Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain - 10 Huge Problems Nobody Wants To Admit

8. There Just Aren't Enough Cutscenes

Poor Hideo Kojima can't win, can he? One minute he's getting chastised for doing too lengthy an exchange at the close of MGS 2, only to re-balance everything in 3, then mess it up as he went into full-on Hollywood Mode in MGS 4. For V it appears his staff reigned him in again, but not always for the better. Granted the lack of cutscenes (around four hours in the entire game, more than MGS 1 and the same as Snake Eater) does let you get back to the action within about five or so minutes, but when it comes to what's happening in the regions of both Afghanistan and Africa, it's very hard to keep up. Occasionally, following a particular Side-Op or Main Mission you'll get a blue iDroid screen where photos are thrown up and dissected by Kaz, but it just feels underdeveloped - as though maybe these debriefing screens were originally intended to be cutscenes between Kaz and Boss, but were cut for budgetary reasons or time restraints. What's here outside of these are great, spectacular even thanks to Kojima's refined directorial style, and due to their scarcity you end up treasuring when one kicks in, but that works both ways. When it comes to interacting with Quiet, the guys on the base, Kaz, Huey, Ocelot and especially Eli, there's not even close to enough time spent having them interact with each other - outside of the cassettes, anyway.