Best order to play metal gear solid?

[SalvadorGamer_21]

Finally the metal gear solid games are available and I've wanted to play them for years, but as far as I know their history is somewhat messy, which do you think is the best way to play them, by release order or by history order?.

[amir_saman96]

I would go for the release date but if you want and specially if you LIKED the game. Do one additional run through the whole series and do the history order.

MGS 3 - Peace Walker (I hope it will include in MGS COLLECTION VOL. 2) - MG5 … you already know the order I think 

[da_Heino]

I haven't played them yet as well, but I would go for release order. I always prefer more the development order rather than the right story order.

But I guess it doesn't matter, because they decided to remake MGS3 instead of MGS1, and it makes kinda sense because it's the "first" storywise.

[Big-Brady]

I would say go for the actual order in the story personally otherwise if I could go back and do it all over again its what I would do personally.

 

Lets you actually discover the story in all its glory piece by piece and avoids spoilers for you in other games.

[DrBloodmoney]

There exists not a single series in fiction - across films, books, games, TV or anything - about which the answer to this particular question is anything other than: in release order.

 

Whatever the actual “fictional chronology” is is irrelevant -

prequels made after their logical “sequels” are made for an audience with knowledge of the media that came before it - whether that technically happens later in the timeline or not.

[Pumpkin Head Cthulhu]

I would say this is the best order if you plan to play all the games:

 

Metal Gear

Metal Gear Solid Snake

Metal Gear Solid

Metal Gear Solid 2

Metal Gear Solid 3

Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops

Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker

Metal Gear Solid 4

Metal Gear Solid 5

 

Now if you want story order I believe it goes:

 

Metal Gear Solid 3

Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops

Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker

Metal Gear Solid 5

Metal Gear 

Metal Gear Solid Snake

Metal Gear Solid 

Metal Gear Solid 2

Metal Gear Solid 4

 

The draw back to story order is there will be spoilers that are not apparent if you play in release order. Plus the control differences going in story order could be an issue as well.

[SalvadorGamer_21]

Just now, Pumpkin Head Cthulhu said:

I would say this is the best order if you plan to play all the games:

 

Metal Gear

Metal Gear Solid Snake

Metal Gear Solid

Metal Gear Solid 2

Metal Gear Solid 3

Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops

Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker

Metal Gear Solid 4

Metal Gear Solid 5

 

Now if you want story order I believe it goes:

 

Metal Gear Solid 3

Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops

Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker

Metal Gear Solid 5

Metal Gear 

Metal Gear Solid Snake

Metal Gear Solid 

Metal Gear Solid 2

Metal Gear Solid 4

 

The draw back to story order is there will be spoilers that are not apparent if you play in release order. Plus the control differences going in story order could be an issue as well.

Thanks bro for the answer, by the way, I recently finished Akame Ga Kill and and I have a crush with Esdeath, I brightened the day with that gif. XD

[Viscera1900]

I’d say best way to experience MGS is to play it by order of release, since its story & characters are designed that way and you get to see the evolution of its gameplay as well.

[Mastodon_Slayer]

By date. Its more funny when you see some characters from other game.

[Ashande]

Given that the series hops around chronologically for dramatic effect, providing context and “truth” to previous events later on, I feel it’s best to do them in order of release. The “final surprise” of Metal Gear is less surprising (and interesting) if you already did Snake Eater, Peace Walker, Ground Zeroes and Phantom Pain, for instance. Yes, they occur earlier in the timeline, but since we’re experiencing the story through Solid Snake’s eyes, he doesn’t - and shouldn’t - know about those things. Same for Solid Snake; if you’ve already played Phantom Pain and thus know the “truth” about what you’re dealing with in the original Metal Gear, the reveal near the end of Metal Gear 2 loses some punch. Some characters - Ocelot and Big Boss primary among them - are painted as rather one-dimensional villains at first, but events in the other games give context to that, show how and why they behave the way they do, and flesh them out… but I feel part of the fun when dealing with them the first time in Solid Snake’s games comes from trying to understand what their deal is, an itch that is then scratched by playing the sequels where they’re front and center. if you did Snake Eater or Phantom Pain first, you already know what’s up with Ocelot and I feel it honestly makes him less interesting if you know that going into his MGS1 boss fight than if you learn it later.

 

There’s also the mechanics. If you start with Snake Eater or later, you’re going to be spoiled by a lot of options and functionality that just aren’t present in the older games, and it may well knock down the enjoyment factor a notch or two… instead of increasing it when you play them in order and go “oh, I can do this now? Awesome!”

[masnevets]

1 hour ago, DrBloodmoney said:

There exists not a single series in fiction - across films, books, games, TV or anything - about which the answer to this particular question is anything other than: in release order.

 

Whatever the actual “fictional chronology” is is irrelevant -

prequels made after their logical “sequels” are made for an audience with knowledge of the media that came before it - whether that technically happens later in the timeline or not.

That's too strong of a statement.

 

Yakuza 0 was definitely designed to bring in new players and playing in numerical order is a very good recommended order even though it was released after Y5. Playing in release order would involve playing the original versions of Y1 and Y2 (because their remakes are built with the player having played Y0 in mind). I never played them but I can't imagine seriously telling people to do that.

[DrBloodmoney]

1 minute ago, masnevets said:

That's too strong of a statement.

 

Yakuza 0 was definitely designed to bring in new players and playing in numerical order is a very good recommended order even though it was released after Y5. Playing in release order would involve playing the original versions of Y1 and Y2 (because their remakes are built with the player having played Y0 in mind). I never played them but I can't imagine seriously telling people to do that.

I should clarify - I’m not suggesting that all series require everyone to play/watch/read every entry…. Just that that ones they do play/watch/read should probably be in release order, rather than “narrative chronology” because that is the narrative intent.
 

Not doing so negates dramatic irony in later-released prequels, and simultaneously undercuts dramatic reveals in earlier-released, but chronologically-consequential sequels.

[masnevets]

14 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said:

I should clarify - I’m not suggesting that all series require everyone to play/watch/read every entry…. Just that that ones they do play/watch/read should probably be in release order, rather than “narrative chronology” because that is the narrative intent.
 

Not doing so negates dramatic irony in later-released prequels, and simultaneously undercuts dramatic reveals in earlier-released, but chronologically-consequential sequels.

I think you are saying: "playing in release order is always a safe bet". I agree with that.

 

All I am saying is that sometimes the creators go back and revise their creative works. That happened with the Yakuzaverse (adding a prequel and then redoing the first two games to take it into account). In this case it can be better to alter the play order to take this revision into account even though release order is still a safe bet.

 

In particular, it is a fair question to ask what play orders make sense. The best answer is not always release order.

 

Going back to the topic at hand, while I have played MGS1-5, it's been over such a long span of time I can't clearly remember the stories. But my personal recollection is that 1-2-4 and 3-5 are disjoint and it may be possible to swap the order of 3 and 4 (again I can't remember). But I don't think it'd make sense to do 3 and 5 before 1-2-4. Also I don't know the original Metal Gear games.

[hbg]

I have been playing (and loving) the series for 25 years now, starting my journey with Metal Gear Solid on PS1. Since then I have played every single game multiple times and also played the complete series again every couple of years.

 

For a first time player I strongly recommend playing it in the order of release, because in every game there will be references to games that were released earlier. You cannot fully understand the relations and certain story aspects of for example MGS 3 without having playing the earlier released games and you will rob yourself of the best possible experience.

 

However, once you are familiar with the games and the stories/characters, I personally favor playing them in the chronological order of the games story. So for most of my runs in the last 18-19 years I started with MGS3 and ended it with MGS4. Once you know the full story the other doesn't really matter anymore I think.

[Pumpkin Head Cthulhu]

4 hours ago, SalvadorGamer_21 said:

I have a crush with Esdeath, I brightened the day with that gif. XD

glad it was helpful