When Konami first announced Metal Gear Solid Delta, it led to quite a bit of discontent from loyal fans. But as Konami reiterated in a new interview, this remake isn’t really for them.
As reported by GamesRadar, producer Noriaki Okamura shared new details behind Konami’s decision to modernize the game, and along the way, make some very divisive choices.
Quoting Okamura’s interview from Play Issue 46:
“One of the things that really sparked us to do the remake in general is because we realized that a lot of the newer, younger generation of gamers aren’t familiar with the Metal Gear series anymore.”
And it stands to reason that there would now be a generational gap between the fans who grew up on Metal Gear games, and gamers today. It’s not just Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain literally released nine years ago. It’s that in the past five years from today, a generation of kids got enculturated into video games through Fortnite, Minecraft, PUBG, Roblox, or any of the other live service games, designed to keep you coming back and making it your daily driver of a video game.
The Metal Gear games are one of many who come from the older type of game design, that does have a tangible beginning and ending. They may also have online features, but that online mode isn’t continuously being worked on with the intention of keeping it going forever, or at least as long as people keep playing it.
Subsequently, making Konami’s classic series appealing to newer gamers means making concessions so that they can be more appealing to them. So yes, choosing a conventional 3D camera over the traditional one means that newer games won’t be able to play the game the ‘right’ way.
But, and this is a big but, if those gamers get to choose to use the old or new cameras (and the can), they can figure out for themselves what merits the original camera setup had in the first place. And if they still prefer to do it their way, they will still be playing the game.
Okamura explained once again that they chose to start with a Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater remake because it’s the chronological first game in the series. So yes, they intend to unmoor the remakes from the odd quirks of the original, because there’s no need to confuse them.
Okamura sums things up by reiterating the studio’s obligation to keep Snake’s memory alive, and it’s to our benefit that they are acting on this feeling of obligation.
