How is an introspective character that questions his identity and the nature of his existence (which was the entire game was set up to do) one dimensional?

Raiden is the pinnacle of character development done right in gaming. He begins his mission cocky, "I'm the shit" kind of attitude. In truth we learn through various conversations with Rose that he is actually an insecure person, who questions his identity because of his upbringing as a child soldier without a real family. Once he broke away from his environment he creates a new persona -as suggested by Freud in the case of someone who escapes through dissaciation from the realities of life-. Because Raiden has been mentally and emotionally scared all his life he creates a cocky, "I'm the shit" attitude to hide his own vulnerabilities as a way to prevent others getting close to him -exploiting him and taking advantage of him as has been all his life. The empty room he sleeps in also speaks of this among many other aspects it symbolizes. Like Rose said, he only sees the things he wants and hides from the truths that conflict with the faux reality he has created for himself. An empty room contains no record of his identity, the one that he wishes to hide from, but it also symbolizes that he still has the ability to grow and take control over his own life, to grow and mature. -The empty room and white hair, admitted even by Kojima represents that sort of existential virginity that Raiden (and everyone) still has.

The confusion and manipulation of the Big Shell incident forces him to begin questioning his mission and those around him supplying him with false information -He begins doubting himself, in psychology it would be the equivalent of a "catharsis". -The uncertainties of his mission evoke the hidden uncertanties and vulnerabilities of his repressed persona. This is the part of the game where most people hate him because he comes off as an insecure "bitch".

During the final scenes of the game he manages to overcome his inner struggles by facing up to his past and present, because he has no where left to run on the Big Shell. He matures into a self assured man with a purpose, one capable of facing up to difficult questions and searching out the answers -the "truth" himself. He takes control of his own life, to forge his own future, his own identity -rather than let circumstance and environment (child soldier then big shell) control him any longer.

One could fill a book on the incredibly rich development of Raiden. The above is a very very general overview. MGS TUS just came back online, there are already numerous huge documents on the symbolism, thematic and character analysis of MGS2 and there will be more soon as people find the site again and submit their articles.

MGS2 and Raiden are among the most layered narratives/characters in the history of any medium, not just games. One dimensional? I don't see how.

@drboot - I can answer that question simply - the creative talent is evaporating out of the gene pool at a rapid pace. Combine that theory with the clear push for "Halo clones" - sci-fi setting, master chief wannabes, and then you have the writing department grunting like cavemen while trying to find ways to make the story seem just different enough to NOT be compared to Halo.

Society as a whole is getting dumber, and I blame MTV. Not for the music, but for The Real World.

Btw, @ other posts - Not every "badass" hero needs to be some tank of a warrior that grunts and curses all the time. Put a dark, gothy psychopath at the head of a story, makes for quite the interesting game

Exactly why I don't play "hardcore" games

drboot brings up a good point in the original post, and above.

What's wrong with introspective characters who show emotion and question things?

I don't think anyone's saying EVERY game shouldn't have any bad ass. For some games, that's the point.


I think I'd just like to see more character variety. What's the point of playing different games if you play as the same character archetype every time?

Remember back in the early 90s when every single game had to have an in-your-face, occasionally Xtreme, anthropomorphic, cartoon animal character? Sonic, Bubsy, Awesome Possum, Aero the Acrobat, Earthworm Jim, Alfred Chicken, Rocket Knight Adventures, etc etc.

Back then, the video game industry was the equivalent of a hyperactive 9-year-old.

Now the video game industry seems to be the equivalent of an overcompensating 14-year-old boy.


I can't wait to see what kind of games come out when the video game industry goes through a mid-life crisis!

I've mentioned my opinions on MGS and its "themes" on these forums more times than I care to count. If you want my opinion on the series, just site search it. In short, I think the story and characterization is ham-handed and convoluted.

Just because a character talks a lot doesn't mean he/she is not one dimensional.

I AGREE!!!!!

and the worst part is that they dont even do it right, ever since Duke Nukem there hasnt been a real good bad ass

I only read the first 3 pages of the thread but I think it's funny that people answered with a "you wouldn't do anything else on a battlefield".

You know, that's exactly the problem: Almost every single "hardcore" game deals with a badass guy shooting people on a battlefield. In our industry a lot of western developers are hardcore gamers themselves and they can't think of anything besides guys on steroids shooting things on a battlefield. Yesterday I got a press release from Ubisoft explaining the story of Tom Clancy's Hawx. Guess what it is about? The world is going crazy because of war, every single nation needs the help of war specialists, bla bla...

I understand people like the play mechanic of a lot of those titles (I like some FPS as well) but I don't get how someone can go crazy over this over and over again.

What we need are developers re-thinking what gaming means. At least to some extend. It's ok for me to see people play whatever games they want but I bought my Xbox360 because it promised me an "adult" experience... but most games I see on it aren't "adult" in a way I want them to be. I don't consider running around with a weapon and blowing something up an adult experience. And most RPG's just have the usual "safe the world!" story. That's not to bash my Xbox360, though. I love watching DVD's on it, or downloading movies. Geometry Wars is awesome and Portal is really cool. I'm looking forward to Forza 3 and Star Ocean should be an enjoyable experience. But games starring huge, badass guys with tons of guns are not adult to me. They are just lame.

eek..how many posts/page do you have it set to?  Mine just started on page 2:)

O.O

... And you were complaining about KZ2's backstory? I haven't played MGS1-3, but I didn't really see the plot and characters as deep, but that there was simply a lot of back story and loose ends until the very last momment.

I think this thread needs to die. We all agree that any one demensional character and shallow story is not good. Most of us believe that video games don't require a good story to be good, as its main function is to provide fun gameplay. There's not much more to discuss except whether character/game X is stupid, bland, etc, which is not the topic of the thread, and is reliant of all the posters playing each respective game.

Err 10 I think so I read the first 30 comments