7. The Ending Made The Player Feel The REAL Phantom Pain
Potentially my favourite of the theories on the go is the idea that many weird design choices in the game were purposefully done to make the PLAYER feel the "phantom pain" the characters go on about so much - which is a meta twist that could only be pulled off by Kojima. Ridiculous, asinine, insane - but oh so Metal Gear. Oh so Kojima. The idea is that Chapter 2 lacking in focus and content, the disappearance of Quiet as a Buddy and the lack of closure overall is supposed to leave the player feeling like they're missing something that they can't quite put their finger on. Quiet especially sticks out on this one, as she's only taken away from the player when their buddy rating is maxed out. Essentially, the character is taken away so the player can suffer a loss just like everyone else in the main cast. It would be a brilliant twist if true, and it's not entirely out of the question. Not to bang on about MGS2 too much, but that game was entirely designed to play out almost exactly like the original game just to drive home the idea that players were playing something that was nothing more than a simulation. Not only that, Kojima himself mentioned that the disappearance of Skull Face before the end was supposed to replicate the characters' "phantom pain" by removing the identifiable antagonist. And if you look at any message board or forum about this new game, it looks like the tactic has worked. Everyone who has played the game is feeling the phantom pain of something being missing, something not quite right that they can't put their finger on, and if that was intentional by Kojima, it is brilliant.