It’s warming up here in my part of the world, but this newsletter might be the hottest thing out there.
What I’m watching
This week, I started watching the Irish show Derry Girls, which is available on Netflix. This is a comedy that takes place toward the ends of The Troubles and follows a Catholic main character named Erin and her high school friends.
Derry Girls is consistently funny and tells a tight story each episode. Maybe it’s because I’m almost 40 and went to high school around the time of the main characters, but I enjoy seeing the juxtaposition of teenage drama and world politics. Added bonus: I have educated myself more on The Troubles since watching.
What I’m playing
I have now beat Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, which told a decent story, but DAMN were the cut scenes long. After I beat the game, I had to watch literally 72 minutes of a cut scene to wrap up the “Snake” story-line. I’ll try and keep it shorter than that in this newsletter. If you want an overview of all the Metal Gear games I’ve completed so far, please revisit my newsletters from January 13, 2024, January 27, 2024, February 24, 2024, March 2, 2024, March 16, 2024, and March 23, 2024.
Now, let’s talk about the basics of MGS4:
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots follows the previous game’s alternate timeline where now private military companies dominate warfare. The protagonist, Solid Snake, now aging rapidly due to his cloned nature, is tasked with stopping Liquid Ocelot, a fusion of Liquid Snake’s personality and Revolver Ocelo’s body, who aims to take control of the world’s military infrastructure through a system called Sons of the Patriots. Snake’s mission takes him across the globe and along the way, Snake grapples with his own mortality and the legacy of his past.
So, we come to the conclusion of Snake’s story. I think it’s fair to say this whole series is confusing. Here are some of the basics:
The games are about the legacy of “The Boss,” who we met in Metal Gear Solid 3
The Boss was branded a traitor
Snake (a.k.a. Big Boss) and his friend Major Zero both attempted to follow The Boss’s Legacy in their own way
Over time, Snake and Zero both lost their ways, losing sight on what The Boss had envisioned
Zero left the vision and goal in the hands of an AI system
Surprise, surprise! The AI misinterpreted the goal
When the AI is stopped, we learn the true vision of The Boss: “Just leave the world alone"
To wrap up my Metal Gear journey, I’m playing a game called Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, which most people say “isn’t a real Metal Gear game.” Come check it out as I play through it!
Support my work!
A photo of Elvis
Thanks for reading!