Let us just admit it already. This game was hated mostly because you play as Raiden for most of the game. Any other excuse people give is simply bullshit so that they don't appear as if they are hating on the game too much because they are bias.
Had you played as Snake through the whole game there would be almost no controversy about it today. This isn't just an opinion here. This is fact through observation over the years.
People hated it for the exact same reason that people hate MGSV.
It wasn't what they were expecting and they don't/didn't fully understand what was really going on.
>It wasn't what they were expecting
Yeah because they wanted to play as Snake the whole time. You are fooling yourself if you think this isn't primarily why this game was hated. Do you honestly think most MGS fans have a clue what's going on with the story? Only the most die hard fans ever cared. Most people that like these games liked it regardless if they understood the plot well or not.
The only reason they pretend to is to not seem as if they have such a ridiculous bias. It's not as farfetched as you think. People really are this absurd that they would do things like this.
Big Shell is a shitty environment with almost no visual variety to speak of. The constant backtracking through same areas is the most not fun shit in the world, it feels like a trudge.
The AI is pretty god damn poor. It wasn't all that amazing in MGS1 either, but in MGS1 you were limited by the camera and didn't have the ability to aim in first person. Ever play Twin Snakes? Same fucking problem. It's insane that guards can't see you down the fucking hallway but you can tranq them in the face no problem. In MGS1, you had similar disabilities to the AI. You were of course better equipped to deal with it, but MGS2 takes it a step beyond.
Obligatory swimming sucks comment.
The boss fights are much less creative and interesting than they were in MGS1 and don't have the stamina gimmicks of MGS3 so they feel really dull in comparison. They also feel like worse version remixes of MGS1 fights like Fat Man and Vulcan Raven both being in similarish arenas but instead of having to duck around corners and needing to get smart with your weapons, you just look for bombs and freeze them until Fat Man stands still.
MGS2 is flawed as fuck and is almost objectively the weakest main series title (fighting with Peace Walker). Raiden being shit is just icing on the cake. The only reason anyone pretends MGS2 is good is the 2DEEP4U story that is the only saving grace.
>Trailers are all about Snake on the Tanker
>Game adverts are all about Snake on the Tanker
>Demo Disk is all about Snake on the Tanker
>Start up the game, first section is Snake on the Tanker
>oh my god oh my god i can't wait for more of this snake and otacon bro-tastic teamwork
>Swimming through the fucking water in my skull suit
>Hop on the elevator
>oh boy oh boy mask off mask off
>It's Ashton Kutcher
How could anybody not be mad at this?
The setting and boss fights are the worst of the series. The difficulty is also the highest of the series. Shooting people with the tranq gun isn't fun, but it was introduced in this game and shaped the series; the only thing worse is "collecting" soldiers. The story is intriguing, but presented in such a confusing way that I'm still not sure I entirely understand it 15 years later. Also, the otacon/snake dynamic is fucking AWESOME, and I feel like we got robbed of really great thing there. That may fall under the argument you were making, but I am mad that Raiden got stuck with Rose.
People hated MGSV because it's an unfinished game with a copy-pasted second half and an empty and pointless open world
You just don't understand sheep kek self insert mgs2 is the gawd try taking a philosophy class or go back to playing with rocks caveman
I'm playing it again recently
I forgot what a whiny bitch Raiden is
He's really petulant. Even the Colonel thinks he's a pussy.
Every mgs2 fan
Nobody hated MGS2, OP. They just hated Raiden.
>you just look for bombs and freeze them until Fat Man stands still.
If you quickly shoot Fatman 3 or 4 times then he'll fall over, allowing you to easily target his head. If you let him plant a single additional bomb after the fight starts then literally git gud and then kill yourself.
The boss fights are definitely the weakest in the series overall (Yes, including Peace Walker and The Phantom Pain) but the only one that is actually bad is the first Vamp one and that's because the controls of MGS2 aren't at all suited for quickly shooting at a moving target while also dodging projectiles. So you most likely just ended up spamming Grenades at him while he's swimming around.
>unfinished game with a copy-pasted second half
Wew lad. The recycled missions in chapter 2 are stand ins for the missions that were cut due "objectionable content" that would have seen the game banned in every first world country. Saying MGSV was "unfinished" is the most hilarious incorrect thing in the world. Cut content and open world are fair criticisms though. However even though I think open world did more harm than good, it certainly wasn't "pointless."
Big Shell was generally boring in design and variation.
Why is snake on the front? Some 2deep meaning I guess. Not tricking you to buying the game or anything like all the old pics of snake on big shell and other places he shouldn't have been. Nah I just don't understand.
>learn these arbitrary boss fight techniques in this bad game that sucks because I know them
Yeah nah fuck that the less I have to play MGS2 the better. I don't give a fuck about your pro quickkill strays the game is not fun.
>yet sites like IGN and gamespot gave it a 10/10
Are you telling me they are wrong?
>stand ins for the missions that were cut due "objectionable content" that would have seen the game banned in every first world country.
The delusion is unreal.
I also just didn't like vamp, olga, or fortune. Especially fortune, fuck. MGS only had a few tracks but they were great. MGS2 had a lot more tracks but the style was just really uninteresting to me.
>The boss fights are definitely the weakest in the series overall (Yes, including Peace Walker and The Phantom Pain)
What in the ever living fuck are you talking about? Peace Walker just had a bunch of vehicles you rocket launcher over and over until they die. Phantom Pain had only 2 or 3 bosses depending on how lenient you are with the definition. MGS1's boss fights are all pretty weak because the 3D wasn't fully fledged yet. Vamp and Olga both suck, though. It definitely isn't so clear cut which has the worst boss fights, but I think it has to be Peacewalker. 3 probably had the best.
So glad all the ten year olds are asleep. So tired of reading
>U STILL MAD BOUT RAIDEN
>TRY PLYAIN WITHOUT SALTY NOSTALGIA GOGGLES AND LEARN THE TRUTH
>RAIDEN BEST PROTAGONIST HES EVEN A NINJA NOW
>Phantom Pain had only 2 or 3 bosses depending on how lenient you are with the definition.
Quiet
Eli
Sally
Skulls Unit
Skulls Unit Snipers
All of them are fought multiple times.
I cannot count the skulls as bosses. Special enemies maybe, but not bosses. Sally was the least creative MG boss battle. Eli was a game of hide and seek. Quiet was the worst of the sniper bosses. Volgin was also disappointing and easily overcome.
>Volgin
Forgot about him. It doesn't matter if you didn't enjoy the boss fights, there's still more than "2 or 3."
MGS2 Raiden is one of my favourite characters of all time
I played MGS2 a few years after it came out and it's still my favorite one in the series. The sneaking mechanics improve upon MGS but aren't bogged down by slow boring survival bullshit or PSP mobile game or open world nonsense. For me, playing as Raiden wasn't a twist, the twist is all the bizarre shit that starts happening in Arsenal Gear.
The patriots were a great villain because they were untouchable. When the colonel gives his speech at the end explaining exactly what they are and what they're doing, it felt real. Maybe people playing it now are too young to understand. In context, this game came out shortly after the morning where my mom woke me up and told me "America is under attack", and the months of government promoted paranoia that followed. It felt like the world was ending. Then America went to war with Iraq... for some reason. So I play this game a few years later and the themes of information control come up and for me it's like "yeah I remember when that actually happened".
>It wasn't what they were expecting and they don't/didn't fully understand what was really going on
You're right.
There were four.
And none of them were inspired or creative.