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Cyotey

has METAL GEAR SOLID - Master Collection Version

Mar 16, 2024 @ 4:15pm

Is the collection worth getting now?

I'm sorry if this has been asked like crazy but I don't see any discussions for this question, videos are months old and unless I've overlooked them...I don't see any recent enough reviews either. Are resolution issues fixed? Weird 8 directional movement and input lag for 1? Audio issues for 3? I really want to finally be able to experience these games. Never got into them as a kid (never knew they existed). First one was MGS4 and I was blown away. I loved it. MGS5 is fun and I still need to complete it. But it'd be great to just do them all (almost) in order.

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Showing 1-15 of 27 comments

Lethal Placebo has METAL GEAR SOLID - Master Collection Version

Mar 16, 2024 @ 4:52pm

In my opinion, the collection is definitely worth getting now. I'm a longtime fan of the series and would have no issues recommending this collection for newcomers, though I think mods make the PC version the best version. There are a few remaining issues and one thing in particular that I don't think will ever be changed. I'll try to address your concern game-by-game.

-The games now have built-in support for Window mode, but they will likely never allow you to choose the resolution. I know it's dumb, but that's just the way it is, the team really don't want to deviate from the 720p experience. Thankfully there's mods to fix this, MGS2M2 Fix for MGS1 and the Bonus Content, and MGSHDFix for all the other games. You can play the games at your monitor's resolution, enable Borderless Window Mode, and more.

-MGS1 never had any input lag, I even made a video on this topic comparing it to DuckStation. People just don't remember how that game controlled. Analog input has been fixed and is working properly.

-MGS1 has had almost all of its most pressing audio issues fixed, there are just a few left here and there. If you've never played the game before, you probably won't notice them.

-Cutscene audio for MGS2 and MGS3 is still oddly compressed for some reason. This is true across every single platform that this collection is on. But on PC there's a mod for each game to fix that, which you can find on NexusMods. Gameplay audio is fine.

-Lots of little issues for MGS2 and MGS3 have been fixed, at this point these versions of the games actually look better than the 2011 HD Collection.

-In case anyone brings it up, you do not have to worry about the pressure sensitive controls for MGS2 and MGS3. This version uses the reworked controls from the Xbox 360 version of the HD Collection, which are extremely similar to the original controls with a few functions moved around to keep the games completely and properly playable.

-I dunno if you played MGSV on controller, but when it comes to MGS2 and MGS3 I would highly, highly recommend a controller. The keyboard controls are extremely awkward and cannot be rebound.

Lemme know if you have any other questions, I know how frustrating it can be to try and sift through outdated information to figure out what's been fixed or not, and I've been keeping up with every single update (and damn near every mod) to this collection.

Last edited by Lethal Placebo; Mar 16, 2024 @ 4:53pm

Cyotey

Mar 16, 2024 @ 6:54pm

Originally posted by Lethal Placebo:
In my opinion, the collection is definitely worth getting now. I'm a longtime fan of the series and would have no issues recommending this collection for newcomers, though I think mods make the PC version the best version. There are a few remaining issues and one thing in particular that I don't think will ever be changed. I'll try to address your concern game-by-game.

-The games now have built-in support for Window mode, but they will likely never allow you to choose the resolution. I know it's dumb, but that's just the way it is, the team really don't want to deviate from the 720p experience. Thankfully there's mods to fix this, MGS2M2 Fix for MGS1 and the Bonus Content, and MGSHDFix for all the other games. You can play the games at your monitor's resolution, enable Borderless Window Mode, and more.

-MGS1 never had any input lag, I even made a video on this topic comparing it to DuckStation. People just don't remember how that game controlled. Analog input has been fixed and is working properly.

-MGS1 has had almost all of its most pressing audio issues fixed, there are just a few left here and there. If you've never played the game before, you probably won't notice them.

-Cutscene audio for MGS2 and MGS3 is still oddly compressed for some reason. This is true across every single platform that this collection is on. But on PC there's a mod for each game to fix that, which you can find on NexusMods. Gameplay audio is fine.

-Lots of little issues for MGS2 and MGS3 have been fixed, at this point these versions of the games actually look better than the 2011 HD Collection.

-In case anyone brings it up, you do not have to worry about the pressure sensitive controls for MGS2 and MGS3. This version uses the reworked controls from the Xbox 360 version of the HD Collection, which are extremely similar to the original controls with a few functions moved around to keep the games completely and properly playable.

-I dunno if you played MGSV on controller, but when it comes to MGS2 and MGS3 I would highly, highly recommend a controller. The keyboard controls are extremely awkward and cannot be rebound.

Lemme know if you have any other questions, I know how frustrating it can be to try and sift through outdated information to figure out what's been fixed or not, and I've been keeping up with every single update (and damn near every mod) to this collection.

I played through V a bit on both actually. Started with controller but also tried keyboard with some keybind changes. For V I'd say I prefer keyboard since I can react better but that's case by case with TPS' for me. And yet I still haven't beaten it. Gameplay is great though. As for the collection no I don't ever plan on using keyboard. They were made specifically for controllers and I love using controllers when I can. I don't mind putting in a few file fixes/mods if it makes the game(s) better. Bit annoying others gotta do the work for Konami...but I'm sure I'll just be happy I can play them without needing an official emulator. Really hope Vol 2 comes with 4. Thank you for the detailed answer! Really appreciate it.

Last edited by Cyotey; Mar 16, 2024 @ 6:59pm

Lethal Placebo has METAL GEAR SOLID - Master Collection Version

Mar 16, 2024 @ 10:51pm

Originally posted by Cyotey:
I played through V a bit on both actually. Started with controller but also tried keyboard with some keybind changes. For V I'd say I prefer keyboard since I can react better but that's case by case with TPS' for me. And yet I still haven't beaten it. Gameplay is great though. As for the collection no I don't ever plan on using keyboard. They were made specifically for controllers and I love using controllers when I can. I don't mind putting in a few file fixes/mods if it makes the game(s) better. Bit annoying others gotta do the work for Konami...but I'm sure I'll just be happy I can play them without needing an official emulator. Really hope Vol 2 comes with 4. Thank you for the detailed answer! Really appreciate it.

No problem, glad I could help! I'll leave links to some mods I believe to be essential.

-MGSHDFix for MG1, MG2, MGS2, and MGS3:
https://github.com/Lyall/MGSHDFix

-MGSM2Fix for MGS1 and Bonus Content:
https://github.com/nuggslet/MGSM2Fix

-Audio fix for MGS2:
https://www.nexusmods.com/metalgearsolid2mc/mods/3

-Audio fix for MGS3:
https://www.nexusmods.com/metalgearsolid3mc/mods/4

Last edited by Lethal Placebo; Mar 16, 2024 @ 10:52pm

Cyotey

Mar 17, 2024 @ 5:09pm

Awesome! Thank you! I just fixed the resolution for MGS1 yesterday. Took a bit of tinkering to realize I had to turn internal resolution on for it to work properly. My only concern is the camera. While I was making sure it was working fine I went to grab that ration in the water and the camera zoomed in super close and I had to use the mini map to even know where I was. Hope that won't happen at any critical moments. Pretty excited to get the crouch mod for MGS3 too. Didn't know there was a 3DS version let alone the game ever having a crouch walk.

Lethal Placebo has METAL GEAR SOLID - Master Collection Version

Mar 17, 2024 @ 5:13pm

Originally posted by Cyotey:
Awesome! Thank you! I just fixed the resolution for MGS1 yesterday. Took a bit of tinkering to realize I had to turn internal resolution on for it to work properly. My only concern is the camera. While I was making sure it was working fine I went to grab that ration in the water and the camera zoomed in super close and I had to use the mini map to even know where I was. Hope that won't happen at any critical moments. Pretty excited to get the crouch mod for MGS3 too. Didn't know there was a 3DS version let alone the game ever having a crouch walk.

Ah yes, increasing the internal rendering resolution is an experimental feature. I'd actually recommend leaving it off for now, but if the following issues don't bother you, then by all means leave it on!

-Some cutscenes and certain areas (like the water) are zoomed in
-Codec Text for Frequencies and Save Data does not display.

Yeah the crouch walking mod for MGS3 is pretty cool. I'd recommend doing the first playthrough without it, but it's also very seamless so if you like it, have fun!

Yeah, the 3DS version of MGS3 is interesting, it reworks MGS3 to have MGS4's controls, which included over-the-shoulder aiming and crouch walking. Unfortunately it was capped to 20 FPS, basically never hit that frame rate target, and is pretty temperamental when running in emulation on Citra.

Cyotey

Mar 17, 2024 @ 5:24pm

I didn't increase the resolution at all but it has been the only way to make MGS1 look crisp for me. Not sure if that's the case for others but that's the only way its worked for me unless I screwed up somehow which...I doubt since it's just copying the files to the base folder

Lethal Placebo has METAL GEAR SOLID - Master Collection Version

Mar 17, 2024 @ 6:09pm

Originally posted by Cyotey:
I didn't increase the resolution at all but it has been the only way to make MGS1 look crisp for me. Not sure if that's the case for others but that's the only way its worked for me unless I screwed up somehow which...I doubt since it's just copying the files to the base folder

So there's two options:

External Resolution - this option scales the window to fit your screen resolution (or your chosen resolution) with pixel-perfect scaling. This makes the game fit the screen correctly, but does not actually increase the internal rendering resolution

Internal Resolution - this option actually increases the internal rendering resolution, resulting in the game looking more crisp. Currently this feature is experimental, so you'll experience the aforementioned issues.

You can use both at the same time. Because of the issues, right now I use External Resolution, but not Internal. Looking forward to when the issues with Internal are fixed though.

Bacon

Mar 17, 2024 @ 7:20pm

To me and from my experience, the games are totally playable and true to the originals even with all the things missing that you mentioned. And after going decades without having access to these games on PC in any official/updated format whatsoever, that's all I was hoping for from them. They may not have native 4K upscales, but they also have no extra DRM, no removal of content, and no botched modernization. It can be very easy for companies to screw that up (look at the Battlefront collection that just came out). These are just the games I played....now available on Steam. And that's what it is. Outside of the audio issue in 2 and 3, most of the legitimate game-breaking glitches and stuff from launch seems to have been patched/fixed by now, and even some QOL features people have asked for have been put in, albeit kind of haphazardly.

I think $60 is a little high of a price point, but it is 7 different games give or take (plus some bonus content and even regional variants). If the games were sold years ago as standard ports at a set price of 9.99 a piece (or even 19.99 a piece for the 3 Solid games), I don't think people would be complaining. If you're going to enjoy them all, I think it's a decent price (I got it on sale for like $47 on release, which is what it is now, and I think that's a lot more worth it).

It's just the fact it's being advertised as a new collection that leads a lot of people to be disappointed by the fact that these are just barebone ports of the original games with little optimization and improvements made for modern consoles. And I think it's fair of them to be disappointed by it and want more to be done with these classics, but I'll take something like this - solid, playable, and surprisingly comprehensive - over nothing any day. Hoping Vol. 2 comes with MGS4 and that game finally sees a home beyond PS3.

Last edited by Bacon; Mar 17, 2024 @ 7:23pm

Cyotey

Mar 17, 2024 @ 7:27pm

Originally posted by Bacon:
To me and from my experience, the games are totally playable and true to the originals even with all the things missing that you mentioned. And after going decades without having access to these games on PC in any official/updated format whatsoever, that's all I was hoping for from them. They may not have native 4K upscales, but they also have no extra DRM, no removal of content, and no botched modernization. It can be very easy for companies to screw that up (look at the Battlefront collection that just came out). These are just the games I played....now available on Steam. And that's what it is. Outside of the audio issue in 2 and 3, most of the legitimate game-breaking glitches and stuff from launch seems to have been patched/fixed by now, and even some QOL features people have asked for have been put in, albeit kind of haphazardly.

I think $60 is a little high of a price point, but it is 7 different games give or take (plus some bonus content and even regional variants). If the games were sold years ago as standard ports at a set price of 9.99 a piece (or even 19.99 a piece for the 3 Solid games), I don't think people would be complaining. If you're going to enjoy them all, I think it's a decent price (I got it on sale for like $47 on release, which is what it is now, and I think that's a lot more worth it).

It's just the fact it's being advertised as a new collection that leads a lot of people to be disappointed by the fact that these are just barebone ports of the original games with little optimization and improvements made for modern consoles. And I think it's fair of them to be disappointed by it and want more to be done with these classics, but I'll take something like this - solid, playable, and surprisingly comprehensive - over nothing any day. Hoping Vol. 2 comes with MGS4 and that game finally sees a home beyond PS3.

Agreed. Tried emulating 4 since there's absolutely no other way to play and I wasn't going to buy a PS3 just for that...couldn't get it to work. So I'm hoping I'll finally be able to play 4 again soon. It was my first MGS and I loved it.