24 years ago today, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty debuted with one of the most effective bait-and-switches in the history of mainstream gaming. Going into the seventh overall entry of the stealth-action franchise, fans were eager for a follow-up to Metal Gear Solid‘s massive success on the PlayStation. Trailers featured Solid Snake going up against new threats, and an exciting demo featured Snake in the lead.
However, amid plot revisions to address changing global politics, series creator Hideo Kojima had a brilliant idea on how to catch the gaming audience completely by surprise. Although Snake had been billed as the lead, a surprise shift to a new character could force gamers to reexamine the hero and play into the series’ themes about identity. It was a clever idea that was met with a wildly mixed reaction at first but has since gone down as one of the most clever twists in gaming history.
The Raiden Reveal
24 years ago today, gamers experienced one of the biggest twists in gaming history thanks to Metal Gear Solid 2 — which targeted the players themselves by shifting focus away from series lead, Solid Snake. Up until this point, Metal Gear Solid had defined itself around the adventures of the stealthy soldier. Starting on the NES before finding massive success on the PlayStation with Metal Gear Solid, Hideo Kojima’s follow-up initially presented itself through previews and demos as an expansion of that storyline.
The first mission of the game even leans into this, setting itself up as a direct sequel to the previous adventure by bringing back Snake’s villainous brother, Liquid, by having his spirit possess Ocelot. However, following that, much of the game shifts focus to Raiden, a new member of the FOXHOUND Unit with no prior formal appearance in the series outside of a sly reference in the epilogue to the 2000 Game Boy Color release, Metal Gear: Ghost Babel. Designed as a foil to Snake, the blonde-haired sword-wielding rookie was haunted by his past and driven to fight by an overwhelming sense of guilt.
The purpose of the twist was an exercise by Kojima to view Solid Snake from a new perspective. Constructed as a Watson figure to bounce off of Snake’s Sherlock Holmes, Raiden was gradually made into a younger character who could appeal more to women by artist Yoji Shinkawa. Especially in contrast to the seasoned and gruff Solid Snake, Raiden offered a significantly different approach to the world and perspective on the conflict of the battle, even as his overall gameplay in MSG2 was very similar to Snake’s. In accordance with Kojima’s intentions, Konami kept Raiden’s role in the game a secret, even going so far as to re-edit trailers and replace Raiden with Snake. It was a bold move that’s hard to imagine working in modern-day gaming, where leaks are the norm — but it caught the gaming audience of 2001 by complete surprise.
Gamers Took A While To Get Used To Raiden
The initial fan reception to Raiden’s role was mixed, to say the least. The plot, with its philosophical approach to the fusion of capitalism with statebuilding and themes about the humanity of a cybernetic age, was heralded by critics as a compelling expansion of Metal Gear Solid. Others were left bewildered by the lengthy, dialogue-heavy cutscenes and the high-minded nature of the plot. More than anything, fans were torn over Raiden’s prominence. While some saw craft in Raiden’s ability to embody the player more successfully as a blank-slate rookie, many fans in Western markets were frustrated by Snake’s unexpected shift into the background.
Notably, Raiden was better received by Japanese fans, who quickly embraced the cyborg samurai and his efforts to confront his guilt complex. Some Western audiences took particular umbrage with his more boyish and attractive appearance compared to the rough-and-tumble Snake, leading to a slew of derogatory insults and offensive bits insulting the character. Much of this initial negative response seems to have been directly tied to how Metal Gear Solid 2 had tricked players into thinking Snake would be the lead, instead of the actual content of the game or the quality of the character.
The game has been reevaluated and elevated in the eyes of fans in the years since, including Raiden’s role in the game. However, it was clear to Kojima and Konami that the fanbase was split on the character at the time. This divide is even referenced in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, wherein the villainous Colonel Volgin’s frequently humiliated second in command, Ivan Raidenovitch Raikov, was designed to specifically resemble Raiden. For his part, Kojima acknowledged the fanbase response and at least proved capable of poking fun at the controversy.
How A Plot Twist Turned Into A Spin-Off Star
What makes Raiden’s origins as one of the best plot twists played on gamers so unique is how the character gradually evolved from a flashpoint among gamers into a fan favorite. After skipping out on the prequel Snake Eater, Raiden was brought back for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Now converted into a more overt cyborg and with a greater emphasis on his combat skills rather than his relative inexperience when compared to Snake, Raiden’s reception among fans was much more positive.
To accommodate an older Snake who was less capable in the battlefield due to his advancing age, Raiden was designed as a combat-heavy ally who could help contend with the armies facing off against the pair. The successful reception to Raiden’s redesign and character tweaks led to him getting his own spin-off game, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, which further emphasized his growth from the more conflicted agent of Sons of Liberty into a capable warrior on his own merits. It also explored his darker side, known as Jack the Ripper, and what it had to say about battlefield trauma.
This shift, which built on the character’s earlier complexities and further explored his mental state while also turning him into a more overtly capable fighter, helped elevate Raiden in the eyes of gamers who had previously dismissed him. Raiden was a bold swing from Kojima and Konami, one that ultimately paid off in the long run, even if the initial reception was mixed. He went from an unexpected plot twist to a star in his own right.