Alright, I'm done. I've completed my mission. Watched all the seasons, including Portable Ops (well, skipping the one hour in the middle) and Peace Walker. I read wikis and articles, watched independent videos that cover the series in chronological, alphabetical, instrumental and digital order and even accidentally spoiled the main events of GZ in the process - but I'll play it anyway before TPP. Even read about Metal Gear 1 and 2. I'm exhausted, but God damn it, I'm ready. For the game. Not for the test I have Sunday.
If I was as tenth committed to my Law studies as I am to games, I would end up a much richer person.
The first two movies required mostly listening because the cutscenes don't really hold well (as well as the PSP games). Snake Eater was getting it, but wasn't quite there. Guns of the Patriots finally glued me to the screen. It was an amazing experience and it's shocking to think about its age. I really hope that TW3's fighting cutscenes will be as good as the ones between Raiden and Vamp. They'll need to be adjusted, of course, because some of the extravagant stuff don't fit TW's style, but the quality is just unparalleled. GoTP justifies watching all the previous movies for its sake alone, regardless of TPP, because it was a really intense emotional ride.
The series isn't without its faults, of course. Sid was right in saying that the story and the writing aren't equal to one another in quality. The writing is... bad. Drebin's stories about the B&B Corps were terrible, but that's just the most obvious example. The dialogue throughout the series is usually dull. I want Samuel L. Jackson to double dare Raiden to say a certain word again in MGS2, holy dung. It wasn't just him, though. Even BB and SS had this nagging habit of echoing things said to them as a question, that made them seem not as quick-witted as you would have hoped super soldiers would be. It was more acceptable in late 90s, early 2000s, and like I wrote in my summary of the first movie - the cheesiness had its charm. Had. I really hope this will change at 2015.
Also, I realize that I'm coming from a very different place than long-time fans in that I don't have any nostalgia factor, but I'm glad Hayter isn't reprising the role (considering the ruse-theory is off mark). He kept sounding to me as if he was trying too hard, to the point where the gruffness was almost growling. It was more jarring to me than those guttural sounds Christian Bale was making by the end of The Dark Knight Rises. That said, I did read that the way Hayter was informed was really unworthy, considering his many years with the franchise. I hope that isn't the case.
There's another thing that bothers me, and this one is more essential. The amount of twists and turns and double-crosses and triple-crosses and quadruple spies... when most of the games have so many "unexpected" developments, they become expected, then ordinary, then boring and then, worst of all, almost a parody. By Peace Walker, I was already so numb to these things that Zadornov's and Paz's reveals were completely without impact anymore. It's kind of similar to a trap I hope TW3 will avoid - if you insist on keeping a twist to everything and have actions of good intent bear bad consequences, then the unexpected becomes expected and yawn-worthy. So I hope that TPP won't, again, try to blow minds away in this way, and go for more simple developments - but make them memorable in their own way.
Those are the main things that come to mind. I'm burned out after my marathon, time to rest from this (and maybe do something productive tomorrow morning). I wanted to address where I stand about all the silly stuff, but I'm too tired. Despite the negative things, the positives outweigh them, and I finally have another title that I'm seriously looking forward to alongside TW3. Going over the gameplay videos again, and how much Kojima improves from title to title, I really think that MGSV is in a position to steal the year. The attention to detail is outstanding (that part with BB climbing the wall like an actual climber would is still stuck in my mind) and the gameplay looks amazingly fun. Now that I'm approaching it with all the emotional package as well and an understanding of the characters, it significantly closed the gap to TW3 in my personal "most anticipated" list.