Metal Gear Solid V has the weakest narrative in the series[Spoilers for the whole series]

[Azure-Supernova]

I'm glad Kojima didn't forcibly retcon Big Boss for a 30-year old game none of you probably ever even played in the first place. Big Boss' character was consistent with that of MGS3 and PW, which Phantom Pain is more or less a direct sequel of story-wise. Yeah Phantom Pain is largely inconsistent with an MSX game from 1987 with hardly any story to speak of(the whole 'phantom' trick didn't really help either), but holding that against it is more than a little ridiculous. As far as open-world games go MGS5's story is way above most of it's competitors.

Retconning isn't the issue here, it's the fact that MGSV was supposed to bridge the gap between Big Boss following The Boss' vision and Big Boss inciting the Outer Heaven uprising. An act at which it thoroughly failed. If we're to simply accept that a cassette tape labelled "Operation Intrude N312" is enough closure, then Kojima was sorely mistaken. Of course this is ignoring the missing Chapter Three. Instead we leave with Big Boss still pursuing The Boss' Outer Heaven and Venom Snake continuing to do... very little.

Ignoring the "30 year old game" comment, we still need a villainised Big Boss that isn't Venom Snake for not only Metal Gear 2, but the residual influence he has on Solid Snake in the rest of the series. What we were left with was a Phantom that will continue on with his interpretation of Big Boss' last message (oh the hilarity). Big Boss himself still has a huuuge gap in his biography if we're going by MGSV. At what point did he meet Frank Jaeger again in Mozambique? When does he form his Outer Heaven? When and why does he re-enter the public eye to resume command of FOXHOUND?

I mean I'll agree that Chapter One of MGSV had me mostly satisfied. Venom Snake doesn't react often enough for my liking (the awkward Skullface one sided convo anyone?) and the story is stretched thin between random missions, especially if you're a long time Metal Gear fan and you've gotten used to the cutscenes by now. I get what Kojima was going for, but I think his lack of enthusiasm (the guy wanted to retire the series ages ago) and Konami's executive decisions severely hamepered the narrative of the game.