I played through Metal Gear Solid (1) late last year, and it drove me crazy...in the worst way. I thought the story was awful, the gameplay was frustrating at best and maddening at worst.

I really want to get to Metal Gear Solid V based on what I heard about it when it came out, and I think I could like MGS4 based on what was said about it. However, it's really hard getting through the early games.

So, I got around to playing MGS2, and while the gameplay was not as anger-inducing as MGS1, it was still frustrating at times and boring most of the time, in my opinion.

I really hated the mostly top-down perspective of the gameplay. I really want something more over-the-shoulder, because having to always switch to first-person just to see what is in front of me was very frustrating. More often, I would run into the sightline of an enemy or into some obstacle simply because I couldn't see what was in front of me.

The story got even more absurd than 1, as I somewhat expected based on Bombcasts, but it still managed to be worse than I thought. I had a hard time keeping track of the characters and the developments that came at too quick of a pace and were just so beyond Sci-Fi into fantasy, and the over-explaining was very trying...

After getting about ten hours into MGS2, I literally lost all desire to play video games, period. As stupid as it sounds, my lack of enjoyment with MGS2 really made me question the time I was putting into gaming as a hobby.

I'm also a musician, and while it's been a while since I played in a band, I am trying to play more and eventually get back into a band and starting creating more art instead of only being the consumer. So, with those thoughts already in my head, MGS2 was the straw that broke me.

Also, something very important to my mindset is that I'm a father of two children under three years old. So, I have very little free time. Therefore, I really have to feel I'm using it the best I can.

Add to that a whole other giant mess that I don't love what I do for my job and am always thinking of another possible career doing something I care more about...

Anyway, after hearing so many good things about Inside and Doom and getting excited for some upcoming games like No Man's Sky, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, and South Park: The Fractured but Whole, I got the motivation to finish MGS2 last night so I could just move on. I powered through it in a few more sittings this week, and I was very happy to finally complete it.

I feel free now, excited to play some other games, though I'll probably be putting less time in than I was even able to before.

I still plan on trying MGS3 eventually, and I really hope I like it more. I still think I'll like MGS5, and I think MGS4 has a good shot, as well, if it is true that it has more cutscenes than gameplay. :P

TLDR: I don't think Metal Gear Solid 2 is the worst game ever. It's not even the worst game I've ever played. I just was expecting more and got very frustrated and bored, personally. I feel compelled to play the games that so many like so much, so that I have an opinion. Plus, I want to get to MGS5, which I do think I'll like, but I'd love to play all the games in order to get there, to know all the narrative... I'm not saying that no one should like these games. As always, it's about preference and taste.