Don't know until I try it, but I believe Fallout 4 is going to be a huge candidate. It's everything people love about Fallout and sooo much more. It'll probably be what MGSV is to the MGS series. Hell, it'll probably have a better story, too. We already know the protagonist talks more. :P

How can you tell if anyone's invaded your FOB? I maxed out my security as high as it would go, all A+ soldiers, and haven't noticed anything missing. Do you get a message or something?

It's very, very possible. Depends on how much focus the story gets. If the decisions come down to gameplay and content, it's still going to be a toss up between MGS V and Witcher 3, because those two went well above and beyond any other possible candidates.

One more thing: One of my theories was almost right, it was just about the wrong person! I mentioned a few pages back that I thought Skull Face might be a botched clone of Big Boss's that actually had his memories and felt the pain of his life even though he'd never actually experienced it, like a phantom pain. Turns out, it was us. We're the ones sharing his pain. We're Big Boss. Holy shit, Kojima, I love you.

Yeah, that was a brilliant way to handle it. Though, I do wonder how Big Boss comes out of hiding and rejoins the US military as the leader of Foxhound. And why does he send Solid Snake into Outer Heaven again? Was it a test for him? Was it a way to get rid of him? Or does there come a time when Big Boss genuinely wants his phantom dead? So many questions!!

By the way, have you seen this yet? It includes an really cool detail I failed to notice about the ending. Basically, the symbol in the mirror changes from Diamond Dogs to Outer Heaven, meaning that last scene takes place several years into the future. So, he had the Operation Intrude data from Big Boss because that shit was actually getting ready to go down.

Oh my... If the rest of the game had the same cinematic/story quality as mission 45... Goddamn masterpiece right there.

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Okay, why the hell do I have to play this whole long ass prologue again?

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Wow. Finished the game. That was... pretty good. WHY DID PEOPLE NOT LIKE THAT ENDING!?

It's the rest of the story that I found lacking. The Eli stuff was a discombobulating fucking mess.

Also, did you guys check the B-side? The tape at the end says Operation Intrude! A hint of things to come?

I still feel pretty much the same way, but I understand and care about certain plot points a lot more after hearing the tapes. There are a lot of interesting tidbits in there that even add to characters/events in Snake Eater and Peace Walker. The pacing was still pretty terrible, but I feel like if I listened to the tapes as I went, things wouldn't have felt so disconnected. Damn that wonky mission structure. They should have had a Story Missions category that only had missions that applied directly to the central characters and plot - none of this extracting informants bullshit that set plot points further and further apart - including a series of 20 or so missions that you could play straight through for a traditional MGS experience. The other missions could be there solely to give you more to do, uncover some finer details about some story elements, earn money to level up your gear, extract specialists to unlock enhancements, etc. It should have been Story Ops, Extra Ops, Side Ops, respectively. I will never understand what Kojima was thinking when he set this game up the way he did. And I hate that the story bothers me so freaking much, because the gameplay is unquestionably the best in any category.

So, I've been giving the tapes a listen. You know those long cutscenes in the other games where someone would go on a long tangent about political concepts, historical events, or master plans as it cut to a wall of images of varying characters and weapons and locations and stuff? The ones that were usually critical in wrapping your head around why some of the characters do/did what they do/did? That's what the tapes are. I never listened to them because I pretty much have to stand still and listen or I won't be able to pay attention to them, and there's too much fun stuff to do to just stand there - not to mention your handlers will talk over them, forcing you to rewind. Anyway, aspects of the game make more sense and are more meaningful now that I've given them a listen. This is the Metal Gear Solid I know and love. It was just hidden on cassettes (some really should have been cutscenes, though). If you don't feel like listening to all of them (some really aren't important) at least make sure you listen to the ones with yellow titles. Those are critical. End transmission.

Well, that was definitely a "metal gear" moment. It's kinda late for a return to form now, but dammit all, I'll take it.