MGSV had the best gameplay of the series, no contest there, it was amazing to play through the first time, but I started to get concerned at the point where missions and locations began to repeat, and as Skullface's plan and his backstory (if you can call it that) was revealed I felt more and more uneasy. Skullface was intense and his actions in Ground Zeroes left a burning desire to get revenge, but all of that seemed to wither away during the course of the game. I'd expected a shocking reveal with Skullface, he had to be someone we knew, or had some history with, anything really to make his motivations make sense, to make it seem personal. It never happened. MGS on ps1 was my first Metal Gear game and still my favourite game ever, and Liquid Snake with his ego and his Hind D and his obvious burning hatred for 'dear brother', and that shocking moment when the realisation hit, he'd killed Miller and assumed his identity, and oh shit I've been talking to him all along!! The Metal Gear Rex fight, him killing our poor tortured friend Grey Fox, finally taking down Rex followed by that brutal fist fight, and then on the way out he appears again in the jeep chase as the base explodes around us, relentless, he just wouldn't fucking stay down. One of the things that MGS always impressed me with was it's colourful cast of characters, especially it's villains, and Foxhound were the ultimate cast of bosses in any game I've played, not purely for their fight mechanics but for the depth of backstory and flawed humanity each had. Unfortunately (and I hate to criticize anything MGS) Skullface came nowhere near to living up to what was introduced in Ground Zeroes. Through the series there have been ups and downs with the villains (Beauty and Beast corps were often disappointing, but compared to the Skulls they look like Foxhound) but sadly V has no memorable villains, there isn't a single Psycho Mantis moment, the Quiet fight was fun but unfortunately after Sniper Wolf, The End, and Crying Wolf it felt quite familiar. As I said the gameplay of V was incredible, infiltration was the best it's ever felt, but I wish there had been some worthwhile bosses to put that awesome game engine to work, and to create some of those iconic moments like past entries in the series. I hate the fact I'm disappointed in MGSV, feels dirty even saying it, but for me it's missing some of the key ingredients that make a Metal Gear game. Skull faces plan was both convoluted and lacking in any personal stake for the protagonist other than that wiping out lots of people is obviously bad, it's like a dull Bond villain evil plan, really talked up to sound more complex than it is. On top of that we never really got to get in close and beat the shit out of him, shoot at him, even chase him down. And the addition of his lone ranger mask made him cross from genuinely scary guy into just ridiculous, I still cannot fathom why they put a tiny mask on a guy with no face. Every bit of potential Skullface had was squandered. The skulls were glorified henchman, more like a special enemy unit than boss fight, which left the game almost devoid of bosses. There are other things, like the cassette tape format, I'd have much preferred codec and cutscene like the others in the series, they were often complained about but I never had a problem with them (just make sure they can be paused pls). The Venom reveal I don't even have a problem with, especially if they'd ended the game as intended instead of cutting the content. Unfortunatley there are just too many missed opportunities, retreading of the same ground etc, it's really sad because this is the last true MGS we'll ever get, and while V is still a great game, it doesn't go out with a bang for me, it starts strong then goes out with a whimper. The final chapter of MGS4 still feels like when the series truly ended for me. I expected V to fill in blanks, show us Big Boss becoming the villain, meeting young Frank Jaeger, things like that, but it went off and did it's own thing, which is a good game on its own, but really has the feel of a spin-off rather than part of the series for me.