zomg n00b
Heh heh. Anyway, yeah, I'll also come out of the closet and stick up for Raiden. I liked the guys character, his hair was rubbish, but he was something really original and outlandish. People who play MGS only for the guns, action and guard fun won't get him, naturally. Nor will guys who need to stick with the mob consensus, which is most low self-esteem gamers.
Raiden's whole battle with Solidus and his history revealed via the Codec in that iconic battle, made more sense. If you also played MGS Portable Ops and meet a certain Null, that fills in some gaps.
One thing I know is that I will always have the deepest respect for Kojima, he's undoubtedly moved the humble gaming industry in new directions with his innovations in story telling, game mechanics and characterisation and though, while brutally honest, MGS2 was really quite flawed in most of those areas, you still have to commend him for taking a chance and doing things that threw a gamer for six.
Also, Raiden should've been a Girl, it would've been infinitely better! Metal Gear: Acid has taught us that much. =]