When the first Metal Gear Solid game was released for the original PlayStation all the way back in 1998, it helped not only define but even invent the stealth genre of video games. Although it was the third entry in the Metal Gear series overall, it would eclipse its predecessors in influence.
With a series so focused on keeping the main character hidden, it's no surprise that its games include many small details that sometimes take years to notice. However, when it comes to Redditors who are also die-hard fans of the franchise, nothing stays hidden from them forever.
Removed Lines From Metal Gear Solid V
When it was released in 2015, better than Metal Gear Solid 4, as the final entry to the Metal Gear Solid series it proved somewhat of a disappointment to many players.
Redditor AwesomeTowlie actually discovered "some cut dialogue" from Venom Snake and others all the way back when the game first released, and as of posting, the SoundCloud links they provide still work. One links to spoiler-free sound files, and the other to ones that will definitely spoil the game's ending.
Militaires Sans Frontières Logo Appearance On A D-Horse Skin
The organization Militaires Sans Frontières (MSF) is a private military organization created by Big Boss that first appears in 2010's Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. It later appears in Phantom Pain's prequel, Ground Zeroes, where it is seemingly destroyed. D-Horse is the horse used to traverse Phantom Pain.
Redditor RazorPulsar actually found that if a player unlocks and equips "D-Horse's Funicorn skin", which gives the horse a mohawk, an "MSF logo appears on the saddle." As the skin is unlockable, and not present by default, there aren't any story implications for this. However, it does provide a nice little Easter egg for Eagle-eyed fans to spot.
Monsoon's Choice-Dependent Last Words
Player choices affecting the final outcome of a game is one of the biggest selling points of video games, because it allows players to become co-authors of their experience all the way to the end. It increases player investment as well as game memorability.
But not all changes are so obvious. Redditor LordEmmerich observed that player choices as to how to fight Monsoon in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance will affect his dialogue. If players fight without electromagnetic grenades or with high combat rank, "He will say "No! Stop it!" in a panicked way," while if done with grenades or a low rank, "He will say "Do as you please." in an almost uncaring way."
A Different Guard Scene In The Original Metal Gear Solid
Speaking of player choices affecting the experience, in the first Metal Gear Solid game, Redditor BronzeHeart92 realized that "it's possible to view a different scene with the guards if you take the lower duct." While the upper-duct cutscene will play automatically, "you actually have to crawl to one of the closed grates in order to view it."
Considering the first game released all the way back in 1998, when the Internet was a very different place than it is today, it's amazing that Kojima and company put so much extra content in for players, considering many if not most would have missed this. Without YouTube or a similar site, it would have been nearly impossible to experience otherwise.
Funny Mother Base Soldier Reactions
Redditor Phelyckz experienced "a lost motherbase soldier saluting me today when [they] held him up", this posted asking if anyone else had some favorite hidden details from the Metal Gear Solid series.
In response, a former pointed out that "if you just walk up to those guys wearing a cardboard box" the soldiers will salute and allow themselves to be fultoned, while Redditor LtHorrigan said that a similar effect could be accomplished "if you play Paz theme through your Walkman and set it to blast out." These Mother Base soldiers' funny reactions are definitely a great addition for players who find them.
Rainbow In Quiet's Boss Fight
Saying Phantom Pain was the best game in the series is an unpopular Metal Gear Solid opinion on Reddit, but at the same time, many of Reddit's favorite hidden details come from that game, so Phantom Pain definitely managed to make an impact with players.
Reddit Sahilpal333 noticed that "in the quiet boss fight, After few in game days have ed a rainbow will appear ... in a small pond in the battlefield" and Quiet will be dancing at it, and that the player can get pretty close to her without setting off a fight. This one is definitely more well known than others, but it was definitely hidden for many players, including Sahilpal333.
Quiet's Cell Sign Has Unique Art
Reddit Electric_Trex provided a zoom-in of the sign that adorns Quiet's cell in the Diamond Dogs facility, which is covered in graffiti, although under that there is a pretty well-designed miniature representation of Quiet. Players may notice it, but probably wouldn't think about it much.
However, Redditor Disreiley pointed out how hilarious this was because it implied one of two things: "Diamond Dogs employs a full time graphic artist/designer. Or one of the soldiers ... donated his down time to draw up some warnings and then some of the guards vandalized his work." For a video-game series focused on both intensity and small details, it definitely provides a funny moment for players who think about it.
Quiet's Reaction To The Water Gun
The water pistol may not be one of Metal Gear Solid's best weapons, but it does have a weird effect on Quiet if players spray her using it. Redditor rooroo999 pointed this one out, saying that if Quiet is sprayed, "you can hear her absorbing [the water] through her skin."
It's unsurprising that this happens, since Quiet has to breathe and drink through her skin because of some intense medical treatment she had to undergo. It's another example of the studio's attention to detail... while also kinda gross.
Rose's Reaction to Raiden's Death
Metal Gear Solid 2 was originally intended to be the final game in the series, although with the benefit of hindsight it obviously wasn't. What's amazing is that players are still discovering secrets from the 2001 classic.
Redditor Colonel_Hector pointed out that "you hear Rose cry out Raiden's name" after Raiden dies, and then "you can hear she's gasping for air, indicating she must have died." This goes on to point out that this is backed up by dialogue earlier in the game, even if it's a detail many players wouldn't pick up on.
Body Snatchers Foreshadowing In Ground Zeroes
The twist at the end of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is that Venom Snake, thought to have been Big Boss the entire time, was actually a decoy for the real Big Boss, who after waking up from a coma took on the identity of Ishmael, a medic, through plastic surgery.
A former Redditor, however, noticed a funny bit of foreshadowing in ”Jamais Vu”, a mission in Ground Zeroes. "As soon as Miller says “Body Snatchers”, the medic stands up", the points out. It's a detail no one could have caught the first time, and is incredibly subtle even on replay.