Hahaha! What!? Where did that happen?

Metal Gear Solid 3 I believe: https://metalgear.fandom.com/wiki/The_Boss#cite_note-6

Wow! MGS3 is a great game though but this is a bit silly.

Though confusing at times, still very entertaining to watch.

Like a lot of movie directors he earned his status by being a pioneer and pushing things forward. Ás decades pass, others move the industry forward even more and he just doesn't have the same impact anymore. I still appreciate much of his earlier work and I'm thankful for the feelings he made me feel.

Somewhere around Mgs4, things started to go downhill.

He's a far cry from the most overrated storyteller, but arguably his stories have dipped in quality after MGS 3.

In MGS 1-3 the storytelling and characters were honestly excellent imo, even if there were a few things here and there that were hard not to be skeptical of. But since I would say his stories have gotten less consistent with MGS 4 and 5 being mixed bags of highs and lows and Peace Walker being a serious lowpoint. Can't speak to Death Stranding as I've still yet to play it.

Still, the man has had one hell of a career as a whole, so I don't think it's weird he's regarded as a good storyteller, but it is very possible his best work is behind him.

You didnt even played his best games ...

His overall storytelling is fine, but I find at times it falls apart whenever he tries tacking on more bits and pieces to the plot, and other times when he tries to make a sub-plot or main part of the story super mysterious, that only 10% of the fandom will get for digging super deep.

I think like some other big names he was lucky to be in the right place (the games industry) at the right time (the late 80s) and made a name for himself early and became untouchable till Death Stranding. Most of his games are awkward in every sense. I have completed only MGS3 and although it is cool in some parts, overall is a clunky mess, again in every sense of the word. When I first heard David Hayter's voice acting in MGS3, I was wtf-ing and couldn't make out if it was so bad intentionally or meant for real. In this day and age you would automatically think it was trolling.

In a world with David Cage in it, no, not even close. Kojima can create some genuinely excellent stories and characters, while Cage's stories practically never make it to the end in good condition. Kojima has a tendency to make his stories overly complicated, but they still at least adhere to their internal logic for the most part.