6 hours in 3% done, did up to mission 4, 1 side op.


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[*]Intro is phenomenal but the player doesn't do much. Kojima' direction is top notch, best work he has done.
[*]The game is overwhelming, so many game systems being shown to you. It happens piece by piece but even then it's a lot to take in.
[*]The gameplay is perfection, I have never felt so perfectly in control of a character, I feel like my options are near limitless.
[*]The world is massive, mostly empty, the purpose is to get to the bases.
[*]I played splinter cell blacklist this year for the first time and loved it. The first optional outpost in mission 1, not even the main base, was bigger and had more complex geometry than most levels in blacklist.
[*]The slow drip of items is so great, first you begin with basically what you start in GZ, then get a box, then you can make weapons, and so on. Perfect progression.
[*]Music is great, the OST must be amazing to listen to. Love the 80s songs so far.
[*]Speaking of cassettes, most of the story and big boss talking happens on the tapes. There are a ton, some good info in them.
[*]The freedom in how you play is the most apparent quality this game has. It might be too much freedom for some. You can make some of these missions super easy or very complex depending on how you approach. It is up to the player to make things interesting for themselves. The game will give you the playground and it will change things up but it's still your moment. I wonder if people who are so used to the linear scripted MGS games will know how to do that.
[*]Scouting a base is so awesome.
[*]Guards have eyes like Hawks during the day, they will spot you from any where.
[*]Must collect all animals.
[*]You will not miss DD, it's impossible, not sure if they changed that since before some say they almost missed him.
[*]Mother base is big but most of it is still closed off so not much for me to do there. Management is a bunch of menu hopping like PW.
[*]Most everything I made is created instantly. Only one item had a timer, and that lasted like 20 minutes. Servers are not up so I can't play online, no way to know about microtransactions. But they seem totally unecessary.
[*]Collecting stuff means something, there is junk around the world but unlike a Ubisoft game where most of it is shit, here you need it. I need lots of materials to expand the base, better start interrogating guards for locations.
[*]Back to the gameplay, like I said its about making your own moments, I have yet to stick to a style, I am have been playing realistically, if I get caught I keep going. I see the mission replay options with new objectives, that's when I will go for specific runs.
[*]Minor spoilers for mission 3.............. You have to kill a mark, I snuck my way into his room and took him out with my hands. Then to escape was a mission as like 6 guards where surrounding the building. So I started throwing out grenades to distract them, they all freaked and looked in that general direction. I snuck out the back, took out a few guards still in my path, hopped on the horse, activated my c4 to blow up some optional marks and rode off untouched. Thrilling.


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