Should the next MGS project be a remake or a new entry?

[Dirty Duck]

Hello! Here's another of our "Cardboard Box Vox Pops", where we get the general consensus of the forum on some simple questions.
For those of you that use a theme with a sidebox you'll have noticed the poll has appeared there to maximise the number of votes we get. If you wish to explain your answer feel free to in this thread, but otherwise, feel free to vote and explain nothing!

This time our question is about whether the next MGS project should be a remake or a new entry?

[Null]

Third option:

A remake if that remake is the 1987 Outer Heaven remake.

If it's anything else, no. Make an original entry.

[NateDog]

I would like a new game, but at this point I think a remake is more sensible. But just to be clear, when I say remake I absolutely do not mean what Delta was. I mean a fully-fledged remake of Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (maybe with the ending of MG as an extended prelude), or a remake of Metal Gear Solid, but preferably the former. This needs to be something on the scale of the Final Fantasy VII Remake project. It obviously doesn't need to be anywhere near as big, but it would be a big undertaking still. I'm not entirely sure how receptive the current market would be to going from MGS being in the wilderness to having a few collections released and a tuned-up MGS3 release followed by a brand new title without Kojima. Just don't really know if that feels like the right progression if we want to see MGS re-establish itself again.

[black king]

I'd like something new, but a remake would be better. Namely I'm just not sure where a new game would be on the timeline. 

More interquels would be my least desired. We don't need more "Big Boss's fall but for real the time!" games. Honestly Snake Eater was great for that by itself and PO was fine as a follow up. Sequels that go on past MGS4 make it so that it wasn't the finale. I know we have MGR and it's fun and cheesy, but it's still a different genre completely from the rest of the series. 

Really this leaves us with prequels, which would most likely be The Boss. I like her as a character, but don't love her. Fighting in WW2 with her wouldn't really expand on her and Big Boss's relationship since he was too young to fight in WW2 with The Cobras. There's potential there and I know a lot of the fanbase has wanted it. 

Remakes wise, we could use one for MG and MG2:SS since they're 2D. I'm wondering if Delta is planned to be like the REmakes, where it updates and changes stuff into a sort of parallel timeline to the originals? Like could we get MG Delta Outer Heaven, MG Delta Solid Snake, MG Delta The Twin Snakes, etc.?

[starschwar]

The way I see it - Delta, while certainly good, had rough edges when it came to gameplay balance, character movement, etc. Until there is a dedicated team in place to make new Metal Gear content, the best way forward is to build them up on remakes. Let them really get a feel for how the series works within the framework of what already existed before putting in the time and money on something new altogether.


I'd make an exception for letting Platnium make more Rising, of course.

But there's also a question - what "new" Metal Gear Solid games could be made within the existing canon? There's only so much Big Boss / Venom stuff to still fill in, and even then, would any of that be satisfying? Solid Snake only has a few years of undocumented Philanthropy missions, would any of them be compelling?

A new protagonist, some time in the distant future? Even then, it may as well be a new series?

Or is it time for a complete continuity reboot?

As much as I enjoy Rising as a "potential future," I do feel that MGS4 is as close to a perfect ending as the series could have, and going further would not be the best idea.

[Dirty Duck]

The way I see it - Delta, while certainly good, had rough edges when it came to gameplay balance, character movement, etc. Until there is a dedicated team in place to make new Metal Gear content, the best way forward is to build them up on remakes. Let them really get a feel for how the series works within the framework of what already existed before putting in the time and money on something new altogether.

I'm not sure if making reskins and adding modern gameplay mechanics without too much consideration for the original intention or balance of the game is necessarily the best preparation for making a new Metal Gear. Delta was largely built on 3's code, it's not as if they redid all the code to get a better handle on it. Any appreciation for MGS's design philosophy they got from making Delta could probably also have been gleaned by just playing 3.

But there's also a question - what "new" Metal Gear Solid games could be made within the existing canon? There's only so much Big Boss / Venom stuff to still fill in, and even then, would any of that be satisfying? Solid Snake only has a few years of undocumented Philanthropy missions, would any of them be compelling?

The mention of Venom is proof enough that there can always be something new-I think getting bogged down in the lore and timeline is something that creatives really shouldn't be put off by. But if they did want to respect it then the idea of a Philanthropy mission where something significant happened really isn't all that farfetched. Raiden rescuing Sunny from the Patriots could also be expanded into a game length story-I know it was the planned Metal Gear Rising story but Raiden wasn't actually a cyborg until afterwards, and it would be fun to play as non-cyborg Raiden again honestly. I do agree that more Big Boss interquels aren't necessarily what I want to see going forward.

Also I think The Boss WW2 game is something I thought sounded cool as a teenager that now I find utterly unappealing. The Cobras work as a boss unit but aren't interesting or nuanced enough to be a supporting cast. What, we're gonna have a touching human moment from the bee man?

[tr0nic]

What, we're gonna have a touching human moment from the bee man?

Yes. If Kojima was still at Konami, I wouldn't even bat an eye at that. But without Koj, I don't even want to know what a proper mainline new entry would be like. 

Remake of MG1, MG2, or even Ghost Babel would be great.

Or another spinoff thing, maybe set it in that ever-elusive time period between MGS2 & 4. The universe is so wide at this point and has come so far that I think it could be explored with a non-Snake protagonist just fine.

[st3ve]

Or is it time for a complete continuity reboot? 

One way Konami could avoid fucking up the timeline and pissing off the fans while still making new ''mainline" games is by continuing Ghost Babel's story.

I suppose the Acid timeline could also work but to be honest I'd just prefer to see a new Acid game.

[VerySolid]

Remake mg1 and 2, PW and 4.
New game that sets up MGS4 better

[Dirty Duck]

New game that sets up MGS4 better

What would set up MGS4 better, in your opinion? I always thought the game establishes itself quite well.