Metal Gear Scanlon: 4 - Part 08

Dear Drew,

I want to say this on behalf of all of us; you're doing great. In the past people have overly scrutinized your playstyle, they've expressed unnecessary frustration with you for playing a videogame the way you happen to be playing a videogame. This is a ridiculous sentiment. Most of the fun in this series is derived from your uninformed antics. More importantly, there's no wrong way to play a videogame, especially one with gameplay as diverse as this, as long as you're having fun.

But, Drew, therein lies the rub; these people don't see you having fun. They want so badly for you to enjoy MGS and all its imperceptible, unintelligible intricacies, yet I worry their scrutiny is negatively affecting your enjoyment of these games.

Now, none of this would be a problem for anyone if people like me stopped worrying about whether or not people like you enjoy things the way people like me enjoy them. But that's a bigger problem, and this comment is big enough.

You've mentioned people's comments repeatedly during this series, your words dripping with disdain, and I can't blame you for that. You've mentioned on the bombcast that you'd enjoy playing MGS5 more on your own, and I couldn't agree more. It seems like sizeable viewership makes stressful gameplay doubly stressful, Austin and Vinny expressed this sentiment just the other day in the "Luckslinger" quicklook. I'd imagine people's viewership becomes double-doubly stressful with said people nagging about how you should be doing this or not missing that, all the time, on Twitter, en Tumblr, Etcetera...There have been some seriously deplorable things said on this site in the name of your Metal Gear Game. All's told I'm quite sad that we're making you so anxious about a dumb videogame, because, I feel, the whole idea is to make you less anxious about a dumb videogame.

I think ultimately all these commenters just want you to stop being frustrated, so much so that it's making them frustrated, which is making you frustrated- it's a terrible cycle, really, but an easy one to break.

I feel your issue with MGS stems from an innate mistrust of the gameplay in this series- thanks to your sporadic play and the stressful circumstances thereof, you've yet to develop gameplay fundamentals, all through no fault of your own. Gameplay scenarios that most of us, not under scrutiny, would approach with glee and and a willingness to experiment, you approach with apprehension, because you still don't know what to expect, and there's thousands watching. In three and a half games, you've yet to get comfortable with the ins and outs of metal gear, and that ain't your fault.

I feel like MGS is a series that should absolutely be played by yourself, on your own time. It's core gameplay loop - careful, stealthy exploration of a 'dangerous' environment, and the unorthodox ways you can interact with it - is one that demands repetition, patience, quiet reflection, and most importantly, experimentation. All of these factors are entirely antithetical to the time constrained peace-meal nature of your MGS playthroughs. From minute one, you've done your best to make these videos as enjoyable and as viewer friendly as possible. Rather than allow yourself the time to try every weapon/item and its myriad of uses, to get a sense of the Guards' level of intelligence and capacity for abuse, or to allow yourself the time to even press all the buttons and try all the things, (cue a thousand tweets Drew, you can turn on auto-aim by pressing square, you can lie on your back by pressing triangle, you can dodge-roll by pres-) Rather than allow yourself the time to get a feel for CQC or even attempt a single successful holdup, you've repeatedly chosen to push forward, come hell or high water or lack of fun, time and time again, because this is a video series and people aren't going to want to watch that. Single failed attempts at using a new piece of gear are met with a resigned, "Well, I guess I'll never try that again!". a perfectly valid sentiment, provided said sentiment derives from a disinterest in that avenue of gameplay rather than a lack of understanding thereof- and again, none of this is your fault! With less-than-zero tutorialization, with less-than-zero understanding of the controls, with days or weeks or sometimes months between recording sessions, with hundreds if not thousands of viewers badgering you all day about how best to do this or that, you're simply unable to retain the information this game expects you to interpret, and understandably unwilling.

Drew, we WANT TO watch you learn.

I feel I can speak for all your viewers when I say that the most enjoyment I've derived from watching you play Metal Gear, in all three games, was watching you take out The End. That quiet, confident, masterful execution of the core stealth gameplay, that's all we've ever wanted to see. We want you to experiment, we want you to uncover the multitudes of ridiculous easter eggs and gameplay intricacies that these games offer, because frankly, that's all they offer. The old-school stealth gameplay and the lackluster shooting controls, these are set-dressings for the ultimate draw; sheer madness hiding within something familiar. I'm not talking about the shitty cutscenes, I'm talking about the fact that, just a week ago, when I picked up MGS4 again for the fifth or sixth playthrough (thanks to you guys) I found out about countless gameplay elements I never knew about. I didn't know you could play dead as the soldiers walked past, I didn't know you could override soldiers' nanomachine control by playing to their specific emotions and breaking them down, I didn't know you could make the lady ninja soldiers dance by playing the anime song on your iPod, every step of the way I was finding new and novel gameplay in an eight year old game; for us to expect you to enjoy all of it at once, at such a breakneck pace, it was fallacy from the beginning. A highway to frustration.

So, again, how do you stop this? Just, slow down! take your time, experiment. In a podcast you once said you were a spontaneous person; the sort that says, "heck, I don't have anything better to do right now. sure, I'll go to ____!" Try to tap into that curiosity within yourself. Don't fear this game. Every aspect of it that makes you anxious is one that you could engage in with creativity and excitement, if only you could conquer your fear.

Or, just read the manual! I didn't know this about this game until this latest play-through (another eight-year-old surprise) but there is a beautifully informative 'manga' that serves as the game's manual on the Greatest Hits version of the PS3 game. I scanned the whole dang thing and you can view it here!

Either way. you've been doing a wonderful job of not letting people's scrutiny get to you in this playthrough, and thanks to that mentality your gameplay has improved immensely. Ultimately, our comments about what to do and what to press and where to go, it's only so that you can enjoy these teeny-tiny details that you could never hope to find out, because, heck, it took us eight years to! Remember, the only wrong way to play a video game is to not enjoy it.

HYPE

Yay!

METAL GEAR

This is a sneaking mission! :-)

Don't forget about AUTO AIM for the second half of Act 3! Without it, Drew is just going to complain that he can't hit anything.

Well that's one way to leave a first comment lol!

@carpe_dmt: how did you possibly type all of that already?

Well hello there top comment, you're certainly a big lad aren't ya?

@carpe_dmt: Damn.

@kaizer: would have loved an edit at the end that just said first

edit* first

He had it typed beforehand and started refreshing to homepage in preparation for the time the video would be posted.

@carpe_dmt: I give you a lot of credit for having that ready to go as soon as the video popped. It's a nice sentiment too; we aren't telling Drew to play differently because we want him to do as we do, but because he seems to be frustrated by the game, and learning a bit more about it may make him have a more enjoyable time.

We have fun when he's having fun.

Not even a premium member

Thank you!! <33333

i can see that, but that's often not the sentiment that comes across if that's what's intended. most of the time it feels even the most seemingly well-meaning comments come across as "dreeeeewwww, plaaayyy beeetteeerrrr!!!!"

i think the 1st comment is a good positive note to start it out on, though. i have to catch up on this but i do hope drew will have fun overall, and learn a little about MGS in the process.

i also have no problem if he enjoys MGS5 on his lonesome.

Vampires can never hurt Drew.

That's quite a big comment, lol. I totally agree though. This is a great show and you guys are a great team. This kind of team-up evokes my fond memories of the best of Jeff and Vinny or Jeff and Ryan from the good ol' days. Metal Gear is not just a game, it's an experience. There is no wrong way to play. Let the hatters hat and Laissez les bons temps rouler! I think that means "rolling into enemies is good" or something like that.

holy shit I laughed way more than I should have

best entrance ever

@carpe_dmt: Holy fuck.

Scrambled eggs are for children. They're just mashed up, homogenized lumps of yellow. Over easy for life.

Did people really have a ton of trouble with the Europe section? I feel like a lot of people complain about it, but I don't remember that being hard at all. I'm not in any way saying those complaints aren't valid, but I wonder if I'm just lucky or subconsciously godlike at MGS.

that letter is TOO damn long lol

New thing Dan has never eaten: A yolk he could see.

Also, where's all the love for omelets? You can stuff meat, vegetables, sauces and all types of shit in there.

Tony Hawk trick system but instead of a skateboard, you're playing as Raiden dancing on his sword while fighting various enemies.

No.

No dan, it isn't just a Kansas thing as someone who lives 20 minutes from where you grew up [and always have].... everyone here I have known pretty much knows other ways to cook eggs than scrambled and does it quite often >_>

@danryckert They sold Sunny's clock as a collectible in Japan. It's called Ga-Ko. I was over there when the game came out and picked one up. Apparently they sell for some stupid prices on eBay now.

That Raiden vs Vamp fight is the most anime thing to ever happen in MGS and Dan thinks it's the coolest thing ever. Wonder if he'll admit he loves anime now.

Metal Gear Eggs!

Also, whenever I go to a club I end up break dance fighting with vampires too.

Fucking Otacon and his obsession with telling everyone about his "anime otaku" fetish.

EDIT: Considering The End episode was Drew's best (objectively), I feel he'll do just fine.

Also, Otacon totally adjusted the glasses that weren't on his face. I've done that too.

scrambled eggs are gross dan, shut up

@carpe_dmt: Well said.

These MGS video series have been some of my favorite content on the site. I hope Drew does more video series in the future for games he isn't familiar with.

Wait I don't understand why the reveal that Liquid and Solid are not exact copies is treated as a big surprise: wasn't the whole crux of Liquid's hate for Solid in the first game the fact that he believed (wrongfully) that he was created with the "inferior" genes while Solid inherited the "superior" ones?

@nigthguy: he has on a bombcast when he saw Akira and admitted MGS is anime as fuck.

Dan if you have Drew explore the Nomad during a briefing he can find a camera. Since you waited so long to find it it will have extra pictures since you're at this point. It's the perfect time to tell him to pick it up.

Also during cutscenes when Snake's Psyche goes down, Drew can mash X and it will recover. He might want the extra Psyche.

Totally understand Dan. Most boring part of the game. May it go quick.

Is Dan still sure he doesn't like anime?

I put on my Metal Gear Scanlon shirt for the first time today so its like FATE or something.

Or just Danomachines.

The gekko spin kicking Snake into the next cut scene made my day.

I'm completely unsurprised that Dan didn't like the trailing section.

I'm picturing him attempting over and over to play it by running out into the open and machine-gunning everyone and just screaming "WHY ISN'T THIS WORKIIIIIIING." :P

There were 30 seconds of gameplay this episode. Pacing of the series/game has been affected by them trying to keep episode length at around an hour.

"Act 3 makes you do stuff that maybe you're better at than me, like having to think or have a modicum of patience or resolving situations in a way that isn't just shooting everyone".

Yeah that sounds about right, Dan.

Some classic Ryckert Opinions about food this episode. Why can't everyone just be normal!

And with Act 2 done now all of the decent stealth gameplay is behind us. Goodbye Metal Gear Solid 4, you were promising for a little while.

You can also find extra batteries and such, so you can use the Solid Eye and other gadgets for longer.