An open letter to Konami: Metal Gear deserves better

Following the launch of Master Collection Vol. 1, I wrote this open letter to Konami. It reflects my experience and concerns in early November 2023, together with my hope that continued support could make the collection the release these games deserve.

The open letter

An open letter to Konami.

First off, congratulations on the release of the Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1. As a lifelong fan of this series, it's really wonderful to see so many new players have access again to play these classic masterpieces on multiple modern consoles. I'm glad to see you have resolved most, but not all launch problems; (pre-order items are still not available to players). And I absolutely love the extras you added to the collection. I really do.

But let's address the elephant in the room. With all that said, respectfully, this collection of games deserves better.

Let me explain why it is important for you, Konami, M2, Rocket, and any other partner who worked on this to make this right.

The Metal Gear IP is yours, not Kojima's; it never has been, and we know this, but he would have never let this collection release in this state while at Konami, and as its care holder, we demand better from you. The multitude of problems that still need to be addressed still make it extremely hard for myself or others to recommend this "Master Collection" post-launch with any confidence to people when asked "What is the best way to play these games?". I know we are only 1 week out since release, so I am willing to give you and your porting partners time to make this right in the days, weeks, and even months ahead. But as time passes, I can assure you that my confidence in this happening will become doubtful. This burden is yours and yours alone, and we as fans should not rely on the modding community to resolve these issues for you.

To call this the "Master Collection" was ambitious at best, even pre-release. Right now, the collection is not living up to the title it has been given.

On the 24th, not only did we see these games come back to fans after a multi-year absence, but you also released a new trailer for METAL GEAR SOLID Δ: SNAKE EATER. On the surface, it looks good, and you seem to be keeping your word when it comes to keeping the message you delivered back in May, saying "faithful recreation of the original story and game design while evolving the gameplay". But I think this would have been even better received if the Master Collection was also delivered in the state it deserves. The post-support and resolution of issues for the Master Collection will greatly affect mine and others outlook on this remake and your actual dedication to being faithful to the original works and respecting the past of this great series.

It is really disappointing that NO ONE from Konami, or the Konami social media team or anyone else from the company has communicated with fans at all. A little communication goes a long way with fans.

First impressions are everything, and unfortunately, you have lost that luxury, and if any company needed to rebuild burnt bridges with fans, it is you Konami. We've seen other great collection of ports for CastleVania and TMNT as of late, so considering the Metal Gear series is one of the most beloved series that you control, we as fans expected and deservingly deserve better.

I and others are looking forward to the continued updates and fixing of the glaring issues still present with the Master Collection. Do right by your fans. We deserve it, Metal Gear deserves it, the original team deserve it, and his legacy deserves it.

My follow-up clarification

Two things.

First. This post was NOT intended to create a safe space for the F-Konami hate brigade that just comes to pounce on them no matter what they do. You cussing out their social media guy who has literally no say in what happens with the company is just pointless. I've always been fair and supportive of Konami when they have deserved it, and I've always been critical of them when it warrants but always in a respectful manner. If you are just here to post the usual completely unproductive hate for this company, just leave, I don't support you, and I don't care for your opinion at all.

Second. I really do believe a lot of the NEW issues we and many others have reported can be fixed, and fixed easily. Like I said in my open letter, I will be waiting in anticipation for them to do so. Ultimately in the end if they do, this collection will be not only a come back to form for these old games but such a gem of a collection for old and new fans a like. I am rooting for Konami on this happening, and I think if you're a fan of this series, you should too.

Thanks.
~MGN

My other replies

Thank you, your reply is appreciated. I too hope Konami iron out the issues because if they do this will be an absolute wonderful collection we can all celebrate with.

I just can't believe konami would have done the things they did with this collection like include the extras like the Master Books, create for the first time EVER, MGS1 create-a-save feature, and other actual fixes to the games that these other issues were deliberate at all. I just feel like things were missed or newly introduced porting these over. A lot of which lies with M2 and Rocket studios, but Konami is ultimately to be held accountable here. The PS5 games overall are in a good spot with just a few things that really need to be fixed. Its not a complete disaster of a port but these issues need to be addressed.

None of these are game breaking really but here is a list we made and there are some things we missed. I've already tweeted and tagged Konami in this. So yes I have pointed out the many problems.

Thank you. I was really hesitant to post this knowing it might get MGN put on a block list from Konami but no other big accounts were saying anything and I hope Konami realizes I’m one of their biggest fans and I want this collection to be the best it can be and still can if they fix things. This wasn’t easy to put into words or say but in the end I hope the right people see this and it’s good intentions and it resonates with them to do the right thing.

In the reply about our earlier issue list, I linked our October 26 report.

Images accompanying the letter

These are the review thumbnails and press screenshot attached to my original letter. Their headlines belong to the respective publications and creators.

Sources

MGN original post · MGN follow-up 1 · MGN follow-up 2 · MGN follow-up 3 · MGN follow-up 6