KWEH!
The new Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is pretty much the talk of the gaming world this week. It has earned many “perfect” reviews from critics and players alike. I am myself readying to play it. Well, once I have completed Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes. However, this is a #ThrowbackThursday post, thus, we are not going to talk about the new game. I present to you the ending song to the first Metal Gear Solid, “The Best Is Yet To Come”.
MGS is arguably the anchor game that made the franchise famous and one that set the high bar of stealth action games. Stealth games had been around for a while by then, but it was not until the Metal Gear series prior to the MGS series that the genre Solidified itself (=D).
Not only that, Hideo Kojima, the director and game designer of the series, envisioned the game as a commentary on nuclear warfare, genetics, and passing on a legacy. Many fans know by now that Kojima is an avid film connoisseur and examiner. That aspect of him has very strongly influenced his style of direction both in game presentation and design. Even with MGS, there are reviewers commenting as if they were playing a summer action movie instead of a game.
Furthermore, this is the game where one of my favorite illustrators and character designers got to show his art chops. Yoji Shinkawa was the main artist for MGS and he undoubtedly made an impact with his bold brush strokes, unique designs, and moody atmospheric art sense. His style has inspired many artists since.
For the chilling ending theme, “The Best Is Yet To Come“, they enlisted the help of Aoife Ní Fhearraigh, a well-known Irish Gaelic singer. The song was composed by Rika Muranaka but recorded in Ireland.
If you look through the lyrics and listen to the song, you will find that despite the rather somber tone at the beginning the song slowly picks up. If playing the game is representative of the struggle that Solid Snake goes through, the ending song could be viewed as a signal of hope for the things to come. A potential future with just a tiny bit more of happiness. Alas, the world is full of conflict and Snake was needed again in the events of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty two years after the events of MGS.
Another way to look at the song title is perhaps as a promise from Kojima’s team that they will continue to make great games. Many fans would probably agree the consecutive main titles are even better in many aspects than what the first game had set. Even though Kojima and Konami may have split, we know that Kojima is going to continue making something. With that in mind, despite the the new MGSV:TPP being lauded as Kojima’s greatest creation so far, I believe that The Best Is Yet To Come.
Sources: Metal Gear Wikia and Wikipedia
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