As of writing this I am almost finished with mgs 2. I am specifically at the the boss fight with solidus. I would love it if anyone knew of a good podcast/article/something that goes a little in depth about this game and specifically the end. I loved the game and specifically the story and its twists. The stuff with rose although at times was a little heavy handed was heartbreaking and sad and a real revelation for game character relations. I'd love to hear others thoughts on it.

You could watch the last episode of Metal Gear Scanlon 2 (or watch the whole thing, if you've not already). Drew and Dan talk about the ending and the twists etc. Maybe not as in depth as some articles that must be out there.

I very much enjoyed this analysis of the game.

I don't think "moratorium" is the right word for this?

Anyway, I could point to Dreaming in an Empty Roomby Tim Rogers. The article is a bit old and a bit rambly (what did you expect from Tim?), but it gives an interesting and thought provoking perspective on MGS2.

For video I would suggest to Critical Close-up: Metal Gear Solid 2 by Super Bunnyhop. It explains and expands on ideas put forth by Tim Rogers, especially the postmodern and critical / literary analysis of the game.

Fair warning: this stuff is heavy on analysing the themes in the game. Might not be for everyone!

I beat 2 recently as well. I love the absurdity of this series, but 2's end went a little too far with the conspiracies on top of conspiracies on top of conspiracies. It lost some of the personal edge that came with E.E.'s death I thought. I was laughing out loud at some of the nonsense revelations in the last few cutscenes. Which was great in its own way, but still pretty ridiculous.

Now, MGS3 I beat literally less than an hour ago and that's one hell of an ending! It's still completely fucking absurd in some ways, but it's much more grounded than MGS2's ending. It never loses the thread of tragedy woven into the narrative despite the ridiculousness of it all. Off hand, I can't think of a single more effecting video game ending (except maybe Ico or Shadow of the Colossus, but those are incredibly different experiences.)

I really liked this MGS2 analysis when I read it a few years ago. It's super long though.

MGS2 used to be my favourite of the series. I found it really hard to get into 3. But I kept trying, and I'm so glad I did. It's excellent and I agree with you about the ending. Much more grounded and satisfying.

As for effecting video game endings, Red Dead Redemption is at the top of my list.

+1

Try Terry Wolfe's analyses at metagearsolid.org. He sometimes gets a bit self-righteous, but there's plenty of very, very interesting stuff to get out of his writing. Especially the VR Theory - even if you do not subscribe to it, it's an interesting perspective that paints a ton of things, especially Arsenal Gear, in a new light.

@gaff: that's exactly the type of stuff I wanted and I'm not sure moratorium is the right word but it sounded nice I guess

@sagesebas: I assume you were thinking of "Postmortem".

@corevi said:

This is a really good analysis, I read it several years ago and it gave me a renewed appreciation for MGS2.