Metal Gear Solid vs. The Twin Snakes: How Not to Remake a Classic (Comparison, Critique, & Review)

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Kojima wanted the Twin Snakes to be different from the original. Originally the director of the Twin Snakes was doing a more 1:1 remake with better graphics but Kojima was like dude we want you to make it crazy.

The original dialogue for MGS1 wasn't done in a studio. It was done in a hotel room. It was rented for the weekend and all the voice actors and the sound producer were all in there when recording was happening. Along with pizza boxes and soda.

The approach to the cutscenes in TTS is honestly an interesting idea. Silicon Knights was originally planning to do the original cutscenes one for one, but Kojima specifically asked them to change things and hire the new director. I think Kojima's rationale is that, in-universe, Shadow Moses is what made Snake legendary, and the story of what really happened there gets more exaggerated the more its retold over the years. In-universe, Snake himself is always gruff and undersells his experiences in MGS1. "I'm just an old killer," "I only took out the tank with grenades because it was all I had," etc. And, in a meta sense, MGS1 was also the standard to which all subsequent entries would be compared, and the love the fandom has for MGS1 would also distort and exaggerate as the series and time wore on. The series is frequently concerned with the concept of legacy and the passing on of experiences from one generation to the next, and TTS' modified direction is almost a pointed criticism of the fandom in this way- the lionization of the original and inflated regard for the games of our youth is exemplified in the over the top action of TTS' cutscene direction because, that's how awesome the game was in our memories! And, considering how insanely meta the series got in MGS2 and 4, it is entirely possible that this was deliberate intention by Kojima and Silicon Knights under his advice.

The PS1 version of the Sniper Wolf death scene places the camera to show you both her gun and Otacon behind it. This makes it even sadder that she asks for her gun. Because at first you think she might call for Otacon but no. It makes you feel even sadder for him.

That scene in the elevator with the stealth suits genuinely freaked me out in my first play through of the OG

"you enjoy all the tranquilizing"

I might be wrong, but I always got the feeling that Otacon’s relationship with Sniper Wolf was always a one-way thing. She was clearly a cruel person but tolerated him (with amusement maybe) because he was kind to her wolf-dogs. To extend the character analogy; not only is Otacon a nerd getting bullied by a jock, but he’s also the nerd that fell in love with the prom queen, who barely even notices him. The fact that Snake doesn’t ONCE joke or ridicule him for that, further vindicate him as a ‘reforming’ character. As we know, character progression equals good storytelling. This of course is one of the purposes of Otacon’s character in a narrative sense; similar to Meryl, he’s introduced as a way to show Snake learning how to be compassionate and sympathetic to someone who has none of the attributes that he feels describe him as a person (strength, endurance, ruthlessness) but they ultimately discover that they do have common ground in their bravery and determination, and of course Otacon finds his bravery through meeting Snake. So they improve each other, which is REALLY good storytelling. The Otacon love concept is then flipped over for MGS2, where his step-sister Emma clearly has strong feelings for him, but he never reciprocated (possibly because he was more into her mother…), as seen by ‘EE… I could never do that” when she asks him to ‘look at her as a woman’ as she dies. Incidentally, Meryl is introduced first, as a first step in Snake’s character progression - his first interaction is with a person who idolises his pre-existing macho persona - the hard man - which feeds his ego. He in turn boosts her confidence in return, and Meryl becomes cocky, which is ultimately punished by getting shot by Sniper Wolf. If this isn’t a statement on character progression by the storyteller, I don’t know what is. And of course the loss of Meryl reverberates within Snake for the rest of the game as he experiences guilt and regret.

Ocelot's meow is still the most iconic line of dialogue in any MGS game.

I met Rob Paulsen at a con q&a panel two years ago, and when asked about his video game roles, he brought up Twin Snakes and I lost my shit because I never realized he played Gray Fox. I also got to hear him go from Carl Wheezer to Gray Fox in half a second, and it was an incredibly surreal moment. He was so chill and seemed like such a nice guy.

Remember guys, Metal Gear is a completely serious no nonsense franchise. It's just like my Japanese Animes.

It's funny to me since Kojima has said he wanted this to be different and crazy. I've always assumed this was to reinforced an idea from MGS2, the legend of Solid Snake. A story filtered through the eyes of who survived it and spread the legend. Natasha wrote a whole book on what happened, and they made VR training missions based on it. It wouldn't surprise me if Twin Snakes is what the world believed happened. A bastardized retelling to suit their needs.

The weirdest thing is that... the cutscene changes were requested BY Kojima, and changed. They were initially accurate to the ps1 version.

Sniper Wolfs voice/accent is beautiful, “Okay Hero, set me free.” Gets me tearin up every time.

Since I played this game before the original MGS, I justified all the crazy things Snake was doing, like fly kicking Metal Gear Rex to the fact that he was younger. I even used a line from MGS2 to prove my theory. When liquid tells snake, “not so young anymore, ey snake?” My childhood self thought, “no wonder he can’t do those crazy moves anymore! He’s older! That makes sense!” Lmao I guess it helped me stay immersed lol

Imagine being a voice actor for the original doing many long takes getting everything perfect and being satisfied with your work, only to receive a phone call 5 years later asking you to do it all again.

You know, of all the added LOL OTACON FELL moments they added in TTS, the one during Sniper Wolf's death actually was a great addition in my opinion. Dude is already injured, but is hurrying to grab her gun to give it to her in a moment where time isn't on their side, and falls down as his pace exceeds his abilities. You can hear the pain and anguish as he collapses both from the pain, frustration. It's one of the few moments I actually thought was pretty OK.

My God....they did have my man Otacon falling all over the place. LMFAO I forgot all about that.

See, I didn't have a problem with the Cobra Unit dying after a nonlethal fight because it didn't feel like I killed them. If you recall Sigint's codec call, he said that they had bombs implanted to prevent capture. Other than the fact that they likely knew they needed to die, it also felt like a logical step for them to end themselves, and it doesn't feel like it opposed the concept of a nonlethal fight. That being said, it is still a massive issue with Twin Snakes and SoL

I played the original first as a kid and LOVED it. Then played the twin snakes a few years later, still as a pretty young kid and LOVED it!