Venom Snake Wasn't Tortured
I recently replayed a few of the other metal gear solid games while taking a break from the infinite FOB grind, and I noticed something that sets MGSV apart from the others. As the title says, Venom was never tortured, unlike every other protagonist. In MGS 1 2 4 and peace Walker, you button mash to make you physically exhausted, and in MG1, MGS 1 2 3 and PW, you make a prison break. By going through their scripted struggle, you emphasize with solid, naked, and raiden. You overcome a big struggle and have only your wits to break out of the cell, usually with Revolver Ocelot trying his best to make sure you don't escape.
However, in MGSV, you are never captured, there's no button mashing, and no prison break. You escape the hospital twice with no equipment, but that's basically a tutorial so the only thing difficult is not making "eye contact" with Ishmael's butt. Revolver ocelot is on your side and not torturing you. Instead, you and ocelot torture Huey and Quiet.
Both Solid and Naked are tortured twice, each, and for each one of their torturings were with electricity. Raiden is chocked by solidus, and these moments go a long way for getting us to relate emotionally to our protagonists. The microwave hallway in MGS4 is often praised as highly cinematic and emotional.
I don't know where in MGSV it would fit, but I think us players would have been more receptive of Venom if he were tortured. Sure, kojima could have written more lines for Sutherland, but the prison break and torture narrative did a lot to sooth the bait and switch that raiden was, so surely Venom could have had that kind of treatment.
Posted Dec 16, 2018, 11:09 PM UTC