Metal Gear Solid 5’s best secret: You can play the campaign as a woman
Metal Gear Solid 5’s best secret: You can play the campaign as a woman
If you are put off by the costumes and lack of protagonist representation in Phantom Pain, but still kind of want to play it for the gameplay/story/etc then Brianna Wu has a method to let you play most of the game as something other than the default protagonist (who I now dub Standard Snake).
The focus of the article is how to play as a woman, but as Brianna points out the same system opens up the option to play as a person of color (of either gender) as well. It also has minimal spoilers.
We’ve got the guide to how to get Quiet some real clothes as early as possible, which sadly is actually quite late into the game. Unless you take the more extreme (and extremely awesome) option that one MikeKob did. (h/t: Glitch & nibelung)
This method is so secret not even Hideo Kojima knows about it! Or if he does he doesn’t care enough to share, promote the article or even mention the feature of playing as anyone but Standard Snake. It seems while someone was very determined to include these options, that someone was not him.
The integration is fairly complete but has some note worthy limitations:
- You must start playing as Standard Snake.
- NPCs will still react to you in game and in cutscenes as though you were Standard Snake, using male pronouns and descriptions.
- In cutscenes, Snake’s lines will just appear as captions instead of being delivered by a voice actress (or alternative voice actor).
- Other problems with plot arcs and treatment of female characters remain.
It does have a few extra benefits:
- In cut scenes, Snake’s lines will just appear as captions instead of the generic, over the top, alpha male grunting.
- NPCs will treat your Snake with the same respect and admiration they’d show Standard Snake.
Now for how to get Quiet into some clothes. The bit lots of people will tell you is possible but won’t explain how or what’s involved, again – spoilers under the cut!
(Edit: Between when I did the majority of this writing and when it got posted there was single tweet by Kojima, it was a retweet of someone thanking him with elaboration afterwards. x )
– wincenworks
There is one fully covering (Gray XOF) and one mostly covering but with ridiculous cleavage (Lone Wolf Sniper) outfit available for Quiet via unlocking in the game. There are still some issues:
- Both outfits are only available a long time after first having the option to take Quiet as a Buddy (Mission 15 onward). (Lone Wolf Sniper outfit is available for completing Mission 40 on Extreme, but the Grey XOF outfit can be unlocked earlier around Mission 30.)
- Earning Quiet’s confidence will still result in her adopting more and more titilating poses while in the chopper with you.
- Quiet’s overall plot arc will remain the same (including scenes of heavily sexualized violence against her).
- NPCs will still react to and describe Quiet as though she was wearing her default “Naked” skin. The game may also default her back to her Naked skin for some cutscenes.
In order to unlock the Grey XOF outfit you need to watch the cutscene of Quiet’s interrogation where she is tortured – yes we’re at a point where cutscenes are something they have to reward you for watching. There’s mixed information on how to trigger the cutscene but general consensus seems to be:
Complete Mission 29 (Code Talker appears in the cutscene) and then keep making trips back to Mother Base to trigger all the information about the main plot, do side missions, etc and eventually it will appear. If you prefer to skip it by turning off the tv or monitor+speakers, it’s about seven minutes long.
– wincenworks
Metal Gear Solid 5’s best secret: You can play the campaign as a woman
Metal Gear Solid 5’s best secret: You can play the campaign as a woman
If you are put off by the costumes and lack of protagonist representation in Phantom Pain, but still kind of want to play it for the gameplay/story/etc then Brianna Wu has a method to let you play most of the game as something other than the default protagonist (who I now dub Standard Snake).
The focus of the article is how to play as a woman, but as Brianna points out the same system opens up the option to play as a person of color (of either gender) as well. It also has minimal spoilers.
We’ve got the guide to how to get Quiet some real clothes as early as possible, which sadly is actually quite late into the game. Unless you take the more extreme (and extremely awesome) option that one MikeKob did. (h/t: Glitch & nibelung)
This method is so secret not even Hideo Kojima knows about it! Or if he does he doesn’t care enough to share, promote the article or even mention the feature of playing as anyone but Standard Snake. It seems while someone was very determined to include these options, that someone was not him.
The integration is fairly complete but has some note worthy limitations:
- You must start playing as Standard Snake.
- NPCs will still react to you in game and in cutscenes as though you were Standard Snake, using male pronouns and descriptions.
- In cutscenes, Snake’s lines will just appear as captions instead of being delivered by a voice actress (or alternative voice actor).
- Other problems with plot arcs and treatment of female characters remain.
It does have a few extra benefits:
- In cut scenes, Snake’s lines will just appear as captions instead of the generic, over the top, alpha male grunting.
- NPCs will treat your Snake with the same respect and admiration they’d show Standard Snake.
Now for how to get Quiet into some clothes. The bit lots of people will tell you is possible but won’t explain how or what’s involved, again – spoilers under the cut!
(Edit: Between when I did the majority of this writing and when it got posted there was single tweet by Kojima, it was a retweet of someone thanking him with elaboration afterwards. x )
– wincenworks
There is one fully covering (Gray XOF) and one mostly covering but with ridiculous cleavage (Lone Wolf Sniper) outfit available for Quiet via unlocking in the game. There are still some issues:
- Both outfits are only available a long time after first having the option to take Quiet as a Buddy (Mission 15 onward). (Lone Wolf Sniper outfit is available for completing Mission 40 on Extreme, but the Grey XOF outfit can be unlocked earlier around Mission 30.)
- Earning Quiet’s confidence will still result in her adopting more and more titilating poses while in the chopper with you.
- Quiet’s overall plot arc will remain the same (including scenes of heavily sexualized violence against her).
- NPCs will still react to and describe Quiet as though she was wearing her default “Naked” skin. The game may also default her back to her Naked skin for some cutscenes.
In order to unlock the Grey XOF outfit you need to watch the cutscene of Quiet’s interrogation where she is tortured – yes we’re at a point where cutscenes are something they have to reward you for watching. There’s mixed information on how to trigger the cutscene but general consensus seems to be:
Complete Mission 29 (Code Talker appears in the cutscene) and then keep making trips back to Mother Base to trigger all the information about the main plot, do side missions, etc and eventually it will appear. If you prefer to skip it by turning off the tv or monitor+speakers, it’s about seven minutes long.
– wincenworks
Rule: When analyzing or critiquing media, you can not defend a problematic aspect of media by saying that a character CHOSE to do it, and that people are allowed to CHOSE to do things.
Because fictional characters do not have the capacity to make choices. Because they are not REAL people.
Power Girl and Starfire did not CHOOSE to fight evil in skimpy, revealing outfits. It is not their PERSONAL CHOICE to wear those clothes. They are fictional characters and their wardrobes are under the control of the author and artist.
Dumbledore did not CHOOSE to stay in the closet as a personal and professional choice because that was his right as a person. He is a fictional character. The fact that his sexuality was left at only vague subtext and only revealed through word of god was a deliberate decision made by the author.
Fictional characters are fictional characters. They do not make their own choices.
Addendum to the rule: for the same reasons, you can not argue that criticism “shames” a character for their appearance or behavior.
And just for the record, seeing what kind of responses this post received before we got to reblog it: NO, the fact that fictional characters tend to grow and take a life of their own still does not mean they have agency.
No matter how developed a fictional person is, they’re still written by a real person (or people) who have their own biases and rationalizations. Just because some “choices” feel natural to the author doesn’t mean they’re objectively plausible “choices” for a character to make within the given narrative.
Sometimes the choice, like (in case of what our blog critiques) decision to wear a sexualized costume to battle, can be explained by specific circumstances. But in most circumstances or with other explanations, the same choice can be plain silly and inconsistent with the rest of established story/worldbuilding.
~Ozzie
Rule: When analyzing or critiquing media, you can not defend a problematic aspect of media by saying that a character CHOSE to do it, and that people are allowed to CHOSE to do things.
Because fictional characters do not have the capacity to make choices. Because they are not REAL people.
Power Girl and Starfire did not CHOOSE to fight evil in skimpy, revealing outfits. It is not their PERSONAL CHOICE to wear those clothes. They are fictional characters and their wardrobes are under the control of the author and artist.
Dumbledore did not CHOOSE to stay in the closet as a personal and professional choice because that was his right as a person. He is a fictional character. The fact that his sexuality was left at only vague subtext and only revealed through word of god was a deliberate decision made by the author.
Fictional characters are fictional characters. They do not make their own choices.
Addendum to the rule: for the same reasons, you can not argue that criticism “shames” a character for their appearance or behavior.
And just for the record, seeing what kind of responses this post received before we got to reblog it: NO, the fact that fictional characters tend to grow and take a life of their own still does not mean they have agency.
No matter how developed a fictional person is, they’re still written by a real person (or people) who have their own biases and rationalizations. Just because some “choices” feel natural to the author doesn’t mean they’re objectively plausible “choices” for a character to make within the given narrative.
Sometimes the choice, like (in case of what our blog critiques) decision to wear a sexualized costume to battle, can be explained by specific circumstances. But in most circumstances or with other explanations, the same choice can be plain silly and inconsistent with the rest of established story/worldbuilding.
~Ozzie
We need some male EMPOWERMENT–who’s with me?!
(I’m going to hell for this…)
I’m so glad that he’s got those heels! Smash Bros are very dangerous and since he’s a lawyer he’s going to need the extra advantage over the other competitors!
– wincenworks
I’d personally vote on Zero Suit Wario , but bared-belly Zero Suit Edgesworth is the next best alternative.
~Ozzie
