Konami's Metal Gear Solid is a popular franchise and one of the reasons it has become famous is its great storylines. From some of the best villains like Skullface and Liquid Snake to the well-known main character of Solid Snake, Metal Great Solid games have great stories to tell.
Nevertheless, each game takes a unique approach to the way they present the storyline, with some opting for clear-cut cutscenes and easy-to-follow progression, while others offer it in a more implicit but equally immersive way.
Metal Gear Survive
The latest entry in the series, Metal Gear Survive, is a spin-off of Metal Gear Solid that offers a side story taking place between The Phantom Pain and Ground Zeroes.
However, Metal Gear Survive is more focused on its survival aspect than the plot. The storyline feels dull and repetitive, without contributing anything to the broader Metal Gear Solid plot
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
Portable Ops offered a unique approach to storytelling as it included an exceptionally deep plot full of details. However, all these details also made the story more complicated than fun at most times and many fans struggled to enjoy it due to simply not being able to understand it.
With a lot of characters featured in the plot, often players struggled to recognize some of their roles and thus missed out on the general concept. There were good ideas here
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
The Phantom Pain's story comes as a follow-up to Ground Zeroes and begins with Big Boss awakening from his comma. Although it had an emotional finale at the Boss' end, and Big Boss was a great character, the story left much unanswered.
It leaves many things hanging and is considered by many fans to be disjointed from the main story. Even though The Phantom Pain was a great game, its story didn't live up to the franchise's name.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty
Sons Of Liberty described the comeback of Revolver Ocelot and the attempt to take over the facility Big Shell. It is also often considered the best Metal Gear Solid game overall by many fans.
However. the story felt confusing at the start as the player watched the main character seemingly die. Then, someone new took over as the protagonist for a story that got wonky and confusing. In the end, the game tried to explain everything that was missed during the start only to end up with a story that felt crammed up during the last few hours.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots
Guns of the Patriots wrapped up the whole story in an interesting way with some of the best cutscenes in the franchise. It describes how Old Snake gets one last mission to hunt down Liquid Snake and Revolver Ocelot, and provides one of the greatest fights of the franchise: Old Snake versus Ocelot.
It ends with Old Snake visiting the graveyard, only to end up getting surprised by Big Boss, for a great finale that perfectly wraps up the whole story and doesn't leave many questions unanswered.
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
Ground Zeroes had some of the best characters in the series like Skullface who was one of the most unique villains, as well as Kazuhira, and Paz, each with their own great story.
Although the plot felt relatively short, it offered immersion through great cutscenes. It is a story of loss and misinformation and teaches the player in a unique and not-so-straightforward way how to deal with loss. The whole thing ends with Big Boss being in a comma, which was surprising.
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
Peace Walker follows the story of Big Boss trying to protect Chico, where fans are also introduced to Paz. Paz attempts to convince Big Boss to join Cipher but he refuses. Nevertheless, the game sees Big Boss adopting a more villain-ish attitude.
With a lot of back and forth and immense storytelling that keeps players on edge over what's to happen next, Peace Walker is considered one of the best stories overall.
Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid offered a great story primarily due to the villain, Liquid Snake. At one point, he delivered a great twist that he was diguised as his brother's menetor. Still, the best aspect of Metal Gear Solid was that it managed to make an interesting and immersive story with great details, while also keeping it relatively simple.
The story was fast-paced and didn't have any unnecessary details which, combined with the great music, makes Metal Gear Solid one of the best storylines in the franchise.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Snake Eater is where the story of the franchise officially begins. With Naked Snake's mentor, the Boss, betraying him and allying with Colonel Volgin, the game offers a tale where Snake lost everything and went back to square one, only to try to get everything back.
Snake Eater offers a unique story filled with surprising twists of betrayal, great pacing, and amazing cutscenes, all while maintaining players' immersion, thus making it one of the best storylines overall.