slow down. Way too much. Once you get the skill to fulton whole containers of material, it gets bit faster, but gathering the bleeding resources for Base building still takes way too much play time...

henry pretty much nailed it.

once you've developed some nifty weaponry more avenues to tackle a mission open up. as as much fun as stealthing is, in a game as long as mgsv, you need some variation. it's a bit of a grind to get some of the top gear though but worth it

I was wondering about the game also. Sounds like the base building stuff is full of grinding. I hate that kind of shit it makes games tedious and messes with the flow of the game. Usually games do this kind of shit if they have microtransactions. I loved MGS4 also but I think I'll skip MGS5.

Thanks for the replies, I see where the game is going with the emphasis on base building and that stuff is just not for me. This isn't a game I want to spend 100+ hours playing.

That said, I just played the part where you get the "bumblebee" missile launcher or whatever and it definitely picked the pace up. I think I'll try to play though what I can without going crazy over the base building. I just wish it were more linear. It bugs me how almost every game is open world nowadays.

Not sure, never actually got caught up enough to get past the hospital scene.

But from what I have heard the story is actually pretty decent and it should pick up.

The short answer: it doesn't. To play both "chapters" it's 45-80+ hours of mindless repetition with a few admittedly memorable set pieces and mostly poor quality bosses peppered here and there. Also the game was released unfinished so even then there is no proper ending. What few cutscenes there are are far between and underwhelming, with the game relying more on 6+ hours of audio tapes to convey a story that's absurd even by Kojima standards. I think you're supposed to play the tapes while you grind away at the repetitive missions and farming recruits and resources, but who can be bothered to do either? There is literally a 10 minute jeep ride with two characters staring at each other doing an exposition dump that will make you want to die and ends halfway through with the remainign 5 minutes consisting of awkward silence.

Just keep your expectations low and don't expect a Metal Gear game and you might get something out of it. Go in anticipating an experience on par with MGS4 and you will have a terrible time.

Been thinking whether you could play thru the game without bothering about the base. The answer is, probably not.

Most story missions could be completed with pretty low base levels. But there are few missions where the opposition is so tough that trying to take them on with basic gear would be suicide.

Quiet Exit is the toughest of them. Waves of armoured units are attacking your positions for ages. Even with the heaviest armour and upgraded missile launchers and support helicopter attack runs, the mission was bit of a nightmare...

Still, you can try and see how far you can go without good base. I think you might get to Africa. Oh, and if you want to get Quiet as partner, you do need get to Africa, as she becomes available bit after that.

I was wondering about the game also. Sounds like the base building stuff is full of grinding. I hate that kind of shit it makes games tedious and messes with the flow of the game. Usually games do this kind of shit if they have microtransactions. I loved MGS4

Honestly, the first 5-6 hours of the game is best, beyond that it's not good enough.

As I'm sure you have heard, the story is pointless and has no true ending (I won't deliver any spoilers). Supposedly that was down KOnami v Kojima but who knows.

The gameplay is very repetitive and at one stage you will have to replay all your previous missions...I mean how cheap a tactic is that to prolong gameplay hours??

Worst MGS ever.